The BiblioSanctum

#RRSciFiMonth: The Descender by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen

Posted on November 29, 2015 6 Comments

Sci-Fi November is a month-long blog event hosted by Rinn Reads and Over The Effing Rainbow this year, created to celebrate everything amazing about science fiction! From TV shows to movies, books to comics, and everything else in between, it is intended to help science fiction lovers share their love and passion for this genre and its many, many fandoms.

Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen

Genre: Science fiction

Publisher: Image Comics (September 2015)

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

A sudden attack by giant robots and their equally sudden disappearances leaves humanity with only one decision: all robots must be destroyed. On a remote mining planet, one robot survives the culling. His name is Tim-21 and he was designed to be a companion for a young boy. As it turns out, Tim is not alone in his robotic status, but more importantly, his programming is very similar to the harvesters that attacked a decade earlier. This makes Dr. Quon, his designer, a very wanted man.

A robot boy who wants to be real. Robot genocide at the hands of humans who fear them. Rebel factions. Bounty hunters. Political intrigue and betrayal. All of these things are fairly common stories in the realm of robot science fiction, but Lemire’s writing and Nguyen’s stark yet powerful art breathe new life into this tale and leave me wanting more as Tim tries to understand who he is and how he fits into the puzzle.

But most of all, Tim just wants to find his family and, though he knows he is a robot, he displays all of the emotional moments needed to endear him to us.

The mystery behind the harvesters looms over the story, but so too does a strange dream that Tim has when he is momentarily deactivated, revealing him to be the potential saviour of all of the robots who have perished before him. But Philip K. Dick has already asked the question of whether or not androids dream, so what is it that Tim truly experienced?

#RRSciFiMonth Book Review: Starhawk by Jack McDevitt

Posted on November 28, 2015 3 Comments

Sci-Fi Month Sci-Fi November is a month-long blog event hosted by Rinn Reads and Over The Effing Rainbow this year, created to celebrate everything amazing about science fiction! From TV shows to movies, books to comics, and everything else in between, it is intended to help science fiction lovers share their love and passion for this genre and its many, many fandoms.

Starhawk by Jack McDevitt

Genre: Science Fiction
Series: The Academy #7
Publisher: Ace (November 2013)
Author Info: jackmcdevitt.com

I have never read a Jack McDevitt novel before, much less the Academy series where I would have met Priscilla “Hutch” Hutchins, the main character of said series. This is a prequel to that series and thereby a good jumping point to get into the series. Unfortunately, it’s not a particularly compelling one, though there are many things that the book does right.

First off, it should be noted that Priscilla shares the spotlight in this book, with her mentor, Jake Loomis, getting point of view chapters of his own and he struggles with the tragedy of the book’s opening mission, and his future with space flight. The future of spaceflight itself is a prominent theme, as there is very little funding available to maintain the level of exploration needed, much less to rescue those who get stranded out there. The latter is another prominent theme as it becomes the only way for Hutch, a fresh off of certification pilot, to get out into space in this cash strapped industry.

This is not a high action book. In fact, it feels very realistic to me, offering us lots of solitude and boredom on the space flights. Even during the tense situations of the rescues, there’s a sense of “hurry up and wait” because not all space travel is about laser battles and explosions. We’re also just on the cusp of FTL travel here, with humanity only just poking its nose into the universe and hoping for a response. There is evidence of Something Out There, with repeated mention of the monument on Iapetus, which I assume is important to future novels. But there’s also the underlying concern of what we are doing in our attempt to reach further into space and colonize other worlds. Are we destroying life elsewhere for the sake of our own expansion? But this too is an issue that burns slowly in the story, even with occasional moments of opposition. Some protestors take to terrorism, while others simply choose to bite their tongues to avoid the hassle, and ultimately, the answer to the question of “is terraforming destroying life on other planets” is “maybe, but probably not for a long time.” This pedantic approach to the storytelling might bore some, but I found it appealing in its realism.

I assume that a lot of the relationships and even names, such as “Starhawk” and “Hutch” are common in the future books. Here we learn their lackluster origins and slag through the tepid friendships and romances that occur separately between Jake and Priscilla. Priscilla’s relationship with Cal in particular is poorly written. I hope that he plays a significant role in her future life but for now, I am as uninterested in their romance as she seemed to be at first, and am even more disappointed in the inexplicable switch in her approval of him, which went from “meh” to a lazily written “I’m not sure when I started to care blah blah blah…” While I can appreciate the slowness of the rest of the storytelling, the characters themselves, as well as their relationships, are utterly dull and unappealing. This is where the book ultimately fails to make me want to know more.

And finally, a pet peeve: It’s 200 years in the future, but of course the cast is default white and they get descriptions about flowing hair and sparkling eyes etc. Then McDevitt tosses in some background people of colour who get descriptions like “African-American” or “Asian.” This is level one diversity Jack. Thanks for trying, but can you please refer to GRRM’s handy chart of shades for describing PoC characters.
163a3-new3stars

Be sure to check out Mogsy’s far more positive review of the book here!

#RRSciFiMonth Invasive Species by Joseph Wallace + Giveaway!

Posted on November 27, 2015 13 Comments

***The giveaway is now over, thanks to everyone who entered!***

A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Invasive Species by Joseph Wallace

Genre: Science Fiction, Suspense, Horror

Series: Book 1

Publisher: Berkley (12/3/13)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nature is scary. Books that remind us of this fact are always enlightening, and that’s what I loved about Invasive Species. When your story involves science and ecological elements—and especially when your focus is on nasty, icky bugs—even a novel in the Suspense/Thriller category can easily read like a Horror.

From the book’s description alone though, it was hard to tell what it would be about. All we know is that an unknown breed of predator has emerged, and humans are its favorite prey. This new enemy is faster, stronger, and far deadlier than anything we’ve seen before. Right away, my brain started working on constructing this hypothetical creature, and I couldn’t help it—films like Predator, Alien, and other movies featuring science fiction’s most terrifying killing machines immediately sprang to mind. After all, we’ve seen these types of plots so many times before; it’s difficult to imagine that a threat of this nature could be anything other than a malevolent, extraterrestrial monster.

