Wild Cards (Series) by George R.R. Martin

It's been a while, but I have lot's of books to review!

I am going to address the Wild Cards series in one chunk, because there isn't a lot to say about individual books.  I got up through Volume 9 (Jokertown Shuffle) before stopping because the books became difficult to find and for other reasons discussed below. 

This review will contain spoilers.

Bioshock: Rapture by John Shirley

Combination video game novelization and dystopian parody of Atlas Shrugged in which a new civilization is built that doesn't turn out quite as awesome as expected.

This book is a prequel to the BioShock video games, which I have not played.  It begins with wealthy capitalist, Andrew Ryan, recruiting people to populate his wonderful, new, underwater, capitalist paradise called Rapture and apparently bridges the descent of Rapture from perfect society to the setting of the horror games.

Warning, some spoilers will follow.

The Demi-Monde: Winter, by Rod Rees

The Demi-Monde: Winter, by Rod Rees.  William Morrow, 2010.  517 pp.  978-0-06-207034-0.

... in which a young woman is enlisted to save the US President's daughter, who is trapped in a virtual world populated by Nazis, terrorists, and various villains from world history.

The Demi-Monde: Winter is the first book in a series involving a virtual reality (the Demi-Monde), set in 2018.  This virtual world was created to simulate urban warfare scenarios for US soldiers in training, and the programmers populated the world with "dupes", virtual duplicates of real-life people, famous and otherwise.  The computer world's technology is set to be comparable to the technology available in Victorian times.  The most prominent people populating the Demi-Monde are some the worst people to ever live, including Reinhard Heydrich (one of Hitler's right-hand men), Lavrentii Beria (Stalin's chief of police), Tomas de Torquemada (a prominent figure in the Catholic Church's Spanish Inquisition), and plenty of others.  The catch?  The people in the Demi-Monde don't know that they're not real; all they know is that living in the Demi-Monde is hell.  Unfortunately for the real-life humans who are spending time in this computer simulation, if you die in the computer, then you die in real life.  Somehow, the US President's daughter Norma has been lured into the Demi-Monde, and is being held captive by Heydrich and his lackeys.  The US Army recruits a young woman, Ella Thomas, to infiltrate the Demi-Monde and bring Norma out safely.  However, the rulers of the Demi-Monde have a bigger plan for Norma and all of the residents of the computer world.

Lucy, by Laurence Gonzales.  Vintage Books, 2011.  307 pp.  978-0-307-4890-5.

... in which Lucy, a the product of a science experiment with breeding humans and bonobos together, teaches the world what it means to be human.

Lucy opens in the Congo, where primatologist Jenny Lowe is studying bonobos (a cousin of the chimpanzee, and one of humanity's closest relatives).  When Jenny is forced to flee from the Congo as the civil war reaches her study site in the jungle, she finds that another primate researcher has been murdered.  Her colleague leaves behind a 14-year-old daughter, Lucy, and Jenny feels obligated to take Lucy with her as she flees the country.  Jenny takes Lucy to Chicago with her, and when it becomes clear that Lucy has no living family, Jenny adopts her as her own daughter.  When reading through Lucy's father's notes, it becomes clear that Lucy is the product of a strange experiment: she is half human, half bonobo.  Because Lucy appears to be completely human, and is more intelligent and articulate than most humans, Jenny tries to enroll her in school.  As Lucy begins to settle in to her new life, her secret inevitably gets out, and Lucy becomes an overnight celebrity.  Lucy's new public presence sparks a debate about what it means to be human, and could threaten her life and the lives of everyone she loves.

Never Let Me Go

Most of the books I read could be compared to junk food. Light, sweet affairs which dissolve quickly and let me rant excitedly about, whether I love them or hate them. Though I don't see myself trending towards the classics anytime soon, it really felt good to read a real piece of literature, which is what Never Let Me Go is. And I feel like unlike the sugary books I more often read, I will be digesting this one for the rest of my life.

I believe Emma was curious about whether this book would have been better if the overall concept and storyline hadn't already been spoiled for her before she started reading it. I did not know the book's concept before I started reading, and I believe it did in fact make my experience more powerful.

The deftness with which Kazuo Ishiguro weaves his narrative defies description. Suffice it to say, he manages to tell you what he is doing to you, the reader, directly without you even realizing it until it is too late. You are already trapped in the narrative related by this book's main character, Kathy and you are doomed to experience the book as if it were your own past.

The book explores regret, tragedy and interpersonal relationships. Growing apart and of life and of death. Its varied characters ooze humanity and every single one of them is engaging.

The book is not entirely without flaw, and I would feel remiss to not mention where I saw them. The climax of the book involves a final set of revelations which seem to fall short of explanaing a few of the later plot developments, but upon further reflection this sort of ties back to the theme the book strives for, of good things coming to an end and of tragic unfairness brought on by unthinking apathy and selfishness. A stronger reason here very well could have undermined the power of this book, but I felt unstatisfied. That very well could have been the point.

