Claire signed up for her remote outpost at the edges of human-inhabited space for a reason - she doesn't want to get attached to people. On the last dClaire signed up for her remote outpost at the edges of human-inhabited space for a reason - she doesn't want to get attached to people. On the last day before her job is going to be automated and she's to go back to society, her crew picks up on a distress signal. They find the motherlode: the Aurora, a luxury space cruiser that mysteriously disappeared 20 years ago. Her crew decides to board to claim their findings, but months later, Claire is held for questioning as the only survivor of her crew.
What a fantastic combination of scifi and horror! I listened to the majority of this in one sitting on a long car ride and I couldn't read it fast enough. Space survival stories just do something for me emotionally - I was so invested in Claire and the crew, wanting them to get out safe even though we know some of them are dead. They stumble across hundreds upon hundreds of dead bodies, which is eerie on its own, but the way that the author unravels their discovery of the state of the ship elevated that. Not only that, but Claire has struggled with hallucinations all her life - and now the crew is having them too. This makes all of the characters unreliable in a way that doesn't feel cliche. I really enjoyed the split timeline of the crew's exploration alongside Claire telling the story of it - that was paced really well. I also liked that it decided to go further than just the crew's exploration. I feel like a lot of authors would have solved it there, but I liked that we went further in time to solve the mystery rather than solving it the first time. Speaking of solving, I thought that the solution to this book was great - it felt logical given the story but wasn't easy to predict. The audiobook narrator was also acting her head off, she did such a good job!
Overall, this was a rollercoaster I didn't want to get off. If you like horror or scifi, I need you to read this!...more
39 women and one girl have been locked in a bunker for years - they don't know how much time has passed, they don't know how or why they were taken, a39 women and one girl have been locked in a bunker for years - they don't know how much time has passed, they don't know how or why they were taken, and they're not allowed to do much of anything. Now that our main character is becoming a teenager, she begins to ask more questions.
I suggest going into this book knowing nothing - but even upon a reread I think this book will have much to give the reader. This short book had me on the edge of my seat desperate for answers. As it goes along and the fate of the characters is revealed, the reader realizes that they have been led just as the main character has been, put more into her shoes than at first it may seem. The science fiction portion of this is not the point of the book - the resilience of the character and the hope she holds is. The author's life as a WWII refugee and later a psychologist definitely informed how the main character, someone who has been so displaced from a "normal" life she has a difficult time seeing herself as human, reacts to her very unique circumstances. After finishing this book, I was reeling thinking about what the author left me with. There's not much else I can say without potential spoilers!
Overall, this book left me in shock over the implications of its ending, and how the author portrays people stripped of everything. I would recommend this for fans of The Long Walk!...more
n the 2050's, Earth's toxicity has caused most of those who can afford it to go off-planet. We follow a plethora of voices of those who are on-planet n the 2050's, Earth's toxicity has caused most of those who can afford it to go off-planet. We follow a plethora of voices of those who are on-planet and their struggles to survive, make life, and make happiness in a quiet apocalypse, especially as some from off-planet are coming back to gentrify the planet.
I read this for my 12 friends, 12 books, 12 recommendations challenge of 2023. I had listened to Riot Baby before, but absorbed so little of it that I was nervous going into this one. This is definitely one that takes a lot of brain power, but I did gather more from this one than Riot Baby. Little caveat: this is biblically inspired, and my knowledge of the Bible is rudimentary at best. Any indirect references went straight over my head.
This book was a lot. There were so many perspectives and characters, nearly too many to keep track of. Some narratives made more sense to me than others. My favorite by far was about the prison takeover - it was IMO the most powerful but also the one I could follow the easiest, since it was told in a condensed way instead of how the other stories were formatted to cut between one another. Those intercut chapters each made sense individually, but I definitely struggled to keep any continuing plots straight. One thing that might be controversial is I loved the subtle worldbuilding - Clark tells you nothing outright and only introduces new concepts when it would be natural for the characters, who are already used to this world, to mention them. There were so many themes that were tackled, and in well-done ways: climate justice, gentrification and white flight, the destructive cycle of poverty, the continuous and nonlinear fight for justice, searching for hope and life during desolate times. The themes of this book will stick with me, but I don't think that the plot or characters will. I personally would've liked a little bit more of an overarching plot, but I think the author did what he set out to do.