Turns out, I was totally wrong. The “monsters” in Invasive Species turn out to be wasps. Sure, they may be wasps on steroids, having evolved to be become larger, smarter, and more poisonous than the norm. But still…just wasps. Does it make this book any less scary, though? Nope. Actually, it just made me feel even more creeped out and unsettled. If you’ve ever been stung by a wasp, you know what I’m talking about. Wasps are pure evil.

Certainly, if you’re an entomophobe, you’re going to have a really tough time with this book. While it’s a science fiction story that also gets a bit far-fetched here and there, the premise has just enough science in it to make you squirm. Our protagonist Trey Gilliard is a modern explorer of sorts, literally taking the road less traveled. His life’s work is all about heading into the least known regions of the planet. There are still areas on earth relatively untouched by humanity, and some of these are in the deep jungles of Africa. You don’t have to suspend reality too much to believe that a new species could evolve separate in such a place, unknown to the rest of the world. It’s here where Trey first encounters his first “thief”, a new kind of parasitoid wasp. The locals call them that because of the way they steal your mind, your body, and your life. They’re also referred to as “slavemakers” because of the way adult wasps can attach their stingers to hosts and take over their bodies.

The thieves are deadlier than regular wasps for many reasons, but first and foremost it is because they have developed an intricate hive mind, allowing them to communicate long distances and also to recognize and “remember” those who have done them harm. Primates are also their preferred host, including human beings. They breed by injecting their larvae into the abdomens of their unsuspecting prey, and neurotoxins in their venom also scramble and befuddle their victims’ minds, making them unaware that they are pregnant with a baby wasp until it is too late. That’s some messed up, creepy stuff.

The thieves are also great at survival. Deforestation and hunting practices have diminished their natural habitat and available hosts, but instead of dying out, they’ve become even more opportunistic, hitching rides on cars, boats, and planes in order to spread to the rest of the world. In the United States where it’s an election year, their presence eventually sparks a political storm.

Remember my review earlier this year of Bat out of Hell, a so-called “eco-thriller”? That one didn’t work out so well for me. And well, after reading Invasive Species, I realized this is how I wished that book had turned out! Invasive Species is a far better book because author Joseph Wallace did the right thing and focused on the disaster at multiple levels. He focused on the individual victims. He also focused on the threat of the thieves themselves. He emphasized the way these insect invaders fueled the fear and panic, ratcheting up the suspense to a fever pitch. The book is also a frightening reminder of just how fragile we are when science and technology fails us, and how quickly a civilization can come apart at the seams without the proper infrastructure and resources to maintain it.

I won’t spoil the ending, because you’ll just have to read this for yourself to see how the conflict resolves. However, I will say Invasive Species finishes on a bittersweet, melancholy note. After the roller coaster ride this story gave me, I thought it was ominously appropriate. For a book I knew next to nothing about when I first started it, I ended up really enjoying myself. Gripping, suspenseful, and delightfully chilling, this is a novel that will really get under your skin! A fine blend of drama and action for fans of sci-fi thrillers and horror. The follow-up titled Slavemakers is actually on the horizon, due out later this winter, and I’m looking forward to picking it up now more than ever.

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INVASIVE SPECIES GIVEAWAY

With Slavemakers due out next week, there’s no better time than the present to check out Invasive Species to see how it all began. The publisher has very generously offered The BiblioSanctum an opportunity to host a giveaway for one print copy of Invasive Species. This giveaway is open to US addresses only. To enter, all you have to do is send an email to bibliosanctum@gmail.com with your Name and valid Mailing Address using the subject line “INVASIVE SPECIES” by 11:59pm Eastern time on Sunday, December 6, 2015.

Only one entry per household, please. Entrants must be 18 or older. The winner will be randomly selected when the giveaway ends and then be notified by email. All information will only be used for the purposes of contacting the winner and sending them their prize. Once the giveaway ends all entry emails will be deleted.

So what are you waiting for? Enter to win! Good luck!

#RRSciFiMonth 5 Books I Read in 2015 That Deserve More Attention

Posted on November 26, 2015 15 Comments

2015 saw a number of big science fiction releases, but here are five books that might have flown under radars!

Edge of Dark by Brenda Cooper (Pyr: March 3, 2015)

The first book of a planned duology, Edge of Dark also takes place in the future of the same timeline as Brenda Cooper’s Ruby’s Song series, which made me very happy because I loved The Diamond Deep when I read it a couple years ago. I certainly didn’t expect to like it so much, but was surprised at how addictive the story was. (Read my full review…)

Edge of Dark

What if a society banished its worst nightmare to the far edge of the solar system, destined to sip only dregs of light and struggle for the barest living. And yet, that life thrived? It grew and learned and became far more than you ever expected, and it wanted to return to the sun. What if it didn’t share your moral compass in any way?

The Glittering Edge duology describes the clash of forces when an advanced society that has filled a solar system with flesh and blood life meets the near-AI’s that it banished long ago. This is a story of love for the wild and natural life on a colony planet, complex adventure set in powerful space stations, and the desire to live completely whether you are made of flesh and bone or silicon and carbon fiber.

In Edge of Dark, meet ranger Charlie Windar and his adopted wild predator, and explore their home on a planet that has been raped and restored more than once. Meet Nona Hall, child of power and privilege from the greatest station in the system, the Diamond Deep. Meet Nona’s best friend, a young woman named Chrystal who awakens in a robotic body….

Evensong by John Love (Night Shade Books: January 6, 2015)

I’ll admit, at first I didn’t think this would be my type of book, but after I finished Evensong, the emotional impact it had on me was something I just couldn’t ignore. The ending touched something deep inside me, and as the dust settled, I was left with a numbness, a melancholy that even now I find hard to explain. (Read my full review…)

The future is a dangerous place. Keeping the world stable and peaceful when competing corporate interests and nation-states battle for power, wealth, and prestige has only gotten harder over the years. But that’s the United Nations’ job. So the UN has changed along with the rest of the world. When the UN’s “soft” diplomacy fails, it has harder options. Quiet, scalpel-like options: The Dead—biologically enhanced secret operatives created by the UN to solve the problems no one else can.

