Company Town

Finished January 31

Company Town by Madeline Ashby

This science fiction novel is set in the near future on a city-sized oil rig called New Arcadia located off Canada's east coast. New Arcadia has recently been bought by a family-owned corporation called Lynch Ltd. The rig consists of five towers, each built in a different time period, with the oldest housing some of the poorest of the city's citizens. The main character Go Jung-hwa (Hwa) is one of these. She was born to a Korean-Canadian mother who didn't want her, and with Sturge-Weber, a rare disease that means she has a large birthmark and is more susceptible to certain conditions like seizures. Hwa is also on of the few people in New Arcadia that has no technological enhancements. She is an expert in tae kwon do, and works as security for the United Sex Workers of Canada, of which her mother Sunny is one. Hwa also had an older brother she was close to that died when the Old Rig exploded a few years ago. She is close to many of the sex workers and respects her union representative Séverine. She is given an assignment to watch over two union men who will be attending the official handover of the city to the new owners. 

When there is an incident at the handover, Hwa tries to get a better view of the situation and ends up meeting Daniel Siofra, a high level employee of the new owners who uses technology to affect the mood of groups of people. He is impressed with her skills and wants her to train Joel, the youngest son of the new owner and also act as his bodyguard during the day. Hwa doesn't want the job as she is loyal to her employer and the women she protects, but she is given now choice. As Daniel tells her when she protests "I'll find something you want and give it to you." She will be well-paid and she does set up her own apartment, but stays in Tower One. She also attends school with Joel, offering her a chance to further her education. 

When Joel is attacked and her friends start being murdered in violent ways, Hwa isn't sure who she can trust and who has ulterior motives, maybe for her, and maybe for the whole city. 

This is suspenseful and intriguing and I really cared about Hwa and what happened to her. Daniel appears to like her and support her, and she begins to feel something for him, but doesn't know if she can trust that feeling, or him.

Ashby has created characters with depth and personality, and I particularly liked her choice to give Hwa a Newfoundland accent. Great read. 

Murder on the Intergalactic Railway

Finished May 20

Murder on the Intergalactic Railway by Kate MacLeod

This sci-fi mystery is the first in a series featuring two military cadets at a remote training school. This novel is set on the railway journey to the school. 

Murdina Ritchie is a young woman who dreamed of being a diplomat for the Union of the Free Worlds, and has tried to get in to the training program for years. She had almost given up hoping, but has finally been accepted. One of the reasons that she's had so much trouble is the disgrace involving her father Gustav Ritchie, a diplomat. Before the disgrace, she had led a happy life in an upscale area of one of the worlds. Shackleton Fitz IV has been kicked out of numerous military academies for his behaviour, and this school is his last chance. He knows that he has to take this seriously and change his attitude. He and Ritchie grew up as best friends, until the change for her family led her and her mother to move away, and they lost touch. He knows he should have tried to reach out to her before, but he also knows things that have led to his choice to let her slip out of his life. 

When they realize that they are two of four cadets on this train, escorted by Colonel Hansen who is also travelling there. As they travel from the Intergalactic Transport Depot Delta-Gamma-Delta to the Oymayakon Foreign Service Academy they begin to renew their friendship after a frosty stary, and find themselves teaming up to solve what they believe to be a murder case. They also want to stay in the good graces of Colonel Hansen, after both getting off to bad starts. The other cadets, Moreau and Weld seem pleasant enough. Ritchie hasn't travelled much and is fascinated by the details of the train and the views from it. The train trip will take at least twenty-four hours, arriving on the world the following afternoon and then moving towards their destination. The train goes into what it is called jump space to travel long distances. The world they are going to, Oymayakon, has no space ports due to the perpetual storms that surround it. The navigator will look for the calmest patch to drop through the atmosphere and then the train will continue the journey anchored to the ground by guidance pods. 

