James

Percival Everett

A retelling of Huck Finn from the perspective of Jim. The fist half of this book is pretty parallel to the Huck Finn adventures (at least according to my memory of having read that book decades ago). The second half is new material based on when Huck and Jim are separated. I listened to the audio version of this book and I think that is probably the way to go. One of the most striking ideas was the amount of langauge based code-switching that Jim/James does as he interacts with whites and slaves. Striking largely based on the massive confusion expressed by the white characters when Jim didn't speak "slave". The reader was able to communicate these language switches in a way that I am pretty sure would have been lost to me were I reading the text. Although this is fiction, it felt remarkably biographical, and reminded me frequently of the Harriet Jacobs/Linda Brent autobiography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Highly recommend. 

4 stars (out of 4)

Sourdough: A Novel

Robin Sloan

Set in the tech world of Silicon Valley, Lois is a programmer working for a robotics startup. The goal is to develop robot arms that can reliably reproduce repetitive human motion in the workforce. In typical startup fashion, Lois lives her work - long days, no social life, the apartment is really just a place to crash between work sessions. Into this world breaks a local food delivery with the best spicy soup and sourdough bread in the existence of humanity. When the owners of the restaurant move back to europe, Lois is bequeathed a starter of the sourdough, and the charge to keep it alive. So begins the life-changing journey of sourdough. For the first 2/3 of the book, this is a fascinating story and really an enjoyable read. Completely believable in the wacky silicon valley trope. Unfortunately, the last 1/3 makes a major shift and starts telling a story from the perspective of the sourdough culture itself. It just gets weird and (for me) was not meaningful at all. 

3 stars (out of 4)

The Goblin Emperor

Katherine Addison

A nice fantasy world full of hints of magic, a cyberpunk feel (castles, moats, hydrogen airships), and basically two races (elves and goblins). Maia is the 4th son of the current elven emperor. Since his mother was a goblin, he has been banished to exile, his father not wanting any memory of his "poor decision". But when the emperor's airship blows up killing all aboard (including son's 1-3) Maia is suddenly the Emperor. In this world, we follow Maia as he navigates treacherous politics of court, religious and racial discrimination, royal expectations and a murder mystery. It is a fun evolution of a young man (goblin/elf) and maybe one of the most satisfying royal court intrigue stories I've read. 

4 stars (out of 4)

Witch King

Martha Wells

Wow, this is an outstanding world. Demons and Witches and Blessed Immortals and humans, oh my. Kai is a demon trapped in the human world (as are all demons who were in the above when the paths to the underearth were sealed). But he has a new body, and with his witch sister, are seeking out who was able to entomb them under water, and why they would do this. Wells does a fabulous job telling this story, revealing Kai's powers and motivations as a natural part of his own discovery and his own memory. Kai with his friends traverses a personal emotional journey concurrent with the global political conspiracies he encounters, striving for freedom and diversity. Just like any group of demon, witch and immortal would do right? I love this world.

4 stars (out of 4)

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within

Becky Chambers

Book 4 of the Wayfarers series

Chambers continues to impress with this final entry in the series. She has created a multi-species universe and is exceptionally adept at using this universe to illuminate the lives we live here on earth. The setting for this story is Gora, a lifeless, rocky planet with no redeeming quality other than it's location at a jump-point crossroads. It is that freeway stopover in central New Mexico with gas stations, a minimart and a motel 6. Three guests have pulled in to a local habitat/rest stop when there is a catastrophic satellite avalanche event that prevents all planetary launch/landings and all communication. So forced short-term down time for the visitors. In the habitat are the owner and her kid (both Laru - a snuffleuffugous type creature in my mind), an Aeluon (communicates via color), a Quelin (short segmented and shelled bug like creature) and an Akarak (a methane breathing tree dweller). As these complete strangers interact and converse, Chambers has created a setting to discuss colonization, war and pacifism, the meaning of home, immigration, gender development, all while exploring the mechanism of dialogue and discourse among disagreeing sentients. Must read...

