You need new geek-centric books. These are the books you need. Get them at the linkage. No thanks necessary.

The Wild Dead by Carrie Vaughn

The Wild Dead is another book set in the post-apocalyptic world of Carrie Vaughn’s “Bannerless,” which I described as a “Reese’s Cup style combination of two great tastes… murder mystery and post-apocalypse.”

This one is a crime drama that happens to be set after the apocalypse. Amid the post-apocalypse, when do people find a space in their schedules for murder? That’s just not good time management.

In spite of all the murder and the post-apocalypse, this story is surprisingly optimistic and sweet. Author Carrie Vaughn digs into her heroes and finds goodness and persistence, not fatalism and pathos.

I admit, I was a little bummed out that my advance review copy promises “map TK.” I love maps of fantasy & sci-fi worlds. So this one will be even better when it goes on sale for normal humans, because of the maps, I’m sure of it.

Metal Chest by Chris Yee

Metal Chest is a story about a robot and a guy roaming an apocalyptic wasteland (that’s the best kind of wasteland.)

But it feels like a Western, and the characters behave like they’re in a Western. By that, I mean the characters and the setting are clearly established through dialogue, which is such a refreshing change from paragraphs and paragraphs of descriptions.

Here’s an example: “Clunkers like you won’t get very far if you stick to being friendly all the time. You got to look after yourself. Put everybody else second. They’ll all leave you dead in the dirt.”

That tells you everything you need to know about the speaker and the one he’s talking to. And it’s just one line. The book contains lots more than one line.

The whole thing is a terrific exercise in subverting tropes. More than that, it celebrates Westerns while also being a fine example of one.

I’m going to need to see more from author Chris Yee. But in the meantime, Metal Chest is worth a reread, preferably with your boots kicked off by a campfire.

Nuomenon Infinity by Marina Lostetter 

Nuomenon Infinity is a second book in a series of mosaic novels, containing shorter stories that all take place in the same world.

In this case, it’s about two space convoys, one launched by a space consortium and another a ragtag fleet thought lost, both of which address the story from different directions.

And now that 70s song “Convoy” is stuck in my head.

Both stories are thrilling and crammed with action, with echoes of “Firefly” and “Battlestar Galactica.” Like those shows, these books are surprisingly, effectively human. The story really sticks it to your emotions. I cried a time or two. Then I read in the author’s afterword that she named one character after the Orlando nightclub shooting victims, and cried again.

That’s good stuff, right there.