Second, there is another instance of anti-intellectuallism on display, although this one is so incredibly slight that you could be forgiven for missing it. I just have a problem with the default assumption that somehow the people who dedicate their lives to medicine must be total inhuman monsters, and that somehow science inherently requires and benefits from dehumanization. Again, this bias is incredibly slight, practically an offhand comment or two just a few times in the whole book.

Final and most egregious is that there is no resistance to the events depicted. I could not believe that these characters would act so passively in reaction to what they experience. I can't help but think this must be a product of the difference between my culture as an American and the culture of the writer as British and Japanese. It might be my biased perspective, but it almost seems like characters are resigned to inaction because they don't want to be in defiance of any rules... that they don't want to rock the boat or inconvenience anyone else. Again, it could be merely a product of my different cultural perspective, but the placidity was the only thing these characters had which wasn't completely, spellbindingly human to me.

This is a singularly good book. It would not be hyperbole to say this book changed my perspective on life itself and I truly thank Emma for leading me to it. 5/5

Divergent by Veronica Roth

In which a 16 year old girl makes a decision to determine her future, and deals with her choice.

Emily already wrote a good summary of Divergent, so I won't go into the plot much here.  Divergent is about a girl in a dystopian Chicago confronted with life defining choices, love, conspiracies and adventure.  Divergent is one of the best young adult books I've read because of the exciting story and compelling heroine.  I highly recommend it!

Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn

In which an attack on a space station leads to an investigation into an interplanetary conspiracy.

Mass Effect: Revelation is related to the Mass Effect video games.  I'm not sure about how close it is to the video games, because I haven't played them.  Revelation stands completely on its own as an exciting story in a well-developed setting

Homeward Bound by Harry Turtledove

The final book in the series that starts with Worldwar: In the Balance. 

Homeward Bound is the less than stunning conclusion to Harry Turtledove's series about an alien invasion of Earth.  It's set in the near-future where America has maintained its independence (mostly) and sent a space ship to the alien invaders' home world.

This review will not contain major spoilers.

Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne

An American man trying to survive a zombie crisis writes a daily journal chronicling his challenges and moods.

An American military pilot is aware of rumors and speculation regarding a strange disease.  He takes steps to be prepared for a pandemic, and is well positioned to survive the zombie apocalypse.  This book tells the story of his preparation for and adventures during the beginning of a zombie plague. 

There are minor spoilers in this review.  My suggestion is to read the spoilers, then go read World War Z instead of this book.

Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro.  Vintage Books, 2005.  288 pp.  978-0-307-74099-1.

... in which Kathy H tells the story of her childhood and young adulthood as she and her two friends form relationships and confront the frightening reality of their own fates.

Never Let Me Go (previously reviewed by Emma) tells the story of three young people (Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth) as they grow up together at an exclusive boarding school called Hailsham.  The story is told through Kathy's eyes, and hopscotches through time, covering events in their childhood and adolescence at Hailsham, and events in their late teens and twenties.  Kathy forms the center of the group, befriending Tommy when he was a friendless outcast and also befriending Ruth, one of the most popular girls in the school.  From the beginning, it is clear that something is a little bit different in Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth's lives.  As the three of them grow up and leave Hailsham, they are forced to confront the meaning of their own destinies and examine the relationships and bonds they've formed with their friends.

The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell

In which a teenage girl fights zombies and flees from a man trying to kill her.

Temple has known nothing but a world infested with zombies and largely devoid of living humans.  She has survived so far, generally staying in underpopulated areas and figuring out how to survive alone.  In The Reapers are the Angels she tries out civilization briefly, and is forced to flee just ahead of a dangerous man determined to kill her.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

In which a girl recounts stories from her youth and comes to terms with her destiny.

There is no way my review will do this fantastic book justice.  It really is a special, fantastic book and you should read it right now!  It's the sort of story that you'll think about for a long time and keep getting more from, I think.

This review will not contain significant spoilers.

Colonization: Aftershocks by Harry Turtledove

The third and final volume in Turtledove's Colonization trilogy.

This book was awesome in that it continued the stories of the characters from previous books who, as I've mentioned, I really like.  This book was also very disappointing in that it has no conclusion!

Nexus: Ascension, by Robert Boyczuk

Nexus: Ascension, by Robert Boyczuk.  ChiZine Publications, 2010.  978-0-981374-8-0.


... in which a crew returns from 30 years of space travel to find that their home world has been completely ravaged by a mysterious plague.

 

This review is of a digital copy provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley.

