Boldly going into that alternate timeline

The Unsettling Stars
by Alan Dean Foster

From the start I was convinced that Alan Dean Foster wanted to screw with our minds and show us how wrong our usual perception are. In retrospect I don‘t think he was trying to be particularly inventive or trying to open our minds. This was a pretty straight forward story with a very predictable outcome, set shortly after the events of the first Abrams Star Trek reboot movie. 

It was not a gripping read for me, I started to lightly skim from a third into the book, wanting Foster to just get on with the story and make his point. There wasn‘t much of a point though. This felt like one of the more amusing episodes of the old Enterprise, set in the new universe. I have read quite a few ST:AOS fanfiction stories with a lot more depth, suspense and more complex plots and characterizations. It’s all very superficial. Kirk is a bit more insecure than Shatner‘s Kirk would have been, due to his rapid ascension to the center chair and Spock mentions his refugee status a few times, that‘s as deep as it goes.

Nonetheless, there were some goods points as well. The creatures on the moon of DiBor and the aliens were colourful and entertaining. Foster has always been good at that. And it was a nice touch to incorporate Voyager into the story, considering that Foster came up with the narrative for ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’, including the tie-in novel.

Bottomline, this book put me to sleep quickly in the evenings. I am going to give any other Foster movie tie-in novels a wide berth from now on. And my plans to re-read his original fiction have taken an indefinite backseat now. 

🚀🚀½☆☆ — Another more positive review

Great story, but odd writing style and pacing

To Each This World
by Julie E. Czerneda

The inhabitants of New Earth, the first Earth colony and home to Earth‘s surviving humanity, formed an alliance with the Kmet, an alien race. They receive news about the location of some of their own colony ships, sent out 200 years previously. Humans and aliens set out to find those colonists. Bad things happen. The true state of the human-alien partnership comes under question during the course of their expedition.

The writing style took some getting used to. Colloquial speech in writing, grammar be damned.

The pacing of this book was too slow, it took me forever to get past the first third of the story. Nearly gave up. There was a lot of idling. But I was also intrigued. Struggled onto the halfway point, still thinking about abandoning it. Muddled on. An low-and-behold, it got good! Great even! The action at the end made me happy. A bit too little, too late though. I appreciate all that world-building and set-up and character development, but I also wish the first half of the book had been half as long!

I cried at the end. Twice! I can‘t give it less than 4 stars, if I cry, right? Despite everything—what a slog.

Henry reminded me of Bren Cameron, just with less dress sense. The sandals were charming though. All of Henry was charming, really. Killian grew on me. And oh my goodness, those PIPs were adorable! And Flip! Loved him. It? Yes, the willy-bits were funny, too. And yes, I would get a sequel, despite the slog. I loved the construction of the portals. More portal mechanics would have been nice.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.

Sapient or not, that is the question…

Little Fuzzy
by H. Beam Piper

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Jack is a prospector on a colony planet. One day a little bipedal fuzzy guy shows up in his camp. They become friends and Jack starts to wonder if the little guy is more than a very smart animal. Which would throw a very large wrench into the plans of The Big Bad Company with a majority interest in exploiting the natural resources of the presumably uninhabited planet.

The Fuzzies are very cute, the story is well plotted and has some shocking elements. Characters are well developed—even the lone female character, which this time around is an actual person with dialogue. Other than that we are still very much in the 1960s with classic gender stereotypes. The cast of characters is diverse. Bizarrely everybody seems to be smoking nonstop and people drink a lot of highballs. I honestly don‘t see why this is categorized as Young Adult.

Besides those idiosyncrasies I had a lot of fun and really liked the story. The prevailing theme of this novella (novel?) is the definition of sentience/sapience and to a smaller extent the rights of indigenous people. I can see why this was nominated for a Hugo in 1963. 

I might continue with the sequels. John Scalzi wrote a reboot of this story, Fuzzy Nation. I might have a look at it to see what he made of this 50 years later. His version received an Audie Award in 2012, so the audiobook might be the way to go…

“Well, maybe they’re just slightly sapient,” Jimenez suggested. Ruth Ortheris hooted at that. “That’s like talking about being just slightly dead or just slightly pregnant,” she said. “You either are or you aren’t.”

Am I truly a sentient being? And does it matter?

