One of the best SF works I've read so far this year. An indictment on capitalism, academia, and class systems with a beautiful reminder that communityOne of the best SF works I've read so far this year. An indictment on capitalism, academia, and class systems with a beautiful reminder that community disrupts masters, managers, and owners....more
If I had to pick a word for this, it would be meandering. Or a new word I just learned, which is omphaloskepsis! Isn't that fun to say?
Well, the fun sIf I had to pick a word for this, it would be meandering. Or a new word I just learned, which is omphaloskepsis! Isn't that fun to say?
Well, the fun stops here. This should have been a cosmic horror type story. It was a MFA-esque flagellation about what keeps a relationship alive with an ending that I'm sure felt achingly ambiguous, but to the person who'd slogged through the rest was just tedious.
This book is a time capsule. It's literary scifi at the interchange of third wave and intersectional feminism. It's choosing to literally walk away frThis book is a time capsule. It's literary scifi at the interchange of third wave and intersectional feminism. It's choosing to literally walk away from the "man"-made world. It's struggling with what life looks like when you have no romance of any kind--physically, artistically-- and no hope of being remembered by anyone or for any reason.
It's grasping and evading and giving in and challenging, published in '95, when lean in hadn't worked and the anger hadn't yet returned.
I'm not sure what to do with this book, and I'm not sure if it worked or not, but I know I'll be thinking of it for a long time and comparing other literary scifi books to it even longer.
It's only not 5 stars because I kept waiting for something to bite into. This is the finest consommé, delicate and palatable but not satiating.
An in-your-face take on the incarceration system. This book is not subtle in its comparisons to gladiatorial combat, slavery, and modern American prisAn in-your-face take on the incarceration system. This book is not subtle in its comparisons to gladiatorial combat, slavery, and modern American prisons. Indeed, the reason I ended up not using it for a poll in my book club was because it was so textual and we're currently living in a time where the veneer of civility is sure looking a bit thin on too many fronts for me to feel good about making people think critically or long about yet another battle we as a society need to fight.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ all of the abuses you can imagine of the prison system. Racism, sexism, queer antagonism, prisoner abuse, debasement, discussion of crimes including rape and incest (hide spoiler)]
Things I appreciated:
-The social call out. The prison complex is a personal bugbear and I am 100% here for scifi that is very little "fi" and loud about how people should be treated like people. And also loud about how exploiting people who are not being treated as people is both what is currently happening and vile.
-The nuance. If I'm staying now in the world, this book plays a lot with different ways of seeing gladiator matches among violent offenders. There are very few sympathetic folks here, but you still do want to sympathize with them because of who they become when they are literally fighting for their humanity.
-The writing. I found several passages beautifully composed.
-The characters and their choices. A wide assortment from a lot of different backgrounds with very strong voices throughout.
What I did not love:
-The ending. I don't think it followed. I think I get what it was trying to say, but I don't think it succeeded in its message. I think it was trying to say that these systems are so strong that even their victims enforce them, but this was not the moment for that. I would have loved the same nuance and humanity from the rest of the book to have presented itself here.
That being said, up until that point I found it poignant and well done....more
Class, say it with me. I don't like what? Romances. That's right! Guess what this is.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ PTSD, discussion of homophobia, Class, say it with me. I don't like what? Romances. That's right! Guess what this is.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ PTSD, discussion of homophobia, discussion of racism, genocide/refugeeism/diaspora, gun violence, gore, religion, war (hide spoiler)]
Why this wasn't DNFed:
-Charming. Until tongues came out, the dialogue was brisk and witty.
-Fun to see. Imagine if time travelers from all over gathered together in one time. What larks!
-History tie ins. The cool things that inspired this are true and interesting points in history extrapolated in intriguing ways.
What I did not like:
-Romance. Explicit sex and lots of quivering and whatever. Just not my cuppa.
-Secondary plot. It felt smushed, rushed, rigged, and altogether less important than either the history or the ugly-bumpin'.
Credit where it's due, this is a romance AND time travel (which I also do not like as a rule) and if I hadn't been desperate for books for my book club I would have never have even started this book but it still wrenched 3 stars from me. So if you do not want to turn into a puddle who has lost all ability to think thoughts when you read either romance or time travel, maybe you'll have better luck. ...more
There's a lot in this book that, if I'd read it 25 years ago, I might have thought "wow. That's cool." Sadly I'm sadder and wiser noTime of death: 39%
There's a lot in this book that, if I'd read it 25 years ago, I might have thought "wow. That's cool." Sadly I'm sadder and wiser now. I really wanted to like it, but a combination of where things seem to be heading and the narrator just absolutely mutilating the accents, I must declare defeat.