4 stars (out of 4)

Record of a Spaceborn Few

Becky Chambers

Book 3 of the Wayfarers series

Set in the same world as the ...small angry planet, this story takes place right at the end of that timeline, but in a different part of space. We are set in the Exodan Fleet, which is the group of homestead ships that left Earth generations ago when the Earth was final abandoned as a destroyed ecosystem. There isn't a single protagonist, and the 6 stories that Chambers bounces us between really aren't intertwined. At about half-way through, I nearly gave up,  not finding "excitement" in the story. But stick with it my friend. It helps to realize that this is not a traditional space opera. Instead, it is an anthropological telling of what it means to be an Exodan, a people who has lived for generations without a home. As I wrote that, I probably now need to re-read this with an eye to how it might mirror the biblical exodus story???  What I did appreciate is the reflection on imperialism, colonialism and violence. There is a really good sequence discussing identity and value for both the colonizer and the colonized and the role that violence plays for both individuals and cultures. Once again, Chambers has shown us outstanding science fiction that asks us to think about who we are and why we are. 

4 stars (out of 4)

When we cease to understand the world

Benjamin Labatut

A historical fiction offering that provides a storytelling version of some historically significant discoveries and findings. Labatut gives us insight to the people, including all of their angst, like Schroedinger, Heisenberg, Haber and Grothendieck. I hadn't heard of the latter two, but their work is both beautiful (development of the color Prussian Blue) and tragic (gas chamber gas). It is not a "fun" read, but definitely recommend as insight to the process of development and unintended impact that every scientist/engineer should at least have on their mind.

4 stars (out of 4)

Darius the Great is Not Okay

Adib Khorram

Darius is a high school kid in Oregon. His mom is Persian and therefore Iranian culture has been at least part of his culture. He describes himself as a 'Fractional Persian'. Like his Dad, Darius is on meds for depression, and other than the meds, really the only thing they have in common is the hour each night they spend watching an episode of Star Trek together. When the family plans a trip to Iran to visit his grandparents, Darius is simultaneously excited and nervous. Most of the book takes place in Iran, and follows the development of Darius identity, his family relationships, his illness and his friendships. I really liked this story telling and found the treatment of mental illness atypical for fiction. It was not overly dramatic, but became a part of life, which I imagine is how most people look at their mental health. I like the moderately nerdy Darius and the relatively muted tones throughout. Seems like an authentic life. 

4 stars (out of 5)

Zara Hossain is Here

Sabina Khan

Zara Hossain is a Pakistani teenager going to school in Corpus Christi Texas. Her dad is a pediatrician at the local hospital and the hospital has been sponsoring the family work visa and progress toward green card for the past 14 years. Zara has been the target of some recent bullying at school which ultimately gets out of hand. Underlying the immigration/racial stresses, Zara is also discovering her first love as a young bi- woman. The stress there comes not from her parents, who are supportive, but from the stress associated with the family of her girlfriend. In many ways, Zara is experiencing some typical teen trauma (or more likely - teen trauma typical for immigrant or gender minorities). But the telling of it feels formulaic and Zara's experience is interesting, but not enlightening to me in any real way. 

2 stars (out of 4)

You Should See Me in a Crown

Leah Johnson

A YA fairy tale. Liz Lighty is a musician looking to go to her dream school on a scholarship. But when she doesn't get the scholarship, the only way to get to school is to run for and become Prom Queen, which comes with a $10,000 scholarship. Let the drama ensue. As with most fairy tales, this is completely predictable in how the protagonist underdog overcomes all odds to win the prize. But in this case, the story checks off all possible modern underdog-isms: Race, Sexuality, Class, Social Status, Health, Wealth, Family Status, etc. etc. etc. It is almost like Johnson tried to say 'Let's do all of this at once so that when we talk, all cards are on the table'. That said, knowing that this is a fairy tale, the middle section is remarkably engaging. The setup almost lost me, and the finale was unnecessary. But the journey kept me. It could be interesting as a discussion piece, but know that you will have to spend time discussing the silliness first, before you can dive into the important issues.

