Salt Water by Eugenia Triantafyllou

April 28, 2023 By Leave a Comment


Salt Water by Eugenia Triantafyllou
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, LGBTQ
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

While all her friends’ fish are changing into mermaids, is 12-year-old Anissa’s fish becoming something else?

Change isn’t always easy, especially when you don’t have any control over how or when it happens.

Anissa was a likeable and thoughtful main character. There were times when I wished she’d go into more detail about her physiology, but it made sense for someone her age to assume the audience was already familiar with the idea of various aquatic animals developing in people’s bodies. Of course, she didn’t know any differently! She barely even knew herself yet, much less had time to envision what life might be like on other worlds.

I loved the fact that Ms. Triantafyllou expected her audience to put some effort into understanding the analogy she was making. It was only after rereading this tale that I fully understood what she was saying, but I relished the opportunity to spend more time with the characters as I looked for more clues about Anissa’s relationship with her fish and what might happen to them after she became an adult.

Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that gently encouraged readers to make the connection between this symbiotic society and what it can be like for LGBTQ people to grow up in a world that isn’t always welcoming or kind to them by any means. There were other analogies that could work well here, too, and I applaud the author for leaving space for them, but I kept coming back to how different Anissa felt from her classmates and how desperately she wanted to be accepted no matter who she grew up to be.

Salt Water was brilliant, and I’m crossing my fingers that we might get a sequel to it someday.

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The Sufficient Loss Protocol by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

November 16, 2022 By Leave a Comment


The Sufficient Loss Protocol by Kemi Ashing-Giwa
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

When an alien entity sneaks aboard a corporate spaceship, with no motive besides sabotaging the mission and murdering those aboard, commander Uzoma Ifiok launches an investigation—despite knowing that the real danger isn’t the one picking off her crew.

Who cares what happens to those pesky civilians as long as there’s money to be made, right?

Uzoma wasn’t someone I’d ever want to cross paths with, but they sure were an interesting protagonist. I was intrigued by their willingness to do anything for money, up to and including being a contract killer as mentioned in one of the earliest scenes. Their reasons for doing this sort of grisly work are best left up to other readers to figure out for themselves, but I kept trying to figure out where this person’s limits were and what might happen if they were pushed past their comfort zone. This was an excellent example of how to write an arrogant and unlikeable but also incredibly memorable character.

I did find myself wishing for more world building. Yes, there are companies in our world who get away with killing people for profit through faulty products and other such things, but the amount of murders mentioned in this short story made me wonder what on Earth – or, rather, in space – the governmental system in this setting was doing while the corporation who hired Uzoma continued to give this character orders that would lead to the deaths of countless innocent people. It would have been helpful to know whether their government was unable or unwilling to step in and how all of those deaths were explained to the general public.

Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that explored the assumptions we all make about things we’ve done a hundred times before. It’s easy to fall into a pattern and not necessarily pay attention to little things that might be different this time around. I liked the fact that Uzoma stuck to what they knew just like anyone else probably would in their shoes. As terrible as some of their life choices were, it made this character feel more human and relatable.

The Sufficient Loss Protocol was a wild ride.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , ,

The Thief of Memory by Sunyi Dean

September 23, 2022 By Leave a Comment


The Thief of Memory by Sunyi Dean
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In “The Thief of Memory,” The Hero must journey across the desert to capture The Thief Of Memory and retrieve her stolen memories. But what she finds in the end may destroy her.

When every other option has been exhausted, sometimes violence is the only tool left.

Miquon made me change my mind about her multiple times. In a few scenes, I was a little frightened of how insistent she was that she could steal back the memories that were missing from her mind no matter what the emotional and physical cost of it would be. I empathized with her in other scenes and wished I could help her reach her goals. She had so many layers to her personality, some of which generally aren’t seen together in the average fantasy character, that I’d struggle to reduce the complexity of it all to a few sentences in a review. My favorite moments were that ones that were focused on nothing but her and her fierce determination to fix everything.

There were so many creative and exciting plot twists. This was the perfect example of how to keep a reader guessing from the first scene to the last one. I didn’t see the ending coming, and I loved the thrill of being surprised by how it all turned out. The author couldn’t have done a better job of playing around with the tropes of the fantasy genre and creating something fresh with them.

