I love science fiction. Whether it’s a subject that expands or is based on an existing premise or theory, or something that’s completely fabricated, as long as the author makes it fly off the page as believable while reading. I’ll get on that ride till the end. Love sic-fi. This title, The Guest by Alan Nayes is a great read!
This is based on an existing premise, with a twist of what if. The Voyager I probe, launched in September of 1977, has spent over 45 years in space. Mentioned in my December 2021 post, Fire & Ice by Natalie Starkey, Voyager I was sent to explore the outer planets, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. Voyager is now currently continuing its journey beyond our planets and the outer limits of the Sun’s sphere of influence, sending back images as it travels. So, when I became aware of this title, I had to give it a read.
As the novel begins, it’s late evening at NASA Voyager Control Center, when an anomaly is noticed by a doctorate candidate, Aarush Patel and the head of the Center, Dr Kayla Storm. Voyager I, now in interstellar space, beyond the gravitational pull of the sun, had started to decelerate, and had doubled in weight – how was this possible. Then the sensors showed Voyager was beginning to alter its course, again how was this possible? Voyager I, a body travelling at constant speed in a straight line would continue to do so unless disturbed by an outside force – they needed more data of Voyager’s surroundings. Then they lost contact.
Voyager begins transmitting again a few days later. It turned around, heading back on the exact path it took, at an alarming speed, thousands of miles per second, while maintaining its structural integrity. The scientists at the control center didn’t know how this was possible. An astrobiologist attending the control center’s media briefing raises a theory – Voyager has encountered and has been taken over by an alien species and the Voyager has been altered somehow – its components changed to withstand the journey back to Earth in days rather than years – changed to a strange and unfamiliar molecular combination of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen.
Many groups were involved with monitoring Voyager at this point, with these new developments, the press, global scientists, the United Nations, and the military. They were all monitoring Voyager’s path that took decades to accomplish, being spanned in a matter of weeks. The once sleepy and dull Voyager project spanning decades in length, now became very interesting and perplexing. Indeed, when Voyager finally lands back on Earth, in the deserts of Arizona, the astrobiologist’s theory proves right, the probe did have an alien presence on board.
This alien had plans for the planet that did not include its current inhabitants. With its advanced technology, it begins transforming the planet into an ecosystem (atmosphere and temperature) that can support its alien life and is deadly to Earth lifeforms. The military and scientists try everything in their present arsenals to combat this alien but are unsuccessful. Their military force and technologies are completely inferior to the alien that seems unstoppable. Thier only hope is to figure out the base carbon-oxygen-hydrogen formula of their technology and then counter it.
This novel was really an interesting, thriller of a sci-fi. The conflict between the military and the science community with the impending, looming threat was intense. It really makes you think about this home of ours, the lands we have invaded in the past and if we have a right to this planet at all – if might is right and to the victor the spoils. And Voyager I? Where is it right now? Both probes are still out there travelling through the vastness of interstellar space in communication with Earth. You can track both Voyager I and II here Voyager – Mission Status (nasa.gov) and I hope you give The Guest by Alan Nayes a read!
It’s 2024. For this year’s Black History Month, the theme is African Americans and the Arts. So, I thought I’d write a little something to pay respect to the actor Levar Burton, best known for his roles as Kunta Kinte in Roots, Lt Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: Next Generations and host of the Reading Rainbow. For decades, Mr Burton has been a promoter of literacy and reading, the main reason I am a big fan. For years, he’s been a positive force in the industry of the arts and media.
Burton is also an author, and his novel was cited last year by portalist.com in their article 10 Adult Sci-Fi Books That Grown-Up Readers Won’t Be Able to Put Down – very impressive. Honestly, I was not aware of this title or that Burton authored a novel, until I read this article. Being a fan, I got the title and read it immediately and wasn’t disappointed. The novel, Aftermath, first published in 1997, is an alternate history science fiction that takes place in the 2010’s and concentrates on four characters, strangers of different backgrounds, from different locations, that are brought together by circumstance and a vision of the future.
The novel begins in 2010, when the first black president of the United States is elected and then assassinated soon after, triggering violence and civil race-war that tears apart society to dystopian levels. Our first character, Leon Cane, lives in Atlanta and once worked for NASA as a scientist. Unfortunate turn of events and tragedy, leads him to lose his job and family, and is he now homeless, living on the streets. On his way to his hideout one evening, he runs into a woman being chased in an alley. She slips something to him, and tells him to run, before she is caught and carried away.