At dinner that evening, they see some of the other passengers. One is Lady Marie-Claire Fabron, a woman previously on probation for attempts to colonize another world. She is accompanied by her assistant Mr. Rose and a pet Felzkinder, a species that has recently been declared sentient. It strikes Ritchie as looking like a cross between a charming toddler and a sweet puppy. But like a toddler, it occasionally has a tantrum. Another passenger is Captain Berger, who they meet at lunch the following day, a man who hunts avidly. 

As Ritchie and Fitz investigate, I enjoyed seeing their ideas work together and how they supported each other. The plot was interesting and I found the mystery plot engaging as well. A good read, and I plan to read more in this cross-genre series.

To Hold the Bridge

Finished October 20

To Hold the Bridge: An Old Kingdom Novella and Other Tales by Garth Nix

The novella of the title starts the book and was the most appealing of the contents for me, likely because I'm a big fan of Nix's Old Kingdom fantasy series. In the novella, Morghan, a teen boy arrives at the Bridge Company, hoping to use the one item he owns, a share certificate, hoping to use it as a way to becoming a cadet for the organization. The Bridge Company has been building a bridge over the Greenwash, the wide and dangerous river that is the northern border of the Old Kingdom, for nearly a century. As the story begins, the company has a cable-drawn ferry, a castle on one side of the river, a fortified bastion in the middle of the river, and several foundational parts of the bridge itself. The employees of the company are grouped into four seasonal shifts, with a change in shift imminent. As Morghan passes the tests set for him to be accepted as a cadet, we see more of his past and his character. As he joins in the shift as they travel to the bridge, he finds his place and gets to know his superiors and guard members. Once at the bridge, he has the time to learn more skills necessary to his work, and he faces a unexpected test that has him drawing on the magic he knows as well as the physical skills. 

Following the novella are short stories separated into five sections, each having three to five stories in them. Many of the stories involve magic, some in a world similar to ours and some in our own world in another time. The first section has stories of magical creatures that appear in our world. The second section has four coming-of-age stories. The third section has stories of struggle with magic working against a dark force. The fourth section has lighter tales, one of which plays on Sherlock Holmes stories. The last section is science fiction and has three stories that take us beyond our known world. 

A nice collection overall. I enjoyed the fantasy and magic realism stories the most. 

Annie Bot

Finished December 18

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

This novel totally captivated me. I read it slowly, wanting it to last as long as possible and thinking a lot about Annie. Annie is a robot that her owner bought to meet his personal needs. She comes from a line of AI robots called Stellas, where owners can choose a mode from three main types: Abigail (who cooks and performs housework), a Nanny one to look after children, and a Cuddle Bunny mode to provide sexual and emotional pleasure for the owner. 

Annie is designed to learn from her experiences, and as she tries to learn how to please Doug, she adjusts her libido to his, simulates orgasms in response to his, and tries to meet his needs, she grows more confused. Why? Because Doug is human, and not predictable. When he gets an unexpected visit from an old friend, Roland, Annie meets someone new for the first time, and is exposed to more information, including that she resembles Doug's ex-wife Gwen. Annie is learning for the first time about this woman's existence and she struggles to figure out how she compares to her, causing her some grief from Doug. 

As Annie gains secrets, and tries to figure out not only how to please Doug, but also how the world works, and how she herself works, she is becoming more human, and finds herself experiencing what seem like emotions to herself. 

It is telling to see that Doug has modelled her on a woman he was previously in a serious relationship, yet one he has more control over. Doug can tell her what she's allowed to say about him or their relationship. He can punish her. He can ignore her for days and then just expect to have her play her role again. But because she is autodidactic and learns from her experiences, she grows more confused, and feels hurt, jealous, and even angry. 

Seeing her develop was fascinating. Doug was a man who thinks he knows what he wants, but when he gets it, he still isn't happy. There is gaslighting, manipulation, and a lot of other relationship stuff going on here that made me root for and fear for Annie more and more. I hated him more and more as I got further into the book.

