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

Where the Axe Is Buried by Ray Nayler

I’ve become a big Ray Nayler fan. I’ve read his other two books (The Mountain in the Sea and Tusks of Extinction) and thoroughly enjoyed them. So when this latest novel came out recently, I quickly put in on my list. And late last week, I finished reading it.

The story takes place in a near future where two main forms of government exist. The Federation is a totalitarian surveillance state. Everyone is watched all the time. They use a social credit system to keep everyone in line. Violence and fear are pervasive and everpresent. The president changes regularly but it is always the same person whose consciousness is transferred to a new body each time. The West is governed by a system run by AI Prime Ministers who are meant to be objectively more efficient and peaceful. Naturally there is resistance in the Federation. And in the West, a new Republic that just received its first AI PM, struggles with the adjustment.

This is exactly my kind of human/AI story! Most stories about AI are about how it becomes smarter than humans and subjugates them in some way. This is much more complicated than that. And that complication is what makes me appreciate this novel. In general, there are no straightforward answers. Like real life, things are messy. Human emotion interferes with logic. The author does with this book what all good science fiction authors do: he explores today’s issues by exploring them in made-up future. This is not prediction. It is exploration. And what a thought provoking exploration it is!

My rating: 5/5

Beartown by Frederik Backman

My book club reads books in translation in May. This was our pick this year. It was originally published in Swedish. It is also the basis for the HBO series of the same name.

The book tells the story of a small rural town in Sweden called Beartown. It is known for only one thing: hockey. The town is small and in the forest. No one goes there by mistake and lots of folks look to get out. One man who made it big in hockey moves back with his family after a brief career in the NHL, becoming the general manager of the local club. The town revolves around this club. Everyone is involved in some way: player, spectator, sponsor. The junior team is on the verge of making the finals for the first time in decades. But something happens after the semi-final that sets the town at odds with itself.

This book is exactly the kind of fiction I love to read. It deals with fundamental aspects of what if means to be human and be in relationship with others. What do we owe one another? What do we owe to ourselves? How do manage both at the same time? There are deep and meaningful relationships of all sorts: player-coach, couples, father-son, mother-daughter, neighbors. All of them are real and complicated with no easy answers. And the writing is so compelling and compassionate. I highly recommend this book.

My rating: 5/5

Uncanny Magazine Issue #64

This is the first issue of this magazine that I have read since 2023. I still love the variety of stories told.

“Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War” by Caroline M. Yoachim (6,748 words) — Through a series of short vignettes, it tells the story of an ongoing war between humans and fae and how it reflects the ongoing state of their shared existence. (My rating: 4/5)

“Barbershops of the Floating City” by Angela Liu (6,024 words) — A daughter who sees the memories of her customers cuts hair and struggles to help her mom. A poignant story of class struggle, abuse, and relationships. (My rating: 4/5)

“Vivisection” by Anjali Sachdeva (4,916 words) — Eleanor, fearing for her safety, hides her organs around the house to keep them safe from her abusive girlfriend Severine. This my first story by this author. A unflinching and sideways look at a relationship with an abuser from the victim’s perspective. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Breaker of Mountains and Rivers” by Aliette de Bodard (Story link live starting June 3) — An angel is tortured by demons led by the lover of the celestial being tortured. (My rating: 4/5)

“Hi! I’m Claudia” by Delilah S. Dawson (Story link live starting June 3) — A man talks with an AI about the troubles in his life. A view to our possible future? (My rating: 5/5)

“All the World is Fog” by DeVaun Sanders (Story link live starting June 3) — A father leads a krewe in a water-soaked, climate-changed dystopia. I enjoyed the world here but the plot was a bit muddled for me and left me not feeling much of anything. (My rating: 2/5)

“Pale Serpent, Green Serpent” by Ewen Ma (1,199 words) — Immortal friends play a game after getting together after a long time apart. The game is one only immortals can play. (My rating: 4/5)

Average rating for this issue: 4 out of 5.

Clarkesworld Magazine Issue #224

This is one of the first things I read each month. Here are my mini reviews for the latest issue.

“Brainstem Disco, 2191” by Angela Liu (1,640 words) — One of a pair of lovers interacts with the other’s post-mortem disembodied self, pining for them, wishing they hadn’t died. Lot’s of imagery, especially around sound. Unique and interesting story. (My Rating: 3/5)

“The Library of the Apocalypse” by Rati Mehrota (3,850 words) — The narrator leads a band of humans surviving in a shattered Toronto as they search each full moon for the titular library to escape briefly from their dark reality. Intriguing and well-written with a twist at the end. (My rating: 5/5)

“We, the Fleet” by Alex T. Singer (7,700 words) — A mother with inorganic children finds and saves a human woman by making her into a cyborg. A wonderful story of family and friendship told from a unique perspective. (My rating: 5/5)

“Descent” by Wole Talabi (21,240 words) — A man on a gaseous planet seeks to find the planet’s surface. It has lots of foreign/made-up words without definitions and that I found not easily understood from context. (My rating: 3/5)

“Oh Time Thy Pyramids” by Ann LeBlanc (7,430 words) — I found this one confusing to the point that I stopped reading at the first break. (My rating: 1/5)

“Proxima One” by Caryanna Reuven (4,020 words) — Silicos set out to search for life in the universe and end up considering whether to create it again. Very engaging concept without much of a plot. (My rating: 3/5)

“Yarn Theory” by Marie Vibbert (1,000 words) — A mathematician knits a pattern in yarn of a message received from aliens. I liked this very much. It ended too soon. I wanted more. (My rating: 4/5)

My average story rating for this issue: 3.43 out of 5.

Onyx Storm by Rebeccah Yarros

My partner had this book on pre-order. She read it when it first came out. I only got around to reading it. It was okay.

It continues the story of the relationship between Violet and Xaden and their dragons and how they are dealing with the turmoil caused by the dark wielders as well as trying to find a cure for Xaden’s situation. There are many adventures and mild twists and turns.

This edition of the Empyrean series didn’t do much for me. It wasn’t bad. It just didn’t hold my interest like the previous books in the series. I expect that I will read the next book to find out how the story unfolds. Eventually.

My rating: 3/5

In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honoré

I don’t recall when this book from 2004 first came to my attention or how. It was in the last few months. Driving to my most recent soccer tournament seemed like the perfect moment to take it in on audiobook.

The book starts with outlining how the world has sped up and how it is affecting us. Remember, this was published in 2004, before we had smartphones or Facebook or Instagram or any other social media. It was hard to tell that this book is more than twenty years old! After two chapters, the author delves into eight areas of life where he explores slowing down and talks to people doing just that. These areas are:

Food
Cities
Mind/Body
Medicine
Sex
Work
Leisure
Children

But I found the Conclusion the most valuable. Here is summarizes he message that the movement to slow down is not about trying to go backwards. Rather it is about learning how to choose when to go fast and when to go slow.

I really found this book valuable despite its age. He does make a lot of predictions about how the slow movement will not be going away. These feel dated in our world where everyone’s head is always looking down at a glowing rectangle they’ve pulled from their pocket. But the message itself is timeless and still provides a lot readers can put into practice to start taking back control of their lives.

My rating: 4/5