Overall, this is one of those books that I appreciate more than I enjoyed. While the themes are important for all to read, the unique formatting will isolate a lot of readers, including this one....more
Thank you so much to Tor for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Written in several vaguely connected, uniquely formatted short storiesThank you so much to Tor for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Written in several vaguely connected, uniquely formatted short stories, two souls keep meeting and being torn apart throughout time in a world where the ghosts of the dead live their undead lives among the living.
I was so excited when I read the synopsis of this - but it turns out that this book was nothing like what I thought it would be. I was anticipating that this would be similar to This is How You Lose the Time War, with a love story surrounded by an esoteric plot, but this was not a love story and more esoteric than any book that I've ever read - and while I love weird books, this didn't work for me. I loved the first story - about a cult TV show where people believe the characters will transcend the show - but was expecting to get some sort of answers at the end of the story if not the book as a whole, and we never did. The story about a girl who moved in with an older woman haunted by her husband was probably the second best to me, probably because I fully understood what was going on. There were a couple very short ones up front that were heavily about political divides and nationalism and etc tearing up personal relationships, which I liked the themes of. But the further we went, the more incomprehensible the book became. The connections between the stories felt tenuous enough that I wouldn't have known that the characters were all the same were it not in the synopsis. Maybe that's because several of these stories were published in other places first, and maybe were shoved in rather than written for this collection - I don't know. I just couldn't understand what was happening even while I was reading it.
Overall, this book completely lost me. I couldn't tell you what happened in it. I got some of the themes, but a lot of this went over my head....more
Malachi Constant is the richest man in the world. Winston Niles Rumfoord is another rich man who funded his own space travel, which accidentally endedMalachi Constant is the richest man in the world. Winston Niles Rumfoord is another rich man who funded his own space travel, which accidentally ended in his (and his dog's) conciousness being spread out from the Sun to Betelgeuse, appearing and disappearing at random intervals to any place in between. When Rumfoord summons Malachi to his mansion, he informs him of his future: Malachi will marry Rumfoord's wife and he will live on Titan - but he's got a few planets to visit first.
This is my third Vonnegut, the first two being his most popular books (Slaughterhouse-five and Cat's Cradle) and are favorites of mine. As expected with Vonnegut, this is very strange, sarcastic, satirical science fiction with lots of weird happenings mixed with actual philosophy. I was curious enough of what was to happen next that I got through this very quickly. There were several funny moments that got a laugh out of me. This book is mostly about free will (or the lack thereof) and people finding their purpose. I quite liked the themes, and there were a few explorations into them that made me think, but I wasn't in love with the plot of the book. There were some sections that were duller or could have been shorter. Also, I wanted more connection to these characters and their relationships, no matter how ridiculous they are.
Overall, this didn't have the most amazing plot, but I liked the themes, that "A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."...more
Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars Dr. Tamsyn Rivers is a scienThank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars Dr. Tamsyn Rivers is a scientist who lives for her work, especially since she was assigned to work on the top-secret problem of her city sinking with no apparent scientific reason. But she's keeping a secret even from her team - her basement has been growing at the same rate the city is sinking. It keeps stretching and stretching before an impenetrable door appears, and from it comes an exact copy of Tamsyn.
