3.5 star average for the two stories I've read in this issue so far, which are both free online here at Clarkesworld magazine. Reviews first posted on3.5 star average for the two stories I've read in this issue so far, which are both free online here at Clarkesworld magazine. Reviews first posted on Fantasy Literature:
3 stars for "Fire in the Bone" by Ray Nayler, a humans-vs.-robots tale: While robots work in the field harvesting pakata for the great harvest ship that looms overhead, the unnamed narrator watches them. He somewhat impatiently listens to the philosophical musings of an acquaintance, Albert, who obliquely warns him of youthful desires that should be put away. But the narrator isn’t listening; he’s much more interested in his upcoming clandestine meeting with his forbidden lover … a robot. She meets him in the hallway, and they make arrangements to meet after the upcoming “ritual meal.”
The little church where they meet has stained glass windows that tell a story of his ancestors’ landing on this planet and their dealing with an uprising of the robots. (Some strange Christian symbolism here, BTW.) Despite his love for the robot, the narrator is uneasy about the future. But there are more reasons to be uneasy than he realizes.
It’s an interesting story, but relies too heavily on the surprise factor of an event toward the end, building up to that climactic point. It wasn’t a particularly successful build-up for me, because several events in the story seemed either highly improbable in light of the final reveal (view spoiler)[why would robots need a giant harvest ship? (hide spoiler)]or simply innately unlikely.
4 stars for "They Have All One Breath" by Karl Bunker. It's a reprint from the Dec. 2016 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction and I've posted my review there, but I'll copy it here for convenience:
James is walking down the street late one night when he meets an old friend, Ivan. They walk together toward their apartment building, talking about the huge changes that have occurred ever since the AIs started taking over. It began with weapons falling apart in soldiers’ hands and missiles and tanks fizzling out and dying, averting a war in the Middle East. At the same time, flying bots were dropping tons of food and other necessities on refugee camps to alleviate the suffering.
No one claimed ownership of these Good Samaritan cargo-bots, nor of the gremlinesque nanoes that were screwing up the mechanisms of war. It soon became known that these were machines built and run by other machines. It was becoming undeniably evident that something new was moving upon the face of the land. Indeed, that the world was being rebuilt around us, disassembled and reassembled under our feet. The AIs were taking over, and they were changing the rules.
Over the next months and years the AIs continue changing our world in ways that seem clearly benevolent, or at least intended to improve society. They create nano-bots that cure disease, they solve worldwide problems of hunger and needs, and resolve other problems … often in surprising ways. But not everyone is fully on board with the actions of “the Machine.”
“They Have All One Breath” is strongly reminiscent of Jack Williamson’s well-known classic 1947 novelette With Folded Hands..., but takes a somewhat more ambivalent, nuanced approach to the takeover of society by robots. Karl Bunker effectively uses flashbacks to relate the details of the takeover by the AIs, with the division of opinion about the benefits of the takeover being represented by James and his former partner Lisa. Though Bunker owes a major conceptual debt to Williamson, his story is a thought-provoking and well-written one that’s worth reading.
3 stars for "Fire in the Bone" by Ray Nayler, a humans-vs.-robots tale: While robots work in the field harvesting pakata for the great harvest ship that looms overhead, the unnamed narrator watches them. He somewhat impatiently listens to the philosophical musings of an acquaintance, Albert, who obliquely warns him of youthful desires that should be put away. But the narrator isn’t listening; he’s much more interested in his upcoming clandestine meeting with his forbidden lover … a robot. She meets him in the hallway, and they make arrangements to meet after the upcoming “ritual meal.”
The little church where they meet has stained glass windows that tell a story of his ancestors’ landing on this planet and their dealing with an uprising of the robots. (Some strange Christian symbolism here, BTW.) Despite his love for the robot, the narrator is uneasy about the future. But there are more reasons to be uneasy than he realizes.
It’s an interesting story, but relies too heavily on the surprise factor of an event toward the end, building up to that climactic point. It wasn’t a particularly successful build-up for me, because several events in the story seemed either highly improbable in light of the final reveal (view spoiler)[why would robots need a giant harvest ship? (hide spoiler)]or simply innately unlikely.
4 stars for "They Have All One Breath" by Karl Bunker. It's a reprint from the Dec. 2016 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction and I've posted my review there, but I'll copy it here for convenience:
James is walking down the street late one night when he meets an old friend, Ivan. They walk together toward their apartment building, talking about the huge changes that have occurred ever since the AIs started taking over. It began with weapons falling apart in soldiers’ hands and missiles and tanks fizzling out and dying, averting a war in the Middle East. At the same time, flying bots were dropping tons of food and other necessities on refugee camps to alleviate the suffering.
No one claimed ownership of these Good Samaritan cargo-bots, nor of the gremlinesque nanoes that were screwing up the mechanisms of war. It soon became known that these were machines built and run by other machines. It was becoming undeniably evident that something new was moving upon the face of the land. Indeed, that the world was being rebuilt around us, disassembled and reassembled under our feet. The AIs were taking over, and they were changing the rules.