3 stars (out of 4)

Outlawed

Anna North

A reimagining of the mid 1800's wild west where the highest value for both men and women is to have families and bear children. In this context, the barren and/or genderfluid (women only of course) are cursed as witches and driven away if they are lucky and killed if not. Our narrator is Ada, a young woman who grew up with a mid-wife mother and was learning the trade. When she doesn't get pregnant upon marriage, she is "endangering the fertility of the entire town", and is shunned. She ends up in a convent, and then ultimately as a member of the Hole in the Wall gang, and she pursues a dream of doing reproductive research to find out the truth about why some women are barren. The gang is larger than life, and Ada fills the role of Doc with her mid-wife training and experience with herbs and medicines. And while this sounds like a heavy story, North (and Ada) tells the story as a lighthearted western, mixing traditional gender roles in ways that are surprising, and completely logical and super fun. And lighthearted does not bury the seriousness of bias and oppression that the women are living with daily. A wonderful look at gender stereotypes and equity through a new lens.

4 stars (out of 4)

Children of the Street

Kwei Quartey

A Darko Dawson mystery. Dawson is a police inspector in Ghana (stationed in Accra for this episode). He is lead investigator in the murder of a street kid whose body was found dumped in the fetid canal waters near a slum. Over the course of the book, the murder turns out to be the first of a serial killing spree of street children and Dawson must use all of his intellect, instinct and empathy to solve the case. Just as important, the enjoyment in reading Quartey comes from the culture and family and lifestyle snippets that we learn about Ghana. So while it is a straight up mystery novel, it is also a character study into Ghana. 

4 stars (out of 4)

Sea of Rust

C. Robert Cargill

Cargill has created a post-human world that is populated by machines. In following the narrator (Brittle) as a freebot who scavenges for parts in the central plains (the Sea of Rust), we get a picture of what life is like for these beings. And with the occasional flashback or memory retrieval, we see how this world came to be. The primary conflict in the world is between the giant mainframes who are competing to become the One World Intelligence by assimilating all the memories and experiences of all other AI machines. Definitely a Borg origin story vibe going on here. Brittle, on the other hand, is a free and independent AI, and is striving to stay that way. She has some serious similarities to Martha Wells' Murderbot. It should not be surprising, that since this is a story of the early independence of sentient AI's, we get to explore the existential questions of life, and meaning, and identity. By integrating these themes with great action and characters, Cargill really hit this one out of the park. 

4 stars (out of 4)

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning

Cathy Park Hong

An outstanding book. Hong refers to it as an essay, but is a bit memoir, a bit sociology, a bit historical reflection/interpretation. She is a poet who is describing her journey of discovery about how to integrate her Asian identity into her art, without letting it become the identity of her art. It is an illuminating exploration of immigration, integration, race and identity. While I can't really quote any particular story or moral, I do feel like I have a bit more insight into Hong's experience as an Asian American, and I am thankful for her publishing this work. For me, it is likely a read-again book to catch what I missed the first time.

4 stars (out of 4)

Fugitive Telemetry

Martha Wells

Book 6 in The Murderbot Diaries

Another novella in the series. Murderbot, a Security Unit who has achieved sentience, and is now recognized by the Preservation as individual (i.e. not as property). While its primary employment is security for Dr. Mensah (see Books 1-5), in this serial Murderbot takes on a contract to solve a particularly strange murder on a Preservation station. What I continue to love about this series is the absolutely perfect narration and inner dialogue of Murderbot. I can't get enough.