This was an interesting take on doppelgangers that I'm glad I kept with, because I nearly DNFed. The first section of this book dragged with repetitve scenes and fictional science that even this engineer found hard to follow. For the doppelganger being the main point of the synopsis, it seemed to take a long time before she appeared. Anything before then strained my interest thin and could have been slimmed down. It was especially infuriating at that point that she refused to tell anyone else about what was happening. However, everything after was much more fascinating. The most engaging part of this story was by far the interactions between the two Tamsyns and how their scientific minds interact with this impossibility. While the nature of their relationship is predictable, it is no less horrifying. I liked that this addressed the cliches of the traditional doppelganger plot and decided to go against many of them. The last volume in particular I found to be stellar and evened out how I felt about the beginning.
Overall, I'm glad to have another scifi horror to recommend to others. The beginning was a drag, but the ending made it worth the read....more
A man wakes up in a burning circle of a field with no memory of who he is or what he's doing. He appears to be in Medieval England, but they also speaA man wakes up in a burning circle of a field with no memory of who he is or what he's doing. He appears to be in Medieval England, but they also speak modern English. His only guide? The Frugal Wizard's Guide to Medieval England, a guidebook that's a poorly veiled advertizement rather than actual help, which has also been blown to pieces.
Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors, if not my favorite. Getting the secret projects was a must for me. This is the only of the four books to not be in the Cosmere. I think that if this was wrtten by another author I woudn't have picked it up, and if it wasn't a secret project I wouldn't have prioritized it. This is my fourteenth (dang, and only in 4 years omg) Sanderson I've read, and unfortunately is one of my least favorites.
Reading this not in the secret project copy is a travesty - the comics done in the margins by Steve Argyle are adorable and heartwarming, telling a story of the very cute and small Frugal Wizard as he goes on his merry questing way. The illustrations range from simple to complicated, but burst with personality without a single word. My number one push to continue flipping through the pages was to see what happens to this sweet little guy and his dragon egg! I full heartedly want a comic series about him.
But about the acutal plot: the strongest part of this story was the awesome ideas in the worldbuilding. It's minor spoilers, but in the future, humanity has discovered the multiverse, and the infinite realities have been given different different purposes for people to traverse - some for research, but many, like those owned by Frugal Wizard, are basically vacation realities. We learn about the worldbuilding both through the perspective of our main character as he remembers himself, but also through FAQ intermission chapters that are hilarious and flesh out the world without feeling like unnatural infodumping (and if you don't care, they're easy to skip!).
However, the storyline and characters within the world, I cared about way less. I don't think that the white room setup (character wakes up with no memories) played into Sanderson's strengths as an author. I felt very disconnected from him as a character. I didn't have any feelings about the side characters at all. The real-world plot I cared very little for. I think I may have been more invested if the time wasn't split between the real-world and Medieval plots and characters. I just generally wasn't very excited to continue on in the story (but I wanted to see the cute drawings!!!).
Overall, I guessed that this one wasn't going to be as much my vibe as many of his other books, and I was unfortunaely right. Petition for a Frugal Wizard comic book though!...more
Jen has a life she loves, with a good job and a loving family. On Halloween, she stays up waiting for her 18-year-old son to come home, but when he doJen has a life she loves, with a good job and a loving family. On Halloween, she stays up waiting for her 18-year-old son to come home, but when he does, she witnesses him stab and kill a man, a man she's never seen before. After he's taken away and she goes to sleep, she wakes up to him back in the house - and discovers it's the day before. She keeps waking up on earlier and earlier mornings, and the only reason she can discern is that she must stop her son from becoming a murderer.
This was such an engaging audiobook that I did not want to put down, both because of the narrator's performance and the story itself. There was so much to love about this book. I always love time travel and the themes that come with it. We have fun nods to the scientific explanation to the time travel and how Jen reacts to time traveling. I loved how this was almost an opposite "beating the clock" story, where our main character is almost slipping away from the original event. The strongest part of this book is Jen herself, and how the tone/focus of the book shifts as Jen learns and experiences more. What starts as a murder mystery shifts into something different - the mystery still is there, but the focus is on something greater and more personal. I loved seeing Jen experience her past and her past self, looking at her past through new eyes to see what's really important - her family. The messages and themes that are discussed in that regard hit the reader in an emotional and touching way. As far as the mystery goes, I was kept guessing quite a bit for the first half, but it did get more predictable at the end because the focus wasn't on it as much - that could be a good thing or a less good thing depending on your taste. The best books are those that succeed at what they set out to do; this may be different than what you think it will be at first, but it is so successful in accomplishing its purpose.
