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)

Firebreak

Nicole Kornher-Stace

Pure Cyberpunk excellence with definite Snowcrash vibes. Set in a 22nd century world where New Liberty is a megacity created "inland" to avoid the massive climate change flooding that destroyed most existing cities. New Liberty is the primary front of the war between the two remaining corporations, Stellaxis (which owns all water) and Greenleaf (which controls all agriculture). In this world, Mallory is a war orphan who spends her time in the virtual game world chasing kills and trying to develop a following for her stream as her primary source of income. The game world is really a hyper-realistic simulation of real world (or at least that is what Stellaxis says), and much of the commerce related to the game is centered around the vat-grown SecOps superheroes who fight to protect Stellaxis citizens from the super-mech that Greenleaf operates in the war. As a Sci-Fi commentary on corporate greed gone wild, it is on the nose. Mallory becomes the catalyst for an opening of awareness and the possibility for change. What is perhaps missing here is the same thing that is missing in society. From the perspective of the narrative, Stellaxis has always existed, and as an entity of its own we don't really find any individual to fault. What I would love to see in a SciFi expose of corporations is some discussion/exploration of how to notice and prevent the scenario before it gets to the point of "too far gone". Maybe that is boring and just a political science dissertation? Maybe the prequel Flight and Anchor will get at some of this?

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)

Rebel Seoul

Axie Oh

Dystopian future + a bit of cyberpunk + anime feel. Set in Korea where the political world has realigned from nation-states into regional Neostates (nominally as a political attempt to end war). However, Neo State of Korea has been fighting in a war for decades, currently in the phase of battling internal resistance to the entire neo-concept. Jaewon is a soldier from Old Seoul looking to find his way in Neo-Seoul. He is top of his class at the military academy a fantastic pilot of the god-machines (giant mechanical weapons that have been keystones of modern warfare). He gets assigned to a top-secret new weapons project, where is job is to partner with Tera, a new breed of enhanced, god-machine pilot. But all is not as it seems (of course) with Jaewon's own background, or the players involved in the creation, planning, use of war as a political mechanism. Pretty fun imagining of the future and a pretty good portrayal of the ethical conundrum that comes between history, relationship, and personal morality. 

3 stars (out of 4)

Toll

Neal Shusterman

Book 3 in Arc of a Scythe trilogy

The conclusion, following Scythe and Thunderhead. Scythes Lucifer and Anastasia are stuck in a vault at the bottom of the ocean after the sinking of Scythe capital Endura. New Order sociopath Goddard has taken over the Scythedom. Simultaneously, Thunderhead has designated everyone unsavory (and therefore unavailable for communication) save one, who becomes Toll (effectively a cult leader). While the first two installments were interesting as an AI-coming-of-age story, here we have a separation of church and state, burgeoning fascist state story. The development of Thunderhead takes a back seat (although still pivotal) role. I wonder if the story was always planned this way, or if Shusterman is writing to be relevant in 2019 U.S. The reason I have to wonder is because it is not obvious. The story works, and does not feel put on. It is part of this continuous character development. I like the pacifist nods, but also recognize that it is really pretty "just war pacifism". I like the struggle with mortality and meaning. I love that this is a quality trilogy (not just strong 1 & 3) and Shusterman maintains his strength of fascinating worlds that speak to important social topics.

4 stars (out of 4)

Genesis

Brendan Reichs
Book 2 of Project Nemesis

Min and Noah have been identified as Beta test subjects in a crazy experiment/project. Only the 64 sophomores in Fire Lake, Idaho are alive, and they have been instructed to narrow their number down to move on to the next phase. But since no-one can die (death leads to a reset), what does this mean. The immediate implication is that factions are formed and a "Lord of the Flies" battle for survival begins. This is traumatic, violent and visceral. Maybe it was necessary for Reichs as a plot device, but it goes on too long. Explore the alternative sooner. It seems like he had more fun than necessary writing this section when it could have been shortened to a couple chapters to make the point and move on to the next phase. Just my 2 cents. In the end, the class resolves its narrowing and moves on...
2 stars (out of 4)

