The novel “Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch was published for the first time in 2016.

Jason Dessen is about to return home to spend the evening with his wife Daniela and their son Charlie when he’s kidnapped by a mysterious man. Drugged and locked in a place he doesn’t know, he wakes up in a research facility where people tell him that he’s the only one who has returned.

Confused to say the least, Jason tries to understand why the people around him expect scientific revelations from him. Years ago, he had worked as a quantum physicist, but for a long time, he has been a university teacher. Even worse, he seems to be unmarried. He goes in search of Daniela, but the situation becomes dangerous.

The novel “Barrayar” by Lois McMaster Bujold was published for the first time in 1991. It was also published as part of the omnibus “Cordelia’s Honor”. It won the Hugo and Locus Awards for the Best Novel of the Year. It’s part of the Vorkosigan saga.

Emperor Ezar Vorbarra is dying, and his last act is to appoint Aral Vorkosigan as regent until his young grandson Gregor comes of age. For Aral, this represents a great responsibility and exposes him and his wife Cordelia to the plots of the forces on Barrayar that would like to return to a traditional society, obviously under their leadership.

Cordelia is pregnant, and the political situation dampens the joy that she and Aral are supposed to feel at the idea of ​​having a child. An attack against the couple almost succeeds, and an antidote to a poison risks causing Cordelia to miscarry due to the serious damage it can cause to the fetus. The only hope is the use of a uterine replicator, but an attempted coup escalates the conflict.