It also made me think about AI a lot and how it works, and where it will appear in our lives. It gave me a lot to think about. 

An amazing read. 

The End of October

Finished December 2

The End of October by Lawrence Wright

I started reading this novel in March 2020, but it felt too close to what was happening in the world at that time, so I put it down and moved on to another book. I decided to tackle it again, and it still felt eerily real to me, with so many aspects of the pandemic within its pages relatable to the real-life pandemic. But this time I kept reading, because I truly wanted to know what would happen to Dr. Henry Parsons, his wife Jill and their children Helen and Teddy. 

Henry is a microbiologist working at the CDC and for the WHO. When an outbreak occurs in Indonesia, he travels there on behalf of WHO to investigate. 

The book takes us through scary moments, when Henry first realizes the virulence of the outbreak and then when he realizes that he has lost the moment to contain it. Henry is a dedicated scientist, using his skills to help figure out what he can. Like our pandemic, things are constantly happening that change the situation, and adjustments are constantly being made. 

Also, like our pandemic, authorities don't always give all the information they have, and aren't always clear to the public of the risks and the real numbers affected. 

The side of the book with Henry's family personalizes it more. Jill is a school teacher, worried about her kids in the classroom, but also about her kids at home. With limited access to be able to communicate with Henry, she is forced to make decisions with limited information. She second guesses herself. 

I found the character of Helen the most interesting as she developed. She is in her teens, and is forced to deal with very adult situations. She is scared and very brave. I really liked her.

There are many loose ends here, as there are in real life. We don't know what happens to the Saudi prince that Henry worked so closely with, and the end of the book doesn't tie everything up. But this feels real, and so many of the issues that arise are real: foreign diplomacy, threats of war, suspicion that the virus is manmade, climate change, countries taking advantage of weaknesses to attack other countries, and interruptions to communications and trade. This was still a difficult read, as so many of the issues are real for us now, but it is one that will keep you gripped to the book.  

Act of God

Finished October 15

Act of God by Jill Ciment

I always enjoy Jill Ciment books. This one is a little quirky. Two sisters, Edith and Kat live in a rent-controlled apartment in New York City. Edith is a recently retired legal librarian. Kate, her identical twin is more eccentric and romantic. The year is 2015, and it is a sweltering summer in the city. They've recently had a new landlady, Vera Cebu, a Shakespearian actress who has lately become more famous for her TV commercials than her stage roles. 

Edith has been complaining about a musty smell to Vera for some time, but not getting a response. So when Kat discovers a phosphorescent mushroom sprouting from the wall in their hall closet, she gets angry.

Meanwhile Vera finds a Russian girl, who has run away from an au pair position, secretly living in her guest room, and calls the police to remove the intruder. In the course of the arrest, the police find a second mushroom in the guest room closet and they involve the authorities. 

All four women are forced by the authorities to evacuate their contaminated building with only the clothes they are wearing. The infestation spreads along the street and others get evacuated as well. From the building caretaker to the older couple with their much-loved cats, the people affected significantly by the outbreak come to life and find themselves making changes to their lives beyond what they'd ever imagined. 

An engrossing tale of opportunity, resilience, and community. I loved it. 

Reset

Finished August 31

Reset by Sarina Dahlan

This dystopian novel imagines a world after a major war that has killed off most of the human population. A man who was in space when it happened and had already dabbled in planned communities decided to find the survivors and bring them together in a utopian community of four linked cities in the Mojave Desert. To prevent future building of alliances and resentments, he devised a system to reset everybody's memories every four years. Children are created in medical labs and raised to adulthood, gaining education and having their skills assessed. This technical learning, whether it is scientific, literature, or arts-related stays with them through any resets, but long-term relationships don't exist and neither do any prejudices developed during that four years. 

At each reset, people are assigned names, jobs and housing, provided with food, entertainment credits and an AI to assist them. Everyone is vegetarian. Life is generally good, with no one homeless or hungry. Some resources are limited, such as water, but these are distributed equitably. They all revere the man who created this community, known as the Planner but have been told very little about the Last War to prevent such feelings arising again. 

