Category Archives: Sci-Fi

Review: Life at the Speed of Us by Heather Sappenfield

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Life at the Speed of Us by Heather SappenfieldLife at the Speed of Us
Heather Sappenfield
Flux

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

After the car accident that takes her mother’s life, Sovern stops talking. She tries to lose herself in dating the boy she shouldn’t, in the rush of speeding downhill on a snowboard. But when another accident disconnects Sovern from even more of her life, she embarks on a quest outside time with only a strangely familiar boy who doesn’t speak her language as a guide.

There were things about this book that I liked. I thought it was cool that Sappenfield used Sovern’s dyslexia throughout the story. She really hammered home the idea that just because Sovern didn’t recognize letters as they were written did not mean she was by any means less intelligent. I liked the scenes in the Ute tribe.

In the scene where Sovern leaves the tribe behind to go home, I had a really hard time following what happened. It’s possible that it’s an issue resolved between the galley version that I read and the final published version. Sometimes I had a hard time connecting with Sovern’s character. The bad boy boyfriend thing seemed a little cliché. I liked that he turned out to be more than that, but I wanted the revelation of who he really is to involve him more, to give me reasons to invest in him more.

I’m going to break a cardinal rule and make a comparison between this book and a BIG book, which I really cringe to do, but hear me out. I think if you like the type of story that is Slaughterhouse Five, you might enjoy this book. I’m not comparing the quality of the writing in one versus the other, but more the somewhat disjointed, go where the story goes feeling that I had in reading Vonnegut’s novel. If you liked I Crawl Through It for the story, not the writing style, you might also enjoy this book.

The style of the narrative is a lot more straightforward and simple than the books I listed.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used moderately.

Sexual Content
Sovern and her boyfriend Gage share cigarettes and kisses together, but she doesn’t have sex with him. Sovern and a boy from the Ute tribe are treated as a married couple after rumors that they’ve slept together. She holds back from giving herself to him, though, unsure whether they can remain together.

Spiritual Content
The Ute believe that a bear chooses someone who is gifted with an ability to travel to other places. Sovern becomes interested in the ideas about the multiverse and theorizes ways to reach other universes.

Violence
Soldiers come to destroy the Ute village. Two tribe members fight them, one is fatally injured. Sovern is injured in a snowboarding accident and then speared by porcupine quills.

Drug Content
Sovern mentions that she and Gage smoke marijuana together.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Stunning Teen Sci-Fi Novel: Inherit the Stars by Tessa Elwood

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Inherit the Stars
Tessa Elwood
Perseus Book Group/Running Press Kids

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When an explosion during a riot leaves Asa’s sister in a coma, she vows to do what she must to bring her back. As the youngest daughter in a royal house on the brink of collapse, her choices are desperate. She impersonates her sister in a marriage alliance to the heir to another ruling family, a boy with tragic secrets of his own.

Every time Asa thinks she has made things better, she’s met with the bitter realization that she’s in fact only made her sister’s and her family’s situation more dire. War could come at any moment. War which will destroy them all. Asa scrabbles to right each new domino that falls, hoping against hope that she can get ahead of the catastrophe enough to spare those she loves most: her sister, her family, her kingdom, and unexpectedly, her new husband.

This book is one of those fantastic ones that left me amazed at the way the plot twisted in on itself. Every time I thought I knew what was going to happen, it was like the author flipped my whole perception upside down or revealed a secret that completely changed the game. The rabbit hole of political intrigue went deeper and deeper until I didn’t think there was any way there could be light at the end of that tunnel.

I loved the characters. I felt like each of them could have walked off the page. I liked the relationship and conflict between Asa and her father and Asa and her sister Emmie best. Super complex relationships, really getting into that tug-of-war between love and hate. I loved the way her relationship with Eagle unfolded, too. I am least crazy about his name, but absolutely adored him other than that.

Another thing that I’m a total sucker for is a really dense artistic narrative style. In a response to a question I asked her via Goodreads, author Tessa Elwood talks about being inspired by Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi in her development of the raw emotional style in Inherit the Stars. She did an amazing job. There were passages I read multiple times just because I liked them too much to read them only once before moving on. An example, you ask? Here’s one of my favorites:

“He steps with me. Hands catching my cheeks, closing in until the room disappears and I taste him. Wide lips and lost places. Tangled forests of pine nuts and rivers and the way the air sings before the sun rises. His fingers chase dawn into my hair.”

Love it. Love this book. Cannot wait for the next one, which it sounds like will be out around this time next year.

Language Content
Mild profanity used moderately.

Sexual Content
Brief kissing.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Brief battle violence, references to explosions. Asa’s sister is injured in a riot and remains in a coma. Asa has to cut into her husband’s shoulder, he then has to cut into hers. He tells her how he earned his scars and of a fellow soldier’s injuries. Some of that is a bit wince-worthy more in word choice than length of the description.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Ready Player One
Ernest Cline
Random House/Random House Audio

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Orphaned and left to the care of his neglectful aunt, seventeen year-old Wade spends as much time as possible in the online virtual world of the OASIS. From virtual school to online chat rooms to video games, Wade lives most of his life and maintains his closest relationships over an internet connection. When the OASIS founder James Halliday dies, he leaves a challenge behind for the most faithful of his users: find three keys, unlock three gates, and locate the Easter egg within the OASIS. The prize: his fortune and control of the OASIS empire. Of course, everyone wants to win, but Wade, a devoted student of Halliday’s interests, knows for him, it’s the only way to survive. Once Wade uncovers the first clue, a dangerous rival threatens his life, and Wade must continue his online hunt on the run. The only way he’ll ever be free is to win the prize.