Children of Memory (Children of Time, #3)
by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Author), Mel Hudson (Narrator)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The unmissable follow-up to the highly acclaimed Children of Time and Children of Ruin.

The beginning was a bit confusing. Once the narrative started to come together and paint a picture, this was fun. The corvids are a truly wacky addition to this ever growing zoo of uplifted craziness.

The (not quite) linear timeline goes back and forth and happens simultaneously. Parts of the story are revealed in retrospect. Or are they? What a cool idea. I got very suspicious of the plot eventually, but the ultimate outcome did take me by surprise and was very depressing and then uplifting.

One of Tchaikovsky‘s recurring themes: otherness, being something else and trying to bridge the gap, first contact. We have our humans, Humans, octopuses and spiders, artificial intelligence and more. And struggle and hate and wanting to help. And terraforming. And sentience and how it is defined. Very good. I hope there will be another novel in this universe, picking up where this one left off.

I enjoyed the audio narration by Mel Hudson.

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Adrian Tchaikovsky: From Star to Star

I grew up reading science fiction, and I wanted to write a science fiction book as well as all of this fantasy stuff. I decided I would do a science fiction book and then go back to the fantasy because that’s the bread and butter. I guess I had this crazy idea, ‘I’m going to write a book about giant spiders in outer space.’ I think it was basically just luck that the publisher at Pan Macmillan said, ‘We better just humor him and let him do this weird spider book and get it out of his system, and then we can go back to the swords and things.’

Thank you, Pan Macmillan!

Some tea, dear?

Explorer (Foreigner, #6)
by C.J. Cherryh (Author), Daniel Thomas May (Narrator)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The finale of the second trilogy. And it was a great finale. Quite a lot of action, pretty exciting. Everything that came before this was a great read as well. I loved the look at language and how it works or could work, verbally and body language.

We are headed towards that abandoned space station and potentially aggressive aliens. And Cherryh takes us in an unexpected direction again. She gets me every time. There are politics again as well, but the machinations between Atevi, Mospheirans, ship crew and Bren in the middle don‘t seem as strenuous this time around. Or maybe I am getting used to Bren‘s daily navigation through diplomatic minefields.

Bren Cameron is a pretty settled character by now. I really liked his ongoing letters to those he left behind. Then there is Ilisidi with her no-nonsense attitude and adorable Cajeiri—great addition. I really like him and I can‘t wait to find out into what kind of adult he will develop in coming books. I laughed a lot at the toy car shenanigans. 

Did I mention the great action? And new aliens. Exciting and a great first contact situation.

And isn‘t it nice, how sharing food and polite company break down all those barriers? Some tea, dear?

“Jase-aiji suggests this maneuver will be extremely long, even days, and that for comfort and dignity—”
“No,” Ilisidi said abruptly. “We will not go below.”
“Nand’ dowager . . .”
“Interesting things happen here. Not there. If I were reckless of staff safety I would send after hot tea,” Ilisidi said. “I forego the tea. In that, I have taken my personal precautions and my staff is settled in safety.” 

I am a bit apprehensive about the next trilogy. Can it possibly be this good?

Not so foreign this time around

On Monday I posted about attempting to read Foreigner again. Guess what, I am done. I pretty much listened to the second half of the book today, while doing housework and enjoying the sunny weather on my balcony.

Inheritor (Foreigner, #3)
by C.J. Cherryh

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Book #3 in the massive Foreigner series. From the book blurb:

“The first book in C.J.Cherryh’s eponymous series, Foreigner, begins an epic tale of the survivors of a lost spacecraft who crash-land on a planet inhabited by a hostile, sentient alien race.  From its beginnings as a human-alien story of first contact, the Foreigner series has become a true science fiction odyssey, following a civilization from the age of steam through early space flight to confrontations with other alien species in distant sectors of space. It is the masterwork of a truly remarkable author.

The long-running Foreigner series can also be enjoyed by more casual genre readers in sub-trilogy installments. Inheritor is the 3rd Foreigner novel. It is also the 3rd book in the first subtrilogy.“

I abandoned the audiobook around halfway in 2019, as I was bored. Go figure.
The first book, Foreigner, was also a mixed bag. I really liked the first two sections of that novel. First the arrival in the planetary system, then a fast forward of a few generations to the planetary settlers and first contact with the indigenous population of their chosen planet, the Atevi. I enjoyed the setting in space and the glimpse at societal differences of the humans onboard the ship and those on the planet. 