Anwar Abbas is one of The Dead. When the Controller-General of the UN asks him to perform a simple bodyguard mission, he’s insulted and resentful: mere bodyguard work is a waste of his unique abilities. But he takes the job, because to refuse it would be unthinkable.

Anwar is asked to protect Olivia del Sarto, the host of an important upcoming UN conference. Olivia is head of the world’s fastest-growing church, but in her rise to power she has made enemies: shadowy enemies with apparently limitless resources.

Anwar is one of the deadliest people on earth, but her enemies have something which kills people like him. And they’ve sent it for her. It’s out there, unstoppable and untraceable, getting closer as the conference approaches.

As he and Olivia ignite a torrid affair, Anwar must uncover the conspiracy that threatens to destroy her, the UN, and even The Dead.

Our Lady of the Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke (Saga Press: October 27, 2015)

Frankly, I’m surprised this book hasn’t gotten more attention, since the author has written several well-received books before this one. Our Lady of the Ice is a very different kind of sci-fi novel. Infused with hard-boiled noir vibes, it features wonderful characters and takes place in one of the most mind-blowingly unique settings I’ve ever seen. I found this book simply irresistible. (Read my full review…)

Hope City, Antarctica. The southernmost city in the world, with only a glass dome and a faltering infrastructure to protect its citizens from the freezing, ceaseless winds of the Antarctic wilderness. Within this bell jar four people–some human, some not–will shape the future of the city forever:

Eliana Gomez, a female PI looking for a way to the mainland.

Diego Amitrano, the right-hand man to the gangster who controls the city’s food come winter.

Marianella Luna, an aristocrat with a dangerous secret.

Sofia, an android who has begun to evolve.

But the city is evolving too, and in the heart of the perilous Antarctic winter, factions will clash, dreams will shatter, and that frozen metropolis just might boil over…

Cash Crash Jubilee by Eli K. P. William (Talos: May 5, 2015)

Cash Crash Jubilee is utterly fascinating, from cover to cover. The premise is disconcerting, with details that sometimes bordered on the absurd, but it did make me think. I love a book that gets my brain juices flowing, and I found myself so completely absorbed in the sights and sounds of William’s dystopic Tokyo. It’s a trove of insanity and wonder, all in one place. (Read my full review…)

In a near future Tokyo, every action—from blinking to sexual intercourse—is intellectual property owned by corporations that charge licensing fees. A BodyBank computer system implanted in each citizen records their movements from moment to moment, and connects them to the audio-visual overlay of the ImmaNet, so that every inch of this cyber-dystopian metropolis crawls with information and shifting cinematic promotainment.

Amon Kenzaki works as a Liquidator for the Global Action Transaction Authority. His job is to capture bankrupt citizens, remove their BodyBank, and banish them to BankDeath Camps where they are forever cut off from the action-transaction economy. Amon always plays by the rules and is steadily climbing the Liquidation Ministry ladder.

With his savings accumulating and another promotion coming, everything seems to be going well, until he is asked to cash crash a charismatic politician and model citizen, and soon after is charged for an incredibly expensive action called “jubilee” that he is sure he never performed. To restore balance to his account, Amon must unravel the secret of jubilee, but quickly finds himself asking dangerous questions about the system to which he’s devoted his life, and the costly investigation only drags him closer and closer to the pit of bankruptcy.

In book one of the Jubilee Cycle, Cash Crash Jubilee, debut novelist Eli K. P. William wields the incisive power of speculative fiction to show how, in a world of corporate finance run amok, one man will do everything for the sake of truth and justice

First Light by Linda Nagata (Saga Press: June 30, 2015)

First Light is the excellent, smart, and action-packed introduction to The Red series, originally indie-published but then re-released by a major publisher – because it is JUST. THAT. GOOD. This book gets my recommendation, especially for fans of military science fiction. It’s been getting all kinds of attention lately, but I say it could always use more! (Read my full review…)

Reality TV and advanced technology make for high drama in this political thriller that combines the military action of Zero Dark Thirty with the classic science fiction of The Forever War.

Lieutenant James Shelley, who has an uncanny knack for premeditating danger, leads a squad of advanced US Army military tasked with enforcing the peace around a conflict in sub-Saharan Africa. The squad members are linked wirelessly 24/7 to themselves and a central intelligence that guides them via drone relay—and unbeknownst to Shelley and his team, they are being recorded for a reality TV show.

When an airstrike almost destroys their outpost, a plot begins to unravel that’s worthy of Crichton and Clancy’s best. The conflict soon involves rogue defense contractors, corrupt US politicians, and homegrown terrorists who possess nuclear bombs. Soon Shelley must accept that the helpful warnings in his head could be AI. But what is the cost of serving its agenda?

#RRSciFiMonth Book Review: Superposition by David Walton

Posted on November 25, 2015 15 Comments

A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Superposition by David Walton

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: Book 1 of Superposition

Publisher: Pyr (4/7/15)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

I admit, I have a love-hate relationship with hard sci-fi. To clarify, I am mostly talking about science fiction with heavy emphasis on science and technology. If an author can ease me gently into a story like this, it is certainly possible for me to become absorbed and enjoy myself. On the other hand, overwhelm me with techno-babble and science that I don’t understand, and you will see my eyes glazing over faster than a donut on a conveyor belt at Krispy Kreme.

Happily, Superposition turned out to fall in the former category. Of course, I did experience a momentary spike of panic when I realized how heavily the story relies on the various theories in quantum physics (let’s just say my area of study and interest is Biology; I’m a Life Sciences kinda gal, and I did everything that was humanly possible to get out of taking any Physics courses in university) but somehow this book made me feel completely comfortable. David Walton is an author I’ve known of for a while, but have never read until now, and I have to say I’m beyond impressed with the way he made quantum physics easy to understand, even for a “physics phobe” like me. Also, he managed to make it entertaining!