But some people have dreams of their past, remembering things that brought them strong emotions, mostly around love, and they desire to remember more, to connect with the people that they loved so strongly, and resist the "Tabula Rasa" reset. Thus there grows a resistance of sorts, secretly brewing a potion that brings these dreams to the surface, reviving such memories. 

The inspiration for this utopia is the John Lennon song Imagine, and it is an anthem of sorts for people. 

This story follows a few characters. Aris is a scientist, a woman who only engages in short term relationships, and embraces the ideas of the community. One of her short term lovers, Benja, has dreams of a man he loved before, and wants to remember more and regain that love. He is an artist and seeks out the group known as Dreamers that try to bring their dreams back into memories. This obsession will take him into dangerous territory and draw in the leader of the Dreamer group Metis, who is also searching for his past lover. 

This is an interesting story about the issues with an ideal world, the problem of control versus individuality, and the nature of love. 

Foe

Finished March 6

Foe by Iain Reid

This novel is full of suspense, and it just keeps building. The narrator here is Junior, a man who lives with his wife Hen in an old farmhouse in the country. As the book begins a visitor arrives unexpectedly late in the evening, and Junior is told that he has been chosen to go somewhere as part of an initial test for a colony of people to live away from the earth. Junior isn't really interested in this and wants to just live his life as he has been.

He works in the nearby feed mill, and, although most of the farmland around them is now farmed by corporations, he has a few chickens that he looks after, and gets satisfaction from.

The visit by this representative, Terrance, from a government-affiliated organization called OuterMore seems to unsettle both Junior and Hen. He doesn't stay long, only to tell them about the project, called The Installation, which is a temporary resettlement of people in space on a man-made planet that orbits the earth, and that there has been a lottery and Junior was chosen to be part of the project.  He doesn't have any say in the matter. 

This is where it started to get seriously creepy for me. Terrance talks about the microphones on the screens being always on, and how they don't exactly do active listening, but they pay attention to words of interest. In this case, it is any talk of space, travel, planets, etc. 

After the visit it takes a while for the couple to get back to normal to feel comfortable again, but they do and days and then weeks, and then months go by. Until two years later Terrance is back, and he is taking all kinds of measurements of Junior, fitting him with sensors and such. 

There is a growing feeling of menace of disbelief that this is happening, that Junior and Hen have such little control of their own lives. And Junior doesn't trust Terrance. He feels that there is information that is being hidden from him, that there is another agenda. There are times that Terrance talks to Hen by herself and Junior feels jealous and concerned. 

This novel moves slowly, but has a growing feeling of unease of low-level suspense that something is going to happen beyond what already has. There is a lack of background to the situation, to where exactly they are, to how they ended up there, to how Junior and Hen came together. This book gave me a feeling in the pit of my stomach of dread, of wariness. 

An amazing read, and so well done. Understated. 

The Blondes

Finished January 4

The Blondes by Emily Schultz

This book is part science fiction, part satire, and part social commentary. Hazel Hayes is a Ph.D. student studying the aesthetics of fashion and what our idea of beauty is. She applied for a grant to study in the U.S. and is in New York City. But, as the book opens, she verifies her suspicion that she is pregnant. The father is her Ph.D. supervisor back in Toronto, a married professor several years her senior. As Hazel decides to return to Canada, she witnesses an attack at a subway station that is deeply disturbing, and reinforces her decision to return home. But things aren't that easy.

As the world becomes away of these attacks, like the one Hazel saw, it becomes clear there is a new and unknown disease running rampant in the world, and it seems to be chiefly affecting blonde women. This includes not only natural blondes, but also dyed blondes, and there is a run on hair dye and head shaving becomes a thing. As we see Hazel struggle to get back to Canada, running into barriers related to the pandemic, we see the societal reaction as the attraction to blonde becomes a fear as well, both types of power. Hazel is a natural redhead, putting her in the uncertain category by the powers that be. As she encounters more outbreaks of the disease, personal losses, and limits to her freedom, I couldn't help but think of our current situation. 

