Fiction: lots and lots
Infinity Wars, ed. Jonathan Strahan: High-quality collection of mostly nearish-future sf, including some infowars as well as post-ecocollapse resource wars. Includes Carrie Vaughn, Nancy Kress (very Kress-ian tale of a young, uneducated woman who signs up to get out of her town and ends up fighting people like the people she grew up with), Elizabeth Bear, Aliette de Bodard, Garth Nix (I liked it-a sentient armory gets woken up mid-battle); Genevieve Valentine (colonialism on a new planet), and Peter Watts (my favorite of the bunch: a zombie soldier discovers the clash between free will and electric impulses animating meat).
Edward Aubry, Unhappenings: A guy grows up with things constantly unhappening to him-erased from existence. He grows up and discovers that he’s the target of time travelers, including himself, because of his romantic connection with the woman another time traveler wants. I guess it was good that the guy was the one swept in, but it didn’t do much for me.
Arlene F. Marks, The Otherness Factor: Space opera-type, subvariant humans trying to join galactic collective but being excluded for political/ideological reasons. The main character is an alien mystic and the prophecy stuff didn’t work for me, but if you like aliens doing bad things because they can and good things because they want to, and humans trying to figure out what the hell is going on, you might enjoy it.
Jennifer Rohn, Cat Zero: I’m still not sure what I think about this book. It’s not a thriller, even if it’s supposedly about a feline epidemic that can cross over into human populations. It’s mostly about a woman trying to do science in a heavily male establishment, dealing with men, her own view of male/female relations (which changes in a way that made me breathe a sigh of relief, because I try to let myself judge only how a woman treats other women in the choices she makes to deal with patriarchy), and a lot of science. I mean, a lot. If you wanted a short course in virology, it’s pretty much in here. There’s also some mental illness, and its interaction with various forms of privilege given to smart white men. It was different, but not necessarily in a good way.
Sarah Rees Brennan, In Other Lands: Portal fantasy that kind of leans into the tropes and kind of violates them. Elliot is taken to a magical land where he’s schooled to be part of the council-but the council is losing power to the warriors and he’s always outshone by Luke, the golden boy, and Serene, the amazing elf girl. He’s always generating Buffyesque lines, especially when he’s putting down Luke. Elliot is super-smart, super-mouthy, and super-enlightened, though in a snarky enough way that it is generally forgivable-he consciously rejects the impulse to blame people who don’t love him the way he loves them, for example. There are harpies and mermaids, first loves and later loves that don’t erase or invalidate the first (perhaps the rarest thing about this story), and in general it’s a romp that, for all its poking fun at the tropes, is also a wish-fulfillment fantasy about people being kind and smart (not always at the same time) in a harsh world.
Naomi Novik, Golden Age and Other Stories: Temeraire universe (and a bit of AU) stories inspired by fan art, including a Pride and Prejudice retelling in which Elizabeth is an aviator, and drabbles that extend even to the far future and dragons in space. I especially liked a few glimpses of Lien, both before and after her role in the Temeraire novels.
Yoon Ha Lee, Raven Strategem: In the Hexarchate, exotic weapons and powers work because of the calendar, which is maintained through careful manipulation including ritual torture and sacrifice. The mad general Jedao has returned to take over a fleet while the Hexarchs seek immortality and the alien Hafn invade, and that’s just the start. I like Lee’s worldbuilding the more I get of it, because there’s a lot to understand. This volume includes a lot of game-changers; I hope we find out what happens next.
Rivers Solomon, An Unkindness of Ghosts: Brutal and terrific. Aster is a lowdecks genius on a generation ship that has slavery based on deck status (which is basically but not completely tied to race). Her role as the Surgeon’s apprentice gives her more freedom, but also exposes her to the righteous sadism of the ship’s leader. Her best friend Giselle is a rebel, but also suffers from what might be manic depression (it’s hard to tell when harms come so fast and furious), harms herself, and destroys anything she can reach. Aster investigates the mystery of her mother, who killed herself shortly after giving birth, and begins to think that she can change the course of the ship, both literally and figuratively. That’s only the scantest of summaries though-it’s a book about how trauma and discrimination shape people, mostly for worse; it’s a book about how societies work when the governing ideology is that rape and beatings are things to which some people are entitled and others are entitled to carry out; it’s a book about the scraps of hope that survive, and that don’t justify or erase the horrors or even transcend them, but that exist nonetheless. Highly recommended.