-Capitalism as nation. Way before it was cool, this book was thinking about late stage capitalism and how it might morph. Oddly this one thought something closer to communism might fit well with capitalism, but I appreciated having my pre-conceived notions tested.
-Future tech. It's normal now to have the idea of brain implants for internet access. I really liked that this one had basically Google Glass, long range receivers and the ability to wire in to other electronics. It felt more "plausible" and had interesting limitations.
-Loving family as main characters. A woman who has just recently given birth and her equal partner continue working and living life together. He helps change the baby and holds her on screen. They care about each other. They have strengths and weaknesses but those aren't on gender lines. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen this in any genre fic.
-Environmental collapse. Again, well before clifi was a subgenre, this book took it for granted that the world was going to shift massively, and thought about interesting ways humanity might pivot.
So, why the DNF?
-Bloat. This book talks and talks and talks without adding anything to the plot, character, or world. It also has one of my cardinal sins which is monologues about economics.
-No realism. I'm sorry, you do not bring your baby willingly on an excursion you think might end in murder. You do not turn off your earpiece to your protection in a van with strange men who are all armed when you have zero combat training. Gangsters don't show you their illegal secret lair as a sign of good faith.
-Nonsense plot. This story has the structural integrity of quick sand. Thrash around at all and it will kill you.
-Narrator. You know how the current wisdom is not to do voices for other races? This narrator boldly tried it. And, for some narrators like Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, that might work because they're friggen voice wizards. This narrator is not a voice wizard. She was serviceable, but she read all the Grenadians sound like very bad Irish accents.
-Tech wizardry. Having recently had the misfortune of reading the first book of Tad Williams' Otherland, my patience for badly introduced tech magic is low. I shut off right after we started down this path. This one has the honor of doing it first, perhaps, but I did not feel it was going to be doing anything else in a superlative way, so I find I must lay it to rest.
-Weird exploration of race. A completely unnecessary and strange consideration of trans-race folks (and not in the normal adoption way) happened that wasn't AS cringe as it could have been, but even in the early 90s my question would have been...why?
This book has so much: compelling characters, a compelling what if, follow through on the what if, strong craftsmanship. Unfortunately what it does noThis book has so much: compelling characters, a compelling what if, follow through on the what if, strong craftsmanship. Unfortunately what it does not have is an ending.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ animal cruelty, bullying, use of alcohol, car accident, climate change (hide spoiler)]
Things to love:
-The different POVs. I thought all of them were well thought out and told a different side of the story in an interesting and endearing way.
-The what if. How would the world react if suddenly fish started showing up on land?
Where it all fell apart:
-The end. I don't know what happened. The author tapped out or couldn't get what she hoped so instead of trying she just basically said "well, never mind." That is criminal, in my world. If you're going to send a book into the world, at least endow it with the courage of its convictions. There are so many better ways this could have gone that would have at least honored the characters and the world.
It would have been 5 stars, if it had stuck any landing....more
This one I don't have much to say about. I liked the premise, but I found the sexual component to be a weird fixation. Both consensual "adult" sex andThis one I don't have much to say about. I liked the premise, but I found the sexual component to be a weird fixation. Both consensual "adult" sex and pedophilia are so prominent in this story that I am am working not to look behind the text too hard.
I don't think the idea was handled respectfully or honestly, and that's a shame, because it's a neat central idea....more
My GR friend Charles accused me of "hating" this book because it's been a couple of months since I read it and I'm only now reviewing it. That is muchMy GR friend Charles accused me of "hating" this book because it's been a couple of months since I read it and I'm only now reviewing it. That is much more a consequence of life bein' life than it is of my sentiments.
I did not hate it. For this type of book to have been published in 1996, I can appreciate its significance and the import it had on the genre. I appreciate it as foundational to the genre. I can see how it shaped the hard social scifi of the next decade. I think it contemplated the paths current day humanity has before it in a prescient and honest way. That said, my money will forever be on Pandora's Star by Hamilton if I have to pick a multi generational epic based on economic differences.
-Gene splicing vs. body modification. In the 90s, cloning and genetic modification were a Big Topic. By sequencing a human's full DNA and cloning a sheep, we launched dozens of branches of science and ethics regarding the use of the human genome. It was also a time when we were considering how best to support people with limb differences, mobility issues, and body dysmorphia. As a child who grew up with this in the news, I remember, and I think this book is iconic for its contemplation of all the different outcomes over dozens of years.
-The immediacy of the writing. I always admire authors who can approach epics and maintain the same energy at each stage. You'd think someone would get tired of a character after narrating their activities for a few centuries, but Sterling was dogged.
-The internal consistency: The author made premises and built off of them. I'm not sure what else anyone can expect from SF. It was complex, nuanced, logical, and followed to its natural conclusion.