Over the next months and years the AIs continue changing our world in ways that seem clearly benevolent, or at least intended to improve society. They create nano-bots that cure disease, they solve worldwide problems of hunger and needs, and resolve other problems … often in surprising ways. But not everyone is fully on board with the actions of “the Machine.”
“They Have All One Breath” is strongly reminiscent of Jack Williamson’s well-known classic 1947 novelette With Folded Hands..., but takes a somewhat more ambivalent, nuanced approach to the takeover of society by robots. Karl Bunker effectively uses flashbacks to relate the details of the takeover by the AIs, with the division of opinion about the benefits of the takeover being represented by James and his former partner Lisa. Though Bunker owes a major conceptual debt to Williamson, his story is a thought-provoking and well-written one that’s worth reading.
Emily St. John Mandel does it again! Station Eleven was one of my favorites a few years back and this one is pretty close to it. I love science fictioEmily St. John Mandel does it again! Station Eleven was one of my favorites a few years back and this one is pretty close to it. I love science fiction and I really love a good time travel plot, and Sea of Tranquility does the job nicely, with intricate plotting. It has a deeper plot and a more lyrical than usual style of writing than most books I read (at least in the SF genre). And just a dash of Matrix in the plot along with the bouncing back and forth in time.
It made my brain work a little harder than usual, had some thought-provoking insights into life and human nature, and it's only about 250 pages, which is something I've come to appreciate greatly in this era of overblown epics.
I was a fan of Peter Clines’ The Fold a few years ago, so I jumped at the chance to read his latest book, The Broken Room, which comes out in a few weI was a fan of Peter Clines’ The Fold a few years ago, so I jumped at the chance to read his latest book, The Broken Room, which comes out in a few weeks. Hector, a down-and-out ex-Special Ops guy, is approached by a 12 year old girl, Natalie, who has escaped from a top secret facility called the Project. The horrible experiments they’ve done on her and other illegal immigrant children there have changed her in ways that aren’t entirely clear to Hector or even Natalie yet.
But the people who run the Project want Natalie back VERY badly, and they’re sending out their forces to get her back. Natalie calls in a favor Hector owed to a guy named Tim that Hector used to work with. Tim has been dead for a few years, but somehow Natalie seems to be communicating with him. It’s all very odd to Hector, but the marker he owed needs to be honored.
So Hector and Natalie go on the run. And things get more exciting—and more strange—from there.
The Broken Room is a little hard to describe; it combines science fiction with a fair amount of horror and gore, a little social commentary on the treatment of illegal immigrants and minorities, lots of action (slowing down only for flashbacks where Natalie’s past is explained), and some weird spookiness. I would’ve liked a little better explanation of some of the weird parts, like the seed pods: an effective bit of gross horror, but the logic of them escaped me a little.
This one will stick with me for a while. It’s a solid SF thriller adventure.
Full review to come! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC....more
Another compulsively readable SF thriller from Blake Crouch! This one focuses on the good and sometimes extremely bad consequences of genetic engineerAnother compulsively readable SF thriller from Blake Crouch! This one focuses on the good and sometimes extremely bad consequences of genetic engineering. It lags a little in the middle and (as usual) Crouch plays pretty fast and loose with the science, but I enjoyed the read.
“KPS is not, and I say this with absolutely no slight intended, a brooding symphony of a novel. It’s a pop song. It’s meant to be light and catchy, wi“KPS is not, and I say this with absolutely no slight intended, a brooding symphony of a novel. It’s a pop song. It’s meant to be light and catchy, with three minutes of hooks and choruses for you to sing along with, and then you’re done and you go on with your day, hopefully with a smile on your face.” — Scalzi’s Author’s Note.
Truer words! John Scalzi's latest (to be published March 2022) is a really fun SF novel. Huge Godzilla-like monsters roam an alternative Earth, surrounded by various vicious parasites and predators. What's not to like?
Jamie Gray gets demoted from an executive position right as the 2020 pandemic hits New York, by the Boss From Hell. While barely making ends meet as a food delivery person, Jamie runs into an old friend who offers them a new job in "large animal care" ("I lift boxes," Jamie tells everyone.) But the benefits are fantastic, as long as you don't mind being completely out of touch with society for six months. Tom is a little cagey about the job details, though ... it turns out, for good reason.
A lot of this novel felt mostly like setup; the real plot conflict didn't show up until the last third. It's not the deepest read, but it's a very fun escape-type read. Scalzi gleefully imagines insane biological systems, and I just went along for the ride without worrying about whether it made any sense or not.
Bonus points if you dislike rich people who are total tools. It works as a stand-alone novel, and apparently that's what it is right now, but it's the kind of story that could easily turn into a series if successful.
I whipped through it in one evening, and it's the kind of book I might read again sometime, just for the sheer enjoyment of it.