Nemesis

Brendan Reichs
Book 1 of Project Nemesis

Raised in small town Fire Lake in Idaho, Min has an existence that is not comparable to anyone else. She is murdered on each of her even numbered birthdays. The reality is that she is not sure about reality. Is she crazy? Hallucinogenic? or... Regardless, she has only one real friend, Tack. And neither of them can stay out of sight of the school bullies. In fact, Tack seems to intentionally incite trouble. The story is told in alternating fashion from the first person perspective of Min, and Noah. He is nominally part of the cool group, but also shares a birthday with Min, they have some connection in this small town. So Min (and Tack, and Noah) are trying to figure out what is going on, trying to live a "normal" teenager life, and hiding this horrific reality at the same time. Probably this could be a psychological metaphor for bullying if it wasn't all too real for these kids.
3 stars (out of 4)

Archenemies

Marissa Meyer
Book 2 of the Renegades Trilogy

In this volume, our protagonists expand their horizons by crossing over into the world of 'the other' (secretly of course). Nova: Nightmare - the Anarchist, continues her double life as Insomnia the Renegade. She is gathering intel, but also learning about the people. She is developing relationships and finding that her preconceptions about Renegades are not all correct. At the same time, she is solidifying her ideology about prodigies doing too much, and believing even more strongly that non-prodigies need to be taught/encouraged to embrace their own heroism.

Adrian: Sketch - the Renegade, continues his double life as The Sentinel, rogue prodigy. In this double life, he is learning how limiting the strict Renegade code of conduct is, but is also personally experiencing what happens when that code is ignored (via his encounters with Frostbites team). He is not seeing yet how the Renegade government structure could be oppressive and abusive. So his outside the box thinking is limited to himself and individual experiences. Maybe he will come around.

We also get introduced to Max: The Bandit. Max is a Renegade prodigy who is in quarantine because his power is to steal power from others. Max may be the smartest prodigy around (even at 10 years old) and is definitely the most powerful. Certainly going to be a major part of any resolution.

Very much an interstitial book, with Nova/Adrian getting closer, and yet entrenching into their secrets more strongly. As a reader, we just say "Tell each other already and this can all be worked out". But I guess we needed another book for that [this sentence should be read with the driest of sarcasm possible].

3 stars (out of 4)

Renegades

Marissa Meyer
Book 1 of the Renegades Trilogy

First, my pet peeve. I got tricked, and it was my own fault. But then it happened again. I just assumed this was a one off. I even saw that Meyer was famous for a 4 part series called the Lunar Chronicles. Why would I assume this was a single book? Don't know, but I specifically thought how nice that a sci-fi/fantasy writer would break the mold and write a single book. I had no evidence pointing me that direction, but that is where I went. With about 50 pages left, I realized my mistake. There is no way this could wrap in 50 pages. At the end, at least there was an ad, "Don't miss the thrilling conclusion to Renegades, coming November 2018". Ah, relief. A 2-book series, and I can get the 2nd already at my library. [Spoiler Alert] False advertising. The same thing happened at the end of the 2nd book, with the "exciting conclusion" coming in Fall 2019. Now this story will rattle around in my head for the next 8 months.

As to the book, it is good. Classic dystopian, young-adult storyline with teen hero/heroine who are exploring who they are as people, and slowly falling in love. The world Meyer has created is one were people with special powers (called prodigies) have finally come out into the open. These people have been around for all of history, but were generally killed as witches, or hid their talents. Nova (our teen heroine) is part of a group called the Anarchists. Her uncle was a powerful leader of prodigies who fought for the right to be openly prodigious, and in the process destroyed government and civil order as part of the fight. Adrian (our teen hero) is part of the Renegades. These prodigies banded together to stop crime and restore order. His dads are two of the five supreme council members who have also fallen into governing since their crimefighting was successful.

The tension (in addition to the normal teen dating) here is about government, freedom and authoritarianism. The Renegades have power, and good intentions. The have strict codes of conduct to ensure Renegade prodigies are abusing power. But they do everything. The result is that normal people have become reliant and do not have a self-sufficient culture (a kid trips and falls in the street, don't help the kid up but call in a Renegade patrol and walk away). The Anarchists promote individual freedom for all. They fear power (even benevolent power) and are sure the Renegade authoritarian structure will lead to disaster. But they also crave and abuse power.