Things that did not work for me:
-Reaganism in SF. I'm no longer a child. I have seen how certain policies played out in real life and frankly, I'm over it. The 80s died. The 80s fucked me and mine hard. It was great while it lasted, but it did not last, and now in the cold light of late stage capitalism, the shine has worn off.
-Style. Again, Hamilton gets my vote for a book that survives the future. This one was an important stepping stone, but it is not the end all be all, and I'm not sure it's the best of its ilk. Perhaps fortunately, perhaps unfortunately, the generation spanning works in SF before this are fewer, and then about a decade later there were so many they become almost impossible to distinguish, so it gets compared against Foundation and then more pop culture works from my young adulthood.
So, I did like it, and find it extremely relevant to the history of SF, but I'm not sure I'd call it the future of SF either....more
An unfortunately generic story. Something about a sister, something about gene alteration and monsters and gen ships being threatened. I hardly recallAn unfortunately generic story. Something about a sister, something about gene alteration and monsters and gen ships being threatened. I hardly recall any details less than a month later. ...more
I was very eager to read about an alternate future focused on what the indigenous populations might have done.
Unfortunately, the scope was very limiteI was very eager to read about an alternate future focused on what the indigenous populations might have done.
Unfortunately, the scope was very limited and not really explored, and the mystery was laughably obvious.
I wanted to know more about the living cities, the universal income etc. And I wanted a lot less villain monologue and people suddenly showing up all over the place....more
A well written scifi noir. It has all the hallmarks of a noir story, with the ultra violence, the lusty ladies, the hard used detective etc. I thoughtA well written scifi noir. It has all the hallmarks of a noir story, with the ultra violence, the lusty ladies, the hard used detective etc. I thought its take on gene manipulation/eternal life seeking was interesting and had cool implications for the world that were mostly internally consistent.
A fine noir, just not one that made me jump up and down for joy on any of the scales I internally use when I'm considering how I feel about a book.
Another one I read for my book club. Hellspark promised so much and just fell flat in execution. I think it tried to do too much, perhaps? But everythAnother one I read for my book club. Hellspark promised so much and just fell flat in execution. I think it tried to do too much, perhaps? But everything it did do was one note and overblown, so I certainly wouldn't have advised more of any of the topics.
-Hellsparks and Maggy. The Hellspark culture is one that requires folks to prioritize not just language learning, but full immersion. Whatever languages they learn they speak and act like a native. I have a soft spot for multilingual characters as "know every language" is definitely one of the super powers I think about having. Maggy, meanwhile, is an emergent AI learning how to be a person from someone who knows how to be a person in many cultures. A cool blend of concepts and ways to explore them.
-The central concept. How do you prove sapience of a creature that can mimic but you see no signs of communication, technology or construction? I mean, aren't you interested??
-So many cultures. Janet really tried to make lots of different characters from very different backgrounds with full personalities. I don't think she succeeded, but man she tried hard.
Everything else:
-The focus on movement and language was preposterous. I don't want to go more into it. It's a huge part of the book and it's almost as cringe as the Whorf Sapir hypothesis.
-No nuance. There is a straight line between each plot point and the conclusion.
-Wish fulfillment. Nothing was earned, it just happened.
-Terrible dialogue. Every character in every direction. It was bland, it didn't have internal consistency, it was often opaque to me what I was supposed to do with it. It often did nothing to move the story forward etc etc etc.
Not mad I read it, but I can't say I enjoyed it either. I would love someone to interrogate more of these ideas with a more modern take. ...more
I don't know what happened, but Nancy Kress lost all craft for this book.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ sexual assault, sick child, loss of a child,I don't know what happened, but Nancy Kress lost all craft for this book.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ sexual assault, sick child, loss of a child, cancer, loss of a partner, terrorism, mass shootings, social media attacks (hide spoiler)]
Things that were great:
-The concept. How we live knowing that consciousness is just a sort of Descartes "I doubt (or I think) therefore I am" is very interesting.
-Cast of characters: Outside our legal framework and capitalism, these were cool characters to get to know.
-The world. I was super interested in exploring consciousness in the world of social media attacks in particular, it seemed like we'd go somewhere where shame was fabricated, which would have been very cool.
The rest:
-Bad writing. I'm sorry but there was no connective tissue, everything was surface level, telegraphed painfully, nothing led to something else, and it was overdone by at least 100 pages.
-Bad plotting. As an offshoot of my first point, the plot here was painfully spare and obvious.
-Dialogue. Also painful.
-We don't deal with the pain. There's a lot of big topics and we just do not feel the impact of them.
I'd tried Beggars in Spain and found it also not emotionally resonant. Unfortunately I just don't think this author has a style I can appreciate.