This novel opens with the words “Up-spin” below the first chapter heading, with the narrator Jacob Kelley telling a story about how everything in his life changed the night Brian Vanderhall, an old friend he hasn’t seen in years, shows up at his house babbling about aliens and quantum intelligences, and then proceeds to pull a gun at Jacob’s wife Elena. Brian shoots, but the bullet somehow passes through Elena, leaving her unharmed while punching a hole through the wall behind her. In a rage, Jacob chases Brian out of his house.

But then there are also the even-numbered “Down-spin” chapters. These chapters follow Jacob in a courtroom setting, and we discover that he is on trial for the murder of Brian Vanderhall, who was apparently found dead the same night he visited the Kelley residence, just hours after he shot at Elena. The reader is made to understand that a long time has passed between the Up-spin and Down-spin chapters, and that something significant must have occurred after Brian was chased out of Jacob’s house, which then lead to Jacob’s arrest and prosecution. Did Jacob really kill his old friend or not?

You might be surprised by the answers. I know I was. The truth is weirder than you can imagine, but it will also become much clearer as the story unfolds, told between these two alternating timelines. So, in one thread, we have the “past” where Jacob trying to figure out why Brian came to his house and how he was able to shoot at and not harm Elena, as well as the “present” thread which essentially is a riveting courtroom drama. The trial scenes were actually my favorite, because they captured the tensions of the setting so well, and even injected a bit of humor.

The fact you have a genuinely interesting and entertaining storyline along with all the science is what makes Superposition such a great book. It’s a murder mystery with a quantum physics twist, one that truly excited me, and I’ll be honest here, before this book came along, I would have been hard pressed to imagine myself using the words “excited” and “quantum physics” in the same sentence. Sure, there were some explanations in this that were so complicated that they nearly made me go cross-eyed, but those moments were few and far between. Walton made learning about the topic fun and accessible, using language and other methods that were easy to understand without dumbing things down, and gave the reader enough to follow the story without overcomplicating things.

All in all, I’m really glad I read this novel because I enjoyed it a lot, and yes, that includes all the science-y parts—a good thing, since it was so integral to the plot…the plot that I don’t want to say anything more about, because the more left to secrecy the better. I was utterly addicted to the story, a tightly written tale with a pace that never let up. The use of quantum physics in this murder mystery was simply ingenious, and I’m amazed at Walton’s talent and ability to establish such a fascinating premise. Even if you’re wary about hard sci-fi, I strongly encourage you to give this one a chance; I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

#RRSciFiMonth Waiting on Wednesday 11/25/15

Posted on November 25, 2015 17 Comments

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that lets us feature upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!

Mogsy’s Pick:

Time Siege by Wesley Chu: July 12, 2016 (Tor Books)

For my final sci-fi themed Waiting on Wednesday of the month, I am wrapping things up with this follow-up to Time Salvager, which was a great book and I’m super excited to check out the sequel! It’s funny though, because I think the cover actually looks a bit “fantasy-ish” (am I the only one?) Regardless, the art is gorgeous, and I’m really looking forward to finding out what happens to James and the gang.

“Having been haunted by the past and enslaved by the present, James Griffin-Mars is taking control of the future.

Earth is a toxic, sparsely inhabited wastelandthe perfect hiding place for a fugitive exchronman to hide from the authorities.

James has allies, scientists he rescued from previous centuries: Elise Kim, who believes she can renew Earth, given time; Grace Priestly, the venerated inventor of time travel herself; Levin, James’s mentor and former pursuer, now disgraced; and the Elfreth, a population of downtrodden humans who want desperately to believe that James and his friends will heal their ailing home world.

James also has enemies. They include the full military might of benighted solar system ruled by corporate greed and a desperate fear of what James will do next. At the forefront of their efforts to stop him is Kuo, the ruthless security head, who wants James’s head on a pike and will stop at nothing to obtain it.”

Guest Post: “Writing Crazy” by Michael R. Fletcher

Posted on November 24, 2015 16 Comments

Today I’m pleased to present a guest post from the one and only Michael R. Fletcher, author of Beyond Redemption and also Grandmaster of the Insane! *whispers* Trust me, folks, he knows what he’s talking about. Don’t believe me? Just get a load of his crazy post! And also don’t forget to check out his book, which is bar none the best grimdark fantasy novel I’ve read this year, out now from Harper Voyager.

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WRITING CRAZY
by Michael R. Fletcher

Beyond Redemption takes place in a world where reality responds to the whims of humanity. If enough people believe the same thing, that belief will manifest. The twist is that crazy folks, the demented and insane, are capable of believing things so strongly they can alter reality all on their own. They are also capable of believing all manner of impossibilities and manifesting it as reality. Cotardists—folks who believe themselves to be rotting or dying—will actually begin to rot. Pyromaniacs can spark fires with their thoughts. Kleptomaniacs know where all your left socks are. You get the idea. I’ve taken real world mental disorders and turned them into wizards. Kind of. If you’d like to read more on the background I’ve done a series of posts detailing the workings of the world of Manifest Delusions.

Part One: http://beauty-in-ruins.blogspot.ca/2015/11/rules-of-responsive-reality-by-michael.html

Part Two: https://mightythorjrs.wordpress.com/2015/11/11/guest-blog-rules-of-a-responsive-reality-part-two-by-michael-r-fletcher-author-of-beyond-redemption/

Part Three: http://bookwraiths.com/2015/11/12/guest-post-the-rules-of-a-responsive-reality-by-michael-r-fletcher/

While the vast majority of the world’s population are sane, I chose to focus on the bent, those capable of twisting reality with their delusions.

A quick aside if I may: If you believe something with absolutely no evidence, and in-spite of a fair amount of proof contrary to whatever it is you believe, do you really qualify as sane? Or is this more of an intelligence question? If someone blindly believes something with zero evidence, can they possibly qualify as intelligent? I honestly don’t know. After all, it’s not like I am without my own delusions.

Anyway. Where was I? Oh, yes!

So here I was with this world I’d dreamed up and a story I wanted to tell and virtually every single one of the characters involved was one flavour of crazy. Some were two or even three flavours. On the one hand this seems like a writer’s dream: My characters are crazy, they don’t have to make sense!

