Don't Forget to Read a Book!

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars. The Short of It Plot:  An international coalition of 100 scientists is sent out on a mission to establish the first colony on Mars, but interpersonal strife mars their mission.  Page Count:  592 Award:  1993 Nebula. Worth a read : No. Fight me. Primary Driver:  (Plot,  World , or Character) Bechdel Test : Pass Technobabble:  (Technobabble * Technobabble) < Technobabble["Red Mars"] Review:  Undeniably a masterpiece of hard SF. Incredibly in depth and thought through systems and technologies with a rigorous scientific approach. Also heinously tedious and drier than pre-terraforming Mars. Characters tend to be irrationally inflexible or utterly spineless. Shocking levels of high school-esque romantic drama tossed in to the mix. Pacing is a full on dumpster fire. One can recognize the brilliance of Robinson without finding this remotely enjoyable. The Medium of It Spoiler ...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Ursula K. Le Guin's  Tehanu. The Short of It Plot:  Rejecting a life in court, Tenar settles down to be a farmer's wife. When she takes an abused girl as her ward, she sparks the ire of powerful enemies. Page Count:  289 Award:  1990 Nebula Worth a read : Yes Primary Driver:  (Plot,  World , or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Pass. A++++++ Technobabble:  Nah. Review:  A very different Earthsea. Fresh characters and a more intimate setting offer a much clearer image of day to day life, while background rumblings from those in power herald big changes. Excellent characterization all around, including of villains. Le Guin's writing is excellent, as always. Plot is mostly characters reacting to situations beyond their control - but characters are compelling and writing is crisp enough that it works. The Medium of It Spoiler Free! When I first read this book I was probably in fifth grade - and I hated it. Why shi...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Michael Swanwick's  Stations of the Tide. The Short of It Plot: Someone is breaking interplanetary laws and spreading illegal technology, and the culprit must be found before cyclical tides rise, completely changing a planet. Page Count: 252 Award:  1991 Nebula Worth a read : No Primary Driver:  (Plot,  World , or Character) Bechdel Test : Fail Technobabble:  High Review:  Plenty of neat ideas that do not sum to more than their parts. Somehow feels both rushed and tedious. A lot of thought went into the broader world and setting, but the same care was not given to any other aspects of this book. After a solid opening chapter it's all downhill. Uninteresting characters with weak motivations butt heads over uninspired conflicts. A lot of unnecessary sex thrown in, hoping to keep the reader engaged.  The Medium of It Spoiler Free! This is an incredibly ambitious work that falls far short of its potential. The wo...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Connie Willis's  Doomsday Book. The Short of It Plot: A historian's time travel to the Middle Ages grows more and more complicated - and a crisis in the present adds new dangers. Page Count:  592 Award:  1992 Hugo, 1992 Locus SF, 1992 Nebula Worth a read : Yes. Primary Driver:  ( Plot ,  World , or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Past Technobabble:  Some babble, but often relevant. Review:  An array of excellent characters and compelling relationships ground two parallel stories. World building is excellent and remarkably prescient. Brilliant use of small setting details work wonders. Willis uses tropes well - leaning into some and spinning others in unexpected ways. A few unnecessary subplots stretch the length of this novel and slow pacing, but that is the only real issue.  The Medium of It Spoiler Free! Wait a second! Aren't you jumping a few years in your reviews? Are you just trying to avoid writing up the V...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Elizabeth Ann Scarborough's  The Healer's War. The Short of It Plot:  A nurse in Vietnam tries to navigate the everyday danger of life on the front, and puts herself at risk to care for others. Page Count:  336 Award:  1989 Nebula Worth a read : No Primary Driver:  (Plot, World, or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Pass Technobabble:  None Review:  Turns out the Vietnam War was not that great. Turns out being a woman in a warzone is not that great. Turns out viewing your enemies as subhuman is not that great. This is a character-driven story, and is semi-autobiographical. Kitty is likeable enough, though inconsistent. There is not really a story, exactly. She is thrown from one situation to another, usually without agency of her own. Pacing is all over the place. Not a terrible book but feels like yet another war story in a long line of such. The Medium of It Spoiler Free! It is a bit uncomfortable to say, "Hey, yo...