BOOK REVIEW: The New Voices of Science Fiction, edited by Hannu Rajaniemi and Jacob Wiseman

BOOK REVIEW: The New Voices of Science Fiction, edited by Hannu Rajaniemi and Jacob WisemanTitle: The New Voices of Science Fiction by Hannu Rajaniemi, Jacob Weisman, Kelly Robson, Alice Sola Kim, Rich Larson, Sam J. Miller, Suzanne Palmer, Sarah Pinkser, E. Lily Yu, Rebecca Roanhorse, Alexander Weinstein, Vina Jie-Min Prasad, S. Qiouyi Lu, Nino Cipri, Jamie Wahls, Darcie Little Badger, Samantha Mills, David Erik Nelson, Jason Sanford, Amman Sabet, Lettie Prell, Amal El-Mohtar
Published by Tachyon Publications
Published: November 5th 2019
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 432
Format: ARC
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads

What would you do if your collective of tiny bots suddenly decide to mutiny? Would you find bioprinted steak delicious, even after it was signed by the artist? Is an 11 second attention-span long enough to bond with a cryogenically-revived tourist? Would you sell your native language to send your daughter to college?

The avant garde of science fiction has appeared, arriving via time machines and portals that may (or may not) work properly. In this space-age sequel to award-winning anthology, The New Voices of Fantasy, The New Voices of Science Fiction has launched the rising stars of the last five years of science fiction, including Rebecca Roanhorse, Amal El-Mohtar, Alice Sola Kim, Sam J. Miller, E. Lily Yu, Rich Larson, Vina Jie-Min Prasad, Sarah Pinsker, Darcie Little Badger, S. Qiouyi Lu, Kelly Robson, Suzanne Palmer, Nino Cipri, and more. Their wide-ranging tales were hand-selected by cutting-edge author Hannu Rajaniemi (The Quantum Thief) and genre expert Jacob Weisman (Invaders).

So go ahead, join the starship revolution. The new kids hotwired the AI.

The New Voices of Science Fiction is an excellent companion to The New Voices of Fantasy published by Tachyon in 2017. So often genre is lumped together, especially science fiction and fantasy, but, just like me, if you enjoyed The New Voices of Fantasy, you will almost certainly enjoy The New Voices of Science Fiction. All of the stories included in this anthology were originally published or written within the last five or so years? Some of the names are unfamiliar to me, but a lot of these names have come to critical acclaim within those last five years, so it’s an excellent introduction if you’re also wondering where to begin with the genre. Yes, the entire SF genre. A lot of the older “classic” science fiction feels dated in tone, terminology, and technology and can at times feel intimidating for someone who may be unfamiliar with the genre, and this anthology elevates the newer voices we should be paying attention to. And yes, there are foundational genre works that act as cornerstones, but sometimes we have to smash the past and build something new.

My favorite stories in this anthology were Rebecca Roanhorse’s “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience,” Amal El-Mohtar’s “Madeleine,” and Suzanne Palmer’s “Madeleine,” but all of them have something to consider and were all enjoyable to read. One of the things I loved most about this was that the writers included in this collection are so diverse, elevating a lot of different cultures, ideas, ways of looking at the world, and storytelling styles, and that is exactly what I hope for when I read any anthology, and this one ticked all of the boxes for me. This collection also made me want to go read the longer works by the authors included, and I realized I’ve had several books on my shelves already!

Thank you to Tachyon Publications and Netgalley for a complimentary review copy! All opinions are my own.

Little List of Reviews #8

Welcome to another little list of reviews! I have a little backlog of reviews that I’ve been wanting to post, mostly for me since these are ones that I bought myself (and one free arc from my old job). They’ve been sitting as empty drafts since like… May, maybe, and it’s time to get those written and move on so I can write about other things!

Little List of Reviews #8Title: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Series: The Invisible Library #1
Published by Roc
Published: June 14th 2016
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 341
Format: Trade Paper
Source: Purchased
Goodreads

Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure from a spectacular debut author. One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction...   Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities. Most recently, she and her enigmatic assistant Kai have been sent to an alternative London. Their mission: Retrieve a particularly dangerous book. The problem: By the time they arrive, it's already been stolen.   London's underground factions are prepared to fight to the death to find the tome before Irene and Kai do, a problem compounded by the fact that this world is chaos-infested—the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic to run rampant. To make matters worse, Kai is hiding something—secrets that could be just as volatile as the chaos-filled world itself.   Now Irene is caught in a puzzling web of deadly danger, conflicting clues, and sinister secret societies. And failure is not an option—because it isn’t just Irene’s reputation at stake, it’s the nature of reality itself...