After coming across rave reviews, I listened to this novel as an audiobook, narrated by Wil Wheaton. We are a pretty pro-Wil Wheaton household: a little bit Trekkie, avid Tabletop followers, and yes, we’ve watched the recorded sessions of the Acquisitions, Inc Dungeons and Dragons games. So, needless to say, both my husband and I were excited to get into this video gamer story. We listened to it on the way to and from my cousin’s out-of-town wedding.

All the way through, I loved the narration. Wheaton’s delivery was entertaining and he seemed to really enjoy the story himself, which made it easy to enjoy hearing it. As a child of the 80s, I got a kick out of a lot of the references (some I missed… must have been too busy with My Little Pony or Jem & the Holograms.) The first quarter of the story itself really had me hooked. Here’s this kid with this big dream, and suddenly the cost of pursuing it skyrockets. Suddenly finding Halliday’s Easter egg could cost Wade his life.

But once Wade went gaga over Art3mis, I felt like the tale lost some steam. Over and over I felt like there were opportunities for conflict or tension, and instead they became long passages about how awesome Wade is and how he knows everything he needs to know, and did we mention he’s awesome? To me, those parts read like a fantasy as opposed to a story. So that kind of dampened my enthusiasm a bit.

Still, the overall mechanism of the contest and the big inevitable showdown between the gunters and the black-hearted IOI guru made for an exciting climax. I liked that Wade’s friends are not who he thinks they are. A bit of that reveal may have bordered on being preachy, but the overall message – that the internet is sort of the new marketplace, and despite the fact that an avatar’s appearance bears no connection to the gamer’s real face, certain kinds of people get preferential treatment. I liked that Cline went there and respected that he took the opportunity to challenge stereotypes.

Despite the slow middle, Ready Player One was a really fun read. I highly recommend the audiobook version.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used throughout the story. More frequently in the first half than the second half.

Sexual Content
References to the main character being a virgin. There are places to visit within the Oasis in which players can purchase virtual companionship and use a doll to simulate sexual experiences. There aren’t really any details describing the process. The main character goes through a brief period in which he’s desperate enough to try this, but feels ashamed later.

Spiritual Content
Gunters sort of treat Halliday’s book as a holy text. Not in the sense of worshipping him per se, but more like the quest has that much importance.

Violence
Bad guys blow up a trailer park full of innocent people and toss a gamer off the balcony of his apartment building to his death. Virtual battles take place within the Oasis. Nothing is described in gory detail.

Drug Content
None.

Random Trivia
Spielberg (who is mentioned in the book) will be directing the film version of Ready Player One, which is set to be released in December 2017. Also, to celebrate the release of the paperback version of his book, Ernest Cline hosted a contest inspired by the story in which participants had to locate an Easter egg within the story and unlock gates to reach a final victory. The prize, a Delorean was awarded to the winner, Craig Queen.

Review: Nirvana by J R Stewart

Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, New Adult 18up, Sci-Fi, , ,

Nirvana
J R Stewart
Blue Moon Publisher

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Seventeen year-old punk rock star Larissa Kenders has a cause to fight for and a soul mate who understands her better than anyone. But when her lover, Andrew, a brilliant programmer for a powerful company, disappears, Kenders has to take all she’s learned in her quest to protect animal rights to a whole new kind of fight: one to find and save the man she loves. With corporate thugs closing in around her, she must decode clues Andrew left behind about why he may have been murdered. She’ll need help, but choosing the wrong ally could cost her life.

My number one issue with this novel is that I really don’t think it qualifies as YA. Though the narrator is seventeen, all of the issues she deals with are adult issues. There’s no sense of coming-of-age, or sort of graduating into the adult sphere. She begins the novel living independently with her adult boyfriend and then investigating his disappearance on her own.

I really liked that Stewart brought music into the story and used punk music in particular in the way he did. I loved that Kenders had a cause important to her and that the music was a big part of her platform for that cause, yet it lent itself to other parts of the story pretty seamlessly.

I loved her relationship with Andrew. They seemed to really get each other and have a relationship worth fighting for. I loved the scenes where Kenders goes into the virtual world and meets Andrew and it’s laced with the snippets of reality. I LOVED the layering of virtual and real overlapping so tightly that it was hard to tell where one began and the other ended. The theme is explored in discussions between characters a little bit as well – whether events experienced in the virtual world are at all real. Such a great thread. It felt very Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to me, and I totally enjoyed that.

