The novel “Marune: Alastor 933” by Jack Vance was published for the first time in 1975. It’s the second book in the Alastor trilogy and follows “Trullion: Alastor 2262”.

A man who arrived at the Carfaunge Spaceport appears to have no memory of his identity and there are no indications of the planet he has arrived from. He’s named Pardero after a hussade player but only so that he has a name. The psychologists he’s advised to consult try to awaken some memory in him but with no success.

Having established the impossibility of obtaining information about his origin from the man himself, an investigation is conducted based on his body language and appearance. The results point to Marune, a planet in the Alastor Cluster illuminated by four suns. After he arrives on the planet, he must get used to the customs of the Rhune people, of which he remembers nothing and consequently they seem completely alien to him.

The novel “Revolt of the Micronauts” by Gordon Williams was published for the first time in 1981. It’s the third book in the Micronauts trilogy and follows “The Microcolony”.

The changes at the top of the World Food Control (WFC) caused the micronauts’ colony to fall into oblivion for almost all authorities. Even worse, among the few who still know of its existence there’s someone who considers the Arcadia project an abomination and would like to destroy the microcolony killing all its inhabitants.

Left to their fate and unaware of possible external threats, the micronauts are engaged in a clash between factions. To make matters worse, several micronauts have trouble remembering their life before miniaturization while some claim to be able to read the minds of others.

The novel “Starter Villain” by John Scalzi was published for the first time in 2023. It won the Alex Award as one of the novels of the year written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18.

Charlie Fitzer has gone through several personal and professional hardships with the result that he lives with his cats with the meager salary of a substitute teacher in the house of which his father left him the right to live. He’d like to turn his life around by taking over a pub whose owner intends to retire but his hopes of obtaining a loan from the bank seem slim to none.

While he’s mulling over his options, Charlie is informed of the death of his uncle Jake, with whom he hadn’t had contact for many years following a huge fight with his father. Jake’s assistant Mathilda Morrison asks him to speak at his uncle’s funeral in exchange for an inheritance. At the funeral, Charlie finds strange people who only want to make sure that Jake is really dead. Things get even stranger when Charlie’s house is blown up and Morrison tells him to follow his cat Hera.