What was your gateway into speculative fiction? What made you decide to write it?
Oh gosh. So many things! My childhood was a perfect storm of geekery. My brother John was my first Dungeon Master and the clerk at my local comic shop. My mom was deep into the 80s Doctor Who fan community. In prose, I was mostly getting fantasy early on. CS Lewis and Lloyd Alexander and Susan Cooper, but then I discovered Douglas Adams when I was in maybe 5th grade, and the damage was done. I can’t remember when I found out, but my mom was actually working on a kids sci-fi novel when I was a baby. She was home with me, and I was — I dunno — spitting up on myself in my crib, and she was at the dining room table writing out a whole book longhand. Multiple complete drafts! Hundreds and hundreds of pages. I don’t think she ever got as far as sending it out to editors, etc. but it shaped her. And us! I grew up just… *intrinsically* aware that stories aren’t just a thing that’s given to us. They’re things that anyone can create — that *everyone* can create — and share with the world.
Douglas Adams is who I thought of immediately when my group previewed your book, “Percival Gynt and the Conspiracy of Days.” To me, it had that same fun vibe without having the comedy detract from the story. Other than Adams, what inspirations did you draw on for “Percival Gynt”?
I’m a neurodiverse author. I have ADHD. And one of the things I’ve learned about myself over the years is, whether as author or audience, my brain is really geared to fiction that tries to do everything. That’s funny and scary and sad and exciting and thoughtful and ridiculous and and and… I actually have a bad habit of falling asleep watching TV or movies, even stuff I like, if it’s just the same tone over and over. My brain has a hard time maintaining focus.
There’s a movie I saw this year called EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE that I adore, and I caught an interview with the directors on NPR where they described the movie as “maximalist.” As in, the opposite of minimalist. And it was a real light bulb moment for me, because I never had a word for it before, but that’s absolutely it. I write maximalist fiction. So a lot of my inspiration is just “everything I’ve ever loved in a blender” but I also have these touchstones, creators or works that really exemplify what I’m trying to do. I go back to a comic book guy, Kieth Giffen, who was doing this amazing stuff with JUSTICE LEAGUE and LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES in the late 80s. To BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, which magically sprang into existence without a writer. To PRINCESS BRIDE. The movie and, maybe more importantly, the book. And to Shakespeare, when I’m feeling fancy!
I definitely get a sense of “everything and the kitchen sink” in this book, but you make it work! There are at least 3 possible sequels teased in the novel–will we be seeing more of Percival Gynt and/or others?
Indeed! The one I can talk about is PERCIVAL GYNT AND THE INEVITABILITY OF FIRE AND OTHER CASES which, if the stars align and fate finds favor, should finally be out in 2023. It’s a short story collection, set mostly before the events of CONSPIRACY OF DAYS, and structured so that it can be enjoyed equally by new and returning readers. In it, Percival catches killers, slays monsters, exorcizes ghosts, and saves Christmas! And plays bridge. Not well, but he’s a good sport about it. Oh. And the title novella, THE INEVITABILITY OF FIRE, is structured like an old-time Choose Your Own Adventure!
So lots of fun ridiculous stuff, and along the way we’re watching this flawed young man grow into the hero of CONSPIRACY OF DAYS.
I can’t wait to read about Percival saving Christmas, among other things! Where can readers find you?
I’m @drewmelbourne on Twitter until it implodes and I’m forced to decamp to Instagram, Hive, Mastadon, or Fnargle. And my website, https://drewmelbourne.com, is a great place to find out more about my work, with links to reviews, interviews, merch, and more.
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
I’ll be reading and reviewing every semifinalist for the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest! Check out my list with blurbs, covers, links, and first impressions for all the semifinalists here. Please let me know what you think of any/all of these books! I love comments, and love talking about books.