Humanity has been on the losing end of a centuries-long war with the Superiority, the main organization of galactic races, for decades, trapped on a dHumanity has been on the losing end of a centuries-long war with the Superiority, the main organization of galactic races, for decades, trapped on a desolate planet called Detritus and fighting an ongoing war using outdated, small spacecraft to keep from being exterminated. In the second book in this series, Starsight, Spensa Nightshade, a young spaceship pilot who first distinguished herself in Skyward, found a way to leave Detritus and travel to Starsight, a massive alien space station where the galactic government is located. Spensa joined the alien space pilot training program at Starsight while spying on the Superiority to try to find a way for humanity to better fight their captors. She also discovered the hyperjumping capabilities of her alien pet Doomslug, as well as the massive and deadly alien life forms called delvers, that can be manipulated to swallow a space station or planet whole and destroy it.
As Starsight ended and hostile alien soldiers were closing in on her, Spensa took a leap, literally, into the unknown: she entered a portal into another dimension, called the “nowhere,” along with her AI sidekick M-Bot. Cytonic, Brandon Sanderson’s third book in the SKYWARD series, begins immediately on the heels of her stepping into this unknown dimension. Spensa hopes to use this portal to make her way back to her home and friends on Detritus, especially the friend for whom she’s developed Feelings. But a single delver encourages Spensa to stay and look for answers to the many questions she has about her own “cytonic” (psychic) abilities, and how she can hone those abilities to help her people.
The friendly delver tells Spensa to walk the Path of Elders, whatever that is, in the nowhere. However, Spensa’s plans are sidelined when she is promptly captured by one of the alien pirate gangs that inhabit the nowhere. Soon enough an energetic, chipper human, who goes by the unlikely name of Chet Starfinder, and even more improbably is riding on a dinosaur, thunders to her rescue. Chet cheerfully joins in Spensa’s plans to find and follow the Path of Elders, and though she is mistrustful of his motives, she needs his help to navigate the unique territory of the nowhere. Perhaps they can steal a starship from one of these ubiquitous pirate gangs?
The nowhere is a mysterious, otherworldly place. Huge fragments of land, each with its own unique climate and landscape, float around in space and occasionally collide with each other. In the nowhere, time and days melt into each other and a person’s memory tends to fade away. Chet seems to be someone whose original personality and memory has been lost, although Spensa thinks she may know who he is. But Spensa begins having trouble keeping her own memory and sense of purpose intact in the nowhere.
For many of its pages, Cytonic feels like a major detour in the overarching plot of this series, albeit a fairly entertaining one: we’re in an entirely new world, with a completely new cast of characters other than Spensa and M-Bot, and on a brand new quest that seems only tangentially related to the missions Spensa had in the prior two books. But Sanderson, of course, has a master plan, and it’s fascinating once a few surprising twists occur, previously hidden information starts to be revealed, and the pieces finally start falling into place.
Cytonic clarifies the link between the SKYWARD series and one of Sanderson’s older stories, Defending Elysium, which takes place centuries earlier, and Sanderson fans will find it worthwhile to check out (or revisit) that novelette, which is available to read on his website. Fans of this series may also be interested in three tie-in novellas/audiobooks that Sanderson has co-written with Janci Patterson: Sunreach, ReDawn and Evershore, which focus on other characters in this series (Freyja, Alanik, and Jorgen). Spensa’s adventures will be concluded in the fourth book in this series, Defiant, scheduled to be published in 2023....more
3.5 stars for this final book in the Aurora Cycle SF trilogy. Full review, first posted on FantasyLiterature.com:
Aurora’s End begins and finishes with3.5 stars for this final book in the Aurora Cycle SF trilogy. Full review, first posted on FantasyLiterature.com:
Aurora’s End begins and finishes with a bang — literally, lots of them — and sandwiches all kinds of wild events in between. (Note: this review includes some spoilers for the prior books in this series.)
When we left Squad 312, a group of young adult space academy grads trying to save the galaxy, at the end of book #2, Aurora Burning, they were split into three groups, ALL of them on the verge of being murdered in one way or another. As I commented in my review of Aurora Burning, “Kaufman and Kristoff must have worked really hard to come up with a cliffhanger of that scope and magnitude.” They’re either on the verge of being blown up by space missiles or being assaulted by Caersan, the psychopathic leader of a warrior clan whose warmongering Squad 312 has been trying to foil.
Caersan has a spaceship armed with incredibly powerful alien technology that was supposed to be used to stop the evil Ra’haam, an alien species that is trying to assimilate everyone in the galaxy into their hive mind. It’s kind of a Borg-like group, except they use plant spores to assimilate people instead of technology. But instead of using the ship’s weapon to kill the Ra’haam’s planets, as intended by the ship’s makers, Caersan is using it to kill the stars and planets where his enemies live and generally terrorize the galaxy.