Rachel Caine, Ash and Quill: Third volume in the Great Library series. Jess and company are in Philadelphia, a city that’s been controlled by Burners for a century, but being the Library’s enemies isn’t enough since they want to reform it, not destroy it. “Out of the frying pan, into the fire” is the theme, as they go from dangerous situation to dangerous situation, with their only hope and solace coming from each other. I’ve been vague, but it’s plenty action-packed, and things are set up well for what I hope will be a resolution.
Ruthanna Emrys, Winter Tide: Lovecraft, flipped: Aphra is one of two survivors of Innsmouth, whose inhabitants were rounded up and put in a concentration camp in the desert in 1929, after the authorities discovered and became fearful of their religion/their transformation into aquatic creatures at adulthood. Now, in postwar San Francisco, living with the Japanese family who helped her survive (the concentration camp was thriftily repurposed at the outbreak of WWII), she is trying to learn more about her heritage, since during her imprisonment they were denied books or writing. Then a man from the government asks her to visit Miskatonic. If you like role reversals and riffs on existing mythos, this will be for you.
Nina Allan, The Rift: Twenty years ago, Selena’s older sister Julie disappeared. Now, she’s back, claiming to have been on another world-an alien world, where she was someone else; a world whose technology has slid backwards and which is possibly menaced by a deadly threat. Is she making it all up? If so, what is her story concealing? This isn’t a book that gives you answers. It creates a powerful sense of menace, but I generally prefer more answers in my mystery maybe-sf.
Karin Tidbeck, Amatka: Short sf(?) work in which a group of colonists, in four settlements, governed by a collective/communist-style government, live on a world that is not stable: unless objects came from Earth, they don’t hold their shape unless they are repeatedly named: pencil, suitcase, chair. The protagonist is a researcher for a cosmetics startup (the collective is experimenting with some private enterprise) who comes to a new settlement, falls in love with a woman, and threatens the body politic-quite literally. It was interesting in theory but so short and understated that I didn’t get much out of it, and I fondly remembered the funny David Brin book The Practice Effect while I was reading it.
Daryl Gregory, Spoonbenders: The Telemachus family is a mess. After mom Maureen, a true psychic, died, her scam artist husband Teddy checked out, leaving young Irene (whose power is lie detection) to raise her brothers (precognitive and minor telekinetic, respectively). Now they’re all adults, screwed up in various ways, and the next generation is starting to show powers. The government is still sort-of monitoring them-a legacy of Maureen’s work during the Cold War-and also there’s a mob angle. There’s a bit too much embarrassment squick for me, mostly because of the televised “debunking” that humiliates the family, but it also reminded me a bit of Stephen King, if only because it’s a very conscious period piece, set in 1995.
Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda, Monstress Vol. Two: The Blood: Mariko Halfwolf’s adventures continue as she visits the island of a dead god, among other things, and learns more about the monster within her. Still beautiful, still intriguing, still a bit confusing to me.
Ben Aaronovitch et al., Body Work: Graphic novel set in the Rivers of London universe with a self-contained story about a possessed car. It was ok, but aside from seeing just how impressive Nightingale’s powers look visually, it didn’t do much for me, precisely because it was self-contained.
Ben Aaronovitch et al., Night Witch: Graphic novel set in the Rivers of London universe, focusing on a scheme that targets first Varvara Sidorovna, a powerful ex-Russian, then escalates to Nightingale’s own kidnapping. With bonus humorous interludes as Beverly Brook turns out to be more than a match for the Russian mob. I enjoyed this, in part because though it was self-contained we also learned more about Varvara Sidorovna and saw some Faceless Man action.