I felt like there was a really abrupt jump in the part where Andrew disappears. I don’t want to give too much away, but one chapter ends with Kenders saying she’s going to go find him and the next begins with a huge event that left me feeling like I missed a few pages. Over all it wasn’t a big deal. There were a couple of times where the boys are kind of like, hey we’re smart, so you (Kenders) sit tight and let us do the hard thinking. It made sense in terms of the plot, but sort of sidelined her as the protagonist and put her more in the damsel-in-distress position. I liked the story better in the scenes in which Kenders was playing a more active role in the story.

Overall I think this is a cool sci-fi story. It definitely reminded me of some of the recent VR movies that I wanted to like, such as Surrogate with Bruce Willis (I liked this better, actually.) I think it will have more appeal outside the YA audience. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, but I feel like it’s more of an adult sci-fi novel with a young narrator.

Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Sexual Content
Descriptions of kissing and a lead-in to sex, but no description of the actual exchange.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Brief descriptions of torture tactics used to pressure a man to give up information. A man is killed in an explosion that leaves his body badly burned.

Drug Content
None.

Review: TAP: The All Powerful by J. K. Brown

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, New Adult 18up, Sci-Fi, , , ,

The All Powerful
J. K. Brown

Amazon | Goodreads

When the Alyon military wrongly sentences Jason for committing an impossible crime, he and two allies must escape before they’re killed. As Jason, Josh and Jacqui explore the world outside the military, they discover powerful abilities their commanders kept secret from them. They also find other allies with secrets of their own. Together the team vows to stop Shadow Leader, the sinister man who seems to be at the center of everyone’s problems. The only problem is finding a way to overcome him.

I loved that this story is written in present tense. I’ve only read a couple of stories written that way before, but I really like that it keeps the action feeling really urgent and immediate. The characters were interesting. Vend’s backstory really captivated me, and I liked the old man who helps the team along the way. None of the characters were as complete as Jason himself though, and I found a couple of the girls to be a bit uneven. Sometimes they were really together and smart and other times they sort of flaked out. It’s not that someone couldn’t be both, I just felt like a little more integration of those two roles would have made them more believable.

From reading the author’s note in the back of the book, it seems like this idea might possibly have started as a video game concept? Or maybe the author had wanted to write a video game at some point? Not sure. But the story definitely has the feel of a FPS video game with strong military themes and magic. Some elements of the story world were really cool. The haunted house was super creepy.

I think this book would appeal most to gamers who like Diablo or Call of Duty style games or books with a more plot-oriented, military-focused telling.

Language Content
A couple references to Hell. A commander refers to “damning evidence.”

Sexual Content
Brief reference to a girl having been enslaved by a man. She doesn’t specify what he’s made her do.

Spiritual Content
Scarletta has an ability to summon a powerful spirit being who protects her and her allies. It’s mentioned that others have similar abilities or can learn to summon spirits. Some characters command Shadow element, which is like a physical darkness. Other elements can be controlled/used too, like fire, wind, light, etc.

Violence
Several battle scenes. Brief references to torture or characters having been enslaved. The detail isn’t overly graphic, but there are enough scenes that it’s perhaps a better fit for older readers.

Drug Content
None.

Review: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

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Illuminae
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Random House Children’s Books/Knopf Books for Young Readers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

I’m going to pull the marketing copy from Goodreads because honestly, I won’t be able to come up with anything to the story better justice:

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

What I thought
This story is kind of like World War Z meets 2001: A Space Oddyssey. SO. MUCH. TENSION. An unpredictable AI who may or may not be trying to kill everyone, plus a highly contagious epidemic of people basically turning into paranoid, violent zombies. In a closed spaceship. In the middle of outer space. With an enemy ship closing in behind them. Are you on the edge of your seat? OMG, you should be.

The story is told through various “records” like emails, interviews, crew reports, and instant messages. At first I didn’t think I’d like this. I felt like it really limited how things unfolded, but once I got past the first couple of chapters, I felt like the pacing and the choice of which documents are included and the order in which they appear really adds to the feeling of tension building and building as the story progresses.

I loved the quick, witty dialogue between characters, especially Ezra and Kady. What I didn’t love quite so much was that after a while, it seemed like that voice got used too often and too many characters sounded the same to me. I was definitely willing to overlook that, though. It hardly affected my ability to enjoy the story. It was just more something I happened to notice.

Also, the end was fantastic. There was a moment in which I worried that it was going to all wind down leaving me bitter and disappointed, and instead Kristoff and Kaufman totally kicked it up a notch. I would absolutely read a sequel.

Side note: I read an ARC acquired from Netgalley, so the formatting in my version may not match the final version, but I’d recommend ordering a hard copy of the book rather than an ebook. There were a few pages that, because of how they displayed, were a little bit difficult for me to read, and I felt like I was missing parts of words at the edges of the page. I think it might have been easier to read as a paperback, though I usually prefer an ebook version.

Language Content
Loads of profanity and some crude references.

Sexual Content
References to sexual acts.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
A biological warfare agent/virus causes those affected to become violent. Sufferers maim and decapitate others. Lots of descriptions are of the aftermath of the outbreak, but there are some really intense moments in which a point-of-view character faces someone with truly gory intent. I’m pretty sensitive to violence in literature, and it was definitely at my upper limits of what I can take.

Drug Content
See above.