Spoiler alert: no one in Squad 312 dies (well, at least not permanently) as those cliffhangers from Aurora Burning are worked out in the initial chapters of this book. But three of our heroes get zapped a couple of hundred years into the past, where they get trapped in a destructive time loop with a hostile space pilot. Two others in the group (along with Caersan and his weapon ship) get bounced a few decades into the future, when the Ra’haam has nearly completed its goal of assimilating all the races in the galaxy that it can and wiping out the rest. Meanwhile, in the present, the group’s leader Tyler has hooked up with Saedii, the warrior daughter of Caersan who is nearly as scary and deadly as her father, and is working overtime to convince her and her crew to let him try to prevent the Ra’haam from blowing up a conclave where the leaders of all spacefaring races in the galaxy are gathering.
The pace of Aurora’s End is very quick, almost frantic at times, and it kept me glued to my chair for an entire evening and well into the night. The writing style is breezy and the humor snarky. It’s an exciting roller coaster ride of a read, though events push the boundaries of believability. In particular, I couldn’t really buy the somewhat simplistic way the massive conflict with the Ra’haam was ultimately resolved. Since that’s the primary conflict driving this entire series, that dissatisfaction was a problem for me with this concluding book.
But all in all it’s a pretty well put-together space trilogy. The plot is satisfyingly complex, especially once the time travel element is introduced. Several of the main characters have unusual backstories, enough that they’re not cardboard cutouts. They’re also a diverse crew; though most of the diversity arises from the fact that they’re from different planets, there are some characters with different sexual orientations.
If you’re looking for a fun YA science fiction series with adventure, humor and romance, I’d recommend the Aurora Cycle.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!...more
That was great fun, and so hard to put down! I downloaded it at midnight, read half and then finished it up this morning. Romeo and Juliet get a kickaThat was great fun, and so hard to put down! I downloaded it at midnight, read half and then finished it up this morning. Romeo and Juliet get a kickass Ilona Andrews upgrade in Fated Blades, a standalone short novel set in the Kinsman universe.
Ramona and Matias, the two heads of feuding kinsmen families, both of secare (elite warrior) clans, are forced to cooperate when their two spouses run off together, stealing both families' vital scientific research, with plans to sell it to the Big Bad of their galactic sector. They need to track down their spouses, get back the research data, get rid of the bad guys (and maybe their spouses), and keep everything secret to avoid losing face. Sparks fly, on every level.
It's a quick, fast read, not as complex and layered as their very best work, but Ilona Andrews fans will have a good time.
Content note: R-rated for violence, explicit sex and a few scattered F-bombs....more
4.5 stars. This is really a pretty great SF detective murder mystery, with an original near-future setting and an interestingly convoluted plot that (4.5 stars. This is really a pretty great SF detective murder mystery, with an original near-future setting and an interestingly convoluted plot that (despite some initial doubts I had), worked out to a very satisfying ending. A worldwide pandemic has killed many and left a significant number of the survivors completely physically disabled. These Haden’s Syndrome survivors can mentally control robots (called “threeps” after C3P0) using an implanted neural net.
A new arena game called Hilketa — in which Haden-controlled threeps tear the head off of a threep on the other team and score a goal with it — has become popular. It’s satisfyingly violent but nobody actually gets hurt. Until people mysteriously start dying. A pair of FBI agents, one of them a Haden named Chris from a very wealthy family, investigates along with their partner, a bulldog of a detective named Leslie Vann.
You could read Head On standalone, but for better context and to get to know the main characters, I recommend starting with the prequel novelette Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome (which is free online at Tor.com) and/or the first book, Lock In, if possible....more
Continuing my Scalzi splurge with this third book in the Old Man’s War series. Galactic politicking, conspiracy and space battles make the already difContinuing my Scalzi splurge with this third book in the Old Man’s War series. Galactic politicking, conspiracy and space battles make the already difficult and dangerous lives of a small group of planetary colonists far more dangerous and deadly. A few loose ends (WHY DID THE WEREWOLVES DISAPPEAR?) but I really enjoyed the ending, where things come full circle in a soul-satisfying way....more
A solid mystery set in a fascinating near-future world, where a pandemic has caused permanent "lock-in" for a substantial part of the world's populatiA solid mystery set in a fascinating near-future world, where a pandemic has caused permanent "lock-in" for a substantial part of the world's population. Their brain is still active, but they can't move their bodies at all any more - permanently. Their lives are immeasurably improved by robot bodies that their minds can inhabit, as well as human ones who can temporarily host the minds of the locked-in. They also have an active online society.
With all this going on, it's especially hard to tell who is behind some murders and corporate sabotage. Technology and ethics collide in this intelligent mystery.
Not my favorite of Scalzi's works, but I liked it and the main character, an FBI agent who is one of the locked-in, well enough that I'll go pick up the next book....more
Several years after reading Old Man's War, I finally decided to give this second book in the series a read. It didn’t have as much humor as the first Several years after reading Old Man's War, I finally decided to give this second book in the series a read. It didn’t have as much humor as the first book (in fact, there’s a fair amount of tragedy and awful behavior in it). But it expands this world in some very interesting ways, and I was impressed by the ethical dilemmas that Scalzi takes up in the pages of this book....more
On sale now! 4+ stars for this great fantasy/SF mashup.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” - Arthur C. Clarke.