In this context, Nova and Adrian both walk (secretly) in both worlds. This first volume introduces the world, introduces our protagonists and their private dilemma's. I guess I can't say whether this is outstanding until the entire thing is done.
3 stars (out of 4)

Gunslinger Girl

Lyndsay Ely

Set in post 2nd Civil War North America, Serendipity Jones is a 17 year old girl, living in a commune with her father and two brothers. Her mother was a renown sniper for the resistance during the war, but has since died as a disgraced drunk. Serendipity, seeking her freedom, runs away from the commune and into her future as a sharpshooter in her own right. She ends up in Cessation, the lawless Las Vegas of the west that is beyond the control of North American government. In many ways, this is the coming of age story of a young woman who is seeking to know her history and to be someone important. It is classic western, seeking out new opportunities and the raw battle between good and evil. But it isn't hard. Ely presents the human, 17 year old girl version, where Serendipity is alternately experiencing self-doubt and conquering obstacles beyond her means. The hard western ignores the entire self-doubt section. It is fascinating how this portrayal of emotion in a hero is so rare that it seems out of place, makes the book seem targeted to the 'teen audience'. Probably the only way to make character portrayal seem normal is to have lots more books written with emotion as an integral plot element. I liked this book and hope Serendipity Jones becomes a serial character I can follow.
4 stars (out of 4)

The Power

Naomi Alderman

Historical fiction, written from sometime 5,000 years in the future (which means it is a story of what is about to happen in our time). Written as fiction because from the point of view of future humans, the descriptions of what life is like now is so outside the norm of their reality, that a true history would be seen as crazy and false. The story follows a series of women who are on the forefront of an evolutionary change in humanity where women are born with an electrical skein, or a reservoir of electrical static charge. These women use the ability to change the male/female power dynamic to the point that from the future, the mere idea that men could be soldiers, or violent, or powerful, or leaders is unimaginable. I see that one point of this telling is to turn traditional gender roles on their head so dramatically that the reader begins to think about stereotypes and biases in a new way. What I like is that woven into the story about gender is the more important story of power, and empire. We get to explore the human condition, seeking to understand, regardless of gender, the effects of seeking and finding power. And in that way, it is truly frightening and depressing. Alderman does not have a pleasant view of the truth of humanity and we can only hope that she is wrong in her assessment. A necessary read.

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Thunderhead

Neal Shusterman

Book 2 in Arc of a Scythe trilogy

Picking up where Scythe left off, the Scythedom is polarized between the old and new guard. The old guard promotes the solemnity of the job of the Scythe while the new guard caters to the sociopathic tendencies of those who simply enjoy killing. We follow new Scythes Rowan and Citra (now Lucifer and Anastasia) as they play out their roles in the post massacre politics that ended book 1. Interstitial to the "main story" (but actually the driving plot) is the influence and thought process of Thunderhead, the AI that runs everything on earth (except the Scythes). On the surface, this is a traditional and standard fantasy/sci-fi treatment of a possible future that has yet to be designated dystopian/utopian. But the most interesting piece of this writing is the development of Thunderhead. In book 1, the AI was sentient, and nearly omnipotent. Here we see that the AI is really just a teenager. The Thunderhead is nearly omnipotent, but considers the things it does not know as practically irrelevant. So basically it is omnipotent, and therefore basically a god (very much the attitude of most teenagers). The Thunderhead is also discovering what it knows about itself, as separate from what it was taught by its parents, is beginning to push boundaries and assert its own personality, which we see as benevolent, but also petulant at times. I love this idea of a long story arc that allows us to see the aging and character development process for an AI. We talk about AI learning, but we don't really talking about AI personality development. Here we see that both are necessarily interconnected. If only book 3 were available now.
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The Dead Lands