FEATURING BONUS MATERIAL: including an interview with the author, a legend from the Library, and more!

Genevieve Cogman’s The Invisible Library is the first in a series of books that involves libraries, special books, and dragon-shifters. I loved the world-building and desperately wanted to become a Librarian while reading it, and this novel serves its purpose as a set-up for everything else because it was a lot more telling and description than it was character-development and depth. That doesn’t deter me from wanting to continue the rest of the series (and I’ve got most of them, as far as I can recall), so I’m looking forward to seeing where the adventure goes next. I’m a little weird about steampunk as a genre because it can get confusing in its setup, depth, and exploration, but I thought Cogman’s delivery and worldbuilding led to in-book plausibility and created a solid foundation.

Little List of Reviews #8Title: Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed
Series: The Crescent Moon Kingdoms #1
Published by DAW
Published: December 31st 2012
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 367
Format: Mass Market
Source: Purchased
Goodreads

From Saladin Ahmed, finalist for the Nebula and Campbell Awards, comes one of the year's most acclaimed debuts: Throne of the Crescent Moon, a fantasy adventure with all the magic of The Arabian Nights

The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. But these killings are only the earliest signs of a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon that threatens to turn the great city of Dhamsawaat, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.

Saladin Ahmed’s The Crescent Moon is one of the most engrossing fantasies I’ve read in a long time. The second I picked it up and started reading it, I fell in love with the atmosphere, the language, and the story. It sank deep into my soul, and I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it since I read it. I felt like I was right there in that world, standing just off to the side as everything unfolded. It features a ghul hunter, a magnificent shapeshifter, and a holy warrior dervish, and each of these characters felt so refreshing and real that I forgot sometimes that this was pure fiction and not based off of something that had once happened once upon a time. But perhaps it did… If you’re looking for something incredible and breathtaking, pick this one up. I do hope one day he’ll continue on with the series, but this also functions as a completely perfect standalone.

Little List of Reviews #8Title: Exhalation by Ted Chiang
Published by Alfred A. Knopf
Published: May 7th 2019
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 350
Format: ARC
Source: Work
Goodreads

alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

The universe began as an enormous breath being held.

From the acclaimed author of Stories of Your Life and Others — the basis for the Academy Award-nominated film Arrival — comes a ground-breaking new collection of short fiction: nine stunningly original, provocative, and poignant stories. These are tales that tackle some of humanity's oldest questions along with new quandaries only Ted Chiang could imagine.

In "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate", a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and second chances. In "Exhalation", an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications that are literally universal. In "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" the ability to glimpse into alternate universes necessitates a radically new examination of the concepts of choice and free will.

Including stories being published for the first time as well as some of his rare and classic uncollected work, Exhalation is Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic — revelatory.

Contents:- The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate (2007)- Exhalation (2008)- What's Expected of Us (2005)- The Lifecycle of Software Objects (2010)- Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny (2011)- The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling (2013)- The Great Silence (2015)- Omphalos (2018)- Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom (2018)

I can’t sing enough praises about Ted Chiang’s writing. He’s one of my all time favorites, and I was so excited to see his newest collection of stories on the arc shelf at my old job. These are mostly reprints, I believe, but each one is fantastic. There are very few writers who can like… make me straight up cry with the magic, scope, and depth of their writing, but this is a collection you’ll not want to miss.

BOOK REVIEW: Meet Me in the Future, by Kameron Hurley

BOOK REVIEW: Meet Me in the Future, by Kameron HurleyTitle: Meet Me in the Future: Stories by Kameron Hurley
Published by Tachyon Publications
Published: August 20th 2019
Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 288
Format: ARC
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads

“One of the best story collections of the past few years.” —Booklist, starred review“16 hard-edged pieces that gleam like gems in a mosaic.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review“Kameron Hurley is a badass.” —Annalee Newitz, author of Autonomous

When renegade author Kameron Hurley (The Light Brigade; The Stars Are Legion) takes you to the future, be prepared for the unexpected. Yes, it will be dangerous, frequently brutal, and often devastating. But it’s also savagely funny, deliriously strange, and absolutely brimming with adventure.

In these edgy, unexpected tales, a body-hopping mercenary avenges his pet elephant, and an orphan falls in love with a sentient starship. Fighters ally to power a reality-bending engine, and a swamp-dwelling introvert tries to save the world—from her plague-casting former wife.