There are two possible issues with this.

1) You allow the idea to run rampant and end up with a book that has no discernible plot. Your crazy characters make crazy choices and your book reads like an insane asylum where the inmates have been dosed with LSD and allowed to run rampant. Damn. That sounds like an awesome book.

2) No one can relate to any of your characters because all their choices are insane.

Today I am going to—very briefly—look at how I handled each of these issues. And I’m going to pretend it was all intentional. Just imagine me sitting down and thinking all this through before I started writing the book. Contemplate the amount of planning and forethought I might have used. Consider the sheer genius involved in figuring all this out before a single word was written! Revel in my— What? You’re not buying it?

Fine.

The thing with crazy people is that, while they might not make sense to sane people like you and me, they do tend to be consistent within the parameters of their delusions. Having an insane character doesn’t give the author freedom to write whatever wandering insanity pitches its tent in their demented little imaginations. In fact, quite the opposite. To write madness you must delve deep into the wounded psyche of your characters. What made them this way? Is it genetic, or the result of childhood trauma? Was it caused by physical brain damage, or is it due to narcotic and/or alcohol abuse? Background is everything. It determines your character’s choices. Santayana may have said, “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it,” but let’s face it, for most people, their past is their future.

To write the mad character you must be the mad character. You must see every event through their eyes, filtered by their delusions.

And now for the truly difficult part. How do you write an insane character so that readers will relate to them and not think your book is irredeemably depressing and populated by delusional psychotics no sane person could ever relate to?

Muahhahahahah! (that, by the way, is an evil laugh)

You don’t.

If you do the first part right, if you write so that your characters are true to themselves, consistent with their nature, readers will relate. Readers want struggle, they want characters with flaws. They want your characters to make mistakes. Give it to them, but do it honestly.

Or maybe there are so many crazy people out there, people who are able to bury deep their delusions and make it through each day mistaken for one of the sane, that you can write crazy characters and get away with it. Or maybe sanity is itself a delusion! What if the reason so many folks enjoy Beyond Redemption is because they see something in the struggles of my mad characters mirroring their own daily struggle through the split-pea soup of reality?

In truth, I have no idea.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael R. Fletcher is a science fiction and fantasy author. His novel, Beyond Redemption, a work of dark fantasy and rampant delusion, was published by HARPER Voyager in 2015.

His début novel, 88, a cyberpunk tale about harvesting children for their brains, was released by Five Rivers Publishing in 2013.

The next two Manifest Delusions novels, The Mirror’s Truth, and The All Consuming, are currently in various stages of editing while Michael tries to be the best husband and dad he can be.

Michael is represented by Cameron McClure of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

#RRSciFiMonth Review Bites

Posted on November 23, 2015 17 Comments

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Narrator: Wil Wheaton
Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins
Publisher: Random House Audio

Ready Player One follows the adventures of Wade who has the misfortune of living in a desolate United States in the year 2044. Despite earth sounding like a wasteland, years earlier a game developer created a large MMO known as OASIS that allowed user to escape into a virtual world, hiding behind their avatars. OASIS quickly expanded into an intricate freemium service that could be used for a variety of things, including attending public school. Most people regardless of income status have access to OASIS and a great deal of the population stays plugged in. It is so engrained in the culture that the name is synonymous with Internet. After the death of the developer (who happens to be an heir-less billionaire), the denizens learn that he has hidden a game in OASIS consisting of a series of riddles. The first one to solve his puzzle becomes the heir to his empire.

This follows the typical 80s teen RomCom adventure format, even going as far as to include the “boy meets girl” thing. I’m probably in the small majority here when I say that this didn’t do it for me. I’m all for nostalgia and nostalgia is probably the only reason I rated this as high as I did. Mostly this felt ham-fisted to me, though. I’m not sure I even really enjoyed the plot that meandered along around all the 80s tribute. This was just one of those moments when I wanted to say, “It’s not you, book. It’s me.” Except I’m pretty sure it’s the book and not me. However, if you’re looking for something light and fun packed with plenty of 80s trivia and homages, this book will be right up your alley. This was the complete novel I’ve listened to by Wil Wheaton (I’d listened to a short story narrated by him earlier this year). He didn’t do too bad with this story.

The Martian by Andy Weir
Narrator: R.C. Bray
Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
Publisher: Podium Publishing

I’m almost the last person to read this book. Thanks to one of the recent Top Ten Tuesdays, I found out that I am at least still ahead of a few people when it comes to reading this book. 😉 After a series of unfortunate events during a mission to Mars, Mark Watney finds himself stranded on the planet after his crew mistakenly leaves him behind. Now, he’s on a personal mission to survive on the planet for the next 4 years until the next Mars mission crew arrives on the planet.

There’s plenty of technical jargon in this that most people won’t even pretend to understand (and that’s okay!), but there’s not so much of it that readers are pushed away from the story. You get the sentiment–everything is fucked!–even if you don’t understand the science. Being a big science nerd, I definitely enjoyed this for the way Weir weaved the science and the story together. Now, admittedly, I can understand where this might get redundant. Given the type of story this is, like most survival story, this relies on everything that could possibly go wrong doing just that. That can get old as something breaks and Watney then proceeds to “science the shit out of it” until he gets a solution. I can also see where people might find it dry despite the humor interspersed in the story. R.C. Bray was an excellent narrator, though, and I’m sure his narration made all the difference. I won’t say that R.C. Bray is flawless, but his narration made it feel real, like this was a story being related to me by a friend who’d been stranded on Mars. Sometimes, that personable style of narration is more important than an immaculate narration.

Orphans of the Sky by Robert Heinlein
Narrator: Eric Michael Summerer
Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
Publisher: Audible Studios

This novel is actually two of Heinlein’s novella’s–Universe and Common Sense both published in 1941. A man named Hugh is the main character of this book, living on a generational ship with multiple levels. The inhabitants of the ship believe there’s nothing beyond the metal of the ship, believing their “journey through space” is an allusion to spiritual enlightenment. However, after Hugh encounters the “mutants” that live on another level of the ship, he learns that they are in fact on a ship floating aimlessly through space, a ship that went off some generations before he was born. Now, he wants to fly the ship, but will Hugh’s own people believe his story?

