Enthusiastically Ambiverted Hopepunk
I read…a lot. Here’s where I ramble about books and printed media.
63/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
My favorites this issue were Naomi Kritzer’s “The Year Without Sunshine”, Cecil Castelluci’s “We’re Looking for the Best”, and John Scalzi’s “Speed Racer’s Long Road”, which actually has me thinking about rewatching Speed Racer, which I haven’t seen since it first hit video.
62/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1993 Hugo Best Novel
This definitely holds up, and I really enjoyed re-reading it. From the concept of various zones where FTL travel (and higher technologies) are possible as they get further away from the center of the galaxy, to the exploration of group intelligence with the Tines (packs of dog-like creatures that are singular sentient entities when in packs of 4-6), it’s a really excellent read.
61/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The last of the three Prodigy middle-grade novels. Where the first two were set roughly during the break between the first and second half of the first season, this one is set during the gang’s shuttle trip to Earth. In need of a spare part for the shuttle, they find a mysterious moon that may have the part they need…if they’re all allowed to leave.
As with the rest, it’s another fun, quick adventure. To my (50-year-old) eyes, when reading all three back-to-back, it suffered a bit from having so many similarities to the first book, also by the same author: a search for a missing part leads the crew to a mysterious location where they get captured and have to figure out how to escape with the part they need. But for the age range these books are actually aimed at, the similarities might not be as noticeable.
60/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Prodigy kids continue on their adventures, this time following a clue to a planet where they have to face nightmares from their past. This one is a little more Gwyn-focused, expanding on her backstory a little bit.
59/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A fun, quick adventure with the Prodigy crew as they try to acquire a replacement part at a disreputable market, and Dal learns a bit more about command. The first of three middle-grade books released to tie into the show.
58/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I first read this just a few years after it came out, when it was very much a “thing”. A few years ago I picked up another copy and it’s been waiting for the right time for a re-read; apparently this October was the right time. I really enjoyed diving back into this. It’s definitely not something everyone will enjoy, with its multiple narrators, footnotes-within-footnotes, pseudo-academic tone for one through line, and experimental layout. But it has an incredibly effective sense of eerie, creeping dread, and the unusual structure brings the labyrinthine nature of the house into the experience of reading the story. Fascinating and perfect for the Halloween season.
56/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A somewhat surprisingly Catholic approach to Star Trek. Not badly done, though as other reviewers have noted, does give it a very monotheistic viewpoint; though it does note that there are other options, those definitely aren’t its focus. Given that, outside of DS9, religion isn’t often focused on in Star Trek, I found it an interesting approach, particularly the choice to focus on Tori rather than Data, the perennial outsider (though his interest is a present side thread).
55/2023 – ⭐⭐⭐
A sequel to Widowland, one of this year’s Philip K. Dick Award-nominated books, set in an alternate-history UK where Germany won WWII, and the UK is now an allied protectorate of Germany, under the nominal reign of Queen Wallace Simpson, entirely reduced to a figurehead. Following the events of Widowland, and in anticipation of the first diplomatic visit from the United States in years, England is under even tighter control. The importance of literature and poetry are important threads again, and the book does a good job of continuing the story after the climax of Widowland, picking up threads and quite believably ratcheting up the tension. I’ll definitely be interested to see if the series continues on.
54/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1991 Hugo Best Novel
Miles’s adventures continue, with all the twists, fun characters, double-crosses, and humor that make this series so enjoyable. The adventure is fun, but it really is the characters and how they relate to each other that impress the most. Four books in, and so far the only disappointment is that I didn’t find this series earlier.