Nexus: Ascension begins with a crew on the long-haul spaceship Ea waking up from cryonic suspension as they approach their home planet Bh'Haret after thirty years away.  They find that the planet is surrounded by warning satellites, which broadcast the warning "hazard plague hazard plague hazard plague..." over and over again; scans of the planet make it clear that there is no human life.  Because their supplies are dwindling and the nearest planet is too far away, the crew of Ea has no choice but to land on Bh'Haret and risk exposure to the plague.  Upon landing on the planet, they gradually discover that the origins of the plague are mysterious at best.  The crew of Ea have to work together with the crew from another recently-arrived long-haul ship to solve the mystery of the plague and to discover its possible connections to Nexus, a powerful interplanetary government that was previously at odds with the planet Bh'Haret.

Blasphemy, by Douglas Preston

Blasphemy, by Douglas Preston.  Forge Books, 2007.  414 pp.  978-0-7653-1105-4.

... in which physicists and religious extremists clash over the building of a supercollider meant to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang.

Blasphemy is set deep in the Arizona desert, where the world's biggest supercollider is being built beneath a mountain.  The purpose of the supercollider, nicknamed Isabella, is to recreate the energy and conditions present at the Big Bang.  Leading the team of scientists is brilliant physicist Gregory Hazelius.  The US government, after putting $40 billion into this project, is eager to see it succeed, but after the first run of the machine, it's clear that something has gone wrong and the scientists aren't talking.  An adviser to the president hires Wyman Ford to go undercover and find out what's going on.  In the meantime, the evangelicals of America have worked themselves into a rage over the Isabella Project, which they believe is challenging the word of God.  At the same time, the Navajo people, on whose land Isabella has been built, are protesting the project because it's destroying their sacred lands.  As Ford tries to balance his mission and the mounting tensions with the evangelicals and the Navajo, he discovers that the secret being hidden by the physicists is big enough to change the world.

The Kingdom of Ohio, by Matthew Flaming

The Kingdom of Ohio, by Matthew Flaming.  Penguin, 2009.  328 pp.  978-0-425-23694-9.

... in which the princess of Ohio and a young construction worker in 1901 New York City shape history and find themselves caught up in a struggle between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla.

This is a difficult book to summarize or categorize.  The main setting is 1901 New York City, though it may or may not be the same 1901 NYC from our timeline.  The story is also set in Los Angeles, probably in the 1990s, where the narrator lives. Peter Force is a young man who has moved from the wilds of northern Idaho (Kellogg, ID, if you must know) to NYC to be a construction worker on the new underground railroad system.  One evening Peter encounters a distressed young woman, who claims to be Cheri-Anne Toledo, the daughter of the king of Ohio.  She claims to have survived the assassination of her family, and was suddenly transported through space and time from 1894 Toledo to 1901 New York.  Claiming to be a student of famed inventor Nikola Tesla, Cheri-Anne attributes her travel to her work on a teleportation device.  However, after going to visit Tesla, she finds that he has no idea who she is, suggesting that not only did she travel through space and time, but that she also traveled between parallel universes.  Peter and Cheri-Anne find themselves caught between Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and Edison's financier J.P. Morgan, all of whom are using the subway construction project to search for something hidden below the ground.  The outcome of their struggle could change all of history and time.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

In which a boy grows up to discover his purpose and sinister destiny in a futuristic, ruined North America.


This book review contains spoilers because it's not something I can highly recommend, and I prefer to discuss plot details.

Colonization: Down to Earth by Harry Turtledove

Sequel to Colonization: Second Contact, the series set after the Worldwar series.


The Worldwar/Colonization series continues to be super awesome. You'd think the setting would run out of relevant story, but it's just heating up in Down to Earth! The characters from Second Contact (I don't think there were any new ones) continue to be compelling and exciting. I continue to enjoy the series greatly, although I am running out of new things to say about it in review!

Off Topic: NPR's list of top Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books/Series

I posted earlier about a poll NPR was doing to find out what people thought were the all time best science fiction and fantasy works.

As any self respecting nerd, I have counted how many of these books I have read. My score is only 31! I need to get reading! I can personally recommend several of the books that made it on the list though, including the following:

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

It's also interesting to note how many books on the list I actively disliked! That Goodkind guy's shitty series was on there, as was some others that I thought were fairly mediocre. To each his own, I guess!

What's your score?

World War Z by Max Brooks

An oral history of the zombie war. World War Z is a series of interviews with survivors of a recent zombie near-apocalypse from all over the world. It's set in the reasonably near future, several years after zombies almost destroyed humanity.


This might be my favorite single book I've ever read. I've read it several times and it's definitely one I get more out of each reading. There are intricacies I failed to pick up on the first time around! It's supposed to be a sequel to the Zombie Survival Guide sort of, but it's totally different. I don't recommend the Zombie Survival Guide, it's not entertaining much it's just what it sounds like: suggestions on how to survive zombies!