Tag Archives: science fiction

March 18, 2024 · 11:17 am

Saga Volume 10

Epic fantasy and science fiction graphic novel series

After quite a long hiatus, this series is back! If you haven’t read it before, my review of Volume 1 is here. I was quite excited to read it for my Short Stack Reading Challenge and ordered myself a copy to arrive just in time.

Photo is of “Saga Volume Ten” by Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan. The paperback book is resting on a black cymbal among other parts of an electronic drum kit. The backdrop is a colourful artwork with digital elements. The cover is of a brown-skinned woman with blonde hair, a white man with koala ears and a bionic arm holding an axe, and an olive-skinned girl in a blue suit with horns.

“Saga Volume Ten” by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples is a comic book that picks up some years after the events of the previous volume. Narrator Hazel is now ten years old and is living on the treehouse spaceship with her mother Alana, adopted brother Squire and newcomer Bombazine. Eking out a living on the fringes, Alana hopes to “go legit” but when they cross paths with a pirate ship with two kids who shouldn’t exist, things absolutely do not go to plan.

This series is back with a vengeance and the decision to place it on hiatus was an excellent one. This volume felt fresh and re-energised with familiar old characters, fun new characters and high stakes. The book continues on with the familiar themes of war and identity, while more deeply examining the complex ideas of family, home and grief. The artwork is as dynamic as ever and the story flowed really well from page to page.

I think the only thing that annoyed me a bit was that despite ten years having passed since the events of Volume 1, Alana just hasn’t seemed to have aged at all. There is one point where she bares her breasts at the beginning of the book in protest about patriarchy and breastfeeding, and there is nary a droop nor a stretch-mark to be seen. Sure Alana may have a “perfect” body as the mother of a ten year old, but I felt like as a series purporting to outrage and challenge stereotypes, it could have been a good opportunity to show a bit of vulnerability and reality rather than simply sexualising Alana further. Bizarrely, when Alana consults a wolf-woman later in the book about cosmetic surgery, the wolf-woman has much more realistic breasts (notwithstanding that there are six of them).

Anyway, a fun addition to a long-running series that maybe isn’t as radical as it is trying to be.

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January 7, 2024 · 10:11 pm

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn

Speculative fiction novel about time, war and a labyrinth of a library

I received a copy of this eBook courtesy of the publisher.

Image is of “The Book That Wouldn’t Burn” by Mark Lawrence. The eBook cover is of an enormous, expansive library with multi-storey staircases reminiscent of a Escher print.

“The Book That Wouldn’t Burn” by Mark Lawrence is a speculative fiction novel and the first in “The Library Trilogy”. The book contains two stories about two young. Livira, born in a remote settlement in a desert known as the Dust, survives a kidnapping and finds herself in training at a magnificent library at the centre of a city called Malar. Evar, a gentle and sensitive soul, lives in a very similar library with his adopted siblings who have all been raised by android-like beings called the Assistant and the Soldier. As Livira and Evar’s stories become increasingly connected, the mysteries of the libraries and the perpetual threat of invasion and war begin to be revealed.

This was without a doubt my favourite read of 2023. I’ve read Lawrence‘s work before, and all the potential I found in that book was fully realised in this one. The plot is meticulously set out and the pacing is perfect. The book is mostly science fiction but with elements of fantasy that will appeal to readers of either genre, and I am really looking forward to learning more about the premise and the world in the upcoming sequel. I was equally invested in both Livira and Evar’s stories and Lawrence demonstrates again that he writes great female characters. Livira’s ability to perfectly recall information and insatiable curiosity makes her a great lens through which to explore Malar’s library. Meanwhile, although Evar’s siblings have clear memories of how they came to their library and the books they were reading at the time, Evar only has faint memories of a woman who he is certain is the key to his own history. Both stories are extremely compelling, and unfold and intertwine in a really satisfying way.

A really fascinating and enjoyable book and I can’t wait for more.

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January 6, 2024 · 3:43 pm

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Historical science fiction novel inspired by H. G. Wells

This was the set book for my fantasy book club. I wasn’t hosting this time, but I had previously hosted a book club for a book by this author and I was keen to read more of her work.