Overall, this was such a lovely story with a mix of different genres. I'll be recommending this plenty, especially to fans of Oona Out of Order....more
In this companion sequel to The Space Between Worlds, Scales is an enforcer for the Emperor of Ashtown - the beaten down town outside of the3.75 stars
In this companion sequel to The Space Between Worlds, Scales is an enforcer for the Emperor of Ashtown - the beaten down town outside of the rich "utopic" Wiley City. But when people start spontaneously dying in both places, Scales and two people from her past will have to discover what's causing the invisible killings and keep war from starting.
I say "companion sequel" for a reason - this book is NOT a direct sequel in terms of the plot, but it does reference a lot of what happened in the first book. This takes place like a decade later, and all of the main characters of book 1 appear as secondary characters here, and you're just supposed to know what happened to them in book 1. It doesn't make sense to read this book before Space Between in my opinion, so read that one first.
It had a good amount of things that I liked about the first book. It has an incredibly twisty plot put into a creative multiversal scifi world alongside strong themes. This book in particular was inspired by the author's experience at the People's Plaza protests. You could feel the anger and how trapped the author felt about that situation. Scales sees that no matter what her and her allies do, destruction will come to her community. I liked that Scales very much doesn't fit into beauty stereotypes and how that's discussed. The queer representation was great, and I'm glad that we got to see more of the nonbinary head of the br0thel who I really liked in book 1. I was bothered by the fact that there are three characters (two of them being main characters) that share the first letter/letters of their name, made it harder to keep people straight. Unlike the first book, I felt a bit of distance between myself and the story. I also had a slightly harder time following the twists. Those two things probably fed into each other, unsure which informed the other.
Overall, this was a good successor to one of my favorite scifis of all time. It wasn't a new favorite of mine, but I think the themes will work for a lot of people....more
Murderbot has been haunted by one thing - the incident that gave it its name. Before it can trust itself to work with the crew it has possibly... comeMurderbot has been haunted by one thing - the incident that gave it its name. Before it can trust itself to work with the crew it has possibly... come to.. love (eww), it must find out what really happened - alongside a charmingly annoying transport ship AI.
I enjoyed this so much more than I did the first book! I listened to the audio, which also may have helped because I loved the performance, but I feel like we got to know Murderbot as a character much better through this plot. I loved the banter between it and ART the most; it reminded me of Dimension 20's Starstruck Odyssey. It was fun to see how Murderbot is constantly ahead of everyone and the processes it runs through to make sure it goes unnoticed. I also enjoyed Murderbot questioning its purpose and what it stands for. This was a fun and short listen!
Overall, this was definitely an improvement on book 1, and I highly recommend the audiobook!...more
Earth has been ravaged by climate change - the planet is too warm, and people are flocking north. The population's relationships have shifted by the FEarth has been ravaged by climate change - the planet is too warm, and people are flocking north. The population's relationships have shifted by the Flick, a technological implant now given to all. Rose - at least, that's the name she was assigned - is a Bloom, a sex worker at Camp Zero, a site in the freezing Canadian wilderness of a future experimental society. Grant, a privileged English major, has been hired to be the English professor there. Across the tundra, a group of women have been sent on a secretive mission in an isolated Cold War-era base.