This was an excellent example of how to write an open-ended conclusion that answered enough questions to satisfy me while still leaving plenty of space for readers to debate the meanings of certain passages and come up with their own theories of what might happen next. I hope to return to this story over and over again in the future as I relive what happened and look for clues, I might have missed on my previous rereads. It’s going to stick with me for a long time.

The Thief of Memory tickled my imagination and made me want more.

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D.I.Y by John Wiswell

September 9, 2022 By Leave a Comment


D.I.Y by John Wiswell
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, LGBTQ
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

When the the elitist institution of Ozymandias Academy and its headmaster, Vamon Kinctuarin, can’t find a solution to the city’s worsening drought, 2 self-taught magicians, Noah and his partner Manny, take it upon themselves to find a solution to the crisis.

Not all change comes slowly.

The character development was handled nicely, especially considering how few pages the author had to work with here. I grinned as I got to know the two main characters better. They were both compassionate individuals who genuinely cared about everyone around them. This was even more true for the low-income people in their lives who were suffering terribly due to the drought. I’ll leave it up to other readers to discover exactly how Noah and Manny reacted to this humanitarian crisis, but it solidified both my interest in the plot as well as in these two characters in particular.

I would have liked to see more energy spent on world building. Mr. Wiswell casually mentioned interesting things like angel bones or what sounded like a war between angels and humans, but he never dug into how all of those references fit together in the timeline. There seemed to be plenty of material for him to work with. He simply needed to explain it all a little better in order for me to feel comfortable going for a full five-star review.

Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that explored Noah and Manny’s feelings about their health and how they responded when they wanted to do things that bumped up against what they were physically capable of. My diagnosis is different from either of theirs, but I nodded along in recognition of all of the work-arounds people find when they really want to do something but need to be mindful of what their bodies are currently capable of doing. It was refreshing to read about heroes who aren’t invincible.

D.I.Y made me yearn for more.

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Arbitrium by Anjali Sachdeva

June 22, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Arbitrium by Anjali Sachdeva
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Vashti is a pathogenic diplomat—an ambassador to the world of viruses, whom she communicates with through a machine that can translate their chemical signals into images, tastes, smells, sounds, and memories. She begins a negotiation between the US Government and a diplomatic contingent from Arenavirus, a virus which has just begun spreading a deadly mutation in Florida. If Vashti is successful, she and Arena will reach a diplomatic agreement; if not, the Arenavirus infection will continue to spread, and humans will have to race to try to find a vaccine or treatment. As she navigates the diplomatic discussions, Vashti is also trying to connect with her daughter Alma, who lives on the other side of the country in a technology-averse commune. By the time the negotiation ends, Vashti discovers that Arenavirus have learned some impressive and deadly tricks from their interactions with humans.

This tale takes the idea of having a bad day at work to an entirely new level. Humanity may go extinct if Vashti fails.

It’s rare for me to find science fiction about viruses that can communicate with humans, so I was thrilled when I discovered this short story. Intelligence in other species doesn’t have to look anything like human intelligence in order to be valid or, in some cases, dangerous. I was intrigued by the thought of how the world would look through the eyes of a creature so different from us, and Ms. Sachdeva certainly gave me a lot to think about there. Her decision to frame everything through the perspective of a person trying to communicate with the enemy was a smart one, too. There was plenty of room for character and plot development in the interactions between two such wildly different species alone, much less everything else that was happening in the storyline simultaneously.

I found myself wishing the ending had been given as much time to develop as the beginning and middle had to work with. The plot twist near the last scene was such a game changer that I was surprised to see how quickly the ending appeared from there. I’m not the sort of reader who expects everything to be wrapped up neatly, especially in a genre like science fiction that often thrives on unanswered questions, but I did find myself wondering if I’d missed something after I finished this piece. It would have been truly helpful to have a bit more information about what was happening there.

Vashti was a well-developed protagonist who had a sympathetic backstory and a likeable personality. Of course, it’s not strictly necessary for me to like a character in order to empathize with them or to be curious about what will happen to them next by any means, but it’s always delightful to get to know someone in fiction who I think I’d get along with quite well if she were a real person. She was a logical, calm individual who thought through everything carefully and had a contingency plan for all sorts of possible outcomes. I wanted to sit down with her and ask her at least a dozen questions about her work. That is a sign of memorable writing in my opinion.