Captain Iridius B. Franklin seems to have astronomically bad luck as a starship captain. No matter what he does, something always goes terribly wrong. That’s why he’s relegated to hauling land whale dung and mining waste around rather than flying a more glamorous ship. But it’s also why he gets selected to do a shakedown cruise to test out the Gallaway, a top-of-the-line ship that they want to be sure has all the kinks worked out. Well, Franklin of course runs into trouble, and the barebones crew of hard-on-their-luck people he selected for the shakedown journey has to help him solve a galaxy-threatening problem.
What you see is what you get in this novel. The description above tells you most of what you’re going to get. While there are twists–I was a big fan of what happened with the primary threat in the novel–the core of it is a silly adventure in space with stakes that are comedically high for the crew we’ve got. Mileage on this one will vary wildly with how much readers enjoy that kind of fun romp. For me it was a good read and an excellent listen. The narrator for the audiobook is top notch and makes the novel even more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.
I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the main threat, too. I can’t say much more than that without seriously spoiling some of the best parts of the story, so I want to just say that if the idea of a fun afternoon read with a pretty compelling main villain is what you’d like, you should check the book out.
Shakedownersis an enjoyable romp that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It will appeal to fans of the speculative fiction/humor mashup.
Links
Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
I’m reading and reviewing many books from the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest as a judge. Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).
An asteroid strike to the moon leads to unknown particles falling on Earth. Are they dangerous, are they benign? Some time ago, Tahira made a promise that the ordeal would bring humanity closer together. Fast forward to now, and that isn’t true. Humanity seems to go on as it always did, with petty rivalries and oppression as the stark reality for so many. When Tahira discovers the Riebeckite is more than meets the eye, many factions are drawn into the fold to find out more or stop her from telling all.
The tension ramps up quickly and maintains the pressure throughout the novel. O.R. Lea does a good job balancing plot exposition with intensity, making the book compulsive reading after a while. There’s enough hard sci-fi mixed in to make the conflict realistic, even as the conflict spans nations. Tahira and Zareen make a great lead pair, with a complex relationship that is believable and touching at times.
I did wonder at times why more people weren’t caught up into the conflict. The nature of the Riebeckite is a central aspect of the book, and one would think that it would be studied by far more people and that many more people would be taken into conspiracy theories, scientific research, and more related to it.
The audiobook was read well, with a pace that was neither too slow nor too fast, and the sound balancing was done well.
I found Reibeckitea fascinating read that combines elements of hard sci-fi, a touch of horror, and even some inspirations from comics together into one coherent whole. I was glad to see it was book one of a series, because I’m interested to read more. Thanks to Lea for a copy of the audiobook!
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
I’ll be reading and reviewing every semifinalist for the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest! Check out my list with blurbs, covers, links, and first impressions for all the semifinalists here. Please let me know what you think of any/all of these books! I love comments, and love talking about books.
Hammer and Crucible starts with a mystery- what happened to Danny Andela and her family? When questions begin to arise about her son, she gets thrown in with her granddaughter to solve a mystery that might have much wider implications than they realize.
What follows is a slow burn that builds up as Cooper peels away layer after layer of the complex world that’s been created for this series. One of the great joys of reading this book was how Cooper integrates technology into the story. One of the great joys of science fiction is seeing how authors manipulate existing ideas and tech to come up with new uses of existing technology or extrapolating new technology and inventions entirely, and I loved how Cooper used this to great impact throughout the story. Whether it was the anti-aging treatments or the extremely fun nanotech-driven spaceship later in the novel, the technology felt seamlessly real in this futuristic story and continued to impress upon the reader the setting.
The novel is driven by its plot, which goes through a fairly step-by-step journey to solve the central mystery. Since the characters don’t have much to work with at the beginning, they basically just follow a logical path of chasing the one lead they have, following the lead that one gives, etc. until the end of the novel. Again, this plays into the slow burn nature of the story. While the impact of the story is big, the way it plays out is quite intimate and even plodding at points. I would have liked to see perhaps a quicker lead in to the major events of the novel.
