Book Review: Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor

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Binti, Book, Book Review, Nnedi Okorafor, Novella, Reading, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction

Once again I am back with a novella to share with you all!  This is another popular one on the review scene that also had the honor of taking home both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella in 2016.  This is my second time reading something from Nnedi Okorafor and the latest in what is apparently a lengthy line of Tor novellas on my reading list.

The story begins on Earth in the distant future and introduces us to Binti, a young Himba woman living in Nairobi.  She is the first person from her community to earn admission to the prestigious Oomza Uni, the galaxy’s most elite technological institute.  Her acceptance, however, is not without controversy.  Despite being renowned for their mathematical and technological skills, the Himba people rarely leave their home city and often face extreme prejudice from others.  Binti is determined, however, and decides she can’t pass up the opportunity so she sneaks off one night to catch a space shuttle to the university, leaving behind her home and family forever.  The universe (of course) has other plans, for just as Binti starts to settle into her new life, the shuttle is intercepted by a group of hostile aliens.  Protected by a mysterious trinket she brought from home, Binti finds herself held captive aboard the ship and must use all her wits to not only remain alive, but prevent further bloodshed as well.

I enjoyed this read and found myself really getting drawn into it.  The author’s decision to slowly reveal the full scope of her world to the reader as it was encountered by Binti really added to the mysteries and surprises of the novella.  There was one moment early on where the story throws an absolute shock at you and from that point on I couldn’t put it down.  You’ll know it when you get there.  Equally importing, I found Binti herself to be a very engaging protagonist in her own right.  There was a lot of tension in her character from being an outcast from her homeland (by choice) and new surroundings (by prejudice) that had a very profound impact on her actions throughout the story.  It was also interesting to see how her cultural traditions, in particular her cosmetic rituals, shaped the way she looked at and interacted with the universe and the other beings in it.  I was likewise intrigued by how her fellow Himba approached mathematics as a spiritual undertaking.  I am admittedly baffled by higher math, but I nonetheless find that sort of thing fascinating to contemplate.

Overall I thought this was an excellent story that I would recommend to other sci-fi readers.  There are two other books in this series that I am looking forward to reading once I can get my (virtual) hands on them.  This one ends on something of a cliffhanger and I really am curious to see what direction the story goes from there.

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Book Review: Tiamat’s Wrath, by James S.A. Corey (Book Eight in The Expanse Series)

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Book, Book Review, James S.A. Corey, Reading, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, The Expanse

If you’ve been following my reviews for the past couple of years, you may have noticed that I have had some rather mixed feelings about The Expanse series.  I’m in way too deep to turn back now though, so here we go with book eight, published in March 2019.

The story picks up several years after the end of the previous novel and deals with the aftermath of its events.  The action focuses specifically upon the fledgling resistance to Laconian conquest, James Holden’s imprisonment, and High Consul Duarte’s continued experiments with protomolecule technology despite increasingly severe push back from some unknown force.  These stories unfold from the perspective of old friends Elvi Okoye, Naomi, Alex, Bobbi, and Holden along with newcomer Teresa Duarte, daughter of the Laconia colony’s ruthless ruler.   

Wow, now this was the book I’ve been waiting for!  Here is where the series finally steps up to its potential and delivers a huge payoff for the reader following all the starts and stops I’ve written about in the past.  No longer held captive by the often frustrating whims of James Holden, this intriguing universe has now fully opened up to stories on many fronts, each headed by a character we’ve come to know and care about.

It was for precisely these reasons that this installment hit all the right notes for me and avoided many of my previous criticisms.  The story was excellent and advanced both the galactic politics and protomolecule arcs to some really interesting place while simultaneously providing plenty of action, intrigue, and philosophical quandaries.  That it also at long last starred a full cast of characters you could actually care about (Holden included), made this read even sweeter. The former Roci crew really do feel like old friends at this point, Elvi remained fantastic, and the addition of Teresa offered a very interesting perspective on the enemy camp.  Not to give away too much, but when certain prominent characters die each hurt in a way I don’t think would have been possible in the previous books. My only complaint here is that I wish the authors more slowly revealed a certain character’s true identity.  I knew immediately who it was and I think the impact of their death would have been even greater if they kept us guessing until closer to the end.