This book was trying to be Emily St. John Mandel so hard. Semi-futuristic society, a bunch of different interwoven perspectives, twists about identities - but this book didn't pull that off for me as Mandel does. Grant's perspective didn't feel like it added much, and he was privileged and annoying. Rose's backstory was sometimes interesting, learning about how the world has changed, but that's not much of the book. The women of White Alice were the best part of this book by a mile, with a unique narration and compelling plot. But even still, I didn't get enough answers out of that plot. A lot of the overarching plot felt like it was for naught. Were this not an audiobook, I don't know if I would have stuck with this.
Overall, this book was trying to be something it couldn't quite achieve. Read Emily St. John Mandel instead....more
Prison has been abolished in America - but it has been replaced with giving people a literal second shadow, which allows one to be legally discriminatPrison has been abolished in America - but it has been replaced with giving people a literal second shadow, which allows one to be legally discriminated against and put under 24/7 government surveillance. Kris, a Shadester, is drowning under the weight of raising the child her wife died giving birth to, and who now has a second shadow for that "crime".
I ate this audiobook up. Firstly, I loved the narrator and how she embodied Kris. Secondly, Kris is such a fascinating character and the highlight of the book. She's strange and put down and doesn't always make the right decisions, sometimes allowing herself to sink into her grief so far it hurts others (if you liked Milk Fed, you'll like this protagonist). Watching her struggle to raise the kid was such a great arc; I loved their interactions with each other more than anything. This is a great exploration of grief as it changes from an ever-present twisting knife to something sad but manageable to always carry with you. This book is also founded around ideas about the way we treat people who are considered lesser and how the cycle of systematic discrimination makes life so much harder for those people, how the state can get away with treating them differently, but how they are still PEOPLE who deserve rights and happiness. Specifically in this book, we see criminals of any status - from murder to speaking against the fascist government - be given the same punishment and put into a lower class of society.
Overall, this is a FANTASTIC book that I won't forget soon, and will be recommending very widely! ...more
Shen fever has swept the planet - a lot of the population has passed, but a good percent have become "fevered": zombie-like creatures who do nothing bShen fever has swept the planet - a lot of the population has passed, but a good percent have become "fevered": zombie-like creatures who do nothing but relive cycles of habits from their life. We follow Candace, who worked in the book industry, denying the impact of the plague by continuing to go to work until she was found by a group of survivors, led by the ever-controlling Bob, who has a destination and mission for the group.
I read this with my book club, Three of Clubs, for our quarter where we read dystopian books. If you'd like to join us for this book or future tropes/subgenres, the link is in my bio!
I've read a lot of pandemic fiction since the pandemic (and before). Somehow, almost every one I've read still manages to bring something new to the table. This is specifically a zombie-adjacent book; as the book points out, zombie narratives are social commentaries on the monotony of modern life (I loved that the book briefly mentioned the zombie vs vampire commentaries in movies, that's a conversation I'm passionate about). But this book shows zombies in a different way - not only are they a small part of the book itself, but they are ultimately harmless. For example, one of the houses that the group comes upon is a fevered family that repeatedly sets the table for dinner and pretends to eat, not interacting with the invaders to their home at all, much less hunting their brains down. On top of that... the book leaves you feeling that you don't really know who is a zombie and who's not. We see all this through the lens of Candice, who let the patterns that she fell into in her adulthood run her life instead of doing things that she may have felt more passionate about. She's also a first generation American, so we see her interactions with her parents in the past when she was a child, plus her life in New York as an adult, mixed in with her current life post-fever. I really liked how these time periods were interwoven; it adds even more to the themes of nostalgia to have our main character be considering her past life all the time. I thought that the post-fever timeline was predictable, but the point of this book was not to surprise - it was to discuss the author's critiques of capitalism and other aspects of modern life.
Overall, this deserves the hype its been getting in the literary sphere, and I definitely recommend it to people who like pandemic fiction!...more
In the sequel and conclusion to A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Dex brings Mosscap to visit humanity in continuation of their cultural exchange.
