In Strike Me Down, the latest novel from Mindy Mejia, the sport of kickboxing does indeed provide the central metaphor, but it also functions as a tool for characterization. As both combat sport and high-dollar entertainment business, kickboxing is a maul, cleaving apart the central characters’ civilized selves from their baser desires, exposing a raw edge and forcing them to face truths about themselves and each other.

Gish Jen’s latest novel, The Resisters, is what might happen if Margaret Atwood’s classic The Handmaid’s Tale met the beloved movie The Sandlot in a not-too-far-off alternative universe where AI rules supreme. A testament to the revolutionary power of the pick-up game, The Resisters explores the survival of a family under the eye of “Aunt Nettie,” a big-brotheresque artificial intelligence program who manages every aspect of life, political and domestic (basically, your Alexa-fueled nightmares come to life).