Image is of “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. The eBook cover is of a young woman in a teal dress standing in the doorway of a pink house covered in vines.

“The Daughter of Doctor Moreau” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a science fiction novel set in Mexico in the 1970s inspired by “The Island of Doctor Moreau” by H. G. Wells. The story is about a young woman called Carlota who lives with her father, scientist Dr Moreau who creates human-animal hybrids. She lives in relative isolation in the estate they live in and her precarious health means she requires regular treatment. She spends most of her time with Cachito and Lupe, two experiments who are more humanoid than others, with only minimal involvement in her father’s work or understanding of their financial situation. However, when Eduardo, the son of the man who owns the estate, visits one day, he takes a romantic interest in Carlota which could either be the family’s salvation or its downfall.

This story had a beautiful, lush setting in the Yucatán Peninsula and the estate, known as a hacienda, felt fully realised. It reminded me a lot of “Like Water for Chocolate” actually with a strong connection between the family and the home, and Moreno-Garcia continues to impress with her ability to set a scene. Carlota is a great character whose self-realisation transforms her from fragile to empowered and I loved how she becomes a fearsome advocate. Montgomery, Dr Moreau’s alcoholic assistant, is also a really strong character and his chapters were frequently my favourite. I really enjoy the biopunk subgenre of science fiction, and while this book (and its inspiration) in some ways is more like “Frankenstein“, it shared a lot of similar elements around the ethics of combining humans and animals and exploring the limits of human biology. I also really liked how Moreno-Garcia drew parallels (and alliances) between the exploitation of her hybrid characters and the impacts of colonialism on the Maya people. I felt like Moreno-Garcia has really hit her stride with her writing, and some of the rougher edges in her previous book are well and truly smoothed out here.

The main issue I had with this book, which I had with “The Gods of Jade and Shadow”, is that once again the ending just wasn’t very satisfying. I appreciate that this isn’t exactly a romance book but like her previous book, I felt like there was an enormous amount of emotional setup that wasn’t followed by a solid conclusion.

Nevertheless, a unique, colourful and sensitive retelling of a classic science fiction novel.

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October 16, 2023 · 12:46 pm

The Crane Husband

I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.

Image is of “The Crane Husband” by Kelly Barnhill. The eBook cover is a profile painting of a figure with a human face with bright red lips overlaid with the feathers, beak and leg of a bird against a black background.

“The Crane Husband” by Kelly Barnhill is a surreal, speculative fiction novella about a teenage girl who lives in the not-too-distant future with her widowed mother and little brother in the Midwestern United States. Her mother supports the family financially by weaving and selling elaborate tapestries, but the girl is the one who takes on the responsibility for the majority of the care of her brother, housework and household budgeting. One day, the mother brings home a lover who is a giant crane. At first, the girl assumes it will be another short-lived relationship but the crane stays and the girl must find a way to save her family.

This is a complex and unsettling retelling of “The Crane Wife“, a story from Japanese folklore, that weaves in themes of family violence, control, generational trauma in a lightly science fiction setting. I really liked the way Barnhill captured the narrator’s voice, a teenager who already forced to grow up faster than she should have been following the loss of her father, is faced with even more responsibility and loss of innocence when the crane arrives. There is a dark, brittle urgency about this book that makes it very readable and just enough ambiguity, especially about the true nature of the crane, to keep the reader guessing. I really liked how there was a real juxtaposition between isolation and intimacy, both for the family in the future they live in, but for the mother in her relationship with the crane.

A challenging and engrossing story with many layers.

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July 29, 2023 · 10:08 pm

Animorphs The Graphic Novel: The Visitor

Graphic novel adaptation of middle grade sci-fi series Animorphs

Somehow after reading this book, I managed to forget to review it, so here it is out of sync. I was so excited when I heard the “Animorphs” series was being adapted as graphic novels. I’m still trying to complete my collection of the original series (though I am getting a bit closer) and I will be making sure I collect all of these, but equally I am enjoying them and I’m keen to space them out and savour them as much as possible.