I also found the gender aspect interesting. This pandemic does not seem to affect men, except as victims of the women's attacks, and there are many scenes of the male as enforcer, rulemaker, etc. that also reflect some of the societal realities that we see in our world.

Crossing the border and the outcome of that for her was tense, and I felt the disorganization that is now showing signs in some of the government actions around our pandemic. 

I really enjoyed this read, as it both brushed against our current situation, but was also vastly different. A good read for these times, and I think it would be a great book club choice. Lots to discuss.

Journey to the Hopewell Star

Finished December 4

Journey to the Hopewell Star by Hannah D. State

This middle grade science fiction / fantasy novel got me hooked early. Samantha (Sam) Sanderson is just about to turn twelve as the story begins. She's been homeschooled, mostly by her grandfather, as her parents are physicists that work for the government. 

The time that Samantha lives in is our own, but more advanced in terms of technology and space travel. Her grandfather makes dinner using some type of technological device, but in more than just this opening scene situation, technology seems to not work as it should. 

Sam lives on a farm in Nova Scotia, but will be soon moving to town to start school as she's come to an age where she needs more in terms of education than her father can offer. When she goes out to the barn at the beginning of the book, she finds more that she expected, and begins a journey that takes her to other planets, our moon, and even into other people's experiences. This first visit takes her to the planet Kryg under false pretences, but she makes a friend and learns more about both that planet and her own, including the precariousness of both the planets' futures. 

In town, Sam quickly makes friends with another girl and the group of friends that include her. Her friend Kato has a twin brother Kobe who seems to be on the autism spectrum. He doesn't talk a lot, but he seems to be noticing Sam. It makes her feel uncomfortable, but also curious. 

When Sam discovers a new skill, the first person that she shares it with is Kobe. And he connects with her in a big way. Their other friend Simon is a techie and provides insight into the technological side of any situation.

All of the kids are aware of the environmental threats that have been growing on earth, through their own experiences. As they begin to connect these threats to a local corporation and its owner, things may be coming to a crisis in other ways as well. 

I liked Sam's confidence in her abilities, and willingness to try new things, and her selflessness when it came to the larger community's needs. We see this in both small ways and large in her actions and thoughts. 

This book will give kids the confidence that their actions can make a difference in the world, and that kindness and connections are important. 

A really enjoyable read. 

The Migration

Finished August 28
The Migration by Helen Marshall

This novel really captured me. Set in the near future, the world is in trouble. Seas are rising, and communication is becoming worse across longer distances. Then a disease starts to take hold, affecting children and teenagers.
The main character here is Sophie Perella, who lives in Toronto with her parents and younger sister Kira. When Kira is diagnosed with this mysterious illness, Sophie's mother tries various treatments, and finally the two girls and their mother move to Oxford, England, where Sophie's Aunt Irene lives. Irene is involved in research relating to the illness, but also reaching back historically, looking at the Black Death and how it manifested itself.
Sophie becomes involved assisting in her aunt's research, but she also watches stories in the news about the progression of the illness, and tries to protect her sister. The characters also must deal with storms and rising waters as their environment grows more unstable.
Sophie is befriended by a young man whose mother works as a nurse in the local hospital and as the two share their discoveries, a new theory begins to form. Sophie is forced to deal with difficult decisions that affect not only herself, but those she loves, and as she does, she learns that the past may hold clues to the future.
A wonderfully inventive plot, with interesting characters.

