Red Moon, by Kim Stanley Robinson

Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The last two books I read by Robinson were 2132 and New York: 2140. I loved 2132--the speculation was amazing and detailed, and the main character was a fascinating personality. I liked New York: 2140--again strong speculation, and an endearing earnestness.

This one was not up to those standards. Actually it was pretty dry. Lots of infodump exposition. There are two main characters--Fred Fredericks, a quantum computing specialist on the autism spectrum, and Chan Qi, the daughter of a top Chinese Communist Party official. Fred's portrayal is accurate but kind of dull, and Chan Qi only comes reflected through others as kind of a one-dimensional idealistic hard case. Not much serious speculation--though it's set in the 2040's really it's kind of present tense, right down to the politics. That being the case, I predict it will not age well. Supposedly the Chinese will have an extensive moon base by then. We'll see. In any case, it is OK but not great.



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Unholy Land, by Lavie Tidhar

Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've read many SFF books by writers of Jewish origin, but Lavie Tidhar is the first Jewish author I have read that really brings his Jewish voice and heritage to his work, so this was a treat for me. It was also really interesting to learn about the alternatives being considered for a Jewish homeland--the way Tidhar explores these alternatives shows exactly what speculative fiction can do that no other literature can.

As for the book itself, it's a good read but not quite perfect. One of the features of this set of alternative universes is that the author is in it. Tidhar attributes his most famous work, Osama, to protagonist Lior Tirosh, an author who has since that time descended into formulaic detective novels. The novel is a bit heavy in the middle--maybe not quite enough of the interesting explication for me, and a little rushed at the end. But it's good stuff--reminds me of China Mieville's "The City & the City", in a whole lot of ways. I have yet to read Central Station but this does tempt me to do so.



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The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society, by T. Kingfisher

The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Not a lot new here but it's an entertaining description of Fey males getting the tables turned on them, I thought it was quite fun to read. Agree with other reviewers that these characters could be in other stories.



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STET, by Sarah Gailey

STET is set as a brief academic article and a dialog between the author and editor through editing notes.  I learned as part of this reading that STET is a term used by an author to tell the publisher (typesetter, back in the day) to ignore the edit.  Fun stuff.

The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat, by Brooke Bolander

The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat by Brooke Bolander

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a fun little story, still bloodthirsty like a lot of Bolander but the humor cuts through the gore. Our protagonist is a typically bright, vivacious princess betrothed to a dense as wood prince. They deal with raptors. Absolutely worth a read, but probably won't win (was nominated for both a Nebula and Hugo).



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The Thing About Ghost Stories, by Naomi Kritzer

The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I enjoy these kinds of "inside baseball" stories. Kritzer has done some research on the study of folklore, and gives us an intimate view of what it looks like inside the academy. I learn something from these. The protagonist's transition from studying stories from the outside to having her own was really well done. The ending was just a tiny bit pat, but this is absolutely worth reading.



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When We Were Starless, by Simone Heller

When We Were Starless by Simone Heller

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a strong entry for the Hugos this year. It's a postapocalyptic tale of a nomadic tribe just barely getting by on the leavings of a previous civilization. In that sense it is pretty familiar. The protagonist, Mink, is an obviously non-human being, a scout and "ghost banisher" for her tribe. Part of the fun of this story is trying to figure out what Mink is, and what her relationship is to the "ghost" (a human hologram) that she is supposed to be banishing. Mink does a lot of reflecting on the lot of her people, and whether they can keep going as they are. It isn't a super-easy read since it is very tightly packed, but it's well worth the effort to work through. It's a strong three stars, tempting to give it a four but not quite.



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Nine Last Days on Planet Earth, by Daryl Gregory

Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a story that expanded my mind, just a bit, on how stories work. It's an alien invasion of plant life that looks intended to take over for something coming next--reminded me of David Gerrold's War Against the Chtorr series. But here, the battle is not the focus of the story. Instead it's the biography of the protagonist, LT, as he tries, along with the rest of humanity, to make a life around this slow-motion takeover. So many good characters--his mother, his father, even an alien plant. It is absolutely delicious to read, I enjoyed every bit of it and can recommend it highly.



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If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again, by Zen Cho

If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


There are a lot of short descriptions of this novelette. It's a story about relationships. About persistence. About love. But the short descriptions really don't do it justice. Zen Cho develops a lot of depth in such a short work. And the Korean mythology angle was interesting--I knew about the relationship between dragons and earthworms, but Imugi were new to me. It's about a 3.6 rounded up for me, but it made an impression. Beautifully told, made you feel like it was highly original even though the themes are as old as time.



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The Rule of Three, by Lawrence Schoen

The less Lawrence Schoen writes about buffalitos, the more I like him.  The Rule of Three is a very clever YA level tale of alien contact.  The alien comes to Earth in a part of China that has almost no contact with the outside world.  The story is from the perspective of a man with roots there, but who lives in the west, working for the state department.  When he hears of the alien, he immediately goes there to be with his grandmother and see it. 

The alien's "macguffin" is that it only values, and can work with, things that have a close connection to their maker.  No more than three degrees removed.  I can make something, and I can give it to someone else, and that person can pass it along again.  After that, it becomes disconnected from life.  So all of our modern-sourced products are disconnected.

The cleverness is mixed up in the conclusion so I will not reveal it, but the story is well thought out and a solid choice as a Nebula award nominee.  Definitely worth the time.  Strong 3 stars.

Beneath a Sugar Sky, by Seanan McGuire

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I can just barely give this book three stars. It's sort of fun to read, but it's definitely the kind of YA novel that made me avoid YA novels like the plague when I was actually a YA. It's a very formulaic quest book, with the point of the quest being a stop on the way to something else. We are also hit over the head repeatedly with the moral messages (the true pitfall of YA novels--the belief that they have to be so direct. Youth are not as obtuse as adults when it comes to getting a moral point that applies to themselves. They get a lot of practice at it).

Seanan McGuire is very talented at executing a story. I have seen this kind of devolution before (in the Feed series) where the plots just kind of run out of steam. The trick is to stop writing before you run out of things to say. Or come up with more things. It's gotten several award nominations, but that may say more about the state of the written word in F&SF than its quality.



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