I enjoyed that we had a main character who wasn’t a teen or twenty-something. There’s nothing wrong with people that age as main characters, but they seem to dominate a lot of speculative fiction, so having a grandma as the main perspective made for a refreshing difference. I also thought the main story was well-done. The characters grew into relationship with each other through the book, and I thought that was a great way to bring dramatic tension and resolution about.
Hammer and Crucibleis a solid read with big implications, interesting plot points, and great tech. I recommend it for fans of story-driven space opera.
Links
Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
Of Mycelium and Menis a novel of human colonization that builds into being a truly wonder-filled story. Humans have traversed the stars for far longer than they thought would be necessary, leading to the colony ship becoming a generational ship. Now that they’ve found a planet that has at least some possibility for survival, the hard work begins.
The planet itself, Lida, is found to be covered in a biomass that is relentless in its efforts to take back over the ecological hole that appears when humans burn it away at their landing site. What they don’t realize–but we, as the reader, do–is that the biomass seems to have at least some capacity of awareness/thought/categorization processes. And so even as the humans fight against what they see as a fungal-animal-plant invasion of their new home, we readers realize more is going on. That makes for some incredible storytelling moments as Tracy manages to bring forth elements of horror to the reader as they experience the awfulness of combat with such a relentless, adapting foe even as they know there is a bigger story behind it all.
The book moves more quickly through time as it goes on. It starts off with detailed overviews of the action sometimes even a day at a time, but eventually skips ahead year(s) and gives a broader perspective of how the events have shaped the planet and the characters. And those characters are excellent, too. There’s some political drama going on between the Generationals–those who were in charge on the ship–and the Admins, who are genetically enhanced to live for centuries. There is a military group bread for quick reactions and warfare, and Anderson, our perspective from their side, turns into a much deeper person than it initially seems. There is familial drama, even heart-rending drama. Characters are a big strength.
I loved how Tracy implemented thoughtful science into the book. The biomass seems utterly believable and sent me to search elements of the background info multiple times–fungi are weird! I also loved the combination of this level of hard sci-fi with the horror and space colonization. It made the book feel familiar and unique all at once.
Another thing I love about this book is that it has diverse characters simply as a product of humanity. It doesn’t feel forced in any way. People just live their lives, love who they love, and move on. Religion is only briefly mentioned (I’m religious myself, so I love seeing how authors treat it in sci-fi) basically as something the people practice in whatever way they grew up with. People are just… people, and it feels very real and natural.
A final note: Tracy nails the landing on this one. He manages to combine the urgency of needing more with having enough satisfaction and closure on several characters to make it not feel like a pure cliffhanger to make you want more. Hopefully that lengthy, run-on sentence makes sense. I guess what I’m saying is I loved this book on its own but I definitely need–not want–the next one.
Of Mycelium and Men is a phenomenal sci-fi novel. It’s got hard sci-fi, diversity of characters, and elements of horror to make it compulsive reading. It’s free on Kindle Unlimited, but well worth the price of admission at whatever price you pay. Get it, read it, come back here and talk about it. I recommend it highly.
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
I’m reading and reviewing many books from the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest as a judge. Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).
Zoe Antos is a scientist working for a corporation whose goal is to help reverse and prevent the spread of climate change. When she heads home from work after a strange encounter in a parking lot, she is kidnapped and thrust into a web of conspiracy that she hadn’t even suspected existed.
That description might lead you to suggest the book is a thriller, and you’d be right. While there are plenty of sections to slow down and think about things, much of the plot revolves around Zoe, her fiancé, Cole Wilborn, and his family and the corporation. Zoe begins to discover more about a conspiracy happening and she suspects that she may have been deceived. It keeps building from there.
There’s not much I can say about the rest of the plot without revealing too many spoilers. What I will say is that it is a compelling narrative, and I especially enjoyed the way that Holly Ash wrote the interaction between the two main characters. I appreciated the directions she took the plot.