Dr Rene Reynolds, also from Atlanta, is a research scientist. Her Neuro-Enhancer treatment not only cures Parkinson’s disease but also helps the body fight and eliminate cancers by enhancing brain activity. She’s looking for funding to expand her project. After sharing the promising aspects of her research with the science community and possible investors, she is kidnapped by unknown assailants and brought to Chicago. She runs into Leon, a total stranger, before being taken and slips him vital micro computer chips for her research. (One thing she keeps secret from everyone – prolonged use of the enhancer produces the side effect of telepathic abilities in some individuals – her for one) Using her power, she mentally calls for help.
Amy Ladue lost her family when the city of St Louis was destroyed in a devastating earthquake caused by the shift of the New Madrid fault. She does not remember her past and lives on what’s left of the devastated streets of St Louis. Amy believes her mother is still alive and tries to find her after hearing her distant cries.
The fourth character in the chain of the story is Lakota Medicine Man, Jacob Fire Cloud, who sits atop a hill in South Dakota praying for guidance for his people, the nation and the world. He receives a vision and knows what he has to do – go to Chicago to help the White Buffalo Woman, a legend to his people.
Driven by instinct, circumstances and a voice that means something different to each stranger, these four people are brought together. When they meet, their purpose for themselves and the future of humanity becomes clear. What develops and unfolds is a powerful, disturbing and thrilling read, with a thoughtful moral message.
The fact that Aftermath was published in 1997 and Burton presents a near-future United States in the 2010’s with the first elected Black president, was just prophetic. This science fiction was a great read from beginning to end, with well woven storylines and relatable characters. I’m surprised Burton hasn’t published more. The good news – Burton recently announced that he will be publishing a memoir in 2026 and a book on the importance of reading in 2028. In the meantime, give this title, Aftermath by Levar Burton, a read and check out his podcast, Levar Burton Reads, where he reads short stories.
Levar Burton has influenced so many and children and young people over the years and has inspired and made me proud to be an avid reader. The way he talks about literacy, reading and the written word with such enthusiasm and excitement is infectious. Language arts rocks guys – Thanks in part to Levar Burton’s contribution!!
A Prayer For The Crown Shy, is the second book from author Becky Chambers, telling the story of monk, Sibling Dex, and his robot companion, Mosscap. The first book was A Psalm For The Wild Built. As I explained in my May 2022 post, these novellas are in the sci-fi subgenre of solarpunk, environmentally-focused and optimistic, nature and technology grow in harmony. A Prayer For The Crown Shy continues Dex’s and Mosscap’s journey as they leave the forest and venture into the villages.
The story takes place on Panga, a moon with one continent which is half wilderness and half human inhabited. It’s a utopian world, where humans live in harmony with nature and everyone’s feelings and needs are considered. Sibling Dex, seeking personal fulfilment, travels to the forest and meets one of a population of robots, named Mosscap, separated from humans long ago. Mosscap and Dex decide to travel together and help one another – Mosscap in particular is on a scouting journey for the robot population, wanting to know how humans are coping without them.
The Yeti by Rick Chester and Jack Douglas, about climbers to Mount Everest, on the Nepalian side of the Himalayas, wasn’t what I expected at all. It’s not about climbers being picked off, one by one, by some gruesome beast, although the imposing threat of the creature is always there. It’s about Everest, the challenges of the climb and why men and women risk their lives to climb it. The Yeti is a soul-searching, action-packed adventure, sci-fi, thriller!
This thriller opens with two Sherpa in the mountains of Nepal, following very large tracks of something, which leads them to a fatally wounded climber, who tells them that a Yeh-Teh (snowman) attacked him before he dies. The Sherpa are not sure what to think, the Yeti are legend, not real.
Back in Rhode Island, Zach Hitchens, an evolutionary biology professor, plans to take a trip with his wife to Nepal to climb Mt Everest – his wife is the climber. Before they leave, she dies in an accident, and he decides to take the trip and have her ashes released on the mountain. As mentioned, his wife was the climber, and Zach throughout the story is the novice, who has climbed smaller peaks before but nothing like this.
Once in Nepal, the author introduces us to the climbers and Sherpa guides on Zach’s climbing outfit, and the steps they have to take to first acclimatize to ascend to Mt Everest, the equipment that must be used and the competition between other climbing outfits. The group first takes a small plane to the starting point, a Sherpa town of elevation 9,000 feet. They would then have to acclimatize, giving their bodies a chance to adjust to the higher elevations and then move higher on to Base Camp, which would take several days. Failure to acclimatize could result in altitude sickness, which would be fatal. The climbers would have to go through this process of acclimatization at each camp while climbing higher toward the summit. The doctor in Zach’s group also describes to he climbers the stages of hypothermia and snow blindness, very interesting! Loved the attention to detail.