Down below I had fun reading from the POV of an Atevi. His human counterpart was an interesting character as well. Unfortunately, with the beginning of the main storyline, my enjoyment took a nosedive. I was not fond of Bren, who I called a whiney little shite in my review back in 2017. I gave the book 2 stars, but was fascinated enough to continue. I actually loved Invader (Foreigner #2) so much that I gave it 5 stars.

Long story short, I abandoned this one halfway, but I delved into a few really long books in the meantime (endurance training) and I really want to like this series, so I decided to give it another try. 

The Phoenix, the ship that left the first settlers behind in Foreigner, is back at the end of book #2 and wants help. The Atevi are still progressing towards space in a slow pace, strung along by those settlers and Bren as the go-between. Bren’s connection to Mospheira is more or less non-existent at this point and what relationships he has left with his home are strained.

As in the previous books, there is a lot of intrigue, politics and complicated relationships. This time around I had a fun, though. Ok, some parts flowed by me on audio — as Bren pointed out several times: One needs a flowchart to keep track of it all. I really did have to look up some of the characters several times. A lot of them sound very similar and the names are not easy. But I think I finally might be hooked. I really want to know how it all plays out now.

PS: I listened at 1.5x normal speed and I am pretty sure that quite a few details swooshed past me, but I don‘t care. I might re-read this in print at some point, to catch all those nuances. Theoretically it means I listened to 9+ hours of audio today. My ears feel a little tender.

First Line Friday — Space, Egypt and New York…

First Line Friday is a meme created by Hoarding Books. Feel free to head over there, have a look around, grab your nearest book and post its first line in the comments there and in your blog.

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I have three buddy reads planned for June.

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• 

• 

The Left Hand of Darkness
by Ursula K. Le Guin

I’LL MAKE MY REPORT AS IF I TOLD A STORY, FOR I WAS taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination.

First line

I started this four days ago and have managed the first three chapters, which brought me to page 53. It’s not doing much for me so far. I spent yesterday reading fanfiction rather than continuing this.

The writing is good, but the style is not engaging me. It‘s probably also not quite what I was expecting. I read the blurb and thought „genderless society, lots of commentary and exploration about their personal interactions and divergence compared to our society“, but so far I only met guys talking politics. And the main character, who I thought was an ambassador, comes across as someone mostly not really interested in what is going on. Odd.

Ok, maybe I should have expected something slow and not obvious, considering that this was first published in 1969. So far this reminds me of Foreigner, which was also a book of only middling success for me. I will read something else and then return to this later this month.

Next up, I guess, is this:

One Last Stop (Kindle Edition)
by Casey McQuiston

SEEKING YOUNG SINGLE ROOMMATE FOR 3BR APARTMENT UPSTAIRS, 6TH FLOOR. $700/MO. MUST BE QUEER & TRANS FRIENDLY. MUST NOT BE AFRAID OF FIRE OR DOGS. NO LIBRAS, WE ALREADY HAVE ONE. CALL NIKO.

Header above chapter 1

I just read the first two pages and this sounds like a much better read for my long weekend, sitting on my balcony with a cold glass of white wine… it also fits well into this LGBTQ+ and Pride Month.

Last but not least I will read:

A Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn, #1)
by P. Djèlí Clark

Fatma blinked at the tirade. Of all the djinn these two had to go and wake up, it had to be a bigot.

From the teaser posted at the beginning

Oh, this will be fun! I just had a peek at the first page and then had to forcibly remove myself from the book a page or two later, to finish this post. Promising! And not looking good for Ursula Le Guin…

Empire not at peace yet

A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan, #2)
by Arkady Martine

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Long awaited, finally here. Slightly confusing prelude, but then it moved quickly into territory that felt familiar. Mahit is there and Three Seagrass shows up fairly quickly as well. Notable additions are Eight Antidote, the 11-year old heir apparent to the throne of Teixcalaan and clone of the deceased emperor and Nine Hibiscus, the yaotlek or rear admiral, leading the forces against the incomprehensible aliens invading the edges of known space.

We are exploring personal identity, cultural differences, politics, war crimes and the principle of proportionality, communication, first contact, concepts of self and collectivity and are scraping the edges of aztec culture.

