Tag: Science Fiction

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

Fiction

I had high hopes for this book when I first started it, but the longer I read it the less I was into it. I feel like I only continued to read it because there were some mildly interesting things going on and I just wanted to know if certain characters were going to be alive or dead at the end of the story.

The main characters of the story are wife and husband, Maddie and Nate, and their son, Oliver. Maddie is an artist, she creates sculptures from recycled materials, Nate is a cop, and Oliver is an overly sensitive teenager. At once, it is very obvious that Oliver’s immense empathy is going to be a major focal point in the novel. Also established early on is how Nate’s terrible relationship with his father is going to be very crucial to the story. Additionally, I got the sense very early on that there was something wrong with Maddie, mentally. The story is part mystery, part thriller, part supernatural. 

Now let me just get straight into all the things I didn’t really like about this novel. There were several different plots going on at once and sometimes it was obvious that you were reading the main plot. Sometimes the author would tell you outright that you were in the past. And sometimes at some point you would figure out for yourself that you were reading a passage that was not happening in the present, and the main characters were not actually the people you were reading about on those pages. I don’t mind a story that jumps between past, present, and even future events, but what made me not enjoy this so much was the fact that sometimes we found ourselves in the past or present of other realities. And some of the realities were so similar that it made it hard to keep track of which passages were part of the reality that the main characters were in, and which ones were the side plots. 

Sometimes, you would think you were reading from a certain character’s perspective only to find out that no, you weren’t. It really interrupted the flow of the story in my opinion. I found myself questioning what I was reading often, and not in a good way. I think I would have enjoyed the story a lot more if the author had picked one way to exercise our brains. I think the back and forth between past and present, this reality and that reality, and both of those elements combined, was what made me slowly lose interest. It wasn’t that bad for the entire book, it started to get more and more jumbled around in the second half of the novel. So, yeah, the first half of the book was pretty decent, then it got messy in the second half.

Then there is the title of this novel. I find that it makes you think that ‘the’ Book of Accidents is going to be important and prominent. But it isn’t. It plays a very small part in the overall plot of the book. I think the author could have come up with something better. 

Finally, I’m just going to say it, I think the character Edmund Walker Reese was redundant. I think you could have taken that character out of the story and it would have been exactly the same. He wasn’t needed and he didn’t add anything to the story. The fate of Nate could have reached its conclusion in another way, he didn’t need to have that moment of redemption in order to go through that door. 

I think this could have been a better story. I think the author got a little carried away. It’s like he wrote this book based on a bunch of different ideas that he had, and he couldn’t pick one so he just tried to write all of them into one story. I think that if he separated some of his ideas and organized them better he could have written two or three better novels utilizing different parts of this story. Edmund Walker Reese and his obsession with numbers and murder could have been one book on its own. I am actually disappointed that the story didn’t get into him very much at all. Jed, his alcoholism, how he went about researching and writing his novels, the tragedy with his family, that could have been a book. And then the main plot with Maddie, Nate, and Oliver could have been a separate book, if it were thought out better. So even though this book got great reviews, it is not something I would read again or recommend.

The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz

Fiction, Short Story

I have had a rough few weeks. My schedule is all over the place, I feel overwhelmed a majority of the time, and I can’t seem to get into a healthy routine. On top of that, I was sick this past week, sick enough that I had to stay out of the office and stay in bed. As dreamy as mandatory rest time in bed sounds, it didn’t leave me much time to read. When I wasn’t sleeping, or trying to sleep, I was trying to perform basic human functions, like brushing my teeth and making myself food. So all I managed to read this week from my giant TBR pile was a short story.

I don’t remember where I heard about this book, but when I got it in the mail I remember being shocked at how thin it was. And I was even more shocked to see how large the text was within. Due to this, I was able to read the book very quickly. I estimate that many seasoned readers could finish this over their lunch break. 

Sal is a robot that looks like a human and functions almost exactly like one. She lacks the ability to smell and taste, but she learned enough from the tea shop owner who purchased her to be able to cook soups, baked goods, and create tea blends. Clara is a wandering repairwoman who finds herself in awe of Sal, the first robot she has ever met, since they became illegal before she was even born. The two are both set in their ways, having no one in either of their lives influential enough to make them consider change. 

I can’t say much more without spoiling the story, short as it is. But if you’re in the mood for a quick read this is definitely a good choice. I would have enjoyed something a bit longer, I think it would have made the story more exciting and meaningful. But it was good just the same.

Contact by Carl Sagan

Fiction

This is a hefty read, but absolutely worth it. The text is small, and the story is long, but I was so consumed with it that I read it in about three days. This is a science fiction classic, and any fan of the genre must have this on their list.

The book focuses around a woman named Ellie. We are with her for the entire span of her life, from birth until she is in her late fifties, early sixties I believe. I loved her curiosity, how she basically devoted her life to her curiosity through her education and career with her love of math, radio, and astrology. She is intelligent, determined, quite stubborn, devoted to her work, and a dreamer. The story is inspirational while also making you feel insignificant. There is a lot of science and math that goes into telling this tale, so if that is your thing you will find a great deal of enjoyment in this. Math has never been my favorite subject, or a topic that I understand very well, but I liked the story anyway. Even when I barely understood something, the story was well told and interesting and I had a great time reading regardless. If you’re worried about making the commitment to reading this, the book isn’t entirely numbers and theories, it is rich in philosophy, with questions about the universe being posed constantly. It is a real thinking book, I found myself pondering over many of the questions that were posed. Also, there is great interaction between our main character Ellie and the people in her life. Ellie has complicated relationships with most people, from the lack of respect and love she has for her stepfather, frustration over her mothers inability to understand what she does, and failing to find a satisfactory romantic partner. You get a sense of the loneliness of Ellie’s life, her work is rich and fulfilling but she lacks connection with people. 