Image is of “Animorphs The Graphic Novel: The Visitor” based on the novel by K. A. Applegate and Michael Grant, and adapted by Chris Grine. The paperback graphic novel is sitting in front of a pet carrier. The cover is of a blonde girl in a green shirt and sweats carrying a red sports bag. Behind her are alien shadows against a green brick wall, and at the top are four images of her morphing into a cat.

““Animorphs The Graphic Novel: The Visitor” adapted by Chris Grine is based on the science fiction middle grade novel of the same name: the second book in the “Animorphs” series by K. A. Applegate and Michael Grant. The Animorphs are starting to get used to their new morphing powers, and Tobias is beginning to get used to permanently being a red-tailed hawk, but the threat of the Yeerks is ongoing. Although the way to the Yeerk pool is now closed, the Animorphs have discovered that their assistant principal is a controller: a host to a Yeerk. Rachel was friends with his daughter Melissa, and the Animorphs have to work out how to use that connection to get inside the assistant principal’s house.

This was another really fun adaptation with plenty of action and plenty of heart. Rachel was always described as this effortless beauty in the original books with this undercurrent of toughness, and I like her character design because it strikes an excellent balance between a typical Western beauty standard and the steeliness of a warrior. I also really liked this book because it straightaway rounds out Rachel’s character showing some of her hobbies, friendships and her compassion. I also found it quite amusing that early on, everyone looks absolutely gross while morphing except for Cassie and I look forward to seeing more of that.

There are already two more books out so I am very excited to get stuck into them.

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July 15, 2023 · 10:15 pm

Where’s My Jetpack? A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future that Never Arrived

Non-fiction book about why the inventions we imagined don’t exist yet

There is no question why I picked up this book. It has the most incredible metallic blue tinted edges and even though I don’t frequent the non-fiction section at the Lifeline Bookfair very often, this clearly caught my eye. It’s a nice short book with large text: ideal for the Short Stack Reading Challenge.

Photo is of “Where’s My Jetpack? A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future that Never Arrived” by Daniel H. Wilson, PhD. The paperback book is leaning against a black PC case that has glowing blue lights inside it and a lit up mouse and keyboard reflected on the panel. The cover is silver and black with a figure in a jetpack shooting up amongst skyscrapers and a zeppelin. The smoke from the jetpack is blue. The book has shiny metallic blue tinted edges.

“Where’s My Jetpack? A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future that Never Arrived” by Daniel H. Wilson, PhD is a non-fiction book about a range of imagined inventions from science fiction designed to help with transportation, entertainment, superhuman abilities, household tasks and space travel. Wilson dedicates each chapter to an invention, explaining the science behind why it is not yet a reality.

Although this book was published in 2007, it is surprisingly still relevant. With humour and surprisingly good science communication, Wilson carefully explains the history of each idea, what would be required to get it working, progress so far and what is standing in the way – be it viability, money or will.

While I remember enjoying the book while I read it, I didn’t feel like I retained a lot of information from it. I think I would also like to see an updated or revised edition that takes into account scientific progress over the past 17 years.

A fun and informative book for sci-fi and non-fiction buffs alike.

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March 6, 2023 · 12:20 am

The Genesis of Misery

Epic science fiction novel about faith, war and moral righteousness

Content warning: war, torture, abuse

I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.

Image is of “The Genesis of Misery” by Neon Yang. The eBook cover is of a person in a green unitard and jacket with bobbed orange hair floating or falling through space. Behind them is a large pearlescent creature with four arms and a humanoid head, and an eclipsing planet.

“The Genesis of Misery” by Neon Yang is a science fiction novel about Misery, a petty criminal from a backwater planet, who has found themselves in hot water again. Misery has the power to manipulate certain types of stones, but is all too aware that this means they will likely die of voidmadness like their mother did. In fact Misery has already begun hearing voices. However, when the voice starts giving more and more specific suggestions, Misery begins to listen and is catapulted from marauder to messiah. Misery’s abilities find themself immersed in an ideological war. Increasingly extremist, is Misery’s war truly righteous or have they become the villain?