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Lois McMaster Bujold's  Falling Free. The Short of It Plot:  Quaddies were genetically engineered to thrive in null gravity. Too bad they're basically kept as slaves. Page Count:  320 Award: 1988 Nebula Worth a read : For a Vorkosigan Saga completionist: Yes. But can be skipped. Primary Driver:  (Plot,  World , or Character) Bechdel Test : Pass Technobabble:  Yes. Review:  One of the weaker stories in the Vorkosigan Saga. Characters lack depth - and the childlike state in which the quaddies are kept becomes grating. Pacing is decent and the story is somewhat engaging. Leo Graf, the main "standard" human character, is far more compelling than any of the quaddies. Corporate greed is a believable but underwhelming bad guy, because [gestures vaguely at everything]. The Medium of It Spoiler Free! This is the first book in the Vorkosigan Saga chronologically, but should actually be read later. It is a prequel that exami...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about C J Cherryh's  Cyteen. The Short of It Plot: The only person brilliant enough to run the cloning colony cannot live forever - but a perfect copy of her can take her place. Page Count:  680 Award:  1989 Hugo and 1989 Nebula   Worth a read : No Primary Driver:  (Plot,  World , or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Pass Technobabble:  Oh yes. Review:  Slow, dull, and plodding, this book is a rough read. Interpersonal relationships are the backbone of the story but a lack of believable or compelling characters make it all fall flat. Beneath it all are some legitimately interesting questions of identity and self, couched in the context of cloning but more broadly applicable. These are posed as unresolved questions, and would be better served by a short story than a text girthy enough to pull a body underwater. The Medium of It Spoiler Free! Beyond basic premise from the book blurb. There is something about C J ...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Pat Murphy's  The Falling Woman. The Short of It Plot:  An estranged mother and daughter are reconnected on a troubled archaeological dig. Page Count: 287 Award:  1987 Nebula Worth a read : No Primary Driver:  (Plot, World, or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Pass Technobabble:  None Review:  A bland coming of age story/relationship drama with pretensions of being either horror or suspense. Characters are flat: the woman who threw herself into her career and ignored her family, the man who needs to protect people, the old woman who is superstitious. Story is a plodding mess that is meant to give the characters and their interactions the spotlight - but characters don't deliver, and the whole thing crumbles. Boring and predictable. The Medium of It Spoiler Free! One spoiler, but it's in the blurb of the books, so, deal. This is another book that falls into the broad category of dull, tedious, and dry stories withou...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Orson Scott Card's Speaker for the Dead. The Short of It Plot: Ender Wiggin travels to the only planet where humans are interacting with another species, in the hopes of finding somewhere to leave the Bugger Queen.  Page Count: 419 Award:  1986 Nebula, 1987 Hugo Worth a read : Yes Primary Driver:  (Plot,  World , or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Pass Technobabble:  Moderate. Review:  A very different side of Ender, but a believable development. A truly massive cast of characters to keep track of, for the most part successfully. The Piggies are excellent - aliens with confusing customs, misunderstandings, physiology, and so on. And all grounded with some compelling and heartbreaking human drama. A worthy follow up to Ender's Game .  The Medium of It Spoiler Free! Well, spoilers for Ender's Game  but not this one. Go read that first! Well, here we are, hanging out with Ender once more. This is a different En...

Hello, Stranger. Let's talk about Orson Scott Card's  Ender's Game. The Short of It Plot:  When the Buggers return, we're going to need the greatest military mind Earth can produce to stop them. Which means we need to start training young. Page Count: 256 Award:  1985 Nebula, 1986 Hugo Worth a read : Absolutely Primary Driver:  ( Plot , World, or  Character ) Bechdel Test : Possible Technical Pass? But Likely Fail. Technobabble:  Moderate. Review:  Look, it's great, okay? Writing is solid, characters are consistent, pacing is deftly executed. Stakes are maintained throughout. Relentless nature of issues brilliantly done - the moment one issue is solved, another appears. It's just a really great book. It's got some flaws, sure. But it's just a joy to read. I'm also extremely biased: this is also the first real science fiction book I can recall reading, when I was nine. The Medium of It Spoiler Free! I read this book under Mr. Hess's desk, duri...