Benjamin Percy

A very clever dystopian future fiction that recreates the Oregon trail and the journey of Lewis and Clark. Earth is in a post global nuclear war scenario, where the nuclear bombs were dropped not out of aggression, but in an attempt to burn out an impossibly virulent flu that decimated humanity. The opening setting is St Louis. A few tens of thousands of people live in St. Louis, and they have built a serious wall around the city to keep out the monsters and goblins, who are in reality mutagenic results of the massive radiation dosage on earth. Most people have cancer, or will have cancer and water is the premium limiting resource in the desert of St. Louis. Due to a series of circumstances, the local museum curator (Lewis) and low level police deputy (Clark) escape the wall and begin a journey to the west coast and Oregon. I love the occasional breadcrumb of historical trivia overlapping this dystopian future. I love the world created... well, the world created is quite scary, but I love the detail and imagination of a post flu epidemic/nuclear catastrophe North America. This is quite fun and engaging throughout.
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The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands

Stephen King

Book 3 of The Dark Tower Series

In this installment, our three gunslingers are making their way along the beam in their journey to get to the Tower. Along they way, they pick up Jake again (who was lost in book 1), and encounter more dying technology from the previous world, before it moved on. I really like the mixture of western and sci-fi that is developing here. This is really a significant exploration and quest novel, a dusty-dirty us-vs-them save-the-town hero story, and simultaneously a commentary on technology, an eerie look at what a technological world gasping for life could look like. My sense is that a full review will require a full reading of the entire series.

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Adulthood Rights

Octavia E. Butler
Book 2 of the Xenogenesis Trilogy

Many years after the close of Dawn, Lilith has joined humans back on Earth and are well into resettlement. There are scores of settlements in the area, although all are remote. The Oankali situation is one where genetic engineering proceeds with the goal of producing both human born and Oankali born offspring (instead of genetically manufactured). This is an important step toward self sufficiency. The human situation is one where humans have been rendered sterile, unless they are willing to participate in the hybrid offspring program. So for humanity as a sustainable species, the outlook is grim. Our protagonist in this volume is Akin, a human looking hybrid child, who is kidnapped by human resisters and left to live with the humans as a way to learn about them and their values.

I continue to enjoy the exploration of human uniqueness, the exploration of human exceptionalism and the way Butler puts traditional colonialist values into the Oankali culture in such a matter-of-fact illumination of human contradictions.

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Dawn

Octavia E. Butler
Book 1 of the Xenogenesis Trilogy

I found this at the library and thought that I have discovered a new Octavia Butler series. And then I remembered that she had passed more than a decade ago. And then a perusal of the publication date places this trilogy in the late 80's. How did I miss it? Another reminder of how vast the literary library is, and how little I have actually read.

This book opens with Lilith coming awake and finding herself in an alien ship. Humanity is post global destruction war and was "rescued" by an alien race from a now toxic earth. Lilith is woken to begin the process of reintroducing humans to earth... and participating in "trade" with this alien species. The Oankali see themselves as a benevolent species, saving humans from extinction at the cost of genetic mixing to create a new species that will better populate a revived earth. Lilith (like all humans in this story) finds this forced genetic mixing repulsive. Fascinatingly analogous to a captive breeding program for nearly extinct species, coupled with genetic engineering of the species to promote sustainability. But we never ask the condor, or the white rhino, etc. whether it is willing to undergo genetic modification to "save itself". Now humans are the rhinos...

Lilith is conflicted, the Oankali are oblivious to their genetic colonialism, and the reader is 50-50 on whether they recognize the irony of thinking of certain colonialism as OK and other as repulsive. Fabulous.

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Ancillary Mercy

Ann Leckie
Book 3 of the Imperial Radch Trilogy

The final installment of this trilogy and I am not disappointed. Having read 1 & 2 out of order, I am finding that it was actually quite a good accident. The 2nd (Justice) was the best in terms of hook and action and setting the stage. The 1st (Sword) then gave lots of backstory and fixed a few misconceptions I had. But in all, I was allowed to imagine the world without having it fed to me directly first. Finally, the 3rd (Mercy) completes the action. I also felt like the style Leckie uses here started off very much as reporting, filling in some backstory from the point of view of Breq -- which evolved over the course of the book into personal narrative. This was, I am sure, intentional as it mirrors the identity journey of Breq and it was highly effective.