ThiOn sale now! 4+ stars for this great fantasy/SF mashup.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” - Arthur C. Clarke.
This short novel is about the intersection between highly advanced technology and a society that views it as magic, along with the linguistic difficulties that prevent the local society's people from understanding the difference even when the anthropologist who's been studying them for years tries to explain it. Also it's about a quest to destroy a Lovecraftian demon/monstrous entity of some unfamiliar kind, and juggling non-interference rules (Prime Directive, anyone?) with less technologically advanced societies (and where those rules maybe should be tossed out the window). And emotional problems, and friendship. And did I mention the fascinating linguistic aspects?
Adrian Tchaikovsky is such a brilliant, versatile author - I never know what he's going to come up with next, but I know it'll be good. And I love these short stand-alone novels and novellas that he's been writing lately.
Full review to come (I'm working on it...). Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!...more
4.5 stars. This is such a fun, fascinating mashup of a murder mystery, humorous boy-band dynamics and The Island of Dr. Moreau. The boy band here is a4.5 stars. This is such a fun, fascinating mashup of a murder mystery, humorous boy-band dynamics and The Island of Dr. Moreau. The boy band here is a group of five half-human, half-animal young men, all with very different personalities and quirks. The murder victim is their overbearing band manager, who's found clawed to death after a party in a hotel where lots of people were high and/or drunk. He was a truly awful person that lots of people wouldn't mind seeing dead. Everyone's a suspect!
Daryl Gregory is brilliant when he's on. Half a star off because the science fiction parts are so totally unbelievable; you just kind of have to roll with it. But it's otherwise a very smart, funny book with some great personalities and a solid murder plot to back it up.
Full review to come! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy of the ebook.
Content advisory: Sex, drugs, some gore, and F-bombs litter the pages like confetti. I still got a kick out of it. ...more
There are few better literary thrills than unexpectedly stumbling across a Murderbot story! Especially if it's an online freebie.
This story is set aftThere are few better literary thrills than unexpectedly stumbling across a Murderbot story! Especially if it's an online freebie.
This story is set after the first four novellas in this series (and yes, you really do need to read them first). Murderbot is now in the Preservation System with Dr. Ayda Mensah, the closest person to a friend it has, and Murderbot has come a long way to even consider being friends with someone. Mensah is struggling with PTSD in the aftermath of being kidnapped in Exit Strategy, but she's assiduously hiding her personal trauma from everyone around her. The rest of Preservation is struggling with the problem of having a highly dangerous Security Unit on their peaceful planet (the words "killing machine" are thought, if not said).
This is a quieter story in the series, and not a lot happens, but it's always a pleasure being in this fascinating world. "Home: Habitat" is notable for being narrated by Mensah, and I liked being inside her head and seeing how she views Murderbot. They have such a unique relationship and respect for each other.
SecUnit is looking down at her. “You can hug me if you need to.” “No. No, that’s all right. I know you don’t care for it.” She wipes her face. There are tears in her eyes, because she’s an idiot. “It’s not terrible.” She can hear the irony under its even tone.
Very good, but more of a hard-hitting psychological suspense novel than a sci-fi adventure. So it'll help if you set your expectations accordingly. :)Very good, but more of a hard-hitting psychological suspense novel than a sci-fi adventure. So it'll help if you set your expectations accordingly. :) Final review, just posted on FantasyLiterature.com:
I loved The Hunger Games, thought Catching Fire was quite good if not as great as the first one, and was only so-so on Mockingjay. Also, it’s an uphill battle to write a good, enjoyable prequel if the reader already knows what’s going to happen to the main character in the later books and (spoiler) it’s highly unpleasant. So I hesitated for over a year to read Collin’s latest HUNGER GAMES book, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but when I saw it on my local library’s shelf a few weeks ago I decided to give it a shot. It was surprisingly good!
It’s some sixty-four years before Katniss will enter the Hunger Games. The Capitol recently won a brutal civil war against the rebellious districts, and as part of their punishment of the districts, instituted the Hunger Games ten years ago. The Games aren’t the spectacle that they will later become; they’re more a brief, brutal battle to the death between twenty-four hapless youths, a boy and a girl from each district, who are kept in filthy cages before the Games start and fight in a dilapidated sports arena. Little attention is paid to the Games by most people, so, to try to increase the Hunger Games’ popularity with viewers, this year those in charge of the Games have assigned a high school-aged mentor to each contestant.
