Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island, by Nibedita Sen

In Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island, a Nebula nominee for short story in 2019, we get a word picture of the titular place told in the titular format.  This short, disconnected entry format is one we see more often now and I think it works well for a short story, where one is trying to convey an idea in a very few words.  This one is OK, I guess, they always go by so fast for me it's hard to know what to make of them.  But worth the brief stop.

A Catalog of Storms, by Fran Wilde

A Catalog of Storms is nominated for a Nebula this year.  Fran Wilde uses her Bone Universe literary understanding of wind and its emotional content for this story--really it's that understanding boiled down to its essence.  You control storms by naming them, just as you would emotions.  Sacrifice and hope are also here.  A fun little item to read.

How the Trick Is Done, by A. C. Wise

How the Trick Is Done is a nominee for a Nebula short story this year.  It is a fine little relationship story told as speculative fiction, sort of magical realism.  The Magician is a compelling figure, and 3 different people fall for him--his first assistant, his stage manager, and a girlfriend who is a Resurrectionist.  She stops him from dying when he is shot as part of his act.  The dynamics of these folks are the heart of the story.  Worth reading, but it seems very familiar.

Song For a New Day, by Sarah Pinsker

A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It's pretty amazing that Sarah Pinsker wrote this before it became a documentary. OTOH, as predictions go it is not so difficult--mass shootings were our big concern when she wrote this, and it was widely acknowledged that a pandemic of some kind was going to happen in the near future. But the timing of my reading it is insanely on target, which made it sad to read even though the book itself is not a sad one. It's actually a very hopeful book, showing us how we might resist a relatively benevolent public-private partner dictatorship (I wonder if she deliberately substituted Wal-Mart for Amazon to make her universe slightly less parallel to ours?).

I tried to distance myself a bit from current events and appreciate it as well-written novel. Mostly unsuccessfully, but I still marvel at how deep and mature this book is. The characters are so real--Luce Cannon maybe moreso than Rosemary, but still both are great. Even the minor characters are real characters. Her generous view of human nature really comes through.

This book should go down as a marker of its time--if you want to understand how things are at the start of the second decade of the 21st century, read this. I hope this is the first of many Sarah Pinsker novels, we could see the field revive.



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Gamechanger, by L. X. Beckett

Gamechanger by L.X. Beckett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Gamechanger is a hopeful novel, in that it's post-apocalyptic--as in, we've had the apocalypse (Setback) then some very hard times (Clawback) and now we're making progress (Bounceback). Society is pretty advanced--no one is left behind, and there's resources to spare for a lot of playtime. So it's appropriate that the novel centers on a couple of immersive game stars, the sports heroes of their time.

The technology and overall tone are from William Gibson. Not sure where Star Trek comes in--maybe the hopefulness? But I have to agree with other reviewers that the actual plot is pretty haphazard. Rogue AI/space invader combined with villains escaped from the Setback. And it's somewhat unrealistically hopeful--all three phases occur within a human lifetime, so one of our older main characters remembers the whole progression. I don't think we'll fix our environment quite that fast. Our author has ideas and can create engaging characters, but there's not enough plot coherence behind them to really carry the story. I managed to finish and am glad, because it really picks up toward the end, but can see where some might not carry through.



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Golden State, by Ben H. Winters

Golden State by Ben H. Winters

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Well the premise of this book is not the least bit subtle. The worship of Objective Truth is front, center, and all consuming through most of the book. Winters does an interesting job of showing how people navigate being in a world so committed to what is So, and rejecting the lies that (according to the Golden State) swallowed up the rest of the world. All the unsubtlety hits you over the head repeatedly--the Golden State is California, and its successful resistance to the politics of today has put it where it is now.

But most of the novel is about Speculator (enforcer of Truth) Laszlo Ratestic, seen through his inner monologue. The character saved the novel for me, through its not-so-subtle plot twists and assertions. Laszlo lives in his more talented brother's shadow and is totally committed to that life. How he experiences that life, and the inevitable (because you can't miss it) disappointment it brings him, made it worth reading for me. Not going to go down as one of my all time favorites, but it didn't need to in order for me to think it is worth reading.



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Planetfall, by Emma Newman

Planetfall by Emma Newman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I read this one since I'm thinking about catching up the series. It didn't start off as a real grabber, so I understand some of the negative reviews, but after a few chapters I got into what the author was doing. The real meat of this story is protagonist Ren's (Renata Ghali) struggle with keeping a secret about the way the colony was founded, and what this costs her. The price she is paying gets ever more clear as it goes along. One of the better depictions of PTSD induced mental illness (in this case hoarding) that I have read. Some have been disappointed in the ending--I was not, because I expected it to lead up to more books. Interesting storytelling and well-set speculation. I wasn't sure if I would catch this one up but it's now in strong consideration.



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