This was a really interesting story with an incredible amount of character development. I think this book is a fascinating study on the progression of extremism and the corruptibility of people with power. At the beginning of the book, Misery is fiery, logical and caught up in the goal of escaping their troubled background. However, as she listens more to the voice and leans into her powers, her moral compass begins to shift towards a completely different direction. This is also a really compelling book on the morality of war, and Yang uses a really unique third person omniscient perspective. As a reader, you feel really immersed in Misery’s thoughts and in the beginning, you feel really aligned with Misery. With great subtlety and effectiveness, Yang makes us question our continued alliance with this protagonist. This book embeds the use of preferred pronouns, building on Yang’s previous work, and makes living your authentic self an unquestioned part of Misery’s society.

However, I think that at times the book struggled in terms of readibility. A lot of the worldbuilding felt like broad brushstrokes and apart from some of the nuance of the religious war, I came away from the book feeling like I didn’t have much of a sense of the setting whether it was planetside, in a spaceship or in a giant mecha.

A thought-provoking example of science fiction that didn’t always bring the reader along with it.

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November 19, 2022 · 5:38 pm

Embassytown

Award-winning science fiction novel about cross-cultural alien communication

Content warning: war, addiction, mental illness

I picked up a copy of this book many Lifeline Bookfairs ago for one very obvious reason: the book’s tinted edges. While possibly originally black, the edges have since faded to a purplish colour. This book has been sitting on my shelf for a very long time and I was inspired to read it when it came up in the category of “7th most read genre in your all-time stats” of the StoryGraph Onboarding Reading Challenge 2022.

Image is of “Embassytown” by China Mieville. The paperback book is upright against a glowing white background. Beside it is a small replica of the Rosetta Stone.

“Embassytown” by China Mieville is a science fiction novel about a young woman called Avice who comes from the eponymous city on a planet at the edge of the known universe. The city serves as a trading post and protected place of diplomacy with the endemic alien species the Ariekei, referred to as the Hosts. After becoming one of the few people born in Embassytown who manage to leave and travel through space, Avice returns to her childhood home with her partner: a passionate linguist who has a keen interest in the Hosts’ unique form of language. Diplomatic relations with the Hosts are conducted by a very select few humans called Ambassadors and while mutual understanding between humans and Ariekei is limited, Embassytown has enjoyed peace, stability and exchange of technologies for some time. That is, however, until a new Ambassador arrives from the Out.

This was an extremely clever and well-constructed novel and it is not a surprise in the slightest that it won a plethora of awards when it was published. Mieville’s premise is highly original and is an incredibly creative exploration of language, communication and diplomacy and how small misunderstandings can have catastrophic effects. Without giving too much away and detracting from the enjoyment of letting the reader’s understanding of the novel unfold, I really enjoyed the worldbuilding such as the expression of names as linguistic fractions, the buildings made from biomatter and the almost indecipherable concept of humans as similies that left me puzzling long after the book was over. Mieville leaves no stone unturned when it comes to exploring the implications of Embassytown’s establishment and each decision thereafter, but manages to do so without ever being boring. In some way, as the reader, we are required to empathise with the difficulties in understanding another culture by initially being faced with an unfathomable society and gradually gaining understanding and context as the book progresses.

I think the only very slight disadvantage to this book is that while Mieville’s pacing is very carefully done so as not to either overwhelm or underwhelm the reader with information, some readers may feel the time it takes to find your fitting a bit too long.

An exceptionally intelligent piece of science fiction, I am really looking forward to reading more of Mieville’s work.

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November 14, 2022 · 9:27 pm

The Last White Man

Speculative fiction novel about humanity’s skin changing colour

Content warning: racial violence

I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.

Image is of “The Last White Man” by Mohsin Hamid. The eBook cover is dark navy blue with stylised block text in pink and orange, and pale yellow and orange.

