Author: Howard

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

This book has been on my list to read for a long time. I finally got to reading it because it was selected by my book club to read in June when we read LGBTQ+ fiction or history.

The setting is Egypt in 1912. But this is not exactly the Egypt of our history. In this Egypt, a rift was opened between the world of the djinn and our world. Now djinn live and work side by side with humans. The main character Fatma is a detective in the Egyptian Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities. And she is assigned to investigate a quite unusual murder. An Englishmen and the members of his cult were all killed by a fire that burned only their flesh and not their clothes. On top of this murder, Fatma is assigned a new partner despite the fact that she likes to work alone. And a recent girlfriend shows up unexpectedly, adding to the mix.

The storytelling is immersive. The world comes to life. Unfortunately, the author uses a lot of new (to me) words without defining any of them. These are mostly terms for clothing and foods that were unfamiliar to me. I could tell the type of thing from the context, but the details weren’t there. I found this inhibited my ability to bring the world to mind as vividly as I like. Despite this shortcoming, the story drew me in as did the characters and their relationships. They felt plausible and deeply human. The plot itself was a bit on the simplistic side. Easy to follow but just the right amount of mystery to keep me wanting to find out what happens next. An enjoyable read that would have been made better by a glossary or better descriptions in context.

My rating: 3.5/5

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

I first learned about this book from the 2018 movie of the same name starring Natalie Portman. I was fascinated by the concept. The author recently dropped a new title in the series (Southern Reach), and I thought it might be a good opportunity to experience the first in the series. The book is a rather short novel so I decided to listen to it on audiobook during a recent weekend soccer tournament out of town.

It is the story of a team of four women who are tasked to be the twelfth expedition into Area X, an area cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. The story is told by the biologist. The other members of the team are a psychologist (the leader), an anthropologist, and a surveyor. None of them use their names in an effort to keep their observations untainted by the others. Early on we learn that our narrator’s husband was a member of the eleventh expedition, a fact that was a big factor in the biologist joining this latest journey into Area X. Once the team arrives, weird things start to happen, though the book is very different from the movie.

The writing is very evocative of feelings, the main feeling being creepy. Something just feels off in Area X. And while there are plenty of revelations in the book, there really is no resolution. But that fits for the book and, oddly, I didn’t have an issue with it. It felt right. This was more an exploration of an experience of self-examination and interaction with the unknown at the same time. Truths about the members of the team are revealed even to themselves. It is a unique book that I can’t say I “enjoyed”. It isn’t that kind of story. But I did thoroughly appreciate the unique experience it provided.

My rating: 4/5

Inverting The Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics by Jonathan Wilson

Earlier this year, I went looking for soccer books to read in hotels while I was out of town reffing soccer matches. This was one of the books I chose. I was interested to learn more about tactics as I never learned any while playing in high school and hear a lot about them during the games I ref. It also didn hurt that I saw this one on Ted Lasso. I finally finished it at a tournament last weekend.

This book was overwhelming. It packs the history of tactics in with a lot of names and history, much of which I was completely unfamiliar with. It felt a bit like War and Peace for soccer. It might have meant more to someone from Europe who is more steeped in the game. In any case, I just let the names flow over me as I did my best to absorb how the game has changed.

And that was what fascinated me most, how the way the game is played has changed so much over the years. I even learned about how the rules have changed. I was unaware of the evolution of the offside rule. That one was particularly interesting to me. So despite there being so much information, I enjoyed all that I learned.

My rating: 4/5

Analog Science Fiction & Fact, May/June 2025

Here are my brief summaries and ratings for the latest issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact magazine.

“Isolate” by Tom R. Pike — A monk with training in linguistics comes to a newly colonized planet to evaluate their language. I really loved how this story treats language and language learning. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Robot and the Winding Wood” by Brenda Cooper — An elderly couple maintaining a campground by themselves with no visitors for years is visited by a robot. A sweet story about the end of the world. (My rating: 5/5)

“Outside the Robles Line” by Raymund Eich — A young man makes a proposal to an older board of the Wise on an asteroid. This one felt like a non-fiction piece forced into a fiction wrapper. (My rating: 3/3)

“Retail Is Dying” by David Lee Zweifler and Ronan Zweifler — An old man wandering an old empty mall encounters a man with a dog he needs to adopt out. Perfect for dog lovers. (My rating: 4/5)

“Groundling” by Shane Tourtellotte — A mechanical engineer born on a generation ship enjoys a tour of duty planetside so much that he angles to be assigned to a new longer tour. This was one of those stories that I wanted to keep going so I could see what happens next. (My rating: 5/5)

“Amtech Deep Sea Institute Thanks You for Your Donation” by Kelsey Hutton — Scientists record the consciousness of a deep sea squid in its natural environment. An interesting piece of flash fiction. (My rating: 4/5)

“North American Union v. Exergy-Petroline Corporation” by TIffany Fritz — A legal finding from a future Supreme Court. The author uses a clever storytelling method, but it got in the way. Legal decisions are not entertaining stories. (My rating: 2/5)

“Momentum Exchange” by Nikolai Lofving Hersfeldt — Two immortals struggle against one another, one trying to keep the other on the planet. This one was good but didn’t really grab me. (My rating: 3/5)

“And So Greenpeace Invented the Death Ray…” by C. Stuart Hardwick — Satellites designed to beam energy to earth are compromised. This one had a thriller vibe. (My rating: 4/5)

“Mnemonomie” by Mark N. Tiedemann — A man wakes up feeling different after almost being beaten to death. A fascinating story of memory and coming-of-age. (My rating:4/5)

“Methods of Remediation in Nearshore Ecologies” by Joanne Rixon — A scientist kayaks the bay testing chemical levels in the soil. Interesting, but not much happens. (My rating: 3/5)

“First Contact, Already Seen” by Howard V. Hendrix — A series of vignettes outlining willful “othering” and personally enthrowning one’s own people. (My rating: 3/5)

“The New Shape of Care” by Lynne Sargent — A woman in hospice care run by robots is held by her daughter in her dying moments. An unexpected and slightly disturbing ending. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Scientist’s Book of the Dead” by Gregor Hartmann — After a revolution by scientists and a war that lowered the human population, those scientists debate lowering population even further. An interesting look at a society run by scientists. (My rating: 5/5)

“Siegried Howls Against the Void” by Erik Johnson — Siegfried, a slow, lumbering spacecraft communicates with Eurydice across the void of space. A metaphor for human relationships and aging. (My rating: 3/5)

“The Iceberg” by Michael Capobianco — A found-footage story of a man surviving on an iceberg near Antarctica after some sort of cataclysm. Meh. (My rating: 3/5)

“Bluebeard’s Womb” by M.G. Wills — A scientist experiments with men having babies as a way to address misogyny. Unexpected things happen in this well-told novella. (My rating: 4/5)

Average rating for a story in this issue: 3.82/5