At this point I am now pretty excited about the upcoming finale, even though I am a bit worried that it will have a lot to wrap up in a relatively short amount of space.  Shortly after finishing the book I came across another post in which the reviewer mentioned that reading the novellas associated with this series made the read even better and for the first time in eight books I am tempted to do so.  If you were like me and on the fence about whether or not to continue this series, my answer to you now is to do so. This story was totally worth getting through the occasional disappointing read for.

Book Review: Death’s End, by Liu Cixin (Book Three in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past Trilogy)

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Book Review, Liu Cixin, Reading, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Three Body Problem

And today I make my triumphant return to book reviews with some exciting news!  Completing this review means that I have closed out my time in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy and have accomplished one of my reading goals for the year.  This series has been a really enjoyable ride so far, so let’s see how the final installment played out.

The child that was human civilization had opened the door to her home and glanced outside.  The endless night terrified her so much that she shuddered against the expansive and profound darkness, and shut the door forever.

Spanning multiple eras from the present day, near-future, and way, way, beyond, this book serves to expand upon the Dark Forest hypothesis presented in the previous novel and look at how the unforgiving realities of such a universe affect not only the situation between Earth and Trisolaris, but the enigmatic game of universal geopolitics.  It does this by following the life and rather eventful career of an aerospace engineer named Cheng Xin. Born in the early 21st century she, like many of the other characters we’ve encountered thus far, lives a life essentially outside of time by using her position and influence to spend many years in cryogenic hibernation, resurfacing only at potentially critical moments in human history to help steer certain events she sets in motion over the centuries.

I enjoyed this story in general, but upon looking back at the series as a whole this is probably  the installment I connected with the least. A large part of that feeling is based on my impression that the characters were not as strongly written this time around.  I liked Xin well enough, but I did not find her nearly as interesting as Luo Ji and thought many of her decisions were a bit suspect, or at the very least based on motives that were made insufficiently clear.  Similarly, her associate 艾AA felt a bit hollow and did not have the same presence as her counterpart Da Shi from the previous novels or even many of the other minor characters encountered previously.  Combined with the diminished presence of the usually rich cast of supporting characters as the story went on, these relatively minor issues stood out a bit more for me than they probably would have otherwise.

This somewhat lackluster showing by the main characters put a lot more emphasis on the story, which for both better and worse, had a tendency to get a bit out there at times.  The numerous theoretical discussions regarding the interactions between various dimensions and the ways in which laws of physics could be weaponized were topics I found fascinating, but they also made my head spin a bit the longer they went on.  That’s not necessarily a problem, mind you, but since there were some moments where I just couldn’t fully conceptualize what was going on I felt a bit lost in places (and yes, I do admit that is in part on me). One area in which I think the story excelled, however, was in its depiction of the changes in human society and culture across the centuries.  I really enjoyed following the ebbs and flows of civilization and how people changed from the carefree naivety of the Deterrence Era hyper-information age (a future that despite its idealism still really creeps me out), the authoritarianism of the years surrounding the Trisolaran occupation, and the determination of the Jovian space colonists. I also found it fun to compare these visions to some of the others I’ve read recently to see where they overlap and contrast.

Looking back on the series as a whole, I do say that I quite enjoyed it despite its occasional faults.  Not only did I find the main stories about the Trisolarian conflict and life in the Dark Forest quite interesting, but I also found many of the more personal interludes equally engaging.  Wang Miao’s discovery of the Three Body game, the experiences of the Galactic Humans beginning with the Blue Space and Gravity, and the interplay of Luo Ji and Da Shi are some of the things that stick out the most in my mind.  I also enjoyed how the author would have minor characters pop up in recurring roles to give the books a sense of continuity that otherwise might have been very hard to maintain.  

So there you have it. I’m sorry to see my time in this universe come to an end, but on the other hand I am also happy that I am a bit more freed up to move on to new adventures!  These books take the reader on a journey through time and space that I would highly recommend to fans of harder sci-fi.