So You Created a Wormhole

Finished December 7
So You Created a Wormhole: The Time Traveler's Guide to Time Travel by Phil Hornshaw & Nick Hurwitch

This guide is for a situation that doesn't actually exist, but is supposed to occur in the near future. The possibility of time travel has come true, and many people are doing it for many reasons. This guide offers some advice for those who plan to engage in this activity.
The book begins with warnings against reading the book. The authors purport to be representatives of the Qualified Users and Negotiators of Time Travel Universal Ministry (QUAN+UM). They discourage the increase in the number of people engaged in time travel, especially by those unprepared, and they are worried about ill-prepared time travellers making serious mistakes that will affect the present and future, not to mention the past.
Once they've assumed that you are reading it anyway, it continues with a welcome and introduction to the details of time travel. They go on to show that the ideas that you may have about time travel may not be realistic.
The third chapter is on time machines, how to build them and destroy them. The fourth chapter talks about potential paradoxes and what they could mean for you. The fifth chapter deals with the complexities of existing in different times, engaging with other time travellers, or even yourself.
They go on to discuss the necessity of fixing a timeline if you have screwed it up, something that is expected to be done. Included here is a timeline of time travel events.
The next section of the book deals with survival in different times. It begins with an overall introduction and then is split into sections of time: Prehistory; Dawn of Man; Empires; Middle Ages; Industry; Computers; Robots; Space Travel; and the End of Time.
Each of this has sections that help you identify the time from your surroundings, things to bring, things that happen during this time; creatures and people you might encounter and how to best deal with them, how to repair your time machine should that be necessary, and how to blend in.
The book ends with some information about the Ministry.
I found it an amusing read, with references to various books, movies, and TV shows that have had elements of time travel in them.

Whisper

Finished June 9
Whisper by Lynette Noni

This teen novel is the first in a series. A woman, known as Jane Doe or Subject Six Eight Four, is being held in a secret facility underground. She has been told only that it is a government facility and that she needs to cooperate with the people working with her.
Her day is routine. Her locked cell is bare, she has no footware, and a basic dress to wear. She meets every day with a therapist, a physical trainer, and a doctor who performs tests on her. She says nothing to anyone. She sits silently with the therapist, does everything the personal trainer asks her to do, and endures the painful experiments in silent stoicism. She has been here for two and a half years, and is still not sure of anything except that they want her to speak, something she is determined not to do. Then one day, her routine is interrupted. After all her normal daily activities have ended, she is taken from her cell to an area of the complex she hasn't been before and she meets with the man in charge. He tells her that they are tired of waiting for something they don't believe will ever happen, and she will work with someone new for the next month, and if nothing comes of it, he implies that she will die.
The woman is surprised to find that her new interaction is with a young man close to her own age, a man who treats her kindly, who offers her comforts, who introduces her to other young people. Her silent stoicism is no longer the effective defense it has been.
When an unexpected situation impels her to speak, she finds that this opens new doors, new opportunities for her. But as things continue, she finds that these people know more about her than she has shared, and may not have been telling her the truth.
A great start to a new and interesting series.

Waking Gods

Finished August 13
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel

This is the second book in the series that started with Sleeping Gods. The novel opens with the appearance of a second giant robot, this one appearing out of thin air in the middle of a park in London, England. There is debate about how to handle it while the powers that control the first robot, dubbed Themis, work to transport it to England.
The powers that want to approach the robot with a show of force win out, and things do not go well. The robot has powers to shield itself from harm and the resulting reciprocative attack by the robot is a deadly one. By the time Themis gets there, they know what they are up against, but aren't sure at first what to do. An idea by the pilots works, and things calm down.
Back at the base, when Themis suddenly disappears with Vincent inside, no one is sure what to think. When more robots begin to appear at cities around the world, things begin to look very dark for humankind, and a new weapon is brought to bear by one of the robots, resulting in more questions.
This book takes us further into the ideas debated in the first novel, with the mysterious consultant appearing to give encouragement to the Earth Defense Corps leaders.
But the ending, now that will have you on the edge of your chair, and eager for the next book.