The book was submitted as a science fiction novel, and it is that, but only in the lightest terms. At its core, this is an eco-thriller with science fiction trappings. And to me, that’s fine. I don’t believe in gatekeeping genre lines, and this one definitely qualifies as sci-fi in my opinion. If there’s a downside to the book, it’s that I thought some of the way the police interacted related to Zoe’s kidnapping stretched credulity a bit.
Cleansing Rainis a captivating, hyper-focused read. Ash provided me with an audio version of the book for review, and I’m happy to report the reader does a fine job capturing the characters and the intensity of the plot. I listen at a fairly accelerated speed (2-2.5x) and was quite satisfied with the audio performance. The book is recommended for those interested in eco-thrillers or thrillers more generally.
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
The Self-Published Science Fiction Contest exists to elevate interest and readership in indie science fiction. I’m excited to announce this year’s semifinalists to you, dear readers! I hope you’ll find something to read among this diverse array. I’ll end with the semifinalists from my own team, and I’ll be starting with the semifinalists my team was assigned to read to determine finalists. My plan is to read and review every semifinalist, regardless of whether it was assigned to my group or not. I’ll have quotes around sections from blurbs I posted, and my own thoughts, along with links to the books to buy on Amazon.
“When Jossey was ten, the creatures of the aboveground took her brother and left her for dead, with horrible scars. Now, years later, she’s a successful solar engineer, working to keep her underground city’s power running, but she’s never really recovered. After she saves dozens of people during a second attack, she is offered a top-secret assignment as a field Engineer with Patrol, but fear prevents her from taking it…until Patrol finds bones near where her brother disappeared.”
Initial Thoughts
Aestus is the chonkiest book our group received, and I’ve already started. The first chapter was gripping, and it appears to be shaping up to an intriguing, mysterious adventure.
“Some starship captains explore strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilisations. Some lead missions of discovery through wormholes to the other side of the galaxy. Then there’s Captain Iridius B. Franklin, someone who spent too long seeking out strange new bars and new alien cocktails. After graduating bottom of his class at Space Command Academy Iridius Franklin hasn’t had the glamorous career he envisioned, instead he hauls cargo ships full of mining waste, alien land whale dung, and artificially intelligent toy dogs across the stars.”
Initial Thoughts
Okay, I could get into this. I don’t know why but I’m reminded a bit of the scenes in Titan A.E. where the main character is down-on-his luck and not doing much near the beginning. This one clearly is more humor bent and less save the universe bent… maybe? We’ll find out when I review it! This is another book our group was assigned.
“The Fourth Carinad Empire stretches across hundreds of settled worlds and stellar cities, and thousands of light years. The Empire’s people and data are linked by a space-folding gates array controlled by the Emperor and his cohorts. When the array evolves into a sentient entity, it recognizes the Emperor as its foe.”
Initial Thoughts
Okay, this sounds like a big, epic space opera starting off, and I just… I’m so here for it. Our group was assigned this semifinalist.
“Childhood therapy cured Stephen Fisher of disturbing visions and the delusion of having come from another world. But when his daughter obsesses over a star in the night sky, he fears that his genetic legacy may have burdened her with the same illness. His sanity is then shattered when he loses his child and the military abducts him claiming that she recorded a song broadcast from another world.”
Initial Thoughts
I gotta say, this sounds like it’s going to be a sad read for at least parts of it. I am ready to get hit in the feels by this intriguing premise. Our group has this as an assigned semifinalist.
“From her six foot four inch height to the uniform white dots that peppered her skin in perfect geometric patterns, Ellie Whitmore was certainly unusual, but an alien from the other side of the galaxy? Of course not. That’s just what the tabloids said to sell papers.”
Initial Thoughts
Oh, she’s definitely an alien. I wonder what’s going to happen with this space girl from Earth. Our group was assigned this book as a semifinalist.
“A scientist in hiding. An admiral on the brink of treason. A man who has lived hundreds of versions of his life across the same number of dimensions. Three paths converge in one dimension. Their actions will affect them all.”