 

Book Review: A People’s Future of the United States, edited by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams

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A. Merc Rustad, Book, Book Review, Daniel H. Wilson, Fantasy, Hugh Howley, Lizz Huerta, N.K. Jemisin, Omer El Akkad, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Short Story

I’ve probably said this before, but one of my greatest discoveries upon starting this blog was the wonders of short story compilations.  This one immediately caught my eye with its obvious homage to Howard Zinn’s famed historical text, A People’s History of the United States, and I was excited that the introduction mentioned that some of Zinn’s central ideas regarding power, representation, and inclusion were used as writing prompts for the 25 authors contributing to this compilation.

It pains me to say it, but taken as a whole I found this collection to be a bit uneven and occasionally unsatisfying.  I wanted to love it through and through, especially since I fully believe in and support both the ideals that inspired it and the voices of the authors presented, but several of the stories I just couldn’t connect with.  Some I didn’t find interesting, a couple had a writing style I couldn’t stand, and some were perhaps too thematically similar to the stories preceding them. Again, I absolutely believe that stories like these that examine issues of racial, sexual, and gender equality, civil rights, and the role of government are important, even essential, topics to cover, I was just not sold on how some of them were told.

That’s not to say I had a bad time with this read, though.  There were some real gems in here and upon looking back these far outshine the works I found less interesting.  To focus on the positive, my favorites (in the order presented) were:

Our Aim is Not to Die, by A. Merc Rustad: In an authoritarian future where conformity to a straight, white, conservative worldview is monitored through mandatory social media updates, a group of non-binary friends are forced to put their lives in the hands of an illusive AI promising to protect their secret.  I liked how this story provided both a glimpse of a social media-driven dystopia as well as a reminder that good actors can also leverage technology to the benefit of society.

The Wall, by Lizz Huerta: Secure in their position behind a border wall, a group of Mexican scientists work to re-humanize the drugged American soldiers used to instigate a brutal military coup in the former United States.  One of a few stories that depicts Mexico as the ultimate beneficiary of a border wall that shields it from the chaos of a failed US, this one just like it had the most complete vision of these stories.

Riverbed, Omer El Akkad: A Muslim diplomat from Canada returns to her childhood hometown in the Midwestern United States to collect the belongings of her brother.  Killed after escaping an internment camps several years prior, his remains are part of a controversial period of history that has left people on both sides of the camps alienated.  A thought provoking look at the limits of protest and the lengths to which rank and file individuals will go to justify and rationalize their role in abuse. It also touches upon the human tendency to shy away from that which discomforts us by delivering on of my favorite quotes of the compilation:

“You know what this country is?  She said. “This country is a man trying to describe a burning building without using the word fire.”

No Algorithms in the World, by Hugh Howley: Story of a son bringing some life changing news to his near-future Archie Bunker dad.  A fun little slice of life story, it was also notable for being the only story in which the future more or less turns out alright.  It also shone an entertaining, yet no less accurate, light on the hypocrisy behind some strongly held conservative beliefs and the extent to which Google guides us all.

Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death, N.K. Jemisin: This story of a black female militia fighting genetically engineered dragons set loose on their community by an oppressive government was probably my favorite in the collection.  Using the power of love and food (most notably collard greens), they find creative ways to turn the tools of the oppressors against their creators. Like so many of the other Jemisim works I’ve read this year, this not only made me think but made me really hungry as well!

A History of Barbed Wire, Daniel H. Wilson: A dead body found in the haven that is Cherokee Nation raises some profound security questions and reveals the lengths desperate people will go to in order to protect their family.  I apparently really enjoy a good detective story, and this one certainly fit the bill!

Book Review: 2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson

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2312, Book, Book Review, Kim Stanley Robinson, Reading, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction

As an avid reader of science fiction, I feel like Kim Stanley Robinson is an author that I need to be way more familiar with than I am currently.  He’s had a very successful and prolific career, having won multiple awards over the years, along the way earning praise like “the gold-standard of realistic, and highly literary, science-fiction writing” from The Atlantic and a “Hero of the Environment” from Time Magazine.  I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed since reading my first novel from him back in 2016, but here I am finally getting into a second one!

