Lotus and Thorn

Sara Wilson Etienne

Set on an expeditionary planet undergoing the woes of colonization, we are introduced to two populations. Those who live in the dome, protected from the elements and controlling all technology, and those living outside the dome, exposed to the elements. Sometime in the past a disease called Red Death decimated the population of the colony and now the outsiders scavenge old civilization for technology so they can trade the domers for food. Classic colonization power dynamics. And classic uprising/hero story. Etienne develops the characters well and gets buy in on the story. She has created a mystery (what is actually going on in the dome) that sustains the plot. While somewhat typical in the dystopian YA world, I found myself attached and read through pretty quickly. 

3 stars (out of 4)

The Invisible Man

H.G. Wells

A man has made himself invisible, thinking of all the benefits this would entail in his personal wealth and power. The story begins with the man experiencing all the detriments that were overlooked in his quest. Sort of a tragicomedy, I can imagine these themes being a modern telling of a Shakespeare story. As the story progresses, the protagonist becomes more and more convinced of his "right to power" which only makes things worse for him. Great short read - I'm surprised it took me this long...

3 stars (out of 4)

Lexicon

Max Barry

This is a sci-fi-ish book, if linguistics is considered science. Maybe just magical realism. The setting is a world where someone has figured out that the way sounds are processed in the brain (which neural pathways fire, which hormones are produced, etc.) can actually be weaponized and used to lower a persons defenses and become "extremely persuasive". This very much has Babel vibes in terms of how language is used. While Babel was primarily bringing a subtext of colonization, Lexicon is talking about personal power and corruption. It is into this world Emily is recruited off the Venice Beach hustle circuit and finds herself learning to be quite powerful, as well as to be wary of others in the organization. Ultimately, power and corruption are the guiding forces that drive this plot and Emily and her beau become pawns/catalysts at various points in the story. I actually appreciated the time jumps in the story telling, alternating between present and past to provide a backstory snippet just in time to understand what is next, without revealing the entire history. Engaging, with a fascinating interpretation of language processing. 

4 stars (out of 4)