For her column “Special Needs in Strange Worlds” at SF Signal, Sarah Chorn included both Michael J. Sullivan’s HOLLOW WORLD and Daryl Gregory’s WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE among her best books of 2014.

We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory
Another Daryl Gregory book. Last year that man was on fire. This one is a novella, and it’s an incredibly powerful novella at that. We Are All Completely Fine follows a close circle of characters going through a few group therapy sessions. They have all had horrible events happen in their pasts, which has psychologically marked them in some pretty realistic, but rather uncomfortable ways. Involved in all of this is a mystery, and some of the best characterization I’ve ever read in a novella. It’s rather fascinating to see how the group dynamic unfolds, sometimes in uncomfortable ways, and how all of these people find answers in the parts of themselves, and their pasts, they’ve tried so hard to ignore, disregard, or sweep under the rug.

Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan
Hollow World is set in the future, after a bit of time travel. The protagonist, Ellis, ends up fleeing into the future to avoid grueling treatments for a terminal illness. He lands in a future world thinking he’d know what to expect. Instead he finds a completely different kind of society. While there is a mystery that will keep you guessing, the really interesting part of this novel are the questions that Sullivan poses his readers. This future society has basically traded individuality for cures to disease, peace, and prosperity. And Ellis, a man with a terminal illness, finds himself in the middle of all of it. This is a book that will leave you with plenty to ponder long after you finish it.

Read the rest of Chorn’s selections at SF Signal.

For information on WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story.

For information on HOLLOW WORLD, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Michael J. Sullivan.