The majority of this book takes place in and around the year 2312.  In this future, while humanity has spread out across the Solar System, it is still spiritually beholden to an Earth wracked by the effects of climate change, overpopulation, and massive social inequality.  The story unfolds mainly from the perspective of an eccentric artist named Swan Er Hong and opens with the death of her grandmother Alex, the widely respected and extremely influential Lion (ruler) of Mercury.  Shortly after the funeral, Swan is approached by a pair of Alex’s colleagues, Inspector Jean Genette of the Interplanetary Police and a diplomat from the Saturnian moon Titan named Wahram. Prompted by their inquiries regarding any messages Alex may have left behind regarding a particularly sensitive project, Swan uncovers a store of hidden communications left for her to deliver, a mission that quickly finds her swept up in a plot that spans the Solar System.

I was absolutely blown away by this book!  Though it often dove into some pretty dense subject matter, the story remained thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding throughout.  It covered so much ground and featured such a richly developed universe that I am thoroughly impressed the author managed to pack so much into a single 576 page book that still offered an intricate story and vision.  From the internal politics governing the various centers of humanity to the complex, Basque-inspired, economic system tying them together, the political and economic realities of this world told a compelling piece of the story.  Guiding this, of course, was a heavy dose of science and astronomy, with a multitude of facts and theory shaping the author’s portrayal of everything from quantum computing and space travel to patterns of climate change on Earth and the resource requirements for terraforming other worlds.  While this may sound a bit dry to some people, I can assure this book was anything but! The author’s beautifully detailed descriptions of such fascinating locations as a terraforming Venus, rugged settlements on the moons of Saturn and Jupiter, the flooded remains of Manhattan, and the rolling city of Terminator on Mercury really made this universe spring to life and make the reader feel like they were places they could actually visit.

Another fascinating part of this story were the people inhabiting this universe, for it is through them that we explore the complex social and biological changes this future brings.  The three mains, Swan, Wahram, Inspector Genette were all fascinating on an individual level, but more broadly served to explore the other frontiers presented in this novel; namely, a re-imaging of human biology, gender, and sexuality.  Inspector Genette, is what is referred to as a “small”; a person who by design is significantly shorter and lighter than the average human so that they are better suited to life in higher gravity. As for Swan and Wahram, the story got a little more radical.  Though they identified as female and male, respectively, both were revealed to be gynandromorphous, a fairly common trait among the spacers of this universe who tended to embrace treatments and procedures that often radically redefine the human experience. It was Swan, however, who pushed the boundaries of humanity more than most in this story, to the point of alarming her companions.  Her major body modifications, beyond the addition of male sex organs, include incorporating animal brain matter into her own, ingesting a suite of alien bacteria found on Enceladus, and, perhaps most notably, embedding a quantum computer in her neck. There was a very interesting balance of necessity and vanity to all of these enhancements, as well as an air of rebellion in doing things simply because one could.

As for the actual plot, well, I really don’t want to give that much of it away!  A lot of the fun of this story was watching events unfold while experiencing the wonder of traveling the Solar System with Swan.  The cryptic lists and extracts that the author added between chapters were an excellent way to unobtrusively get the reader up to speed on some of the events and ideas that shape this world, and once they started coming into clearer view, made for some shocking revelations and insights.  Likewise the gradual reveal of Alex’s project and the root of her mistrust of quantum computers made for some fascinating reading.

Put that all together and this was an impressive book that offered a thoroughly captivating look into humanity’s future while telling a fascinating story.  Needless to say, I highly enjoyed this one and found that offered everything (and more!) that I had hoped for upon embarking on another sci-fi adventure. I know I’ve said this a lot lately, but this author is definitely getting an increased presence at the top of my TBR list.  I’m even going so far as to promise myself now that I’ll read at least one more book from him before the year is over!