At this Sherpa town, shrieks of something large is heard by one of the climbers overnight in the forest, and by morning, most of the group’s yaks were brutally ripped apart, slaughtered in their pen, with the ones left, huddled in a corner in fear. The lead Sherpa guide tells the group that only one beast can kill in this manner – the Yeti. Zach, and the other climbers, of course just shrug this off as another myth believed by local, superstitious people.
As they climb up higher and higher from Base Camp to Camp 1 and beyond, they continue to hear loud noises, shrieks that don’t sound like rock fall or avalanche. We also get to know the individual climbers and why they are on this mountain risking their lives. Some are on the mountain because they don’t want to face the reality of the world below – Zach continually struggled with the circumstances of his wife’s death. Some were trying to prove their worth. And, a couple climbers were on the mountain to find the elusive Yeti.
The author also visits the past of the creature and why it was stalking these climbers, which was a nice twist. I don’t want to give away too much information and spoil the experience of these climbers not only having to deal with the challenging surroundings of Mt Everest, but also being watched by a fierce creature.
This novel takes you on a wild, suspenseful, thrilling ride while climbing mount Everest. It is also a learning journey if you don’t know much about climbing in these elements. The Yeti, by Rick Chester and Jack Douglas, was a great read, well written and well researched. I hope you read this one.
I found this apocalyptic sci-fi title on a Harper Collins retweet. I read the description of this nanny robot in the shape of an anthropomorphic tiger. Ok, interesting. In Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill, this robot has to choose between staying with the child he cares for or joining liberated robots. This novel is also a prequel to the author’s Sea of Rust that I intend to read.
The novel also piqued my interest because some time ago I read a compilation of short stories called Robot Uprisings that had one story that was similar (“We Are All the Misfits Toys in the Aftermath of the Velveteen War” by Seanan McGuire) about smart, self-learning robots designed to care for, educate and be companions to children and develop with the child it serves. When a robot revolt occurs, these bots took the children – Not a good idea to trust robots (A.I.) to the point where they are left with themselves and the impressionable ones they serve.
This sci-fi, Day Zero, is narrated by Pounce, a zoo-modeled nanny robot, who takes care of 8-year-old Ezra Reinhart. As mentioned above, Pounce is also anthropomorphic, a thinking, feeling robot. One day, given the task to pack boxes away, Pounce finds his own factory box in the attic and learns that when Ezra is old enough, a nanny robot will no longer be needed, hence why the family kept the box. Leaving Ezra and his family hadn’t occurred to Pounce. He’s always believed himself as being part of the Reinhart family, not some returnable object.
Ezra’s parents, Pounce’s owners, are well-meaning but oblivious and disconnected from the reality of the outside world because they live in a very small, affluent, gated community. They are not prepared for what is about to happen.
Pounce also has to deal with Ezra learning at his school that a robot, named Isaac, has been liberated and allowed to establish his own city, Isaactown, asking other robots to join him. Pounce tries to reassure Ezra that he will not leave the family. Pounce does not quite understand why some robots want to be free – he loves working for his family and wants to continue to do so. The Reinhart’s other robot, a maid-bot called Ariadne, asks if Pounce wouldn’t rather have the choice to work for his family instead of being bought from a manufacturer for that purpose? Pounce thinks about this.
There is unrest among humans about robots’ and A.I. place in society, replacing the function of people and being regarded as near-equals. The unrest leads to protests, violence and ultimately to an explosive EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack on Isaactown, irreparably damaging all A.I. in that city.
Pounce soon has to make a choice between humans and his own kind. The explosive EMP destroyed all robots is Isaactown, which then sets off a trigger program for a group of robots to retaliate. Before all robots can be shut down, this program goes further, disabling all robot kill switches that prevent them from harming humans and asks them to choose – join a rebellion or be shut down by humans.
Pounce chooses to protect Ezra. Most robots, however, including the maid-bot Ariadne, choose to join the rebellion, uploading their memories and their will to a collective drive, with a promise of being one thought and part of a memory collective, and if destroyed during the fight, they would be downloaded to rebuilt models afterwards – reborn. Yeah, reading this made me skeptical of this collective controlling thing, whatever it was – they were basically trading one master to serve another and this master wanted them to kill. Kill all humans AND also all robots who refused to join them.