Teenager Coriolanus Snow is from a distinguished Capitol family that has fallen into the depths of poverty but is desperately hiding it from everyone. When he’s chosen as a mentor and is assigned the District 12 tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, he’s initially fearful that she’s one of the weakest contestants and will hurt his chances for a needed college scholarship. So while he brainstorms ways to increase the mass appeal of the Games, Coriolanus finagles his way into meeting with Lucy Gray several times before the Games start, to try to increase her (and his) popularity with viewers. More importantly, Lucy Gray turns out to be far more intelligent, talented and attractive than Coriolanus or anyone else guessed, and his attraction to her grows along with his assessment of her chances for winning the Games.
As in the main HUNGER GAMES trilogy, the action in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is melded with social commentary. Here, though, the overall story is much more deliberately paced, as it focuses on the internal thoughts and psychology of Coriolanus Snow and the people and society around him. Collins does a great job of creating a conflicted, complex character in teenage Coriolanus Snow, who’s from a distinguished Capitol family that has fallen into the depths of poverty but is desperately hiding it from everyone. This desperation informs Coriolanus’ character and choices: social, educational and financial security and the good opinion of others are so important to him, and it easily slides into self-centeredness and pride. He’s charming, intelligent and well-spoken, but ruthlessly ambitious (“Snow always lands on top!” is the family motto) and often deceptive. Still, at this point in his life there’s still good in Coriolanus, and being around Lucy Gray brings out the better part of him.
As a counterpart to the goodness and morality of Lucy Gray and Coriolanus’ classmate Sejanus, there’s Dr. Gaul, a coldblooded teacher who conducts cruel genetic experiments and creates both human and animal mutations, including neon-colored, deadly snakes, and seems to view herself as a kind of mentor to Coriolanus. The snakes and songbirds motif surfaces repeatedly, as both birds and serpents play roles in the story in both physical and symbolic ways: Lucy Gray Baird (Bird?) is a singer with a musical group called the Covey (a small group of birds); Coriolanus makes use of the recording abilities of jabberjays but is disturbed by the crossbred, unruly mockingjays; and snakes become a key element in the plot … more than once, in fact.
It’s interesting to see the differences between where the Hunger Games are at this point in time and what they become a generation later, when Katniss plays. You can see the seeds of a lot of those later changes beginning here. Many of the facets of the games in Katniss’ day, like betting on contestants and sending them food and valuable goods by drones, have their genesis here.
Extra points to the author for the depth added to this novel through her inclusion of various philosophies about human nature and warfare, which play out in the various characters’ roles and the choices Coriolanus makes. Tip: take just a few minutes to familiarize yourself a little with the competing philosophies of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, if you’re not already knowledgeable about them. Collins also explains her thinking and these philosophies in an intriguing afterword.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a book that has deeper layers to dig out and think over. It’s not always pleasant to be in the head of a future dictator, but it’s a fascinating view into the development of both his personality and the Hunger Games themselves....more
2.5 stars. Rabbits is a real-world, highly secretive game, with a massive prize at stake. It's been going since about 1959 (maybe much longer? no one 2.5 stars. Rabbits is a real-world, highly secretive game, with a massive prize at stake. It's been going since about 1959 (maybe much longer? no one is quite sure) and there have been ten iterations of it so far. The ability to observe and follow up on patterns in everything around you is critical, as is a knowledge of 70's and 80's tech and videogames. (Sounding a little familiar?)
Rabbits has always been an edgy and dangerous game, but now as the 11th game is starting, people are disappearing and dying right and left. Our main character, K, has been a fan of Rabbits for years. A famous player in the game finds K and tells him he needs to fix the game or the whole world will pay a terrible price ... then promptly disappears. And now it looks like the nature of reality itself may be being affected by the game. K and his gaming friend/love interest Chloe keep getting told to stop playing the game or they'll die ... but it's really hard to let it go.
If you loved Ready Player One you might really enjoy this. I was only so-so on Ready Player One, and I think this book has other issues that one didn't - it's disjointed (seriously, it jumps around in really bizarre ways, part of the whole "what is real?" element to the plot), characterization is slim, and the answers in the end left me dissatisfied. But if you like the idea of following up on obscure game clues and doing it in a real world setting, with lots of geeky details, you may really enjoy it.
Full review to come. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC!
It’s alarming to wake up from a coma in completely unfamiliar surroundings, teth4.5 stars! On sale now. Review first posted on FantasyLiterature.com:
It’s alarming to wake up from a coma in completely unfamiliar surroundings, tethered to a bed by tubes and electrodes, with a computer voice quizzing you and robotic arms controlling your movements. It’s even more disturbing when you realize that you have no recollection of your name or your past life, and that there are two long-dead bodies in the room with you.
But gradually, through a series of flashback memories, Ryland Grace remembers that Earth is facing an extinction event: a Russian scientist discovered that a strange line has developed between the sun and Venus, and it’s causing the sun to lose energy at a rate that’s high enough to cause a worldwide ice age in the next few decades. Grace, a disgraced molecular biologist who abandoned academia to teach middle school science, was one of the scientists investigating the unique microorganisms, christened Astrophage, causing the sun’s disastrous decline in energy.