Book Review: The Consuming Fire, by John Scalzi (Book Two in the Interdependency Trilogy)

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Book, Book Review, Interdependency, John Scalzi, Reading, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction

Shortly after I mentioned needing something to lighten my mood a bit following my last book review, I stumbled upon just the read I needed.  Always good for a laugh and some fun sci-fi hijinks, John Scalzi’s novels always have a place on my reading list and this one popped up at just the right time.  Published in October 2018, this is the second book in the ongoing Interdependency Trilogy that I began back in July of 2017.

Taking place shortly after the end of the previous novel, Cardenia Wu is now fully established in her position as Emperox Grayland II and desperately working to hold her empire together.  Facing the impending collapse of the Flow, the natural phenomena that links all human settlements and makes space travel possible, and a continued opposition to her reign from the influential Nohamapetan family, she must battle every step of the way to make sure her voice gets heard.  Standing alongside allies like scientist Marce Claremont and ruthless business woman Kiva Lagos, Cardenia must by any means necessary find a way to convince her various constituents of the reality of Flow collapse while fighting well-coordinated attempts to undermine her authority.

As expected, this was a fun, rollicking romp of a space adventure featuring a compelling world, complex political scheming, and some pretty spot-on satire covering a variety of timely topics like religion, the role of corporations, the denial of climate change, and the willingness of corrupt individual to use lies and rumor to subvert reasoned discourse.  Seeing as I tend to agree with Scalzi’s nominally left-leaning, irreverent slant on these issues, I found these things all rather wonderful in a cynically mirthful sort of way. Playing an integral role in moving this forward was an amazing collection of characters with absolutely hilarious inner monologues that alternated between dry wit, spit-fire obscenities, and chuckle out loud observations.  The people you root for, like Kiva and Cardenia, and against, looking at you again Nohamapetans, were equally joyful to behold and really made the story for me.  Kiva, despite an uncharacteristic attachment to a certain lady friend, was as rowdy as ever, though it was easily Cardenia that impressed me the most this time around.  It was absolutely fantastic to see her embrace the role of Emperox and embark upon a mission to expertly stick it to the people oh-so desperately have it coming.

In short this story absolutely delivered the good, fun read I was hoping for and have come to expect from this author.  This book was an excellent reminder of why Scalzi is one of my favorites and if you’re a fan of his work I highly recommend checking out this series if you haven’t already.  My only regret here is that I am going to have to wait for the final book to come out!

Book Review: The Dark Forest, by Liu Cixin (Book Two in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past Trilogy)

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Book, Book Review, Liu Cixin, Reading, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, The Dark Forest

Getting back into the reading side of things, the next series that I want to finish off this year is Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy.  Published in 2008 (and translated to English in 2015), The Dark Forest is the sequel to Three Body Problem, an immensely popular Chinese hard science fiction novel that also just so happened to be runner up for my favorite sci-fi novel of last year.

The story begins about three years after the events that ended the previous the previous book.  Now aware that there are only 400 short years left before they are confronted by an invasion fleet from Trisolaris, the nations of Earth have begun coming together to dream of ways that humanity might survive the encounter.  There are no easy answers, however, as the Trisolarians possess vastly superior technology and already have some rather formidable advance forces in place on Earth. Desperate to develop any sort of defense, the United Nations and newly formed Planetary Defense Council nominate four prominent individuals, called Wallfacers, to secretly develop strategies for survival.  Granted unprecedented authority and resources, they are given nearly free reign to direct their projects. Though each is controversial in their own way, it is the shocking selection of a “cynical and irresponsible” astronomer/sociologist named Luo Ji that may ultimately make the greatest impact.

Like its predecessor, I found this book absolutely fascinating to read.  It takes its name from one particularly bleak interpretation of the Fermi Paradox and again leaves the reader with plenty to think about in regard to life, the universe, and, well, science.  The story moved along at a steady pace, switching between a variety of characters and locations as the story progressed. Particularly notable moments for me were seeing the Wallfacers confronted with the truth of their plans (which felt oddly reminiscent of a Bond villain’s reveal in reverse) and the palpable tension leading to humanity’s first encounter with a Trisolaran probe.  This latter event was probably my highlight of the book and even though it turned out more or less how I thought it would, I found this section riveting all the same. I’ll admit there were a couple of other plot points about which I had to try not to think too hard about, but on the whole the entire story was incredibly engaging.