This wasn’t my favorite Heinlein book, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love the premise behind this one. I don’t read enough stories about generational ships. I found everything about this fascinating from the ship-based religion which is much like Christianity fused with various other religions. There were moments when you just wanted to smack the characters and tell them to take a chance. They’re so resistant to what Hugh tries to get them to see, but that can be said of real life as well. So, while I wasn’t over the moon about this story, I did really love the ideas it played with.

Audiobook Review: Press Start to Play edited by Daniel H. Wilson and John Joseph Adams

Posted on November 22, 2015 11 Comments

Press Start to Play edited by Daniel H. Wilson and John Joseph Adams

Genre: Anthology, Video Games

Publisher: Audible Studios (9/29/15)

Author/Editor Information: Daniel H. Wilson (Twitter) | John Joseph Adams (Twitter)

Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 3 of 5 stars

Narrators: A.T. Chandler, Tanya Eby, Jesse Einstein, Emily Beresford | Length: 9 hrs 32 min

At first, I was hesitant about listening to an anthology in audio format, but it actually turned out working really well! I really enjoyed how multiple narrators were involved in this project, and for the most part the actors and actresses were all well-matched to the stories they read. All the narrators delivered impressive performances, considering how not every story here was written in a conventional style, or at least in one that would easily translate to audio.

The stories themselves, though, were another matter. Press Start to Play was a good anthology, but I admit I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. I’ve always been picky with short stories, but I really thought my interest in the topic of video games would help me with this one, but in the end this was just a very average collection, with most stories falling in the mediocre to good range. More disappointing is the presence of a few stories that only had a tenuous link to the subject, and even a couple that I felt had no place in an anthology that should be a celebration of video games. That said, there were a handful of exceptional ones that I felt really stood out. For a more in-depth analysis and my feelings for each story, see below:

“God Mode” by Daniel H. Wilson – 2.5 of 5 stars
The protagonist of this story is an American studying abroad in Australia. He starts dating a fellow American student named Sarah, who one day suddenly fall and hits her head, and all of a sudden the stars in the sky start disappearing. I think the ending was meant to be more heartfelt and profound, but the delivery really fell flat. Quite frankly, I was disappointed by such a mediocre opener for this anthology, and even now I can barely remember that many details from this first story.

“NPC” by Charles Yu – 2 of 5 stars
The title of this story gives us all the clues we need as to what it’s about. What happens when an NPC experiences an epiphany and isn’t sure if he wants to be something more? This was an interesting premise, but sadly neither the story nor the character was fleshed out nearly enough to be interesting.

“Respawn” by Hiroshi Sakurazaka – 3 of 5 stars
A regular guy discovers when he is killed that his consciousness has “jumped” into the body of his killer. This story reminded me a little bit of Claire North’s Touch. It was a cool concept, and I would have liked to see it carried further, but whether it really belongs in a video game themed anthology is debatable.

“Desert Walk” by S. R. Mastrantone – 4 of 5 stars
This was a nifty little ghost story, which started out one way and ended in a way I totally did not see coming. When I started this anthology, I expected to get a lot of different kinds of stories, but I admit I didn’t expect anything with a horror element. This one was pretty awesome and creepy.

“Rat Catcher’s Yellows” by Charlie Jane Anders – 3 of 5 stars
One of the best things about this anthology was getting a chance to read work from authors I’ve been curious about for a long time. I enjoyed this story, at least in the beginning. It’s a quirky and interesting take on a social game and a subset of its players with a unique disease that causes dementia. I was a little disappointed by the ending, though. I’d thought there would be more and was surprised when the next story started up.

“1UP” by Holly Black – 3.5 of 5 stars
This was another story by an author I’ve wanted to check out for a while! Three teens go to the funeral one of their online gaming friends, and find a text-based game that he wrote on his computer. It turns out to be a clue to solve his apparent murder. Again, I loved the premise but this definitely would have worked better as a full-length novel. What a great YA mystery it would have made!

“Survival Horror” by Seanan McGuire – 2 of 5 stars
I suspected and later confirmed that this story is based on the world of McGuire’s InCryptid series, which I confess I know absolutely nothing about. No wonder I felt so confused. To be honest, I hate finding these types of stories in anthologies like this, because as hard as the author tries to catch you up with the world and who’s who in it, it just doesn’t feel the same. If you are familiar with InCryptic you might find yourself enjoying this one, but personally I felt no connection to any of these characters and couldn’t make myself care what happened to them.

“Real” by Django Wexler – 3.5 of 5 stars
I’m a big fan of the author, so I was pretty excited to read this. Our mysterious protagonist tries to track down the creator of a game that lets its players feel involved by using social media to discover demons and hidden runes. The idea gave me ARG vibes. A very cool story with an interesting twist ending.

“Outliers” by Nicole Feldringer – 2.5 of 5 stars
I think I would have liked this one more if I had understood it. Unfortunately, I found it a bit too technical. The main character is a woman who is obsessed with a game that tracks weather patterns for the government, and was even willing to skip her brother’s wedding to play it, which really didn’t help me sympathize with her.

“End Game” by Chris Avellone – 3.5 of 5 stars
I thought this was fun! A very interesting execution using the idea behind text-based games, but unfortunately, all the suspense eventually built up to…a fizzle. This is one of the biggest issues I find with the stories in this anthology; so few of them have real or satisfying endings.

“Save Me PLZ” by David Barr Kirtley – 4 of 5 stars
A sweet little story that starts with a young woman named Meg getting in to her car to find her ex-boyfriend, Devon. The real world and the virtual world collide as she is tasked to embark on a quest to rescue him. This was one of my favorite stories in the anthology.

“The Relive Box” by T.C.Boyle – 3.5 of 5 stars
A bittersweet story about a character obsessed with using a device called a Relive Box to keep experiencing the joys and heartbreaks of his past, meanwhile ignoring his daughter and his work in his very real present and future. I like its sad message about why we might want to relive old memories instead of going out to seize the day, creating new ones. It ended rather abruptly, which was my only criticism.