Arbitrium was full of surprises.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , ,

The Chronologist by Ian R. MacLeod

March 22, 2022 By Leave a Comment


The Chronologist by Ian R. MacLeod
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A boy, desperate to escape the drudgery of life in his small town, gets caught up in the machinations of a traveling time keeper, and slowly watches his town and his life unravel by the seams.

When time is slippery, every moment counts.

It was fascinating to imagine a world where time itself is unreliable. Imagine opening a soft-boiled egg to find a living chick inside or seeing a wheel of cheese turn back into milk because of fluctuations in how time flows in your community! These were just two of the unusual side effects the characters experienced, and they filled my mind with theories about how people learned to survive in such an unstable environment.

I would have liked to see more time spent on world building, especially when it was related to exactly what magical powers a chronologist does and doesn’t have. There were moments in this tale when I was confused by how the townspeople reacted to the arrival of a chronologist and why they seemed to be able to do things in certain towns that didn’t happen in other ones. Having clarity on these issues would have encouraged me to go for a much higher rating.

As soon as I met the unnamed main character, I liked him. He was a curious, mischievous, and intelligent boy who was determined to solve the mystery of where the chronologist went when he left town and what it would be like to visit other communities like the one he was growing up in. There were so many practical and magical obstacles in his path that I couldn’t imagine how he’d reach his goal, but I sure wanted to see him succeed!

The Chronologist was a wild ride.

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Fruiting Bodies by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

February 4, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Fruiting Bodies by Kemi Ashing-Giwa
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

An alien fungal infection has ravaged a faraway planet, turning all but six of the colonists into ravenous alarinkiri. Inyama, a mycologist, is her species’ last hope. But it’s not expertise her fellow survivors want from her.

It takes courage to keep going when all hope might be lost.

I was pleasantly surprised by how late in the outbreak I first met these characters. Everyone already had basic knowledge on how the fungus was spread and what they could do to reduce their chances of catching it. This meant that Inyama’s quest had become more important than ever as the time was quickly approaching when everyone might be infected with it. Most science fiction about this topic begins with the first case or two, so it was refreshing to read something that bent those rules for the sake of increasing the stakes and keeping the reader guessing about whether this colony of humans would survive on the planet they had so recently settled.

It would have been helpful to have more descriptions of how Inyama knew the other characters, especially when it came to her connection with Morayo. Figuring this out was important to understanding certain plot developments later on, so I spent most of the storyline trying to puzzle these things out. This dampened my enthusiasm for a tale that was otherwise tightly written and enjoyable.

The horror elements were well written and fit into the science fiction themes nicely. What surprised me the most about them was how the author managed to sneak a little hope into a world that really shouldn’t have had any of it left at all. I can’t say much more about this without sharing spoilers, but I did like the unconventional approach to what a happy ending should look like that the main character presented to the audience. It fit her personality and the dreadful seriousness of the fungal plague beautifully.

Fruiting Bodies was a delicious piece of science fiction horror that I’d happily recommend to anyone who enjoys one or both of those genres.

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Masquerade Season by ‘Pemi Aguda

April 5, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Masquerade Season by ‘Pemi Aguda
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

From Nigerian author Pemi Aguda comes “Masquerade Season,” a Tor.com Original short story

Pauly is a good son. When he brings home three beautiful Masquerades, he’s expecting that his mother will be proud of him. But when his mother begins asking favors of his Masquerades, he realizes that being a good son sometimes means disobeying.
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Not everyone appreciates the beauty in life.

Pauly was such a compassionate and kind kid. These qualities of his even extended to people in his life who didn’t always have the best intentions. Seeing his consistency not only showed off his strong moral code, it made me like him even more. He was the sort of person anyone who needed help could rely on. What made him even more remarkable was that he’d developed these traits at such a young age!

It would have been helpful to have a deeper understanding of what a Masquerade was. I was thrown off by the early and often vague descriptions of it. While they did eventually become clearer, it sure would have been nice to have someone in this storyline explain what exactly they were and why they chose Pauly as their companion. Was it related to what a good person he was or was it a random choice on their part? I certainly don’t mind some unanswered questions in the speculative fiction I read, but I would have given this a perfect rating if it had been a little more forthcoming with its answers about the most important aspects of this creature.

The ending was well-written and suited the tone of this short story perfectly. It left me yearning for more in a good way. I was pretty satisfied with what I’d learned about Pauly and this magical version of Nigeria, but I also wished for a sequel about him and his Masquerades when he was older and perhaps lived on his own. He struck me as the sort of character who would only grow more fascinating over time.