This serieIn the sequel and conclusion to A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Dex brings Mosscap to visit humanity in continuation of their cultural exchange.
This series is super cozy. I'm so sad that this was commissioned to only be a duology (which, also I've never heard of a book series being commissioned by a publisher?) because I feel like we could have spent even more time with these characters and especially this world. On the other hand, I can respect when an author doesn't jump the shark. I thought it was a smart formatting thing to have book 1 be Dex learning about robots and book 2 be Mosscap learning about humans. I really like how this questions aspects of human nature that are seen as givens, but are entirely products of society and not biology. I liked the conversations the characters have about being yourself, and I enjoyed that much of the answer provided is that you don't need an answer. I liked where this left our characters. This series is less plot and more messages for the reader masked in robots, but hey, it works.
Overall this was a cute novella duology that I'll be recommending to anyone who wants a cozy book....more
The Teixcalaan Empire has spread its reaches throughout the galaxy, both physically and culturally. A lover of their culture, Mahit has been 4.5 stars
The Teixcalaan Empire has spread its reaches throughout the galaxy, both physically and culturally. A lover of their culture, Mahit has been sent as her station's ambassador to the Empire after her predecessor dies suddenly, armed only with his memories 15 years out of date. Nobody will admit that the last ambassador was murdered, or that the dangerous situations that Mahit keeps finding herself in are truly attempts on her life. Along with her newly found allies (who may have their own agendas), Mahit will have to use all her knowledge to survive the Empire's court politics.
This was such a fun surprise! I definitely wouldn't recommend this as someone's first foray into sci-fi as there's quite a bit going on in this that might lose a newbie, but for fans of political intrigue stories, this will be a great one to pick up. What did I like? The main character is a great perspective to read from: she's keeping secrets, she's trying to solve mysteries, she's learning about and then attempting to make her own political maneuvers. She's at once an outsider to this society that's threatening her home but also a great appreciator of their culture. The technology of the memory implant was a super interesting concept, and the book surprised me by questioning the ethics of such a device. Having more than one person's consciousness put together until they eventually merge into one is normal to Mahit, but it is an astonishing and grotesque new technology to the Empire. I enjoyed the world building and even the info-dumping. If you're someone whose studied languages, you'll appreciate the work Mahit has to do to translate connotations when she's conversing with others. I liked the political maneuvering and bargaining people needed to do to get what they wanted. What stops me from giving this a five star is that I wasn't as attached to these characters as I'd like to be for a book to be a new favorite.
Overall, I'm so glad I finally got around to this title that I've seen floating around for so long, but without knowing much about it! Would recommend for sci-fi/fantasy fans who are looking for a political adventure. ...more
Following the events of Leviathan Wakes, on Ganymede - the breadbasket moon of the outer galaxy - a devastating attack and a missing little g4.5 stars
Following the events of Leviathan Wakes, on Ganymede - the breadbasket moon of the outer galaxy - a devastating attack and a missing little girl seem to be tied to the outbreaks that has now overtaken Venus. Holden and the crew of the Rocinante meet three new players - a scientist desperate for his daughter, a Martian supersoldier and star witness, and one of Earth's greatest politicians.
I was waiting to read this one until I could get my hands on the 10th anniversary edition and I'm so glad I finally did - these books are great and I went a little bit long between them. Luckily I do have book 3 as well so I should be getting on that sooner than I did this one.