So come meet Kameron Hurley in the future. The version she's created here is weirder—and far more hopeful—than you could ever imagine.

Any time I can get my hands on new Kameron Hurley, I’m all over it. Ever since I read The Stars are Legion, Hurley has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Her view of the world in which we live is calculating, messy, and true, and the stories she writes hit me right in the feels and make me want to help lead the revolution.

What I’ve liked most about Hurley’s writing is that her women are allowed to be messy, morally grey, and emotional without feeling like these women are losing their “worth” or “humanity” for being any of those things. The themes of war and resistance she explores in her stories are heavy, unrelenting, and often gruesome, but there always manages to be some threads of hope winding their ways through the stories. War is central to the story in the sense that it informs the trajectory of the characters. War has either happened, is happening, or will happen, but it’s the individual themselves who really tend to make a difference in the grand scheme of war’s grandiose effects.

The stories that I enjoyed the most were “Elephants and Corpses,” “When We Fall,” and “The Corpse Archives;” but all of them were so good, and I couldn’t wait to read the next one. Her introduction is sublime in exploring what drives her to write the stories she writes as well, so don’t skip that. Sometimes I feel as if it’s very rare for a single author’s collection of stories to be so cohesive and yet so diverse, but Kameron Hurley knocks it out of the park with this one.

Whether or not you’ve read Hurley before, if you’re a sci-fi reader and want to read something that will leave you thinking about the what-ifs, definitely check this out.

Thank you to Tachyon Pub for a digital review copy! All opinions are my own.

Waiting on Wednesday, YA SFF edition!

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine (though it seems as though it’s been a while since she updated that particular blog, so if you know of the current host, if there is one, please let me know) that highlights upcoming releases that we’re impatiently waiting for. This week I’m highlighting some new/upcoming YA SFF books that I can’t wait to read!

INTO THE CROOKED PLACE – ALEXANDRA CHRISTO

Even though I still haven’t read To Kill a Kingdom, Alexandra Christo’s upcoming gangster fantasy about a girl “who delivers a vial of dark magic—a weapon she didn’t know she had—to someone she cares about, sparking the greatest conflict in decades. Now four magical outsiders must come together to save their home and the world, before it’s too late. But with enemies at all sides, they can trust nobody. Least of all each other.” Sign me up! This releases October 8, 2019!

THE MAGNOLIA SWORD – SHERRY THOMAS

I love reimaginings of popular stories, and a Mulan retelling?? Yes, please. I have Sherry Thomas’s Charlotte Holmes series on my TBR right now (sensing a theme here…), and I’ve heard such good things about her writing. I’m excited to read her version of Mulan! It’s out September 10, 2019!

THE MERCIFUL CROW – MARGARET OWEN

All of this just sounds amazing, and I’m so here for more crows and bird-related imagery in fantasy. Crows especially bring up the imagery of cunning darkness, so I’m hoping for that to be reflected in this and the next title! It releases July 30, 2019!

THE STORM CROW – KALYN JOSEPHSON

Elemental, magical crows? Sisters? Taking back what was taken from them? Yes, thank you. This comes out July 9, 2019.

WAR GIRLS – TOCHI ONYEBUCHI

Bionic limbs, post-nuclear disaster survival, political unrest, and two sisters who dream of more. This cover looks amazing, and I’m here for the intersection of humanity and mech and hope for a better future.

Are any of these on your radar? What are you looking forward to reading in the upcoming months?

Little List of Reviews #7

Another little list of reviews so soon because I have a few digital ARCs that I’d like to chat about! These are either relatively recent releases or will be releasing soon!

Little List of Reviews #7Title: The Big Book of Classic Fantasy by Ann VanderMeer, Jeff VanderMeer
Published by Vintage
Published: July 2nd 2019
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction
Pages: 848
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads

Unearth the enchanting origins of fantasy fiction with a collection of tales as vast as the tallest tower and as mysterious as the dark depths of the forest. Fantasy stories have always been with us. They illuminate the odd and the uncanny, the wondrous and the fantastic: all the things we know are lurking just out of sight--on the other side of the looking-glass, beyond the music of the impossibly haunting violin, through the twisted trees of the ancient woods. Other worlds, talking animals, fairies, goblins, demons, tricksters, and mystics: these are the elements that populate a rich literary tradition that spans the globe. A work composed both of careful scholarship and fantastic fun, The Big Book of Classic Fantasy is essential reading for anyone who's never forgotten the stories that first inspired feelings of astonishment and wonder.