I also found the scientific aspects of the story quite intriguing as well.  The first two thirds of the book focused on near-future tech and cutting-edge theory, presenting a very thought-provoking mix of ideas.  The ones I found most interesting were the space elevator and alternatives to consumable fuel about which I of course did some additional (non-required) reading.  The final third of the book, which thanks to the wonders of cryo-preservation, takes our main characters 200 years into the future, was equally intriguing. I don’t want to say too much, but here I found developments like nearly limitless, renewable power and having everything around you connected to a network fascinating concepts, though also a bit terrifying in the case of the latter idea.  Surely though, it will be the major advances in spaceflight that have the biggest impact going forward.

And finally, some thoughts on the characters.  The book had a deep, well developed cast that succeeded in putting a human face on all the ideas and theory discussed above.  Luo Ji, was easily my favorite of the main characters. Something about seeing such a brilliant yet disinterested person granted so much authority really entertained me, and it was most certainly noteworthy that he was also the only Wallfacer who actually succeeded at creating a (relatively) low-cost, viable plan that he was able to keep hidden across centuries.  I loved seeing him paired with bodyguard/kindred spirit Shi Qiang, another favorite of main and the only character from the previous novel to return in a regular role.  The dynamic between the two was incredibly entertaining and really brought a solid human element to the story. As for the other lead, Zhang Beihai, a political officer in the PLA Navy and eventual Space Force, he was in contrast a much more serious and determined individual, though he certainly had plenty of surprises in store for the reader as well.  I definitely found him much more interesting as the story went on.

I am now very eager to jump into book three and find out where this journey is taking us.  Since this installment actually ended on a somewhat positive note, I am really curious what the final chapter has in store for the beings of Earth and Trisolaris.  With a few big plot points potentially left on the table, namely the existence of other “hunters” and the rather ambiguous resolution to one of the other Wallfacer’s plans, I’m sure there is plenty of great story yet to come.

Book Review: How Long ‘Til Black Future Month, by N.K. Jemisin

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Afrofuturism, Book, Book Review, Fantasy, Magical Realism, N.K. Jemisin, Reading, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Short Story

Published in November 2018, this collection of short stories from three-time Hugo award winner N.K. Jemisin was something I had been looking forward to since it first starting appearing on lists of upcoming releases early last year.  In her introduction to the collection, Jemisin sets the tone by talking a bit about her experiences getting started as writer and “how hard it’s been for me to love science fiction and fantasy as a black woman” given the genre’s historical issues with representation.  She goes on, however, to express her cautious excitement that enough people in the community are now willing to engage in open and earnest conversations about its flaws and what can be done better going forward. It was in this spirit that the stories in this compilation came to life as a part of Jemisin’s ongoing journey to “finally accept myself and begin spinning the futures I want to see.”

As for my own experience with book, I absolutely loved it!  With only a couple of exceptions, I highly enjoyed everything that these 22 short stories had to offer.  They comprised a variety of genres, alternating between magical realism, Lovecraftian horror, medieval fantasy, post-apocalyptic earthes, and space adventures.  What each story had in common were excellent characters, settings, and ideas that gave the reader a tantalizing glimpse into each of the worlds created. Jemisin’s ability to give vibrant life to the people, and often even the places, she writes about really drew me in and immersed me into each and every story.

Going into the book my plan was to feature a top five in this space, but by the time I got to the end I found that I had flagged over half of the stories as potential favorites!  It was definitely a joyous problem to have, but after some serious deliberation I finally narrowed my list down to the following six, presented in the order they appeared:

The Effluent Engine (2011): Set in the early 1800s, this steampunk-inspired tale tells the story of a Haitian secret agent named Jessline.  We meet her in New Orleans where she is trying to recruit to a famed Creole scientist to help the newly independent nation of Haiti develop methane-propelled airships defend its borders.  Though she initially fails to get his attention, she may perhaps have found a more receptive partner in his sister.