I think the strongest bit of this second installment is the introduction of the three new POV characters. Avasarala (who I'm understanding is one of the most popular characters of the show) was fantastic - an older woman who's one of the most powerful people on Earth, who gets what she wants done, knows more than everyone else, is powerful while presenting as feminine, and is so crass and bold to everyone to reinforce that power. She's just a fun person to follow and brings a different energy to the whole group. Bobbie, a Martian Marine supersoldier who went through the trauma of her crew dying, is a large woman who's also perceived as very attractive, is extremely capable in her field but is also learning there's so much more to what she's involved in. Two powerful women in two different ways that are characters that you don't see as much in fiction (especially scifi, and books written by men). I thought that the four POVs were also balanced well to pace the story. In the first half, I was less clear on what was going on (stakes/time passing) while they were on Ganymede, but once they left I felt like I understood more and we got back to the action and pacing I liked in the first book. I also was frustrated with Holden in this book a bit, which some of that happens on purpose. Holden's trying to figure out how to be righteous without ruining things, which was a good journey. However, the way he treats Naomi in this book - particularly him never consulting her wishes for her life - bothered me. It wasn't that much of the book, but it made it feel like Naomi was just the stock "girlfriend" character. Maybe this is on purpose and gets fixed in future books. I do think that the other members of the Rocinante, including Naomi, are not very deep characters, especially compared to our POVs. Make me care about them more than their roles on flying the ship!
Overall, this makes me feel so reinvigorated about the scifi genre. I love a good survival story with characters fighting impossible odds, and this scratches that itch for me....more
The renewal of the alliance between the small planet of Thea and the larger Iskat Empire is looming, and it is imperative to the lives of so 3.5 stars
The renewal of the alliance between the small planet of Thea and the larger Iskat Empire is looming, and it is imperative to the lives of so many that it goes on without a hitch. Native Thean Jainan and his Iskan husband Prince Taam are meant to be the representatives of their cultures for the renewal, but when Taam dies suddenly, Jainan is hurriedly married to Taam's cousin, Prince Kiem, so they may be the representatives. Sunshiney Kiem and reserved Jainan don't get off on the right foot after their rushed wedding, but will have to work together when it's revealed that Taam's death has been ruled as suspicious.
I buddy read this with my friend Katie (@forevermorepages) which was super fun! Hi Katie :)
My main thought was that there's a lot of good bones here, but that some things needed to be built out a little more to be fully successful - let's get into why. First, this is such an interesting book because it's a genre I don't see that often - a 50/50 blend of scifi and romance. Fantasy romance is so popular now, but scifi and romance are so often antonyms. I'd like to see more of this for sure! I liked this version of a queernorm world (universe), especially because it doesn't eliminate discussions of sexuality or gender. There's cool scenes where we see the differences between how different cultures perform gender. The strongest suit is the relationship itself and the reader's opinion of it will make or break the book for them. There was a lot of miscommunication, which was sometimes a bit frustrating, but it did make some sense given the characters' backstories. The pacing wasn't always consistent throughout the story, some parts being slower than others, but I thought that the ending was an excellent summary of the characters and their arcs. The main thing I would have qualms with is that while we see some worldbuilding, there's not enough context/immersion given to the political intrigue plot, which is a larger part of the book. I think that either the political plot needed to be stronger, or it needed to take a backseat for the romance to take full center stage. I do have faith that this could improve in further books, so I'm interested in picking up the sequels. Also, note that while the author is queer, it is not Own Voices M/M (which is something I try to avoid usually), so do with that what you will.
Overall, this just needed some fleshing out of the scifi aspects to reach its full potential, which I think the sequels are capable of achieving. ...more
Thank you so much to Tor Books and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Told in three parts, we follow people on tThank you so much to Tor Books and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Told in three parts, we follow people on the planet of Sask-E in the far-flung future. We have conquered the universe and bioengineering, making it possible to imbue robots, animals, and humanoids with human-level intelligence and consciousness. Anyone with consciousness is considered a "person," though some are created with artificial limiters on their speech, making others view them as less of a person than them. In this story, three generations do their part in making Sask-E a free place to live for all types of people.