Stephen King’s Creepshow, art by Bernie Wrightson: Graphic novel of cheesy 80s scenarios in which the evil or greedy get their comeuppance at the hands of horrors from beyond the veil. Almost as 80s as Stranger Things.
comments on DW | reply there. I have invites or you can use OpenID.
Edward Aubry, Unhappenings: A guy grows up with things constantly unhappening to him-erased from existence. He grows up and discovers that he’s the target of time travelers, including himself, because of his romantic connection with the woman another time traveler wants. I guess it was good that the guy was the one swept in, but it didn’t do much for me.
Arlene F. Marks, The Otherness Factor: Space opera-type, subvariant humans trying to join galactic collective but being excluded for political/ideological reasons. The main character is an alien mystic and the prophecy stuff didn’t work for me, but if you like aliens doing bad things because they can and good things because they want to, and humans trying to figure out what the hell is going on, you might enjoy it.
Jennifer Rohn, Cat Zero: I’m still not sure what I think about this book. It’s not a thriller, even if it’s supposedly about a feline epidemic that can cross over into human populations. It’s mostly about a woman trying to do science in a heavily male establishment, dealing with men, her own view of male/female relations (which changes in a way that made me breathe a sigh of relief, because I try to let myself judge only how a woman treats other women in the choices she makes to deal with patriarchy), and a lot of science. I mean, a lot. If you wanted a short course in virology, it’s pretty much in here. There’s also some mental illness, and its interaction with various forms of privilege given to smart white men. It was different, but not necessarily in a good way.
Sarah Rees Brennan, In Other Lands: Portal fantasy that kind of leans into the tropes and kind of violates them. Elliot is taken to a magical land where he’s schooled to be part of the council-but the council is losing power to the warriors and he’s always outshone by Luke, the golden boy, and Serene, the amazing elf girl. He’s always generating Buffyesque lines, especially when he’s putting down Luke. Elliot is super-smart, super-mouthy, and super-enlightened, though in a snarky enough way that it is generally forgivable-he consciously rejects the impulse to blame people who don’t love him the way he loves them, for example. There are harpies and mermaids, first loves and later loves that don’t erase or invalidate the first (perhaps the rarest thing about this story), and in general it’s a romp that, for all its poking fun at the tropes, is also a wish-fulfillment fantasy about people being kind and smart (not always at the same time) in a harsh world.
Naomi Novik, Golden Age and Other Stories: Temeraire universe (and a bit of AU) stories inspired by fan art, including a Pride and Prejudice retelling in which Elizabeth is an aviator, and drabbles that extend even to the far future and dragons in space. I especially liked a few glimpses of Lien, both before and after her role in the Temeraire novels.
Yoon Ha Lee, Raven Strategem: In the Hexarchate, exotic weapons and powers work because of the calendar, which is maintained through careful manipulation including ritual torture and sacrifice. The mad general Jedao has returned to take over a fleet while the Hexarchs seek immortality and the alien Hafn invade, and that’s just the start. I like Lee’s worldbuilding the more I get of it, because there’s a lot to understand. This volume includes a lot of game-changers; I hope we find out what happens next.
Rivers Solomon, An Unkindness of Ghosts: Brutal and terrific. Aster is a lowdecks genius on a generation ship that has slavery based on deck status (which is basically but not completely tied to race). Her role as the Surgeon’s apprentice gives her more freedom, but also exposes her to the righteous sadism of the ship’s leader. Her best friend Giselle is a rebel, but also suffers from what might be manic depression (it’s hard to tell when harms come so fast and furious), harms herself, and destroys anything she can reach. Aster investigates the mystery of her mother, who killed herself shortly after giving birth, and begins to think that she can change the course of the ship, both literally and figuratively. That’s only the scantest of summaries though-it’s a book about how trauma and discrimination shape people, mostly for worse; it’s a book about how societies work when the governing ideology is that rape and beatings are things to which some people are entitled and others are entitled to carry out; it’s a book about the scraps of hope that survive, and that don’t justify or erase the horrors or even transcend them, but that exist nonetheless. Highly recommended.