Brides of Heaven (2007): After an accident in transit, a group of Muslim women find that they are the sole survivors of colony ship sent to a distant planet.  While they have been able to establish a secure settlement on their new home, the odds of long-term survival of the colony seem non-existent.  That outlook may have been changed, however, after one woman’s unapproved expedition into the wilderness leads her to encounter a seemingly sentient pool of liquid.

Cuisine Des Memoires (2018): Two friends dine in an ultra-exclusive restaurant that purports to be able to recreate any meal from the past, be it of historical or personal significance.  When the skeptic among them is finally convinced of the restaurant’s authenticity, he begins a desperate search for answers that may lead him to places best left alone.  In addition to making me really hungry, I really liked this story’s warning about living excessively in the past.

The Narcomancer (2007): Set in a roughly medieval African society where mages wield the power of sleep magic, this story follows the quest of a particularly adept Gatherer named Cet who accepts a mission to relieve a nearby settlement beingpreyed upon by a rival magician.  Although more than capable of carrying out the task, he finds his focus tested by an alluring woman named Namsut, the scorned secondwife of the village’s deceased leader.

On the Banks of the River Lex (2010): On a post-apocalyptic Earth, humans have died off and their old Gods and ideas are slowly wasting away in the ruins of their abandoned cities.  Death, however, has been particularly restless of late and finds that a chance encounter with a family octopi may give his existence a new purpose.  Just good, bizarre fun in this one.

Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters (2010): Set in New Orleans, a man named Tookie chooses to stay in his house even as Hurricane Katrina approaches the city.  On the eve of the storm he is befriended by a winged lizard who helps our hero navigate the flooded streets and confront a malevolent creature lurking in the depths.

Book Review: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers (Book One in the Wayfarers Series)

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Becky Chambers, Book, Book Review, Reading, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Wayfarer

I had been looking forward to this read for quite some time, though for some reason I was slow to pull it off my long list of books to read.  Since being self-published in 2014, and subsequently picked up by Hodder & Stoughton the following year, this series has been consistently featured on numerous must-read lists and blog reviews that I’ve come across in my daily browsing.  Now it’s finally time for me to join the party!

The story follows the crew of the Wayfarer, a small-time space tunneling ship, as they welcome aboard a new member, a Mars-born clerk named Rosemary Harper who, despite her inexperience, is quite eager to leave her past behind and head out into the stars.  Taking advantage of the extra credibility having a clerk apparently lends to their operation, Captain Ashby Santoso secures a potentially dangerous yet highly lucrative contract for his ragtag crew. It’s the same job they’ve always done, but to get there must endure a long flight to a small, inhospitable planet that was until recently the focus of civil war between an alien species whose motives no one seems to understand.

Although this book ended up being way more character focused that I had originally thought it would be, I must say that the diverse cast of alien and human characters made it an incredibly fun read!  They collectively gave me a Farscape-meets-Firefly vibe and their personalities and crew dynamic were certainly enough to keep the long journey entertaining.  I particularly liked the closeness of the crew and the running banter/cultural curiosities that carried on between the alien and human characters.  While each crew member had a chance to have at least some of their story told, the two that stood out the most for me were Kizzy Shao, an extremely extroverted, video game loving, smash-smoking human machine technician, and Dr. Chef, an affable six-limbed Grum who does double duty as ship’s physician and cook.  On the topic of Dr. Chef, and the rest of the non-human cast for that matter, I also really enjoyed the author’s tendency to go a bit further outside the box in terms of alien physiology than most popular Sci-Fi adventures seem to go. I feel like this is something that doesn’t get explored nearly as often as it should.