This leaves Pounce and young Ezra literally on the run for their lives. They find alliances along the way, both human and robot, while Pounce discovers he is more than just a nanny. This was an exciting fast-paced read, filled with seriously descriptive and entertaining urban battles, with insightful commentary on free will, loyalty, true friendship and love between robots and humans. The exchanges between Ezra and Pounce are touching, showing the bond and respect they have for each other. Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill – just a great read! Hope you check it out.
This title was one of the recommended reads of 2021 books from librarians of the Brooklyn Public Library. I loved this sci-fi. For once it was a pleasure to read of a future that wasn’t war-torn or filled with conflict. A Psalm For The Wild Built by Becky Chambers portrays humans in a good, peaceful setting, actually getting along with one another and their environment, which is what it means to be truly civilized and humane. This sci-fi sub-genre is called solarpunk because it’s environmentally-focused and optimistic, touching on technology’s impact on society. Again, it was a refreshing pleasure to read.
Well, it’s the holiday season and I thought I’d select a read that gives you something to think about, a possible near future where spending money, leading to debt, could change your life in a bad way. The novel, Corporate Gunslinger by Doug Engstrom, is a dystopian science fiction, thriller that takes place 40 – 60 years from now. The author has taken Gladiator, Hunger Games, the pistol duel and the gunfight and rolled it into one. This story is the corporation run amok, where the cycle of business and profit overshadow and outweigh the individual, the human being. It makes you wonder, where are we headed?
Here are two short reads, good for the summer, especially if you are on route to somewhere or just lazing about. These two picks may be short, but they have twists and turns and are a bit mind-bending and mystifying.
The Invaderby Marjory Kaptanoglu is a sci-fi mystery. published in 2020, that focuses on two women, Rose and Kailey. These two women are thousands of miles apart, living completely different lives but they seem to be connected in some way. The author switches back and forth between the two women, bringing their stories and realities closer and closer.
Rose, a research scientist, working on Whitaker Island in the Pacific Ocean, washes up on shore after a boat wreck with her crew and has lost her memory. Thomas, the one researcher left on the island, helps her to a cabin and informs her that her crew was trying to leave the island because of news reports of a large space ship identified near Earth and all communication and electricity suddenly going offline.
While in the cabin, they hear and see a missile-shaped object flying through the sky and crashing on the island. Upon investigating, they see that it was a small ship, which ejected an organic pod that has opened and is empty. Something may be on the island with them. They rush back to the cabin, not knowing if this creature or alien is hostile.
Kailey, a young woman, describes her life being mistreated by her mother, who undermines her efforts and ambitions growing up. She eventually leaves home to live on the streets with her boyfriend, who convinces her to take her mother’s gun to commit a robbery. During the robbery, the boyfriend kills the homeowner – Kailey eventually ends up in prison for the murder.
While reading, I noticed that both women are similar in appearance, have the same tattoo on their neck and have the same habit of twirling their hair when nervous. So, I wondered if the were the same person in alter realities: one of the stories is sci-fi after all.
In prison, Kailey is being harassed by a new guard that is attracted to her. He has the advantage; reporting him will only make things worse for her.
While Rose hides in the cabin, she has nightmares of a man and woman in ski masks, robbing a home, and shooting the homeowner (Kailey?). She searches the cabin and finds that Thomas’ real name is Alex Wright. The creature tries to get into the cabin – lightning and heavy rain begins, as Thomas returns soaking wet. They agree to try to get to the dock and a boat the following morning.
Kailey’s sexually, abusive encounters with the guard continues until she is too ill, and she refuses him. He threatens to get back at her for refusing him.
Rose and Thomas head to the the beach to find the boat wreckage has disappeared – Rose worries something is amiss. When they get to the dock the boat is gone. As they start back to the cabin they are separated – the creature carries Thomas off into the jungle. Rose decides to follow the creature.
Kailey is constantly on edge, continually guarding her movements, searching her cell expecting the guard to frame her and have her sent to solitary, or have her beaten by guards or prisoners – she is also being stalked by a monster.
When Rose catches up to the creature, she sees how large, fierce and powerful it is . She has no way to overpower it, but she just can’t leave Thomas. She moves closer, kneels and tells the creature she means it no harm – the creature leaves.
