New Books By Michael Tolkin, Neil Gaiman And Kameron Hurley

In Michael Tolkin’s darkly satirical new novel, the release of an amnesia-inducing North Korean bioagent turns near-future Los Angeles into a divided metropolis, one where the elite live in hedonistic luxury, protected from the more seriously brain-damaged by a 60-foot fence. Hopper, sent on a mission by an inner Silent Voice to reunite with a wife he doesn’t remember; Frank Sinatra, the security expert who ensures the safety of the Center Camp enclave; pop star Shannon Squier, globally famous before the disaster and now groomed to play some mysterious role in its aftermath; and, above all, Chief, the ruler who governs what happens inside the Fence while also trying to control the nearly mindless Shamblers and Drifters who stumble around on the other side of it. A director, writer and producer, Tolkin may be best known for his novel “The Player” and its film adaptation directed by Robert Altman. [...] the names also remind one of how easily people are turned into commodities, how slippery the grip on identity can be, how there’s always someone ready to set themself up as the savior of civilization. Wise and mysterious Odin and powerful-yet-slow-witted Thor play prominent roles in the proceedings, but the spotlight often turns to lesser-known figures, such as beautiful Freya and beloved Balder. Yet the best lines and most exciting scenes usually feature the wily Loki, the trickster god who may be smarter than the others but can’t help himself from causing trouble for his family — and himself. “Norse Mythology” ably captures the essence of a myth cycle that deserves to be better known, in an edition likely to speak to readers of all ages. Memory and amnesia play vital roles in “The Stars Are Legion,” the new novel by Kameron Hurley, author of “The Geek Feminist Revolution” and the Worldbreaker Saga. At the outer rim of the universe, a woman called Zan awakens with but a single, haunting memory, that of throwing a child away. At first, “The Stars Are Legion” seems like another standard wide-screen space opera, filled with training scenes and war battles, interspersed with treacherous family intrigue. [...] once one notices that there are no male characters in the cast and that the technology of the Legion is based more on biology than on physics, the novel reveals itself as something very different from the norm. Zan is dropped into the literal underworld, and with the aid of three fellow outcasts, she must make her way back to the lover who has betrayed her. Hurley won a 2014 Hugo Award for “We Have Always Fought,” an essay that explored the necessity of depicting more female warriors — of all kinds of backgrounds — in science fiction and fantasy. In “The Stars Are Legion,” she dramatizes her thesis, creating a setting where the male species is unnecessary and perhaps unknown and the women are capable, driven, strong, ruthless and often scary.