Rachel Caine, Ash and Quill: Third volume in the Great Library series. Jess and company are in Philadelphia, a city that’s been controlled by Burners for a century, but being the Library’s enemies isn’t enough since they want to reform it, not destroy it. “Out of the frying pan, into the fire” is the theme, as they go from dangerous situation to dangerous situation, with their only hope and solace coming from each other. I’ve been vague, but it’s plenty action-packed, and things are set up well for what I hope will be a resolution.
Ruthanna Emrys, Winter Tide: Lovecraft, flipped: Aphra is one of two survivors of Innsmouth, whose inhabitants were rounded up and put in a concentration camp in the desert in 1929, after the authorities discovered and became fearful of their religion/their transformation into aquatic creatures at adulthood. Now, in postwar San Francisco, living with the Japanese family who helped her survive (the concentration camp was thriftily repurposed at the outbreak of WWII), she is trying to learn more about her heritage, since during her imprisonment they were denied books or writing. Then a man from the government asks her to visit Miskatonic. If you like role reversals and riffs on existing mythos, this will be for you.
Nina Allan, The Rift: Twenty years ago, Selena’s older sister Julie disappeared. Now, she’s back, claiming to have been on another world-an alien world, where she was someone else; a world whose technology has slid backwards and which is possibly menaced by a deadly threat. Is she making it all up? If so, what is her story concealing? This isn’t a book that gives you answers. It creates a powerful sense of menace, but I generally prefer more answers in my mystery maybe-sf.
Karin Tidbeck, Amatka: Short sf(?) work in which a group of colonists, in four settlements, governed by a collective/communist-style government, live on a world that is not stable: unless objects came from Earth, they don’t hold their shape unless they are repeatedly named: pencil, suitcase, chair. The protagonist is a researcher for a cosmetics startup (the collective is experimenting with some private enterprise) who comes to a new settlement, falls in love with a woman, and threatens the body politic-quite literally. It was interesting in theory but so short and understated that I didn’t get much out of it, and I fondly remembered the funny David Brin book The Practice Effect while I was reading it.
Daryl Gregory, Spoonbenders: The Telemachus family is a mess. After mom Maureen, a true psychic, died, her scam artist husband Teddy checked out, leaving young Irene (whose power is lie detection) to raise her brothers (precognitive and minor telekinetic, respectively). Now they’re all adults, screwed up in various ways, and the next generation is starting to show powers. The government is still sort-of monitoring them-a legacy of Maureen’s work during the Cold War-and also there’s a mob angle. There’s a bit too much embarrassment squick for me, mostly because of the televised “debunking” that humiliates the family, but it also reminded me a bit of Stephen King, if only because it’s a very conscious period piece, set in 1995.
Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda, Monstress Vol. Two: The Blood: Mariko Halfwolf’s adventures continue as she visits the island of a dead god, among other things, and learns more about the monster within her. Still beautiful, still intriguing, still a bit confusing to me.
Ben Aaronovitch et al., Body Work: Graphic novel set in the Rivers of London universe with a self-contained story about a possessed car. It was ok, but aside from seeing just how impressive Nightingale’s powers look visually, it didn’t do much for me, precisely because it was self-contained.
Ben Aaronovitch et al., Night Witch: Graphic novel set in the Rivers of London universe, focusing on a scheme that targets first Varvara Sidorovna, a powerful ex-Russian, then escalates to Nightingale’s own kidnapping. With bonus humorous interludes as Beverly Brook turns out to be more than a match for the Russian mob. I enjoyed this, in part because though it was self-contained we also learned more about Varvara Sidorovna and saw some Faceless Man action.
Stephen King’s Creepshow, art by Bernie Wrightson: Graphic novel of cheesy 80s scenarios in which the evil or greedy get their comeuppance at the hands of horrors from beyond the veil. Almost as 80s as Stranger Things.
comments on DW | reply there. I have invites or you can use OpenID.