4 stars (out of 4)

Network Effect

Martha Wells

Book 5 in The Murderbot Diaries

Network Effect is a full length standalone novel in the universe. Set immediately after the 1-4 novela storyarc, Murderbot is hired to support a survey team which includes Dr. Mensah's adolescent human as a member. Upon return, the survey ship is attached and Murderbot and Amena are both kidnapped, pulled into the pirate ship which immediately jumps into a wormhole. The pirate ship happens to be ART, that the kidnap is not random. We get to see the further developing relationship between Murderbot and ART, the reason why alien remnant technology is the one thing that all corporate entities agree should remain banned, and a fun dance between adolescent humans and adolescent constructs and their discussions of both human and bot relationships. No let up here -- Wells nails it. 

4 stars (out of 4)

Exit Strategy

Martha Wells

Book 4 in The Murderbot Diaries

This is the final entry is this 4 novela storyarc. GrayCris has kidnapped Dr. Mensah and paid off all kinds of station and corporation bribes to have pulled it off. Murderbot is reunited with his original Book 1 crew and works to free her. Lots of hacking and subterfuge. It is fascinating to participate in conversations or events from the perspective of the bot simply in terms of time cycles. Things happen so fast on the bot cycle and so slow on the human cycle and Wells does an excellent job of giving the reader a glimpse, feeling the impact on how events play out. Which is also why Murderbot has so much "free time" to watch telenovelas. 

4 stars (out of 4)

Rogue Protocol

Martha Wells

Book 3 in The Murderbot Diaries

Murderbot hears on the news feeds that Dr. Mensah is in a protracted legal battle with GrayCris. Dr. Mensah being his contracted employer in Book 1, and GrayCris the corporation that did the murdering. So it hitches a ride to Milu, another operation of GrayCris that is involved in a sketchy legal battle, hoping to get some evidence of wrongdoing to support Dr. Mensah. Along the way, it contracts with the reps for the corporation that is aggrieved by GrayCris, provides security for them on a fact finding trip to an orbiting planetary terraforming station, and (of course) saves their lives against ridiculous odds. Again, plot is space opera but the growth and development of Murderbot as a character is pure gold.

4 stars (out of 4)

The Raven

Ann Leckie

A story where the narrator is a god, and an ancient god at that. In fact, it is two stories. The first person account of the god's experience over history in discovering its self-identity and learning to interact with people, and a specific event story about a town in political transition where the actions of the gods is integral. This definitely gave me American Gods vibes, but was way better. I loved the development of identity of the god. How it discovered that it had power, and how that power worked. By definition, anything that a god proclaims must be true. So, the god must be careful to only say true things or, if a statement of fact is made that is not currently true, it will then become true. This is the creation process of sorts. For example, if a god says "All trees are made of metal", it is clearly not true now. So the in order to keep the god status, trees become made of metal. And the amount of power that this requires must be taken into account. Likely this statement would actually kill the god, since turning all trees to metal would take more power than the god has available. So you can see that it is tricky being a god, and takes great care in what is said. With this line of thinking about how gods work, it does allow for an interesting thought experiment about the Christian creation story. Perhaps God was not "creating" most of the time, but stating already true facts about the universe?

While this may seem like a genre departure for Leckie from her space opera Imperial Radch Trilogy (which I loved), it in fact has many themes that overlap. As a reader, I was thinking about power and responsibility, and challenged with my preconceptions about gender throughout. Leckie may be one of my favorite authors.

4 stars (out of 4)

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Linda Brent

This is an autobiography written in 1861 by Harriet Jacobs under the Brent pseudonym. It is the story of Jacobs life from about the age of 10 through 25 or so. The story tells of her years as a slave and travel to the north after escape. I won't summarize the story here, but please read this. It is a fascinating primary source telling of slavery by a particularly unique woman in so many ways. Through the telling her life story, Jacobs illuminates so many misconceptions about slavery that exist even today. She powerfully captures many of the root emotions associated with slavery, and the generational impacts of slavery on both black and white, north and south. This is not a book about slavery, but an exposure of humanity, the corruption of power, persistence, and self worth. Read!

5 stars (out of 4)