“The Last White Man” by Mohsin Hamid is a speculative fiction novel about a young white man called Anders. One morning, Anders wakes to find that his appearance is changed. He is no longer white. Confused and unsure what to do, he reaches out to his friend and lover Oona. As they slowly renegotiate their relationship, other people in society start experiencing changes in their appearance and skin colour until it becomes clear that society will never be the same again.

This was a deceptively simple book that explored race and racism in a novel way: what would happen if people who had lived their lives as white suddenly had to live their lives with a different racial appearance? Hamid uses a small but effective cast of characters to explore some of the subtle and not-so-subtle racist views that people harbour, and how those views must be grappled with in the new society he has created. Some of these issues play out in public displays of violence and conflict, while others play out in the privacy of family homes. Particularly effective were the interactions between Oona and her mother, whose refusal to accept the situation becomes untenable, and Anders and his father, who find a new understanding through this experience. However, I also thought that the otherwise banal setting of the gym where Anders works was where issues of discrimination, exploitation and tolerance were truly borne out.

I think the only thing that I found myself wanting was a bit more of an explanation of why this had happened. With a confidence that I can only admire, Hamid just sets the scene without any attempt to justify – scientifically or otherwise – what is causing people to change. I think I would have liked just the merest whiff of a theory to cling to.

A thought-provoking and original story that encourages the reader to really think about the social impacts of racism.

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August 6, 2022 · 11:52 pm

The City Inside

Science fiction novel set in futuristic India

I received a copy of this eBook courtesy of the publisher.

Image is the of “The City Inside” by Samit Basu. The eBook is a stylised, futuristic version of a city with colourful rooftops, digital icons of people and a temple in the far background against a night sky.

“The City Inside” by Samit Basu is a science fiction novel set in Delhi, India in a not-too-distant future. The story is primarily about Joey, a young woman who has an extremely successful job as a reality controller: managing and editing the livestream content of her influencer ex-boyfriend Indi. However, her personal life pales in comparison; despite having a luxury apartment, she spends most of her free time sleeping at her parents’ house where her family carefully avoid saying anything controversial. Meanwhile, Rudra, the estranged son of a wealthy man who has been living incognito among struggling migrants, reconnects with his family at his father’s funeral. Avoiding his brother’s attempts to join the family business, when he bumps into Joey who offers him a job, he accepts. However, as Indi’s ambitions grow bigger and Rudra’s family interests begin to reveal their true nature, Joey and Rudra realise that corporate power and sinister conspiracies run much deeper than either of them could have possibly realised.

This was a richly conceived book with exceptional and completely plausible worldbuilding. Basu draws on contemporary sources of power and influence and imagines how they may have evolved a decade from now. Influencers have merged with reality TV: carefully curated content with fictionalised storylines and strategic advertising placements. Airborne-illnesses, increasing temperatures and air pollution have normalised mask wearing, filtered air and avoiding the outside. The setting in Delhi brings further layers of complexity and nuance; drawing on ethnic tensions, historical protests and political influence to create a conflicted present still grappling with caste, wealth and freedom of speech.

Joey was a really interesting character whose personality at work and personality at home seem almost completely incompatible, raising questions about how much her memory is influenced, and by whom. Joey is politically engaged enough and fluent enough in progressive discourse to be aware of her own moral shortcomings, and tries to make what little difference she can through her work. In contrast, Rudra’s attempts to completely distance himself from his family prove to be inadequate in counteracting the harm they are causing to society. However, any kind of political action is dangerous, and Basu pushes the reader to make up their own mind about what is right, what is wrong and what is understandable.

While I really enjoyed the setting and the character development, I did find the plot a little confusing. The book draws on cyberpunk traditions in science fiction and using digital spaces, avatars and social media to create and recreate reality, social connections and even business deals. However, between a meeting in one of these digital spaces, subject to surveillance on multiple levels, and the action really kicking off, I found it hard to keep track of exactly what was happening. Basu is quite a subtle writer, leaving a lot to the reader to interpret themselves, but when crucial plot items were happening I found that I was hoping for a little more clarity and a little less like scenes whipping by me in a speeding train carriage.

An intricate and highly original premise that conveys a lot but becomes a bit muddied towards the end.

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