I also loved how obvious the author makes it that he respects women and considers them equals. This book was written in 1985. The fact that Sagan decided to make his main character a woman was the first thing that impressed me. When the main character is growing up and going to school it was during a time when women were not encouraged to go to college, forget about studying anything in the STEM fields. This book really made a statement in those regards. When the story starts getting political, he also chooses to make the president of the United States a woman. 

I loved the entire book until the very end. I feel like the big secret that her mother dropped on her came out of nowhere. By that I mean there wasn’t really any hint of it, no foreshadowing, unless it was very subtle and I just didn’t pick up on it. I guess maybe there is supposed to be a lesson in it or something. I don’t really know what that lesson might be, I am struggling to see it. I can’t say much more without giving the secret away, but I feel like the way she felt about the person in question was justified and the way she felt about the person she had the strongest feelings for were rightly placed. Her father believed in her more than anyone else, he encouraged her and never told her that she couldn’t do something. Although Ellie is very strong willed, I don’t think she would have accomplished all that she did in her life if she didn’t have at least one valiant supporter in her youth. I also couldn’t make sense of the last two pages of the book. Those two pages confused me more than the book in its entirety. I feel myself wanting to go back and reread those two pages over and over until it makes sense. If you can tell me what you think it means, I’d be delighted to hear it!

Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin

Fiction

I first read the A Song of Ice and Fire series a few years before Game of Thrones was adapted for the screen. It was an exciting time, nothing gets me more pumped up than when I hear that a book I love is going to be turned into a movie or a show. And for the first five seasons, Game of Thrones more than delivered everything a reader would have wanted. The show stuck to the plot of the books very well, the chosen actors suited their roles and played the characters admirably, and the special effects were excellent. But once the show started to go further than what we readers currently had available to us I started to experience feelings of trepidation and happy thrills. It gave me joyful shivers as I watched the show with my friends that did not read the books, knowing what was going to happen and waiting to see their shocked faces when things went bad or took unexpected turns in the plot. It was equally amusing to turn towards my one friend who did read and give them a knowing smirk. When the screen went further than the page, I became one of the non readers, doomed to be surprised with every minute. I was looking forward to being surprised, but also disappointed that Mr. Martin was lagging behind with getting his story on the page. I won’t go into what we all know happened towards the end, that being one of the greatest disappointments in show history. I will only say that I wished for better for certain characters, namely Jon Snow. 

I miss those days. I don’t know if there will ever be a cinematic event like that again in my lifetime. I keep looking for the next best thing. The closest I have come to that is having recently picked up Fire and Blood, which dictates the Targaryen rule in Westeros. It begins with a short history of the first Targaryens who lived on Dragonstone, of whom were there a few centuries before the conquest, and it starts to get detailed after the birth of Aegon the conqueror and his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys. The three dragons were born to their parents Aerion and Valeria Velaryon on Dragonstone, and due to Valyrian customs, Aegon married his older sister Visenya, but even stranger, he also married his younger sister Rhaenys. Due to endless squabbles between the seven kings of Westeros, and an offensive offer made by one king to Aegon, he decided that the best course of action would be to eliminate the seven kings and have a single king to rule over the seven territories. The kings would become lords, still ruling over their individual territories, but answering to a single king. Aegon also decided that the king would be himself. And that is how Targaryen rule began. 

That is all I am going to give you here. The end of this book ends with the individual that came out as victor at the end of the Dance of Dragons, the Targaryen civil war. I won’t say who wins and who ends up as the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, you will either need to read this hefty volume or watch Fire and Blood on HBO. I don’t think the end of the Dance will happen this season, I think there will be a third season and possibly a fourth if they drag it out. So if you really want to know what happens you can either be incredibly patient or read this very detailed history. I will say, I am not satisfied with the end, only because I wanted more. I wanted to know everything that occurred from the end of the Dance all the way to the Mad King. There are about one hundred thirty years between the end of the history as detailed in Fire and Blood and the end of the reign of the Mad King. The only thing you get is a family tree and a chronological succession at the very end of the book. There are two more books that I think may give me what I am looking for, those being The World of Ice and Fire and The Rise of the Dragon. Let me see how long I can hold out until I need to get both of those. 

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne

Fiction

I don’t read the classics very often. But when I do, it’s because I feel like it’s something I should read, because it’s a well known piece that history just can’t seem to let anyone forget. In this case however, a friend of mine was praising his love of classic literature after we got into a discussion about books. I mentioned that I would read anything, and he literally walked to his house to pick up one of his two copies of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea for me. 

This was a great book! It didn’t bore me, which I was a bit anxious about before I started. The author beautifully describes various fish and sea creatures that the narrator sees during his journey, some of which I knew of, being an admirer of ocean life, and I can verify that they were described accurately. I love the enthusiasm that is expressed by Professor Aronnax whenever he is able to study a creature by observing it through the large glass panel of the library. The only thing I was disappointed in was the abrupt ending. I would have loved to know a little bit more about what happened to our three captives, but I guess I will just have to take solace in knowing that they got what they wanted in the end.