Annoyingly similar to the book I read before this one, it communicates that parenting in capitalism is hard! And yeah, I agree! Perhaps more frustratiAnnoyingly similar to the book I read before this one, it communicates that parenting in capitalism is hard! And yeah, I agree! Perhaps more frustratingly, this one seemed like it was going to go in a cool (to me) direction, discussing the difference between raising children and observing AI obtaining sentience, but in the end it went to the being a parent is hard aspect. With all love to the parents out there, this book came out in 2024. If you didn't expect to raise your kids in a pretty unforgiving environment, I don't know what to say, except I'm sorry this is how you learned how America works. Yeah, you need a job to be able to protect your family from normal health concerns. Yeah, the state is watching and eager to jump in if they find you unfit. Yeah, the climate is not doing well. The addition of robots to this did not alter those truths, or highlight them in a way other than to say that AI is not our friend, it is a tool of the majority, as are all our technological advancements.
Perhaps a good book for parents who want to feel "seen", but for those of us who opted out because we saw how dystopic our actual world is, it feels a lot like the tropic old man yelling at clouds meme....more
So, when I read this, I was sick. Broth-only, 12 hours of sleep sick. It was the perfect read to pick you up when everything is too much. Ahem. *coughSo, when I read this, I was sick. Broth-only, 12 hours of sleep sick. It was the perfect read to pick you up when everything is too much. Ahem. *cough* see 2025 *cough*
-Cat supremacy. If you long for cats to lead us, look no further.
-Shenanigans galore. The shenaniganiest.
Why you should temper your expectations:
-Time travel. It's the bullshittiest of time travels. It has fun with it, but wow are these kids bad at their jobs, and yikes does this only really make sense if you're absolutely feverish.
-Left turn. Surely you saw it coming. And you should! But do recall the sickness with which I was down.
A very fun way to convalesce. I would gladly continue with this world the next time I am surpassingly ill....more
We are at the point in the year where I nibble many books and find myself in a desert, searching for an oasis of a book that makes me feel something.
AWe are at the point in the year where I nibble many books and find myself in a desert, searching for an oasis of a book that makes me feel something.
At turns dark, trite, and melodramatic, this failed to move the dial for me. I saw the twist coming, and most of the time it read like so many conversations I have with the mothers in my friend group. Mothering is really hard! It's alienating and all consuming! Support isn't forthcoming! People might think you're a bad mom, and (especially if you're poor and/or of color) the government might take your kid away!
There's a way to do dystopia that makes you reflect on how close to that dystopia we already are, and then there are some where you think that maybe the author just woke up from some ex-capitalist society and looked around and was simply shocked at our living conditions.
I am sad. This could have been a fun satire. Instead it was a mildly amusing reverie. Nothing positive, and the negatives are all "what did we read thI am sad. This could have been a fun satire. Instead it was a mildly amusing reverie. Nothing positive, and the negatives are all "what did we read this for?" type questions.
It was fine, in the end, like its characters--brainless and surface deep....more
Really, really interesting. Unfortunately (and I can't tell if this was a narration issue or a pacing issue) the premise requires some amount of tediuReally, really interesting. Unfortunately (and I can't tell if this was a narration issue or a pacing issue) the premise requires some amount of tedium. That makes it both more authentic and, well, more tedious.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ racism, sexism, sexual assault, and a particularly upsetting crime against the treatment of the dead. (hide spoiler)]
Things to admire:
-This whole book is constructed in service of a conceit. Not for a second does it stray from the conceit, and I think that's very skillfully managed.
-The point of the stories. This book tackles being an immigrant, a Brown woman, a bisexual, the inherent socialization of growing up female and particularly a Brown upper-middle class woman, feminine friendship, and the idea of multi-culturalism from so many lenses.
-Great voice. The voice of this woman was authentic, vulnerable, and felt true. She's not perfect, she's not showing off her MFA, she's just a woman with her own strengths and weaknesses, foibles and follies. And she doesn't shy away from them, in fact including us in her journey to do better.
-Immersion learning. If you've ever studied another language to fluency, you know that the ultimate step is immersion. You must, must, surround yourself in culture and immediacy of the language in order to get from competency to fluency. This addresses that need in an interesting way.
Things that were not my favorite:
-The conceit of the Centre. Without spoiling, the book requires rambling, introspection and less than reputable accuracy. This is both its beauty and its downfall. For me, it was more downfall than beauty, but I can't tell if that's the writing or the narration as I listened to it. I thought the narrator did a good job, but compared to my friends who eye-read it, I was harsher in my critique, so possibly that was a factor.
Overall, I think it was well done, but lacked finesses to make it as brilliant as I think it could have been. I'd consider more by this author, but I'm not running out, so a solid 3....more