Initial Thoughts
I’m curious to see how the disparate elements in this blurb will come together. The cover reminds me of another book, but I can’t remember which one. This is the final semifinalist we were assigned.
“May’s humdrum life is flung into hyperdrive when she’s abducted, but not all aliens are out to probe her. She’s inadvertently rescued by Xan, an “I Love Lucy” obsessed alien with the orangest rocket ship in the universe.”
Initial Thoughts
You know who else is obsessed with “I Love Lucy”? Me, as a kid. I have absolutely no idea what to make of this as the driving point in a sci-fi novel, but I’m eager to find out.
“Does she like her job? No. Is she good at it? Also no. She can’t afford to be too good. The last time she got curious it cost her a job, a limb, and almost her life. But when a seemingly simple case takes a gruesome turn, and Bubbles discovers a disturbing connection to the cold-case death of an old friend, she is driven to dig deeper.”
Initial Thoughts
Based on the cover and title, I was not expecting the blurb to sound like a murder mystery. But hey, I love the mash-up of mystery and sci-fi. Let’s find out what Bubbles does next!
“When Alex and Ozzie read their grandfather’s latest “death” letter, they barely blink. Dying six times in two years has to be a record, even for an explorer as incompetent as Sir Quidby Forsythe III.”
Initial Thoughts
Incompetent Explorers, you say? Sounds like a Disney movie waiting to happen! I’m excited to see where this steampunk-looking explorer-drama will take us.
“After diamond power promises to replace steam, an unemployed labourer and a thieving noble unite to foil an international plot and avert a war.”
Initial Thoughts
Steampunk is the name of the game this year, it seems. We’ve already got our second book in the subgenre, and I think there is at least one more in the mix–10%! I love steampunk as a concept, but haven’t found many books I love in that type of setting. Here’s hoping The Diamond Device will be one to add to that collection!
“Kenzie Washington, fourteen-year-old girl genius, signs up for a two-week tour as a cadet on the spaceship of her idol, Captain Dash Drake. Too bad Dash, who once saved the galaxy from the evil Forgers, is a broke loser and much less than meets the eye.”
Initial Thoughts
Does this mean the cover is Kenzie closing her eyes in exasperation? Maybe! I love the cover here, and I know you shouldn’t judge books by them, but I’m interested in the premise, too. We’ll see.
“In the near future, a stellar collision with a rogue planet destabilizes the sun’s fusion output, turning it into a ticking time bomb. With the ever-increasing heat, earth will become uninhabitable within a decade.”
Initial Thoughts
Hey! A hard sci-fi book in the mix. I have a lot of fun in that subgenre in sci-fi, so consider me ready to tackle this story that looks to mesh science and plot.
“A troubled young woman is recruited by a race of ancient alien explorers to be their emissary to save the human race from extinction. The problem is that not everyone believes the world is doomed, and not everyone trusts the aliens’ motives. Holly Burton will have to overcome opposition from world leaders, attacks by religious zealots, assassination attempts, intractable bureaucracies, and her own fears and doubts if she is to save the human race, not just from the coming apocalypse, but from itself.”
Initial Thoughts
Well that sounds like an easy enough job, right? I anticipate a lot of flustered conversations between alien and emissary as they try to figure out why humans can’t er… figure it out.
“Jason Sietinen lives in the shadow of greatness. He’s worked hard to become a TSS officer in his own right, but having war heroes for parents is hard to top. When Jason is assigned to investigate a mysterious attack, he finds evidence of powerful transdimensional beings never before seen. Or so he thought.”
Initial Thoughts
Space opera with forgotten aliens? Sometimes, I’m a simple man, and I just want that. Hoping we’ll see some awesome twists and galaxy building in this first book in a series.
“When man and machine are one and the same, there are many crimes but only one sin: psyche-wipe. The secrets it has buried could lead to a civilization’s salvation, or to its doom.“
Initial Thoughts
Cyberpunk on a grand scale is often a challenging feat. I will be interested to see where Jennsen takes this one.
“Leo MacGavin is not the brightest specimen of humanity. But when he inadvertently rescues a flirty alien heiress, he’s promoted from second-rate lounge entertainer to captain of the galaxy’s most sophisticated cruise ship.”
Initial Thoughts
We’ve got another read that seeks to blend comedy and sci-fi, which is a tentative combo for me. We’ll see how it goes, but I do love the cover on this one–and the “your old pal” to introduce the author.
“When the Home worlds finally achieved the technology to venture out into the stars, they found a graveyard of dead civilizations, a sea of lifeless gray planets and their ruins. What befell them is unknown. All Home knows is that they are the last civilization left in the universe, and whatever came for the others will come for them next.”
Initial Thoughts
I love the campy cover combined with the epic description. What kind of book is this going to be? Will it hearken back to 1950s-60s sci-fi? We’ll see!
“One day, Jyosh will climb the heavens and slay a dragon god. Though nothing could seem less likely for a slave, especially one whose body is too broken to cycle sunshine into destructive magical energy. Until he meets a woman who can secretly teach him the lightblade, an energy sword transmuted from sunlight, capable of changing size, shape, and performing incredible magical feats according to the wielder’s skill level.”
Initial Thoughts
The blurb reads a bit like LitRPG or gamelit, and the author appears to write a lot in that subgenre. I haven’t read much of it as a subgenre but basically loved everything I have read therein. Consider me excited to get to this one!
“Troy carries more secrets with him than most. A test subject for experimental surgery, a clone gengineered from modified lab mice, an addict. He tells himself that his past is behind him, but he’ll never escape his childhood in Lake North’s labs. What was done to him there, what he was made into, what he did.”
Initial Thoughts
Dat cover tho. It’s so beautiful. Malcolm F. Cross was the author of Dog Country, possibly my favorite book from last year’s contest (my review here). It’s safe to say that I am eagerly looking forward to devouring this read. Cross writes haunted characters with deep backstories and realistic motivations. I can’t wait.
“The colonization of Mars has begun. Following a rapid expansion of the manned space program due to the discovery of a potentially catastrophic Earth-crossing comet, Zubrin Base has been established on the Red Planet to oversee the capture of the rogue object.”
Initial Thoughts
Possibly terrible comets are a legitimate fear for the long term health of humanity on Earth. Night Music‘s blurb reads like another hard sci-fi novel dealing with that threat, and I want to know where Cabral takes it.
“Nothing is what it seems in this speculative thriller about a quantum computer scientist, virologist, podcaster, venture capitalist, and assassin coming together to untangle a twisted enigma that will change the course of future history. Everyone has something to hide, and every transgression is a portal to discovery.”
Initial Thoughts
You had me at “quantum computer scientist” and then just piled on more interesting threads. I am here for it. Let’s see where Reap3r takes us!
“The kid disappeared two days ago. Missing. Abducted. Murdered. What have you… Just another in an endless line of indigent kids wrung from the dregs of the Machine City. And it’s my job to find him.”
“Professor Kilmer, a renowned historian of war and diplomacy, is collected from his home and whisked off to Washington. Thrust into the highest levels of government as an adviser to the President, the young historian must come to terms with the seemingly impossible, figure out how to navigate a world where not everything is as it appears, and use all the skills and knowledge he has acquired in his life to help save humanity from a conflict of truly epic proportions.”
Initial Thoughts
I like history and therefore am rooting for this historian to do whatever it is he needs to accomplish.
“In 2050, the United States of America finally crumbled. Jake Weintraub’s family fled the burned-out ruins of Chicago for the safety of the artificial island steading of Pono. Now grown, Jake works as an independent journalist, but the horrors of the Chicago River Riots still haunt him. As Pono watches, safe in the Pacific Ocean, the West Coast nation of Cascadia collapses under a further series of catastrophes. Thousands of desperate refugees arrive on Pono’s shores – homeless, stateless, and hungry.”
Initial Thoughts
Okay, this is a great setup for questions of colonialism, empathy, and more. I can’t wait to see what happens.
“Time is running out for the people of New Pallas. Nobody knows that better than Alvera Renata, a tenacious captain determined to scout past the stars with nothing but a handpicked crew and a promise: to find a new home for humanity. But when a perilous journey across dark space leads to first contact with a galactic civilisation on the brink of war, Alvera soon realises keeping her word might not be as easy as she thought.”
Initial Thoughts
I love that it’s not just humans running into a totally intact civilization and having to deal with them either rejecting or helping us but rather that it’s a civilization with war breaking out. That adds some wrinkles to what would otherwise be a premise I’d read several times before.
“Born talentless, Iro has all but resigned himself to a life of drudgery, watching his sister hop across to the massive space titan for supplies. But when the titan explodes and his sister is killed, Iro finds a new determination to take her place. He’s not about to let weakness prevent him.”
Initial Thoughts
Billed as a progression sci-fi, this one also has inspiration from gamelit/etc. written all over it. Basically, the notion behind progression fantasy/sci-fi is that the main character trains hardcore throughout to overcome some challenge. It should be interesting to see where this one goes.
“They call it the Kera: a secret Eden, far from the overcrowded Earth where the air is clean, and summer comes every afternoon at the touch of a button. A new wilderness, deep in the asteroid belt where Kade Morton, teenaged migrant from Earth, can start over.”
Initial Thoughts
Nothing could possibly go wrong in paradise, right? We’ll find out.
The first of my group’s semifinalists, Heritage is space opera on a grand scale. Galaxy-spanning war, massive consequences, and a focus on the crew of a ship make this plot move quickly. Group members loved the scale of it, the characters, and the story. The most obvious comparison to the book would be The Expanse series. I plan to re-read it for the competition later, but for now I hope this has whet your appetite enough to check it out.
I don’t often go for books that lean into comedy, especially when that’s a sci-fi novel. But Drew Melbourne perfectly captured the blend of humor and plot that makes such books work when they do work. And Percival Gynt er… works. That’s what made this our second semifinalist. Tongue firmly planted in cheek, Melbourne throws all kinds of hilarious hijinks at the reader, but the hijinks actually matter on a large scale and are placed within a universe that is, despite being an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink experience, somehow meshes into an intriguing backdrop. I was won over by the tone of the story and stayed to enjoy the characters and evolving plot. An obvious comparison would be Douglas Adams.
A computer whiz uses VR and other technology to become a wizard in this strange story that has elements of gamelit and cyberpunk. What surprised me here was the tonal shift from what read initially like a happy YA adventure to a much more serious read within the span of just a few pages. The ride ends up being a wild one, with twists and turns that reveal more to the reader about the world and characters. Is everything as it seems? Read the book to find out with our group’s third semifinalist.
I’m reading and reviewing many books from the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest as a judge. Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).
It’s difficult to figure out how to begin a review of There Are No Countries. I could start with a plot summary, but that would make it sound too mundane. I could start with some comments about the strangely psychedelic cover, which is alluring and off-putting by turns. Instead, I started as I did here, bemoaning how to begin, as nothing seems quite right to say about it.
There Are No Countries is a story of colonization. Perhaps that’s where to start. There are no sentient species on the planet of Dandros, but there is a castle, from which emanates memories (???) of a traveler named Doug, whose interactions with a being he calls the Goddess are captivatingly strange and sporadically narrated throughout the story. Alongside that, there’s a story of colonization and victory, but only revealed in spurts and half-starts.
The characters are both intimately close and only vaguely present. Reading the story is like wading into a soup of existence and thought, bombarding the reader from multiple perspectives and stories all at once. It doesn’t always make sense, and Smith doesn’t hold the reader’s hand at all. This is one that I feel the strong need and desire to re-read to see if I conceptually am picking up everything there is to find. Indeed, I think this one deserves a slow, peaceful read.
There’s no way to resist comparing this to the New Wave science fiction of the 1960s-70s. The cover is one indicator, but the structure (or structurelessness) of it is another. It reads like a novel stepping into today out of that time, with all the grandeur, splendor, and foibles of the time.
There Are No Countriesis science fiction that hearkens back to the zaniest New Wave science fiction. I loved it.
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
I’m reading and reviewing many books from the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest as a judge. Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).
Tracker220 by Jamie Krakover
“Jewish Cyberpunk” is one of the taglines in the description for this dystopic read and I was already intrigued. Tracker220takes a somewhat well-worn premise–what if we had some kind of implant that could track us and placed that power in the hands of a Very Trustworthy Government?–and twists it by adding elements of religion into the scheme.
I hope you caught the sarcasm in my phrasing of “Very Trustworthy Government” as the surveillance state isn’t what I’d count on for reliability. Kaya Weiss has a tracker system that is glitching and gives her access to far more than she’s supposed to be involved with. The government finds out and the chase is on as Kaya bounced around, ultimately running into a kind of underground movement.
Krakover does a great job riffing on an established dystopic formula. She introduces a few wrinkles to the formula, including the aforementioned question of religion and dystopia that isn’t explored nearly often enough. She also does a great job pacing the story to make it maintain interest throughout.
Tracker220 is highly recommended for readers interested in dystopias that are more action oriented. If The Hunger Games, Divergent, and the like are your jam, then I think you’d find plenty to love here.
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
What was your gateway into speculative fiction? What lead you to write it?
I very distinctly remember seeing Star Wars at the drive-in and then sitting on the floor at the grocery store reading the Marvel Comics right after. This is 1977 and I’m also reading everything the rack. X-Men. Spider-Man. And I was writing or trying to around five or six. Little comics and stories. I read everything. The thrift store always had older scifi books for like 10 cents and then a quarter. Frankenstein is what really got its claws in me, though I’m not a horror person. It always came back to comics. The Body.
I love that it was Star Wars and comics that got you into speculative fiction. That combination reads like an inspiration for “Ever the Hero.” What other inspirations led you to writing this specific novel and featuring diverse characters?
Firefighters in Tennessee let a house burn because the owner didn’t pay a bill for emergency services. At the time, the callousness seemed particular. Now it feels too familiar. Sadly, the book becomes more relevant all the time as states pass bills that outlaw giving bottled water to homeless people among other things.
But right away the idea clicked – what if you had to pay for superheroes? It took a while to get to the right shape. I tried a few different approaches. One was a television pilot. I took that to the Austin Film Festival in 2016 and it made the second round in the Screenplay Competition.
I started writing what became the novel in November of that year. It took some more work before I finally published in 2020.
I wanted the book to reflect the world I live in. I grew up and live in a town in Iowa that has the largest African-American community in the state. I grew up with a lot of girls like Kit. It’s very diverse in general. LGBTQ representation is very important to me as well. I always strive for authenticity and make sure as best I can I’m elevating and honoring. And knowing where my limits are.
Around college I found Kelly Link, David Mitchell, Neil Gaiman, and Michael Cunningham. Writers who were writing speculative fiction with literary elements. That really inspired me.
I both love and hate that a real world event inspired the idea behind the story, and it definitely makes for a fascinating premise. I also appreciate your efforts to have broad representation in your novel. What helped you write experiences beyond your own?
I pride myself on being a good listener. A good observer. I’m curious and I think you have to be to appreciate the world you live in. The people in it. So I want to learn. I want to see the world from different perspectives. That’s one reason the Eververse series shifts protagonists from book to book. My interest is in perspective. Voice. Embodying a character.
In the last few years I’ve learned I’m autistic. I think this informs my interest in how other people a great deal. It helps me with Kit certainly, who is also autistic. This becomes more prevalent as the series goes on, since we’re both on a journey of self-discovery.
What (spoiler free!) can you tell us about the rest of the series and the aliens in future reads? Where can our readers find you?
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
Eclectic Theist 