A cool sci-fi noir with a great conceit, a strange 1980s New York urban fantasy, and a lively rock-inflected house mix

Roundup 05/12/2024

Greetings from Read Max HQ, and welcome to our weekly roundup column, in which I pick out some worthwhile and often overlooked books, articles, movies, and music to recommend to paying subscribers. For this week’s round-up, I’ve got:

• A non-cyberpunk sci-fi noir with a smart central conceit;

• a strange and moody urban fantasy set in 1980s New York City;

• a rock-flavored house mix featuring Led Zeppelin and Janis Joplin from one of the world’s great DJs;

• links about: Tradwives! Protest battles in L.A.! A new newsletter about the military-industrial complex!

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Now, the roundup. First, as always, a dispatch from the future: