The Extinction Trials by A. G. Riddle

My partner and I had a recent road trip to meet family in Virginia. As we do, we borrowed an audiobook from the library to enjoy on the road. We chose this one as my partner had read some of the author’s other books and liked them. We didn’t finish it on our trip, but when I had some work to do around the house I finally finished listening to it on my own.

It opens with a prologue describing an idea for how to save humanity from itself. As the novel itself starts, things are going very wrong. Eventually, the two main characters end up in some kind of bunker with a bunch of others. They learn that they are a part of the “extinction trials” and begin to try to figure out what to do.

Much of this book feels like an escape room game that you might play on your smartphone. That feels like a criticism to me, but somehow I actually liked it. There is a lot of action and mystery in this one, making it a thriller (that’s part of why my partner chose it). One giant reveal waits at the end after a series of smaller ones unfold. It was pure entertainment with only a little bit of message. Overall I very much enjoyed it.

My rating: 4/5

Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind by Molly McGhee

I had never heard of this book when I read Cory Doctorow’s review of it on his blog. Having gone through a period of deep indebtedness, the experience of the main character felt familiar from the review. I added it to my list of books to read and finished it recently.

The titular character is a twenty-something young man who never completed college but still has the debt from it that cannot be dismissed in bankruptcy. He lives in a one-room basement apartment of his divorcee landlord. He is invited to apply for a job that he can literally do in his sleep. But as with all things that seem too good to be true, things don’t go as he envisions.

My main characterization of this novel is that it delivers how desperate and unsolvable being in debt is. It feels like a death trap. No one tells you how expensive it is to be poor. You get fined for not having enough money in your bank account. You can’t afford quality goods and spend more on having to buy junk over and over. The story never goes in to those details yet somehow delivers the desperation that poverty delivers. The story is just the right amount of weird and the main character is flawed but sympathetic. It is not the most comfortable or uplifting read, but it sure delivers a gut punch about what many young people today are going through.

My rating: 4/5

Termush by Sven Holm, Translated by Sylvia Clayton

I learned about this short book from a review in the September issue of Locus magazine. The story was originally written in Danish and published in 1967. I was interested because of its premise, both the background of the story and the human dilemma it addresses.

The book takes place in a future where a nuclear holocaust has occurred. It centers on a hotel populated by residents who saw it coming and spent a lot of money to prepare this hotel to shelter them in the aftermath. Soon, refugees looking for food and in need of medial assistance begin to arrive. The residents have to decide whether they should allow these folks in or keep them out.

I am a big fan of these kinds of thought experiments in fiction. It is handled fairly well here. Both perspectives are presented and the issue is explored. However, no definitive answer is given. I also really appreciate it when authors acknowledge the complexity of issues in this way. The text is a little stilted at time, perhaps due to the translation or the source material. I still felt the impact of this deeply human story.

My rating: 4/5

Spill by Cory Doctorow

As I am sure I have said before, I am a big Cory Doctorow fan. I read his blog. I also have alerts that notify me when he publishes anything new. This book came up on one of those alerts, so I grabbed it right away and read it soon after.

The story takes place in the world of his previous series of novels that start with Little Brother. This one centers around a group of indigenous protesters trying to prevent an oil pipeline from being built through sacred land, potentially fouling the people’s water supply. This intersects with a cyber attack on a large company. Two main characters from the Little Brother universe working on these separate issue learn how they are related.

This novella is a quick and interesting read. Like all of Doctorow’s work, it includes simple descriptions of complex technical issues. Then he spins a story that shows you how that technology affects characters that could be anybody. This book is both entertaining and educational. Highly recommended.

My rating: 4.5/5

Blindsight by Peter Watts

This is a book that I have heard about from time to time over the years. It is described as a superb hard science fiction novel that explores philosophy and what it means to be human. That tends to be my favorite kind of science fiction. And with all the high praise for this book, I was excited to read it. Perhaps the reviews were a little overdone for me.

The story is one of first contact with a limited cast of characters. It takes place hundreds of years in our future where all of those on the mission are enhanced in some way, physically. The ship is also a character being a sentient AI. They are sent to encounter a large object nearly the size of Saturn. When they arrive, they find some sort of ship in orbit around the object. The bulk of the novel is their attempts to communicate with and figure out what exactly it is.

The writing is a bit too much hard science. I read this on an ereader and was glad for it. I had to look up the meaning of many words to understand them. The context did little to help with that. The story is also told in a manner that made it feel almost a little confusing to me. I got the main thread but couldn’t help but feel like I missed a lot. That said, it really delivered on the philosophy and the human condition. Overall, I enjoyed it.

My rating: 3.5/5

Wrong Place Wrong Time by William Morrow

I heard about this book on the podcast What Should I Read Next?. It intrigued me because of its unique time travel element as well as the emotional aspect of a mother trying to save her son from doing something terrible that would change his life in ways he could never undo.

As the book opens, a mother is waiting for her teenage son to return home. He is running late and she is nervously looking out the window looking for him. Soon, she sees him walking toward the house. He is joined by another person. They seem to talk briefly. Then her son takes out a knife and stabs the man. The rest of the night involves the police and her son going to jail. In the wee hours of the morning she finally gets home to get some sleep, intending to get him a lawyer and start sorting all this out the next day. But when she awakes, it is the day before the murder. And every time she wakes up, it is a day or more before the day she just relived.

I couldn’t put this book down. The mother is at the center of the story as she attempts to unravel what happened, why her son would stab someone, and how she can prevent it from ever happening in the first place. Through some help from other characters, she uncovers more and more that she didn’t know about her own life. The story is filled with surprising revelations artfully spun. The mother’s emotions are an underlying thread as she finds out things about her son and husband that she never knew. And the writing pulls at the heartstrings in a way that fits perfectly with the story without pulling you out of it. A well-written and evocative mystery that effectively uses time travel and makes it feel almost normal.

My rating: 4.5/5

In Ascension by Martin MacInnes

I have been a subscriber and reader of Locus Magazine for over a year now. It is the monthly magazine of science fiction, fantasy, and horror and includes numerous book reviews in each issue. The February issue included various reviewers’ best of 2023 books. One such favorite was this book. The book was also longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2023. The premise sounded interesting, so I gave it a go.

The review that interested me in this book states in part that “it serves as a technical demonstration of how to continue asking big science-fictional questions while starting from the world as it is, rather than as we’d like it to be.” The book is told in the first person and starts with a rather lengthy description of the main character’s childhood and eventual decision to study marine biology. She eventually gets the opportunity to go on a scientific expedition to a place in the mid-Atlantic where there is a trench much deeper than ever measured in the Atlantic before. Odd things start happening that begin to move the plot forward at a less slow pace.

This book is well-written and filled with thoughtful ideas. At times it reminded me of thoughtful science fiction books like Contact and 2001: A Space Odyssey. And while I enjoined both of those books and movies, I found this book to be way too much prose and not engaging enough with the story. Even the ideas are barely hinted at. I enjoyed the contemplation of the ideas raised in this book, but it was as much an exploration of childhood trauma and its affects on the main character’s future. Sometimes it felt that was the main point of the book rather than exploring the science fictional elements of the story. That may be what others want in their literary science fiction, but not me. Give me Rendezvous with Rama any day over this dry, almost pretentious, over literary book.

My rating: 2.5/5

Saga, Vol. 11 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

I learned about the comic/graphic novel series Saga many years ago. Every time a new volume in the series is released, I immediately put it a request for it at my local library. Not too long ago, my request for volume 11 came in. Quick warning, minor spoilers ahead for the action that took place prior to volume 11.

Volume 11 picks up after Marko has been murdered and Alana and Hazel (their daughter) are stranded when their spaceship is destroyed. They continue to be hunted by both sides of a war because Marko and Alana, representing a union of adversaries, and their daughter are perceived as a threat to the ongoing conflict that others are ideologically or financially committed to. This volume continues the stellar artwork and storytelling of the previous volumes.

If you haven’t yet read any of Saga, I highly recommend it. Just be aware that its themes and artwork are very much aimed at adults and therefore definitely not safe for work (NSFW).

My rating: 4/5

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

I am fascinated by storytelling. It is a large part of why I read so much. I also love to learn about the art of storytelling and writing. So much so that I listen to a podcast called Writing Excuses. What is it? In their words, “Writing Excuses is a fast-paced, educational podcast for writers, by writers. Our goal is to help our listeners become better at their craft. Whether they write for fun or for profit, whether they’re new to the domain or old hands, Writing Excuses has something to offer. We love to write, and our listeners do, too.” In their latest season they have been talking about “world building” and using the Hugo-award-winning novel A Memory of Empire by Arkady Martine as their text.

I had thought about reading this book many times but always decided to pass. On the cover is a prominent quote that, in part, refers to it as “space opera“, not one of my favorite types of science fiction. I didn’t really relish reading about war in space. But as I listened to this season of the podcast, I discovered that this novel is less about space war and more about culture, language, diplomacy, colonization, and empire. I became very interested in reading this book and finally picked it up.

The story centers on a young woman named Mahit who grew up on a small space station on the edge of the empire. When suddenly the empire requests a new ambassador from the station, Mahit is sent. She has studied the empire and its language and culture almost her entire life. She is fascinated by it as well as troubled by its power and threat to her home station. When she arrives, she learns that the former ambassador is dead, possibly murdered. With little knowledge of what happened to him and almost no one to help her, she sets out to discover what happened to him and protect and represent her home.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved that it delves into the culture of the empire and how it both fascinates and troubles Mahit. One of the episodes in the podcast is an interview with the author. In it I learned that she combines aspects of the Byzantium and Aztec empires to develop the empire in the book. The world building happens in the context of telling the story so there is little exposition about the empire or the world. It all happens organically in an intriguing story that grabs you by the scruff of the neck and takes you along for the ride with Mahit as she struggles to navigate this new world that she loves and fears and has for so long wanted to be a part of. But as the story unfolds she starts to wonder if that will ever be possible. A unique look as colonization and it effects on the colonizers in the shape of a compelling story that is hard to put down.

My rating: 4.5/5

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

I’ve had this book on my To Be Read pile for almost three years. Last week it caught my attention when I was considering what to read next. I finished in less than a week.

The story takes place on a future Earth where a way has been discovered to travel to alternate universes. This allows Earth Zero (the one that discovered and developed the technology) to begin a brisk trade with alternate Earths. The challenge of traversing, as its called, to these other worlds is that you can only do so to worlds where the alternate version of you is no longer alive. The main character is valuable to the company employing those who traverse because she is dead in more alternate worlds than anyone else. But what happens when she is sent to a world where her alternate self isn’t actually dead? That happens, kicking off a fantastic thriller of a novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has everything. A likable but mysterious protagonist. A driven plot with multiple twists that are hard or impossible to see coming. Character development that happens in line with the plot and provokes considered thought about the human condition. And a love story that feels as genuine as possible in a complex and dangerous world. I found this book un-put-down-able.

My rating: 4.5/5