“Roguelike” by Marc Laidlaw – 4 of 5 stars
Repetitive and simple, but oh so hilarious! Again, it makes use of the text-based game format to tell a little tale about a very persistent resistance and the fates of all their doomed agents. The story reads like an elaborate joke, but I loved the punchline. I found it very enjoyable in spite of myself.

“All of the People in Your Party Have Died” by Robin Wasserman – 3.5 of 5 stars
A darkly comedic tale about The Oregon Trail as a game of life lessons to prepare you for the death of all the people you know and love to tragic accidents, and just bad shit in general. The character in this story discovers the game and becomes obsessed with it after the game starts doing strange things. I really liked where it was going, but then everything started unraveled towards the end. Definitely didn’t like the second half as much as I did the first.

“Recoil” By Micky Neilson – 4 of 5 stars
This was one of the more complete and coherent stories in this collection, and the author created a very suspenseful atmosphere to boot. Jimmy is our protagonist, staying late at the office to test a new game, and suddenly finds himself in a hostage situation. This story also had a twist ending, but this one I actually liked. Another of my favorites in this anthology.

“Anda’s Game” by Cory Doctorow – 3 of 5 stars
Anda joins a band of elite girl gamers and kicks ass in the virtual world, but in real life she is an average and unassuming schoolgirl. Her online teammates are everything to her, but then something happens that might jeopardize all her newfound happiness. An interesting story about taking a stand for what you believe in, but not one that really stood out for me.

“Coma Kings” by Jessica Barber – 3 of 5 stars
A touching but depressing story about two sisters who bond in game, but one is in a coma so she has to play via an implant in her brain. For the protagonist, this is the only way she can have any interaction with her sister. I enjoyed the premise and thought this story showed great promise, but I wish the ending had been stronger and more meaningful.

“Stats” by Marguerite K. Bennett – 3 of 5 stars
Don’t you just hate it when your stats get nerfed? The character Joey in this story is not a very nice person, so I didn’t feel too bad for him when his body started changing. I love the attitude behind this story, and it was okay in its execution.

“Please Continue” by Chris Kluwe – 1 of 5 stars
My least favorite story yet, and frankly it annoyed the hell out of me. Essentially it was a warning not to let gaming take over your life, but it came across really preachy and pretentious. The message is good, but why go about it in such a clichéd and uninteresting way? And oh, yet another unfunny application of the old “arrow to the knee” joke. How awkward. By the end, this didn’t even read like a story, more like a lecture from some nagging parent. It didn’t feel like a good fit for this anthology.

“Creation Screen” by Rhianna Pratchett – 3 of 5 stars
Speaking of stories that have messages about becoming too obsessed with gaming, here’s another one. However, it was much more creative and elegant than “Please Continue”, and the beginning actually amused me a great deal. I happen to be one of those finicky MMO players who take an inordinate amount of time trying to get my character “just right.”

“The Fresh Prince of Gamma World” by Austin Grossman – 3 of 5 stars
A gamer gets transported to an alternate world which has experienced a nuclear apocalypse. It’s a pretty interesting story, though once again, it didn’t fully engage me or stand out. I enjoyed the premise and setting, and perhaps I felt a greater affinity for it since Gamma World takes place in a post-apocalyptic Boston and I happen to be neck-deep in Fallout 4 right now.

“Gamer’s End” by Yoon Ha Lee – 3 of 5 stars
The title of this story should tell you something about what it is about, i.e. the use of war games for training. Nothing much I can say about this one, other than it was okay but didn’t blow me away either, and nothing about it really stood out.

“The Clockwork Solider” by Ken Liu – 4 of 5 stars
Alex is a female bounty hunter who captures a runaway named Ryder to bring back to his family. This is the first time in this anthology where I actually felt something more than ambivalence for the characters in a story. It’s another one that uses text-based gaming for its premise, but I found it philosophically deeper and a lot more thought-provoking than all the other stories in here.

“Killswitch” by Catherynne M. Valente – 3 of 5 stars
In this story, Killswitch is a game that starts off like any other first-person adventure game. But it doesn’t end that way. I liked what this story had to say about games versus real life, about having one shot, one chance to experience a moment before it becomes a memory. I appreciated its poignant message, but for some reason I had a very hard time staying focused throughout. Maybe it’s just the style in which this story was written, but I found it really hard to connect to the prose.

“Twarrior” by Andy Weir – 3 of 5 stars
This is a real short one, and feels more like snippet or an introduction to a bigger story, but hey, it got a few laughs out of me and that counts for a lot in my books. Andy Weir is one funny guy.

“Select Character” by Hugh Howey – 4 of 5 stars
Play as thou wilt—a message I strongly support. Maybe that’s why I liked this one so much. It’s a very enjoyable story showing how different people approach games, and reminds me a lot of the conversations I’ve had with others about different gameplay styles. Only one thing matters: that you play the way you want and have fun doing it. Also, be open to other gaming styles. Sometimes when you play only one way, you might even miss things that you’d never have known until you talk to someone else who has a whole other perspective. What a great story to end the anthology.

Story: | Performance: | Overall:

Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Stacking the Shelves, NaNoWriMo, Recent Reads

Posted on November 21, 2015 25 Comments

Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every other weekend which fills the role of several blog memes, like Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? where I round up what I’ve read since the last update and what I’m planning to read soon. Mostly it also serves as a recap post, so sometimes I’ll throw in stuff like reading challenge progress reports, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts or announcements.

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RECEIVED FOR REVIEW

Some truly fantastic books found their way into my mailbox this last fortnight, and I’m really excited about them. My thanks to the wonderful publishers for these review copies!

Angel of Storms by Trudi Canavan – Hardcover, with thanks to Orbit. This is the sequel to Thief’s Magic which I enjoyed very much last year, and I am eager to see if the two different storylines in the first book will finally resolve/come together in this one!

Black Wolves by Kate Elliott – Orbit was also so kind to send along this beauty of a book a couple weeks back. Its modest size actually belies its huge page count, almost 800! I’m actually about a third of the way through it right now, and I’m digging the story. So far it’s on its way to becoming my favorite book by Kate Elliott.

