Malvern staff member Fernando is a New York Review Books Classics enthusiast, and he has an excellent recommendation for y’all…

Moderan by David R. Bunch

For years this book was only a myth among certain aficionados of science fiction. First published as a series of stories taking place in the future of Moderan, where patches of the earth are covered in plastic and nature is all but gone, this book does magical things with poetry and language to a degree that is uncommon in the genre. Not only that, it is darkly hilarious, and in some ways reminds me of The Wizard of Oz meets the Marvel Universe. Great read to start the new year!

Also recommended: The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. One of the few science-fiction novels of the fifties about a world after nuclear war that has survived the test of time.