Powers
Ursula K. Le Guin
When young Gavir's sister is brutally killed, he escapes from slavery and sets out to explore the world and his own psychic abilities.

by Terry Pratchett (2007)
The Ankh-Morpork Post Office is running like . . . well, not at all like a government office. The mail is delivered promptly; meetings start and end on time; five out of six letters relegated to the Blind Letter Office ultimately wend their way to the correct addresses. Postmaster General Moist von Lipwig, former arch-swindler and confidence man, has exceeded all expectations—including his own. So it's somewhat disconcerting when Lord Vetinari summons Moist to the palace and asks, "Tell me, Mr. Lipwig, would you like to make some real money?"Vetinari isn't talking about wages, of course. He's referring, rather, to the Royal Mint of Ankh-Morpork, a venerable institution that haas run for centuries on the hereditary employment of the Men of the Sheds and their loyal outworkers, who do make money in their spare time. Unfortunately, it costs more than a penny to make a penny, so the whole process seems somewhat counterintuitive.Next door, at the Royal Bank, the Glooper, an "analogy machine," has scientifically established that one never has quite as much money at the end of the week as one thinks one should, and the bank's chairman, one elderly Topsy (nee Turvy) Lavish, keeps two loaded crossbows at her desk. Oh, and the chief clerk is probably a vampire.But before Moist has time to fully consider Vetinari's question, fate answers it for him. Now he's not only making money, but enemies too; he's got to spring a prisoner from jail, break into his own bank vault, stop the new manager from licking his face, and, above all, find out where all the gold has gone—otherwise, his life in banking, while very exciting, is going to be really, really short. . . .
Ursula K. Le Guin
When young Gavir's sister is brutally killed, he escapes from slavery and sets out to explore the world and his own psychic abilities.
Ian McDonald
Think Bladerunner in the tropics ... Be seduced, amazed, and shocked by one of the world's greatest and strangest nations. Past, present, and future Brazil, with all its color, passion, and shifting realities, come together in a novel that is part SF, part history, part mystery, and entirely enthralling. Three separate stories follow three main characters: Edson is a self-made talent impressario one step up from the slums in a near future São Paulo of astonishing riches and poverty. A chance encounter draws Edson into the dangerous world of illegal quantum computing, but where can you run in a total surveillance society where every move, face, and centavo is constantly tracked? Marcelina is an ambitious Rio TV producer looking for that big reality TV hit to make her name. When her hot idea leads her on the track of a disgraced World Cup soccer goalkeeper, she becomes enmeshed in an ancient conspiracy that threatens not just her life, but her very soul. Father Luis is a Jesuit missionary sent into the maelstrom of 18th-century Brazil to locate and punish a rogue priest who has strayed beyond the articles of his faith and set up a vast empire in the hinterland. In the company of a French geographer and spy, what he finds in the backwaters of the Amazon tries both his faith and the nature of reality itself to the breaking point. Three characters, three stories, three Brazils, all linked together across time, space, and reality in a hugely ambitious story that will challenge the way you think about everything.
Cory Doctorow
Seventeen year old Marcus and his friends are in the wrong place at the wrong time during a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. They are held by the Department of Homeland Security for days before being released only to discover that their city has turned into surveillance society police state. They decide to resist in the only way they know how by taking on the DHS. This book is distributed freely under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike license from the author's website.
Shannon Chakraborty
Shannon Chakraborty, the bestselling author of The City of Brass, launches a new trilogy of magic and mayhem with this tale of pirates and sorcerers, forbidden artefacts and ancient mysteries, and one woman's quest to seize a final chance at glory. A pirate of infamy and one of the most storied and scandalous captains to sail the seven seas. Amina al-Sirafi has survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural. But when she's offered a job no bandit could refuse, she jumps at the chance for one final adventure with her old crew that will make her a legend and offers a fortune that will secure her and her family's future forever. Yet the deeper Amina dives the higher the stakes. For there's always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savour just a bit more power.and the price might be your very soul.