Spells of Blood and Kin by Claire Humphrey – Earlier this summer while I was chatting with a publicist at St. Martin’s Press about another book, she also asked if I would be interested in this other fantasy novel, something contemporary set in Toronto featuring Russian folk witches. Toronto happens to my hometown so I said, heck yes, sign me up when an ARC becomes available! Well, earlier this week it showed up. As soon as I saw the cover I recognized it as a book I’d been eyeing for the last few weeks, but until then I just hadn’t made the connection that it and the description of the book I’d been given was one and the same! So that was a real treat, to say the least. My thanks to Thomas Dunne Books!

The Shards of Heaven by Michael Livingston – Hardcover with thanks to Tor, who are awesome for sending me this finished copy. In case you missed my review for this book, you can see it here. This novel is a must read for fans of historical fantasy, especially if you like the Ancient Rome time period/setting.

Alliance by S.K. Dunstall – ARC with thanks to Ace Books. An unsolicited copy, but I couldn’t have been more pleased when I opened the package and saw it. I have the first book Linesman in audiobook format to review soon, so after I finish that I’ll be getting right to this one.

Infinity Lost by S. Harrison – Paperback with thanks to Skyscape and Wunderkind. See this book on the sidebar to the right, underneath CURRENT GIVEAWAYS? If you’re in the US, click it for more info on how to enter, as well as to read an excerpt that we’ve included as part of a special feature for Sci-Fi Month! You know you want to check out this book! It sounds fascinating, and I hope to read it myself, later this winter.

The Brimstone Deception by Lisa Shearin – ARC with thanks to Ace Books. I’ve been debating whether or not to continue with this series, though with the unexpected arrival of this third book, I guess my decision has been made for me! I’ve actually been enjoying this series a lot, I just wish I had a time-turner to read all the things!

City of Light by Keri Arthur – ARC, with thanks to Signet. I’m super excited to read this one! I’ve never read Keri Arthur before, but I’ve always been curious. Since this is the first book to a new series, I thought it would be a great place to start. Keep an eye out for my review and a giveaway in early January!

Ash and Silver by Carol Berg – Paperback with thanks to Roc. This is the second half of the Sanctuary Duet and I’m looking to find out how it ends! Isn’t it nice when a series is done in two books? I should have a review up sometime in early December, so be sure to watch for that.

Press Start to Play edited by Daniel H. Wilson and John Joseph Adams – Audiobook with thanks to Audible Studios. I’ve wanted to read this for a while, and I’m grateful to be offered the book in audio format since traditionally I’ve always struggled with anthologies. But truly, I think listening to it made it easier. My review will be posted tomorrow, so get your game on.

Lustlocked by Matt Wallace – Digital galley with thanks to Tor.com. I was so excited when this appeared in my inbox! Ever since finishing Envy of Angels I’d been waiting on the next Sin du Jour novella. It’s just so wild and quirky, I love it.

Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapowski – Audiobook with thanks to Hachette Audio. Remember my lament earlier this summer about no more Witcher books until more are translated? Thank goodness there’s Sword of Destiny to tide me over this winter, even though it’s not the next novel but a collection of short stories that precedes the main series. I’m not complaining though; I’ll take what I can get, and I’ve also wanted to read this one for a long time for completion’s sake. I’ve been listening to the audiobooks and they’re amazing, so of course I had to continue with this format.

The Rising by Ian Tregillis – And Hachette Audio keeps on being amazing. This week they also sent along a review copy of this audiobook, sequel to The Mechanical, which I absolutely adored! I’ve heard amazing things about the audio of the first book, so I thought I would try listening to The Rising this time.

NANOWRIMO

In other news, I’m still plugging away at NaNoWriMo. They say slow and steady wins the race, and that’s exactly the strategy I’ve adopted. I find it easier to write at least the daily target word count for each day, even if I have to push myself to do it sometimes. It’s less panic-inducing when I know I won’t have to struggle to make up for it the next day. and if I can pull it off, sometimes I even aim for 2000 words. In this way, I’ve been keeping ahead, and that means I can also afford some downtime once Thanksgiving rolls around. We’ll have family coming over to visit again this year, and in my experience doing NaNo in previous years, I’ve learned never to count on getting any writing done during the holidays.

Here’s what my progress looks like so far. We’re entering the final stretch!

REVIEWS

Here are the reviews I’ve written and posted since the last update, gathered together and listed here for your convenience and viewing pleasure. Lots of sci-fi (and Star Wars!) this fortnight, because of Sci-Fi Month.

Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald (4.5 of 5 stars)
Star Wars: Lost Stars by Claudia Gray (4.5 of 5 stars)
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson (4 of 5 stars)
The Shards of Heaven by Michael Livingston (4 of 5 stars)
Star Wars Psychology edited by Travis Langley
Towers Fall by Karina Sumner-Smith (3.5 of 5 stars)
Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig (3 of 5 stars)
Star Wars: Battlefront: Twilight Company by Alexander Freed (3 of 5 stars)
Dreamseeker by C.S. Friedman (3 of 5 stars)
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (3 of 5 stars)
A Borrowed Man by Gene Wolfe (2.5 of 5 stars)

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHTS

My thanks to the wonderful authors who stopped by these last couple of weeks. Earlier this week we had a very special Sci-Fi Month/Gaming post organized by my co-blogger Wendy featuring all of us here at The BiblioSanctum talking sci-fi games with authors Kristi Charish and Brianna Shrum!

Getting Our Game On With Kristi Charish and Brianna Shrum

WHAT I’VE READ SINCE THE LAST UPDATE

NaNoWriMo has been eating into my reading schedule. Basically, any free time I have has been going towards writing. Not gonna lie, as much fun as I’m having with my NaNo project, it’ll be nice when November is over and I can do more of everything else again!

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Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? Nothing makes me happier than sharing my love for books, so let me know what you plan on checking out. I hope you found something interesting for a future read! Until next time, see you next Roundup! 🙂

~Mogsy/Steff~