This dragged tremendously for me. The writing is great, but it is just to wordy for my current disposition. I skimmed a lot from the middle onwards, otherwise I would never have finished this and would have eventually abandoned it. 

I like the author‘s dry sense of humour and tongue-in-cheek writing. The plot is fabulous, if somewhat smothered in the wordy navel-gazing and philosophical musings. The exploration of what constitutes a person, the workings of collective though processes, the thoughts on politics — great stuff. I just wish there would have been as much exploration of the plot. Which is good as it is, but could be so much more interesting, if it had received as much attention.

I liked the different POVs, Nine Hibiscus was a great addition. The chapters with Eight Antidote obviously were very important for the overall plot, but the little kite went on my nerves a bit with the aforementioned navel-gazing. I am assuming that the lack of attention to his safety and him running wild and doing improbable things for an 11-year old are intended as educational tools by his peer(s).

Some technical aspect that already seemed anachronistic in the first book popped up here again. Namely the infofiche sticks and lack of electronic mail or information exchange. I understand the concept of only hard matter moving through jump gates. Although I have no clue if it makes sense scientifically. Still, wouldn‘t it be a more organic development to send data by faster means from and to the jump gates? 

And then there is the loss of imago lines. A central driver of the story is Mahit‘s dilemma of not wanting her imago backed up on Lsel Station. Simultaneously the loss of imago lines, when pilots are lost, is lamented. Surely Mahit‘s consciousness wouldn‘t be the only one that gets backed-up on a regular basis?

I am so glad I am finally done, it was too overblown for me. I like my stories to be less contemplative and more action-driven. Planned as a duology, it feels as if a third book might be somewhere out there. At this point I am not sure if I would pick it up. ThirtyOne Adaptation signing off.

I received this free e-copy from Tor and NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

Symbiosis?

Semiosis by Sue Burke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Grateful for this opportunity to create a new society in full harmony with nature, we enter into this covenant, promising one another our mutual trust and support. We will face hardship, danger, and potential failure, but we can aspire to the use of practical wisdom to seek joy, love, beauty, community, and life.“

Within the first few pages this turned into a dangerous endeavor with creepy plants that seemed to be after the small band of colonists. I was very quickly immersed in the storytelling of the first chapter. Consecutive chapters took me a little longer and eventually the story grabbed me. Probably, when a certain plant got involved more deeply.

I had expected a different book, more of a hard SF colony / first contact novel. Instead the book has an episodic set-up, with a new generation of colonists telling their story in each new chapter. Not something I am usually fond of in a novel. Eventually a read thread emerges, connecting the generations. Each generation has their own encounters, developments and problems. Some of the colonists were likable, many of the others not so much.

Burke gives us lessons in sociology, biology, biochemistry and glimpses of possible what-ifs. It‘s a bit of a time-lapse civilization crash course with hippies in a first contact situation with the local flora and fauna. As some other reviewer mentioned already, I don‘t think the number of colonists would be viable longterm. The gene pool seems too small.

At times this made me think of Tchaikovsky‘s Children of Time. The book really came to life for me, when the local flora got a voice and started talking to each other. I wish, some people I know were capable of growing a humour root! Loved the imaginative fauna as well.

“Our future would be another discovery—or, if we understood how we had arrived at where we were, it could be a choice.“

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Lightspeed

Lightspeed Magazine, August 2016 by John Joseph Adams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“Those Brighter Stars” by Mercurio D. Rivera, 6030 words, ~14 pages
Aliens come to Earth, fairly typical first-contact-scenario. Emphatic skills, three generations of mothers and daughters and their failure to communicate with each other and others. The exploration of Ava’s emphatic skills was interesting, but sadly didn’t go very far. 3/5 stars

“Trip Trap” by Kevin J. Anderson and Sherrilyn Kenyon, 4210 words, ~10 pages
Oh, a bridge troll, that’s different!
“I don’t like fast food. I want something slow enough I can catch!”
I know the feeling! The story was mildly amusing. 2/5 stars

“The War of Heroes” by Kameron Hurley, 8595 words, ~20 pages
“There can be no civilization without war,” the Hero said.”
Depressing, but well written. I loved the ships. 4/5 stars

Source: http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/iss…

Total 4 stars, 44 pages read

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