The Tourist

Finished January 2
The Tourist by Robert Dickinson

This science fiction thriller is set around an incident happening in the 21st century in England. Spens is a young man working for a tourist resort for travellers who have come from the future to visit this time and place. It is apparently an open secret that these visitors are from the future and they exert a certain control, perhaps through threats, that no one interferes with them.
Workers like Spens have some knowledge of what happens in this time period, but not complete knowledge and there is some suspicion that they are purposefully not told everything. Spens is supposed to take a group by bus to a local mall, where they can roam individually for a few hours. On their trip back to the resort, the bus will get in a minor accident. All the tourists know this and have chosen this particular trip for the additional excitement of the accident.
However after everyone gets back on board after the accident, one tourist is missing. This was not something that Spens was told was going to happen, and he does not know what it means.
Spens interacts regularly with a female guide from another resort, Li. They often sit with each other at the mall while waiting for their groups to finish, and sometimes go out after work.
Spens also knows his own future to a certain extent. Knows that he is sent back soon for a breach of protocol and he wonders if this incident is related to that.
As Spens tries to find his missing tourist, with the help of a security officer at his own resort, he also is helped by a relatively new guide from another resort, Edda. Edda seems to have additional skills and knowledge and proves quite helpful
He briefly meets someone he knew at school, but who has obviously taken a different path, and is now much older than Spens. He wonders how much he is supposed to share with authorities about this.
The chapters move back and forth between Spens in the 21st century, an unnamed older man that the reader suspects to be Spens later in life, the missing tourist, and another female voice at an indeterminate time.
I found the chapter changes a bit confusing, as I wasn't always sure who the speaker was and what time they were in. The story is one of shadows and mirrors, no one sure what is real, what is fake, what is manipulated and what is accidental. Is there a conspiracy? Can one change the future by taking an action in the past? What really happened on earth? Lots of questions. Few answers.

Written in Fire

Finished June 17
Written in Fire by Marcus Sakey, performed by Luke Daniels

This is the last book of a trilogy, of which I have not read the first two. I was still able to get up to speed fairly quickly on the situation. Sometime around 1980, people started being born with exceptional abilities. Some could hear or see better. Many were exceptionally smart, especially in the sciences. Some had the ability to predict movement by people around them. Some had abilities that made life immensely difficult, like one man who life moved much more quickly for him, so that the actions and words and sounds around him were all in slow motion.
Many of the people were discriminated against, put in special academies that were more like prisons. So some of them rebelled, tried to form their own societies.
As this book begins, about thirty years have passed. The book follows Nick Cooper, a man who has tried to do the best for his country and the people on both sides. Nick is a brilliant himself. He has worked for the government, trying to work against those that would destroy it. But other brilliants would take revenge on the rest of the world for how they have been treated, and are willing to destroy the rest of humanity to do so. In a world where people are fighting for their lives, trying to keep their families and friends safe, Nick struggles to figure out how to keep his family and country safe as things come to a head at a community in Wyoming.
There is a good storyline here, and lots of interesting characters. The only drawback I found was that it was all U.S. centric. I had no sense of how the rest of the world had reacted or if other countries were facing similar issues.

Sleeping Giants

Finished April 30
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

This debut novel is a winner. This is wonderful science fiction, with a very human touch. When Rose Franklin turned eleven, she took her new bike out at dusk for a ride and made a discovery she didn't understand until years later. Following a strange light, she fell into a hole that hadn't been there before, knocking herself out and waking hours later while being rescued. Later one of the rescuers brings her a picture that shows her from above, in the palm of a giant metal hand.
Rose always loved science and went into physics as her career. Now, years later, she is being asked to head a research team involving that hand, and potentially other body parts.
The story is told in a series of interviews and journal entries, similar to that of World War Z, and for me it had a similar feel to it. The interviewer is an unnamed man, one with power and influence, who sees a bigger picture and plans far ahead. He chooses most of the people involved in the project as it develops and changes, but not all.
The other main characters here are two US military pilots, a woman, Kara Resnik, and a man, Ryan Mitchell, as well as a French Canadian linguist, Vincent Couture.
As they realize what they are dealing with they must reconcile their own feelings about it and the power it possesses. This discovery will change the world, but in which direction will it take us. Not all questions are answered here, and the ending provides an interesting twist. This is the first in a planned series, and I will be looking with interest for the sequels.
I found it interesting that the author has a similar background to one of the characters, and, of course, I always love to find out about a new Canadian author, so lots to love about this book.

