Speculative Fiction

I taught you better than to open doors you can’t close

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

January 20, 2019 by dAvid 2 Comments

Rivers Solomon’s An Unkindness of Ghosts is yet another great example of the kind of book I would have missed had I not started reading more speculative fiction and diversifying the voices in my library. That would have been a pity, because this complex, powerful novel may very well end up at the top of my 2019 favorites list. After Earth suffered an unnamed cataclysm 300 years ago, the remnants of humanity were crowded onto the spaceship Matilda and launched toward some long-forgotten destination. Humanity being what it is, the ship ends up segregated by race and privilege, with white […]

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An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

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1/20/2019 | dAvid's CBR11 Review No:3 |

A love letter to video games

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

December 29, 2018 by teresaelectro Leave a Comment

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline was a more recent CBR9 book exchange gift. The backlash for the book was pretty intense, but with the recent film adaptation, I was curious to read it for myself. Thus, I was glad my Mocha Girls Read book club picked it for our white male author theme. I ended up finishing it over 4th of July and surprisingly enjoyed the pop culture filled story. The story follows Wade on an epic quest to essentially save the internet from a fascist capitalist demise. A genius programmer, Halliday created The Oasis, a virtual world so amazing […]

12/29/2018 teresaelectro's CBR10 Review No:16 |

“Sci-fi about language”: a heady entry in a favorite subgenre

Embassytown by China Miéville

December 21, 2018 by alwaysanswerb Leave a Comment

I have a niche interest in “sci-fi books about language” (give me all your recommendations!) and so this one came my way. China Miéville is a pretty highbrow author, and this is a pretty literary SF book. It is pretty focused on its own theoretical linguistics and the xenology behind language. It doesn’t go so much for major character development or plot, but it’s not annoying in the way that it can be when a fictional structure is just a lazy device to deliver a sermon. The focal point of the story is Language (proper noun intentional), spoken by an […]

12/21/2018 alwaysanswerb's CBR10 Review No:49 |

Now Here You Go Again, You Say You Want Your Freedom

The Power by Naomi Alderman

September 30, 2018 by CimbrielShine 2 Comments

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about this book the last week or so, even though I read it back in January. Though I guess I’ve mostly been thinking about the premise – teenage girls suddenly gain the power to hurt and even kill people with an electrical current from their hands. They can share the Power with older women, who can then wield it as well. That sounds particularly appealing with everything happening in the world right now. But I don’t like the Frame story (the male author writing this story, the advice of his female mentor) and how […]

9/30/2018 CimbrielShine's CBR10 Review No:1 |

Journalist, born in Egypt, grew up in Qatar, moved to Canada, now lives in Oregon, writes book about the Second US Civil War. Is Awesome.

American War by Omar El Akkad

September 6, 2018 by Mrs Smith Reads Leave a Comment

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. — George Santayana If you were to guess what might cause a second US civil war, what would it be? Given the current political debate over the Trump administration, one might think it wouldn’t be so much a physical divide as an ideological one. Yet, in American War, by Omar El Akkad, the second civil war is imagined as erupting in 2074 over fossil fuels, because some southern states refuse to give them up, for both industrial manufacturing reasons and, just plain ornery stubbornness. As speculative fiction, El Akkad sets […]

9/6/2018 Mrs Smith Reads's CBR10 Review No:17 |

Without music, life would be a mistake

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

September 1, 2018 by dAvid 5 Comments

CBR10Bingo: So Popular One of my favorite bookstores in the world is Provincetown Books, a tiny space in the center of town, right next to Adams Pharmacy. The owner’s selection is very much my taste, and she always seems to have just what I’m looking for at the moment. This summer, I was on a mission to fill out a few more CBR10Bingo squares, and Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven was at the top of my list. Of course she had it in stock. As soon as I laid the book on the counter, she looked up at me […]

9/1/2018 dAvid's CBR10 Review No:47 |

Speculative extremes of women’s futures clearly demonstrate how everyone loses when inequality wins

Red Clocks: A Novel and The Power by Leni Zumas and Naomi Alderman

August 13, 2018 by Mrs Smith Reads Leave a Comment

I’m reviewing these two books together because despite their opposite takes on speculative futures, they use similar storytelling techniques to describe how women’s lives might be different in both the near, and far future. Naomi Alderman’s The Power imagines a future where women develop an ability to physically harm others with electric shocks. Due to the release and dispersion of an environmental hazard, women begin to develop a “skein” within their bodies which allows them to physically overpower people (men) with a jolt of energy. The strength of this ability varies from woman to woman, but seems to be stronger in women and […]

8/13/2018 Mrs Smith Reads's CBR10 Review No:11 |

A gripping time-travel slave narrative

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

July 26, 2018 by teresaelectro Leave a Comment

Kindred was our June Cannonball Read book club selection. I decided to read both the original novel by Octavia E. Butler and graphic novel adaptation by John Jennings and Damian Duffy. Both works focus on Dana, a young writer living in 1970s northern Los Angeles (much like Butler herself). She is recently married and moving into her new home with her older white husband, Kevin. They seem quite in love and happy. Dana is unpacking some books when suddenly and inexplicably she travels through time to 1815 Maryland. This will unfortunately be one of many trips back in time where […]

7/26/2018 teresaelectro's CBR10 Review No:13 |

Sophia on Who Published This Book Half-Finished?I had the same experience with this book. It came very highly recommended, but I was disappointed.
dAvid on I taught you better than to open doors you can’t closeI only remember the part in the first chapter with an amputation, but the actual act only takes a few paragraphs. I grew up in...
allisonata on I joined the crowdYou hit the nail on the head: torture porn. I felt uncomfortable sitting through so much unnecessary suffering, in so much detail. I wasn't sure...
yesknopemaybe on I taught you better than to open doors you can’t closeHey can you tell me how much graphic medical stuff there is in this? I've been wanting to read it, but I'm not sure I...
yesknopemaybe on Goes Down EasyOoh, curious to see what you think!