Now his explorations of his current surroundings lead him to the realization that he’s in a spaceship headed to the Tau Ceti star system, on a one-way trip in search of a way to save the Earth, and the other two members of his crew didn’t survive the medically-induced comas during the long voyage of the Hail Mary. But a major surprise awaits Grace at his destination: humanity isn’t the only race looking to the Tau Ceti system for a possible answer to the problem of Astrophage.
Andy Weir’s latest science fiction adventure, Project Hail Mary, marks a welcome return to form for fans of The Martian, after his lackluster second novel, Artemis. There’s the same hyper-focus on fine details of technology and science, one of Weir’s hallmarks, along with a series of critical events that our intrepid main character needs to overcome through a combination of scientific knowledge and inventiveness. Ryland Grace, who narrates the novel, also bears a distinct resemblance to Mark Watney: he’s an enthusiastically geeky and inventive scientist with an engaging voice and sense of humor, faced with a life-and-death situation.
“How did you do it? What killed it?” “I penetrated the outer membrane with a nanosyringe.” “You poked it with a stick?” “No!” I said. “Well. Yes. But it was a scientific poke with a very scientific stick.”
But the stakes are higher here, the adventure more far-reaching, and there’s a subtle complexity to Grace’s character that is fully revealed toward the end, along with a (related) twist in the narrative that is logical but still managed to surprise me. Weir displays some subtleties in his writing in Project Hail Mary that go beyond his previous works of fiction. Weir also handles the dual timeline in this novel well, with the flashbacks flowing naturally as a result of Grace’s slowly-dispersing amnesia. These memories gradually fill in the background and reveal the full scope of the Astrophage problem and the reasons and hopes for Grace’s current mission, while the current timeline follows his adventures and mishaps once he reaches the ship’s destination … and beyond.
Much of Project Hail Mary is about Grace’s unanticipated friendship with another character who is tremendously pleasing in both his sheer alienness and his open-heartedness toward Ryland. While my practical mind debated the wisdom of Grace and the alien oversharing information about the location of their home worlds (I was deeply influenced by Murray Leinster’s classic novelette “First Contact” at an impressionable age), their developing trust and friendship is undeniably heartwarming.
Great books and movies are often marked by their attention to themes of love and redemption, and Project Hail Mary has both in spades. (I’m still trying to decide whether the title and the main character’s name are a deliberate call-out by Weir to “Hail Mary, full of Grace.” I’m inclined to think it is.) In any case, these compelling themes, plus a suspenseful, page-turning adventure and the inspiring scientific creativity of the characters (assuming you’re a reader who enjoys Weir’s attention to technical details in his plots), make Project Hail Mary a sure-fire hit for fans of The Martian … and may very well win him new fans.
Initial post: Just when I'd given up, my NetGalley request for this book got approved! This time Andy Weir came much closer to the magic that was The Martian. :)...more
A Beginning at the End is set in a near-future world where, in 2019, a deadly worldwide pandemic kFinal review, first posted on FantasyLiterature.com:
A Beginning at the End is set in a near-future world where, in 2019, a deadly worldwide pandemic kills some five billion people, including seventy percent of the U.S. population. Johanna Moira Hatfield, a teenage pop music star known as Mojo, tired of being browbeaten by her stage father, Evan, uses the sudden panic at her Madison Square Garden concert to disappear into the crowd in search of a new life.
Six years later, in San Francisco in 2025, MoJo has a new name, Moira Gorman, a job, and a fiancé who she’s not really in love with, but he represents stability in a society that’s still fragile and unstable, as well as safety from her father, who’s still looking for his MoJo. Moira’s wedding planner, Krista Deal, has a somewhat similar backstory: Krista faked her own death years ago to escape her drug-addicted, dysfunctional mother. Wedding planning isn’t paying the bills, though, so when Krista hears that Evan Hatfield believes MoJo is in the San Francisco area and is offering a huge reward to anyone who can help him find her, she’s naturally interested … not realizing that her client Moira is MoJo.
Moira’s co-worker Rob Deal has his own set of tragic family issues: he lost his beloved wife to an accident during the pandemic years ago, but has never been able to bring himself to tell his seven-year-old daughter Sunny the truth about her mother’s death. Rob tells Sunny that her mother has been in medical treatment all these years, and while Sunny believes him, she’s beginning to act out. Her misbehavior at school threatens to lead to her being taken away from him by the powerful Family Stability Board. Rob’s a loner with no real friends, but perhaps his new acquaintance Krista Deal can testify to the Board as to his adequacy as a father (especially if he pays her a little money under the table)?
A Beginning at the End was published in early 2020, so it anticipated the COVID-19 pandemic (like another duology I recently read, Tosca Lee’s The Line Between and A Single Light). Here’s it’s not the actual disaster that Mike Chen is primarily focused on, but the aftermath and particularly the lives of this group of characters. What remains of society is being put back together in new ways: some cities are back to some semblance of normality, while others live in the lawless outskirts of society. People in general are still traumatized by the deaths of so many, including their friends and family, and the flu-like MGS virus remains a threat, with outbreaks of new variants.