Newitz's The Future of Another Timeline is one of my favorite books, so I jumped at the opportunity to read this one early. As with Timeline, I was astonished by the amount of imagination here and how different this society is from our own. Our characters include humans, cows, moose, and even trains, all of which have a natural lifespan of hundreds of years. Cities and buildings can be grown by things called trellises. Life of the current day is so far in the past that it is mythology. However, there are several things that are not new to the reader - video games, fights for autonomy from indigenous communities, clubs, and control of communication lines from those in power. Newitz again brings their expertise as a historian of urban centers to use as they show how this planet develops over time under different corporate regimes. Different sets of characters each have their own battles to fight - literal battles to legal ones - to fight the corruption the world faces. This novel is dedicated to keeping balance in the environment amidst development, ensuring that urban centers are there to serve the public, and being staunchly against eugenics. I would have liked to see more development from our characters, but this story is more about the big ideas. With fun protagonists and a hopeful message, The Terraformers is a great story about our impact on the environment and each other.
Overall, I really enjoyed the themes and worldbuilding in this scifi story. I'd recommend this to fans of Becky Chambers, but who want to see more worldbuilding!...more
The third and final book of the Themis Files, Only Human opens ten years after our protagonists and Themis disappeared onto another planet - this timeThe third and final book of the Themis Files, Only Human opens ten years after our protagonists and Themis disappeared onto another planet - this time, they have reappeared on Earth just as suddenly. Now that humanity has had time to deal with the realization of their connection to Themis and her creators, the world has changed beyond recognition. Rose, Vincent, and Eva have to figure out how to keep themselves and the entire human race alive.
Unlike the first two books in this series, I listened to this installment on audio. In my mind, that is by far the best way to experience this series. There is a full cast giving great performances, which really elevates the story off the page. I cared more about these characters in this book than the others almost surely because of the performances of the cast. Vincent in particular stood out among the cast. I liked that there's not always right answers in this series, particularly so in this alien society the characters find themselves in in this book. I also enjoyed the two different timelines we bounced between as we see what happened on Esat Ekt in the ten-year time jump. I liked the action that we did get, but there was definitely less of it in this book than the others. And Katherine as a villain was definitely lackluster; she did not feel realistic at all.
Overall, I'm glad that I decided to finish this series out since I had considered DNFing it. Listening to the audiobook gave me a greater appreciation for this sci-fi series as a whole....more
Humanity has had to abandon Earth. Aboard the HSS Matilda spaceship, Astrid and her people live in a society rigidly defined by the deck one lives on,Humanity has had to abandon Earth. Aboard the HSS Matilda spaceship, Astrid and her people live in a society rigidly defined by the deck one lives on, a society that has morphed itself to look more like the antebellum South. Black and autistic, Astrid belongs to the lower decks but has managed to rise above her station some with her medical abilities. When she discovers that her deceased mother's journals are not maddened ramblings but in code, Astrid and her family start to learn the truth about their ship's fate.
Rivers Solomon is such a mind. Having finished this, I've now read all of their books, and wow. I've not read any books like theirs. They are constantly coming up with unique speculative premises and worlds while pairing them with important conversations about gender, sexuality, and Blackness and their intersections. First, this setting is fascinating. We're on a generation ship with an artificial sun in it; we see how culture has shifted since humanity left Earth from religion to social customs. Then there's the antebellum aspect that was added to this scifi setting: the decks are divided into alphabetized decks segregated by the white elite down to the destitute Black sharecroppers. Lowerdecks residents can't move freely throughout the ship without severe punishment from the guards, and other such restrictions are put on them that mirror the horrifying lives of enslaved folks. The mysteries in the plot were engaging, with a mysterious illness and Astrid's mother's secret missions. Astrid herself is a fascinating character; she's a genius and a medical prodigy, she has such a fervent love for her family, and she is contantly questioning the status quo she has been born into with guts to do said questioning out loud. I thought the ending of this was the perfect way to conclude this story, with the right tone and amount of questions answered. I will say that I had pacing problems with the earlier sections and it took me a minute to really get into the story.
Overall, Solomon's debut is just as impressive as their more recent novels. I will officially be reading every book they put out! ...more
Loading...