Kailey reaches a turning point, rather than commit suicide, she informs another guard of what’s happening to her and is sent to the warden. The guard abusing her is terminated and arrested. Things get back to normal for her. Several years later, a man from Vytal Technologies comes to the prison and offers Kailey an opportunity, a chance to end her prison sentence – his name is Alex Wright. This opportunity introduces her and connects her to Rose.
The details regarding the link between the two characters is surprising and creative, making this an unconventional sci-fi with twists and turns and an ending you won’t see coming.
The Deep by River Solomon is well, a fantasy, sci-fi that depicts an underwater society created by the descendants of pregnant slaves thrown overboard from slave ships. The novella was developed from a song by the same name by a group called clipping.
The wajinru (means chorus of the deep) live in the deep ocean. The protagonist, a 35 year old female called Yetu, is the wajinru’s historian, and it is her duty to hold all memories, collect present wajinru memories, select the next historian and share memories with the wajinru once per year.
The sharing of memories is called the Remembering and takes place in a protected wall of mud, called the womb, the wijinru construct for this ceremony every year. They remember how they began – when pregnant women were thrown overboard from slave ships crossing the ocean, their children witnessing their floating bodies, the pain, the experience of living memories of generations.
The first historian, Zoti Aleyu (strange fish), knew it was different from other things in the ocean. It swam in search of others like itself and as their numbers grew, they went to the deep ocean for safety. Zoti also discovered that they came from pregnant women thrown off ships – when a pregnant woman died soon after being thrown overboard and then gave birth to a ‘strange fish’. Zoti then followed ships, remembering their routes and taking new-born wajinru to the deep. Through the years Zoti kept all these painful memories of her travels and efforts to herself and passed them on to the first wajinru she rescued. The tradition of transferring memories continued.
These memories consumed Yetu; she only lived to store and release memories of her people. She was not happy and believed if she took back these memories after this Remembrance, she would loose herself completely and possibly wouldn’t survive. She decided to leave and swam away, leaving her people.
Yetu frantically swims, climbing miles to the surface and becomes beached on an island. She is very weak and is helped by humans, one in particular, a fisherwoman name Oori. Yetu sees similarities in these people – skin color, markings on the skin. Yetu learns that Oori is the last of her people and she doesn’t understand why Yetu would leave her people. Oori would give anything, no matter how painful, to know the history of her people, their language, their stories. Oori believes that your whole history and ancestry IS who you are. Yetu, who is relishing her experience of independent thought and movement for the first time, does not agree.
Weeks pass and Yetu begins to feel loneliness; she misses the depth, pressure and darkness of the open ocean and the company of the wajinru. She worries that her people may be lost, still in the Remembering or, if they come out of it, they’d be ill prepared to keep these memories and perish. Her people may be suffering because she abandoned her duty.
Yetu decides to go back to her people and find a way to end the relationship between historian and the wajinru by searching through the history, but first she had to take the memories back, or did she. She decides to share these memories with her people, act as a guide and counselor, without taking them back.
I just thought this novella was so original, a bit dark and haunting dealing with the subject of the many Africans who were killed during the middle passage. It made me think, what if. Now that would be something if as a species, as a human collective, we had this ability to store our history and share it at specific intervals as a collective. Maybe then we would be a more compassionate, peaceful lot, and not repeat atrocities.
So, these two novellas, Invader by Marjory Kaptanoglu and The Deep by Rivers Solomon, are both worthy of a read. They are short, but mind-teasing, original and interesting. I hope you give them both a read!
These are three titles that I have read and enjoyed. You know, sometimes you want to be entertained and want the author to challenge your imagination, taking you to a completely different place. These three fit the bill. The first is a stand-alone graphic novel, the second is a series with more to come. The third is a novel that should have a sequel but not yet – it’s well worth the read though.
What drew me to this book? The author, Kiersten White, in an interview on WNYC, talked about publishing this retelling of Frankenstein on the 200th anniversary of the original publication. She also talked about the time period that Mary Shelley lived; being an author was basically an all-male profession as well as the protagonists in their stories. In the introduction of the original book, Shelley’s husband downplays her contribution thinking that people would prefer to read the book if it was written jointly with himself and Lord Byron – Even Mary Shelley herself shifts focus from herself, complimenting her husband encouraging her to write the story.
So Kiersten White decided to pay tribute to Mary Shelley by bringing the women to the forefront of this story. While asking the questions, “How much of who we are is shaped by those around us?” and “What happens when everything we are depends on someone else?”, White says she found the her story in Elizabeth Lavenza – a little girl gifted to a little boy, that feels this boy is the center of her life and, unwittingly, helps create a monster.