I’d recommend Masquerade Season to anyone who enjoys modern-day fairy tales.

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The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal

September 16, 2020 By Leave a Comment


The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
A Lady Astronaut Novel, Book 3
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

The Earth is coming to the boiling point as the climate disaster of the Meteor strike becomes more and more clear, but the political situation is already overheated. Riots and sabotage plague the space program. The IAC’s goal of getting as many people as possible off Earth before it becomes uninhabitable is being threatened.

Elma York is on her way to Mars, but the Moon colony is still being established. Her friend and fellow Lady Astronaut Nicole Wargin is thrilled to be one of those pioneer settlers, using her considerable flight and political skills to keep the program on track. But she is less happy that her husband, the Governor of Kansas, is considering a run for President.

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I’ve not read a lot of sci-fi/fantasy books, but I do love a good story about space. When I saw this version of the space race where everyone worked together and women were at the head of the program, I had to know more. This is book three in a series and it probably would’ve helped to get the first two read before reading this one. The format is still readable, but it would’ve made more sense to know what was going on. Still, I had to read it.

I have to say I wasn’t a fan of the heroine, Nicole. She’s a hard nut to crack. First, she’s extremely smart, which is good for a heroine. I liked that she could hold her own with her male counterparts. She’s tough and forthright, which was refreshing. But…she’s neurotic. I mean, she’s got anorexia, which is relatable, but it also made me wonder about her in space. If she’s not wanting to eat because of the disorder while she’s on Earth, wouldn’t it be dangerous for her to not eat while in space? Wouldn’t it make doing her job harder? Seemed like it might. And she’s convinced everyone is out to get her. Maybe they are, but maybe they aren’t.

There is also a nasty habit of using a lot of anachronisms for things and getting into heavy technical descriptions in this book. If I were reading a non-fiction book, then this wouldn’t have been as much of a problem. But being it’s a piece of fiction, it took away from my enjoyment of the story. I got bogged down trying to remember what each set of letters stood for and sometimes got lost in the descriptions. I want a book to pull me into their world. Sometimes, this didn’t feel like the case.

This is also a long book. It’s over five hundred pages. There is a bit of slogging to get through it. Now, to be fair, if I’d read the other books in the series, this might have made this book a bit less cumbersome. I might have known the characters better and felt more like they were people. So I suggest reading the first two first.

Still, this is an interesting telling of the space race with women in charge. The Earth is losing it’s battle, the USA is losing pieces and the human race needs to find somewhere else to live. It’s quite fascinating. If you’re looking for a book that’s going to take a while to read, but will be worth it, especially if you’re a space fan, then this might be the book for you.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Other, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,

Everything’s Fine by Matthew Pridham

August 4, 2020 By Leave a Comment


Everything’s Fine by Matthew Pridham
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Eric’s day is off to a rough start: his regional managers are in town, he’s running late to work, the moon seems to be falling apart, and he just can’t seem to get his tie right. At least he has his priorities straight: it’s the little things that matter. The world may be plunging into chaos, the neighborhood children might be mutating into abominations, but that doesn’t mean he can let his standards slip. If he and his co-workers can survive their nightmare walk to the office, then Eric has a plan for success…

Bizarre doesn’t even begin to describe what’s happening here, but that’s a good thing!
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Eric didn’t react like most characters do in horror stories. While he acknowledged that there were some very bizarre and terrifying things happening in this neighborhood, he was so concerned about getting a promotion that he consciously chose to ignore them. I was so hung up on his weird reaction that I couldn’t wait to find out why even the sight of children mutating into things that never should have existed wasn’t enough to shake him out of the stupor he seemed to be in from the very first sentence. This is the sort of mind-boggling twist to normal human behavior that makes me yearn to learn more.

I would have liked to see some time spent explaining exactly what was going on with the moon and how it was affecting all of the scary things happening on Earth. As much as I enjoy coming up with my own theories about the science in science fiction, it sure would have been nice to have a little direction from the narrator about how all of these events were connected.

The gore fit the tone of the tale nicely, especially later on as the world continued to disintegrate and Eric realized that his block wasn’t the only place that had erupted into chaos by far. I do tend to be a little squeamish about that corner of this genre, but I thought the gory sections were written well and were completely appropriate for the subject matter.

Anyone who loves horror and dark science fiction should give Everything’s Fine a try.

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