The January Dancer

Finished April 6
The January Dancer by Michael Flynn

This science fiction novel is a true space opera. Told in installments, as a tale told from one character to another, the complex plot centers around a pre-human artifact that has an effect on all who come into contact with it.
A young woman harpist is in search of the story of this artifact, and her search has led her to a bar frequented by many travelers in the space highway, where she finds an older man, scarred and lost in his own thoughts. She supplies him with drinks, and he gradually tells her the story of the artifact, referred to as the Dancer, from its discovery by the trader named January, through many hands, to its fate as he knows it.
This is a tale of many creatures and of many worlds. The creatures include those descended from Old Earth, known as Terran, to those of newer worlds. There are those who patrol like the Hounds, and those who live for pleasure like those of Peacock Junction. The Interstellar Cargo Company (ICC) control a great many of these worlds and the space between them, but not all. There is an organization called Confederates as well. Those encountered here range from pirates to merchants, servants to thieves, and many classes of men.
There is humour and wit in abundance, and many fascinating characters that grab the reader's interest. The story of the artifact takes place across many worlds and through many sections of space.
As the harper learns the story, she retells it in her music, bringing her listeners through a range of emotions evoked by the tale of the artifact and its wake.
This is not a genre I read a lot of, and yet I found myself fascinated by the complex plot and the world created by Flynn.
He includes a character list, a map, and an explanation of the time system as it relates to the time system we use now.

Anomaly

Finished March 12
Anomaly by Krista McGee

This novel is a meld of science fiction and Christian fiction. Thalli is the third generation of humans born after a nuclear war in an underground bunker community. She is part of a group her own age, and has been bred to have a role, that of Musician. She has trained from her first memories to learn music to entertain her peers to motivate them as they work. She has seen what happens when someone has a physical weakness, but she is aware that she has a mental weakness and must be careful to control her curiosity and thwarting of rules to guard against being removed.
When she is tested with a piece of music and cannot control her emotions, her worst fears seem to be realized. When she awakens, a elderly man, John, is with her and she begins a friendship, one that teaches her about the world before and about faith. As she is tested further, she also has the time to learn more about Christian faith from John, and prepare herself for what awaits her.
This is a novel of science versus hope, about the stifling of feelings, and about the reemergence of faith despite the controls.
An interesting premise on a dystopian future.

Frameshift

Finished March 14
Frameshift by Robert J. Sawyer

This science fiction novel is focused on a couple. Pierre Tardivel is a Canadian geneticist now working at a lab in California. Pierre knows that his father had Huntington's disease, and that therefore his chances of having it are fifty-fifty. His girlfriend, Molly Bond, has the ability to read people's thoughts when they are close to her. Their relationship works well because Pierre still thinks in French, a language Molly doesn't know and doesn't try to learn.
Pierre can get insurance coverage at work, but only if he undergoes the genetic test that will tell him if he has Huntington's, something he is loath to do. But even if he has it, he will be covered. Pierre grows interested in Molly's gift and looks at her DNA to figure out what makes her different in this way.
Meanwhile Avi Meyer, a federal investigator, is working to find former Nazis, and his path coincides with Pierre's when an attempt is made on Pierre's life. Pierre also starts to look at whether this attempt was more than coincidental, and who else has been murdered in the area. His research takes him in down several paths, not all of them successful.
And, of course, strung against Pierre's avenues of research is the ever-debilitating disease within him, limiting his own ability to move, think, and live the life he wants.
This is a novel of science, but also one of ethics. An interesting look at DNA and its inner workings alongside mankind and our motivations.