Beyond the characters, there were a couple of areas in which this book really stood out for me as unique.  Most notably, the concept of gender fluidity and a wide variety of sexual orientations played pretty central roles in most of the character’s stories.  While this wasn’t necessarily as big a selling point for me personally as it has been for a lot of other reviewers I’ve come across, I did enjoy how these different perspectives shaped the story and contributed to the book’s themes of seeking to understand and respect each others’ differences and celebrating our relationships (platonic or otherwise) with the people we choose to include in our lives.  These topics were presented in such a fun, positive way that they added an extra bit of the joy of the read beyond what the characters had to offer.

On the other hand, my biggest criticism of this book is that for a space adventure it did not really have a lot of action in it.  While I appreciate that this was not the main intention of the story, there were a few places, particularly in the middle, where I felt a little bit more could have happened without sacrificing the core of what the story was.  As much as I liked the episodic chapters and slice of life (in space!) feels, a part of me was left wanting for a slightly deeper plot. Don’t get me wrong, I thought the universe was quite interesting and the characters a fantastic group of beings to hang out with, but I feel like we only barely touched the surface of this world and I wish I was able to go farther into it.

With that in mind I am feeling somewhat conflicted about the next book.  For all the fun I had traveling with the crew of the Wayfarer, I was a bit disappointed to learn that the sequel seems to move on to a (mostly) new set of characters.  It kind of feels like I’m be leaving behind a fun group of friends I just met before really getting a chance to know them.  I suppose I am in on the next book, though I don’t feel as excited by it as perhaps I should be given how much I enjoyed this one.  Here’s hoping for a pleasant surprise when I get to it!

Book Review: Lagoon, by Nnedi Okorafor

Tags

Afrofuturism, Black History Month, Book, Book Review, Fantasy, Nigeria, Nnedi Okorafor, Reading, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction

Here we go with another book brought to my attention by the always informative Tor Publishing newsletter.  Written in 2014 by Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor, this story of alien visitation was at least partially inspired by the author’s anger towards the depiction of Nigerians in the popular 2009 film District 9.

The book opens with the chance meeting of three strangers on a beach in Lagos, Nigeria.  Here we meet Adaora, a marine biologist who fled her home upon being slapped by her husband; Agu, a soldier beaten and dumped on the beach after assaulting a general to prevent him from raping a woman; and Anthony Dey Craze, a Ghanian rapper who just needed a bit of air after getting claustrophobic at an after party.  As their paths converge, the three strangers witness to an incredible event: the arrival of an alien spacecraft, announced by a very large BOOM and a massive swelling of the ocean. When a shapeshifting creature approaches them from out of the waves, they find that they have become unwitting representatives of humanity in a city on the verge of chaos.

While this story was perhaps not quite what I thought it would be going in, I nevertheless had an amazing time reading it.  The author started out with a familiar Sci-Fi scenario, the arrival of aliens on Earth, and flipped it into something completely fresh by rooting her story in Nigerian, specifically Igbo, mythology.  This gave the book a more mystical and magical feeling than a traditional Sci-Fi read, but something about the combination of the two realms was really quite fascinating to behold (the side reading I did about some of the particular deities was also rather interesting, though not exactly required).  On a slightly separate note, I also really enjoyed the time spent in the ocean, both for the important message of needing to heal the damage done by humans and for exploring the idea that we humans might not be the only creatures on Earth that aliens would have interest in contacting.

What really brought this book to life for me, though, was a deep cast of interwoven characters that all worked to establish a sense of location and (Nigerian) identity that was almost tangible.  Moving beyond the primary trio of Adaora, Aga, and Anthony (who were each great in their own right) the reader is introduced to a full range of diverse perspectives, including clandestine LGBTQ activists, Christian fanatics, email scammers, a swordfish, and even a stretch of sentient highway with a taste for human blood.  They were an engaging mix of sympathetic, humorous, detestable, and just plain fantastical individuals all of whom served to vividly bring this world to life and give voice to the author’s often irreverent humor and sharp commentaries on things like male chauvinism, religious bigotry, and the human tendency towards indifference to the struggles of others.

I know it’s early yet, but this is a strong contender in my book of the year rankings.  I can’t say that I’ve ever read anything quite like it and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  I liked the characters, I liked the style, and I liked the themes.  Definitely adding more Nnedi Okorafor to my reading list.