The story picks up with the Mercy of Kalr (Breq's ship) managing security in the system and navigating the civilian adminsitration as well. The appearance of a Presger translator, an unattached ancillary and another instance of Anaandar Mianaai makes the political intrigue of who supports whom quite thick. In many ways, a classic space opera. But when we start getting to ideas of identity and Significance with respect to the AI's, I am again reminded of the current (real-world) fear of AI taking over the world and pushing humans to extinction. Fear that any true AI would become all powerful and couldn't possibly have a need for humans. And the suggestion (I wish I could remember where I first saw this idea) that this concept of AI is based on the perception of an AI being male. In Leckie's trilogy, gender pronouns are irrelevant in the Radchaai language and nearly everyone is referred to as she. In addition, the AI personality is largely stereotypically female (nurturing, self sacrificing for those whom they are responsible, etc.). Why are we not seriously working at this? While current tech companies continue to develop AI, they are not seriously working to fix gender inequity amongst their developers, directly pushing the fear of dominant/out-of-control AI being born closer to reality.


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Champion

Marie Lu

Book 3 of the Legend Trilogy.

Final installment, and we pick up 5 months later. June is in training for the Senate leadership in the Republic, Day is hanging out with his brother Eden, both getting treatment. A cease fire has been negotiated with the Colonies and work is proceeding on an actual peace treaty. And then there is another plague outbreak, blame abounds, peace is off the table and the war is full bore again. June is obviously part of the mix as part of her senate work, and Day is pulled back in. Battle, Tension, Clever Solution, Resolution.

What I probably find most interesting about this trilogy is the presentation of 3 distinct societies that have developed in this dystopian future. There are the Colonies "A Free State is a Corporate State" where people are "free" to choose which corporation to work for. Every part of life is commercialized. For example, call the police whenever you want and they will, as a fee for service, investigate your crime or protect your victimization. Can't afford the fee, the police don't exist. Same with food, education, housing, etc. So clearly an "other" class will exist. There is the Republic, that began under martial law to quell riots, and maintained the authoritarian ruling structure. Here the military and the wealthy have power, and the "others" live in squalor, or don't live at all. The power structure institutes mandatory trials at age 13 to sort the populace into privileged, poor, and expendable. Finally there is the society portrayed from Antarctica, technologically and militarily superior. Obviously a cultural melting pot with no native populations, this society is built on the gamification of cultural norms. Every citizen gains points for doing things beneficial to society (going to school, picking up litter, being respectful, etc.) and has points deducted for poor behavior (cheating on a test). The computer keeps track and peoples rank in society (including wealth and standard of living and political power) is based on the accumulation of these good points. In addition, your point total and every increase/decrease based on your actions is publicly visible at all times. We did not spend enough time in Antarctica to see the "other" class, but I was thinking about the difference between people who had to get all their points 1 at a time by watering plants, compared to those who could gather 100's by completing school, or some other task that was not commonly available.

I guess I like thinking about societies and culture. While this little bit of thinking does not make the entire series a must read, it was engaging and largely satisfying. But I don't think it really holds up (still feels like something that was popular 5 years ago). So unless this is what you love, Wait.

Prodigy

Marie Lu

Book 2 of the Legend Trilogy.

OK, so this is better than Matched based solely on the fact that the second book is not awful. In this installment, June and Day are working with the Patriots to overthrow the Republic government and move to all out anarchy. The romantic tension between June/Day, June/Ander, Day/Tess all heighten the difficult decisions that need to be made and of course, nobody can actually say what they mean in a way that communicates their true feelings (but since the readers also get the perspective of their thinking, we are in the know). And the political tension between government, rebellion and individuals, while predictable, is actually able to drive the story along and the book holds contains an actual story arc (with tension and resolution). By the end, the Republic and the Patriots are in a very different situation than at the beginning of the story, and new tough decisions will need to be made about how to proceed in the next installment.

I am going to stick with my Wait rating until the series wraps.

Legend

Marie Lu

Straight up YA dystopian future that follows the formula of Divergent or Matched. We are set in a North America post massive sea-level rise, and the east and west coasts of the U.S. have split. The Colonies (the east) are at war with The Republic (the west). Told chapter by chapter from the alternate perspectives of Day (Republic street kid doing what he can to be a one person rebellion) and June (Republic military prodigy). Of course, they meet and not everything is as it seems. I am sure that 5 years ago this would have been astounding. Now it seems wrote.

Wait