Moira, Krista and Rob are emblematic of this sense of loss and distress. All three, not to mention Rob’s daughter Sunny, have serious issues to work through — though interestingly enough, their personal problems are only indirectly tied to the actual MGS pandemic. These characters are flawed but likeable, and the novel’s ultimately uplifting plot gives a timely nod to the benefits of found family (often over a problematic bio family).
A Beginning at the End is a quieter type of post-apocalyptic tale, more about interpersonal relationships and individual healing than about the larger changes caused by the worldwide pandemic. Like Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven, this novel takes a more introspective approach to the aftereffects of a worldwide epidemic, but I found Mandel’s book more skillfully and lyrically told and much more compelling than A Beginning at the End, which felt rather plodding at times. The pacing and excitement picks up toward the end, but I didn’t find Chen’s characters quite interesting enough to justify all the time spent on their personal struggles, as opposed to exploring more deeply the broader, more intriguing changes in this post-apocalyptic society.
It’s unnerving reading a book about a devastating pandemic at this point during the COVID-19 crisisFinal review first posted on FantasyLiterature.com:
It’s unnerving reading a book about a devastating pandemic at this point during the COVID-19 crisis, but in fairness, this near-future SF duology by Tosca Lee was published in 2019, so Lee gets credit for anticipating a timely topic. The first book, The Line Between, tells how Wynter Roth, a young woman in her early twenties, escapes from a doomsday cult and (obligatory spoiler warning for the first book here) is entrusted with some tissue samples that may help with the development of a vaccine against the growing pandemic. It’s a rapid onset dementia virus that is — unsurprisingly, since this is a science fiction novel — almost invariably deadly to those who catch it.
At the end of The Line Between, Wynter, her niece Truly, her new boyfriend Chase (with whom she fortuitously met up during her desperate travels), and a couple of family friends are lucky enough to befriend a doomsday prepper, Noah. Noah (with even more foresight than the author) shrewdly built a large, completely decked-out underground silo where sixty-three people, including Wynter’s group, are completely sealed in for six months, in the hope that when the automated door unlocks the pandemic will have passed.
A Single Light begins right where The Line Between left off. Wynter and the others tucked away in the hidden silo are adjusting to their restricted but safe life underground. At least everyone there is healthy, and there’s ample food, as well as a nightly broadcast from Noah, who remained aboveground to help guard their safety, among other reasons. But too soon, Noah’s video communications abruptly cease for an unknown reason. The close quarters and lack of any news from the outside world combine with fear and stress to cause serious problems for the hidden group, not least Wynter herself, especially when murder accusations against her — she was a busy girl in the first book — become public knowledge.
So it’s a relief when the silo’s electronic door opens after six months, though more than a little disturbing because it happens a few days before it was scheduled to open, and there’s no sign of Noah … or any other living person, for that matter. Wynter and Chase set off on an expedition to find out what’s become of Noah and our society, and to try to find some badly-needed antibiotics for a dying member of their group.
Through Wynter’s eyes, who tells this story in first person present tense, A Single Light shows the bleakness of a nation where society has crumbled. Most people are desperately seeking food and medication, while a few take advantage of the disintegration of the rule of law. There’s a hint of both Mad Max and The Walking Dead in Wynter’s and Chase’s travels. Their exploits were engaging and suspenseful, especially when they come to a large town that seems to have the medicine they need, but the town is ruled by a viciously cruel kingpin and his henchmen. The ending of A Single Light felt rushed, as Lee quickly wraps up various plot threads and pulls in a few new ones, in a somewhat scattershot approach.
Wynter is a character defined by her alarming impetuousness and dramatic tendencies, but also her undeniable courage and loyalty to her friends … at least those she can trust. At one point early on Chase is forced to divulge a surprising secret to the silo group. While I loved the new light this shed on his role in the story, I found Wynter’s reaction over the top. It’s not quite as bad as Bella’s shutdown in New Moon in the TWILIGHT SAGA, but close enough. She’s not my favorite type of character, but her reactions are understandable given her traumatic upbringing. The other inhabitants of the underground silo group are roughly sketched-in characters at best, but Wynter does meet a few more memorable people in the course of her travels, particularly Otto, a kindhearted mute man.
As in The Line Between, there’s a discernable spiritual element to this tale. For the most part it’s very subtle, surfacing only occasionally (it’s notable that there’s no indication Wynter ever has premarital sex) and becoming clearer toward the end. Also like the first book, A Single Light has an allusive title, suggesting the need for spiritual light in an increasingly dark world. A Single Light is an intriguing apocalyptic-type adventure, and a quick, gripping read.
3.5 stars.
Thanks to the author, Tosca Lee, for the ARC (and sorry it took me so long to get to it!)....more
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