INCLUDING:

*Stories by pillars of the genre like the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Mary Shelley, Christina Rossetti, L. Frank Baum, Robert E. Howard, and J. R. R. Tolkien *Fantastical offerings from literary giants including Edith Wharton, Leo Tolstoy, Willa Cather, Zora Neale Hurston, Vladimir Nabokov, Hermann Hesse, and W.E.B. Du Bois *Rare treasures from Asian, Eastern European, Scandinavian, and Native American traditions *New translations, including fourteen stories never before in English

PLUS:

*Beautifully Bizarre Creatures! *Strange New Worlds Just Beyond the Garden Path! *Fairy Folk and Their Dark Mischief! *Seriously Be Careful--Do Not Trust Those Fairies!

I received an ARC for this via Netgalley and yo, you’re going to want to read this. I only read the intro and about twenty-odd stories and already preordered it so I can savor the rest of it in my hands. This is fantasy at its core, original and weird and more than unsettling. It showcases the history of the fantasy genre and how it’s evolved throughout time. It’s a great companion to their Big Book of Science Fiction. The VanderMeers know what they’re doing, and they’re amazing at it. Also, look at that cover. Once I have the physical copy in my hands, I’ll write a more in depth review regarding the actual stories!

Little List of Reviews #7Title: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers by Fred Rogers, Luke Flowers, Josie Carey
Published by Quirk Books
Published: March 19. 2019
Genres: Non-Fiction
Pages: 144
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads

For the first time ever, the beloved songs from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood are collected here in a charmingly-illustrated treasury, sure to be cherished by adults who grew up with Mister Rogers, and a new generation of children alike.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood had a revolutionary impact on children's television, and on millions of children themselves. Through songs, puppets, and frank conversations, Mister Rogers instilled the values of kindness, patience, and self-esteem in his viewers, and most of all, taught children how loved they were, just by being themselves. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood reimagines the songs from the show as poetry, ranging from the iconic ("Won't You Be My Neighbor?") to the forgotten gems. The poem are funny, sweet, silly, and sincere, dealing with topics of difficult feelings, new siblings, everyday routines, imagination, and more. Perfect for bedtime, sing-along, or quiet time, this book of nostalgic and meaningful poetry is the perfect gift for every child--including the child in all of us.

This is a wonderful collection of the poetry and songs from the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood series. It brought me back to my childhood and all of those memories watching Mister Rogers on TV, and the illustrations inside modernize and bring it to life all over again for old and new audiences alike. This would make an amazing gift for all ages, and the poetry in this book remind us of all the lessons and goodness Mister Rogers taught us over the years.

Many thanks to Quirk Books and Netgalley for a review copy! All opinions are my own.

Little List of Reviews #7Title: Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee
Published by Rick Riordan Presents
Published: January 15th 2019
Genres: Science Fiction, Middle Grade
Pages: 312
Format: eBook
Source: Library
Goodreads

To keep the family safe, Min’s mother insists that none of them use any fox-magic, such as Charm or shape-shifting. They must appear human at all times. Min feels hemmed in by the household rules and resents the endless chores, the cousins who crowd her, and the aunties who judge her. She would like nothing more than to escape Jinju, her neglected, dust-ridden, and impoverished planet. She’s counting the days until she can follow her older brother, Jun, into the Space Forces and see more of the Thousand Worlds.

When word arrives that Jun is suspected of leaving his post to go in search of the Dragon Pearl, Min knows that something is wrong. Jun would never desert his battle cruiser, even for a mystical object rumored to have tremendous power. She decides to run away to find him and clear his name.

Min’s quest will have her meeting gamblers, pirates, and vengeful ghosts. It will involve deception, lies, and sabotage. She will be forced to use more fox-magic than ever before, and to rely on all of her cleverness and bravery. The outcome may not be what she had hoped, but it has the potential to exceed her wildest dreams.

Dragon Pearl was everything I had hoped for in a middle grade science fiction book, and it made me want to read more middle grade science fiction. I feel like I haven’t seen much mainstream middle grade science fiction as a lot of it tends to skew to the fantasy and the weird, but I think I need to dig a little deeper (or start writing it myself!). Dragon Pearl captured my attention immediately, and I didn’t want it to end. It’s a great story about family and what one must do for yourself in order to survive, especially in a cold, harsh environment like space. Definitely check this out if you’re looking for a fun sci-fi summer read.