Steelheart / Brandon Sanderson

   Currently, I am in the throes of getting a degree through an online university. Sometimes, this means fun research for film studies, which includes watching hella movies. Other times, it means writing a long, in depth paper about the psychology of sexual offending (among other papers on other non-uplifting subjects) and sinking into a months-long funk and feeling pretty hopeless. And in April, it's meant realizing that my months-long funk resulted in a need for crunch time in a major way. All this to say: I should have been reading and writing only academic things and damn you Brandon Sanderson but NOT REALLY because Steelheart was GREAT.

   Equal blame for my shirking of school goes to a friend of mine, who lent me Steelheart (along with the sequel and two other books). I told myself "as long as I don't take this book out of this bag, everything will be fine" and I held out for almost a week and then I was cleaning my room and I did it. I took the book out of the bag and that was my fatal mistake. Folks: this book is so good. I should have been writing essays but I didn't care, all I wanted was Steelheart, Steelheart, and more Steelheart.

   I'VE SEEN STEELHEART BLEED

   Here's a thing I love: people who look at the superhuman myth and question it, instead of assuming that a super-powered human would be moral. Because why would they???? There's no all-encompassing reason. Why wouldn't Clark Kent decide to take over the world? The reason the comics give us is "well, he was raised on a farm," and frankly? That's not a very good reason. Having a good upbringing does not mean that a person will never do anything evil. Adding phenomenal cosmic power to any sort of upbringing sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. And even if a super powered person turned out a-ok there would still be a slough of problems regarding their role in society. And sure there are super villains in run-of-the-mill comics but they aren't addressed in a very complex way very often and WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN?!?!?!?

they will look up and shout, "save us!" and I will whisper, "no."

   This book might be a plot-driven sci-fi page-turner but that doesn't keep Brandon Sanderson from talking about vigilantism or morality or what happens when you make a power vacuum or the role of vengeance in our lives or what it means to make a difference in a corrupt society. Basically, this book is my jam. I mean, I love me a good superhero story as much as the next person but I also love to think critically.

Mort(e) / Robert Repino

   If you are looking for an even-handed and well thought out discussion of what religion looks like in dire circumstances and where the line between devotion and extremism is, don't read this book. This book is not, shall we say, nuanced in this area. BUT if you are looking for a story of giant ants taking over the world with the help of anthropomorphic animals, then get on board.

   One day Mort(e) isn't Mort(e) but Sebastian, dutiful house cat, and the next day he is suddenly sentient! What could it mean?! It means there is a giant colony of giant ants who are determined to wipe out all humans. Although there are things that make the suspension of disbelief extra difficult in the story (if someone grew from cat size to human size overnight, it would be so painful), and it seems that Repino has a very simplistic view of religion, it's still a good read. Let's just say that as soon as an author even hints at a group functioning with hive mind I freak the hell out because hive mind is my favourite science fiction device in the world*. Hive mind covers over a multitude of sins. Maybe it sounds like Repino read a bit of Marx and came across "religion is the opiate of the people" and just RAN with it, but I mind so much less when there are awesome ants who function as many parts of one giant unit.

   The book has a narrow viewpoint when it comes to religion, and it doesn't quite convince on the science, but on the whole I enjoyed it and expect others would as well. It's a science fiction book about a war between humans, ants, cats, and other creatures. MOSTLY it's about a cat who is searching for his dog friend and the war that gets in the way of his quest.

   This book is like a mash up of We3 (which I didn't really like but I think about a lot), and Watership Down. Actually, add in Blacksad (which might be all about animals but is definitely not a book for children) and viola: you've got Morte(e), except it isn't a comic book, as these comparisons may lead you to believe. Short chapters, quick pacing, giant ants. Plus there's hive mind, so, you know.

   *There have been multiple times when I've been watching/reading science fiction and have said excitedly "OMGOSH THEY PROBABLY FUNCTION AS A HIVE MIND!!!!!" and I'm usually wrong but I alllllways want it to happen, but it doesn't and it's upsetting. Repino writes hive mind really well and it makes me so happy. When I was reading Ender's Game I definitely shook my book and said, "All you have to do is kill the Queen and the rest will just die! They think with her brain!" and so on.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress / Robert A Heinlein

so futuristic

   Question: do you want to learn more about the internal structure of revolutionary groups than you ever thought possible from a science fiction novel? If so: I recommend The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. There were a couple of chapters where, I admit, I zoned out somewhat due to the in depth nature of the description of how a revolutionary group could be structured to maximize communication and minimize the potential for compromise. All very interesting, but a little hard to follow. I wish I had a diagram to illustrate what they were talking about but alas, I did not have one and my low-level googling has proved futile. Also confusing and/or interesting as presented in this book: how marriage works on the moon. Line marriage? Clan marriage? What?  Intriguing. Oh! And: representational government. I'm telling you, this book has it all.

   Incidentally, a friend of mine was reading this at the same time as me, which led to conversations where we said things like "the part where they talk about taxes was so interesting!" HA, nerds. 

   One of the main characters is a sentient computer, and I think we all know what that means. OMGosh, HAL9000. I haven't even seen 2001 Space Odyssey (a travesty, I know) and I know that computers who are "alive" are pretty much always Bad News Bears.

ulterior motives?

I'm afraid I can't trust you, Hal

don't assume this will redeem you, robots

   BUT IS MIKE GOOD OR BAD OR NEITHER???? Read the book to find out, and as a bonus you can go into it knowing that the characterization of Mike, the computer, is spot-on. Mannie describes him as basically an extremely smart child with no social skills, and Mike refers to Mannie as "Man, my best friend" which is adorable.

   TANSTAAFL, friends, TANSTAAFL. 

Never Let Me Go / Kazuo Ishiguro

   While I haven't yet seen the new Spiderman movies, I can attest to Andrew Garfield's acting skills due to the viewing of Never Let Me Go and Boy A. Both those movies are worth your time, and both are adaptions from books. When I saw that Never Let Me Go / Kazuo Ishiguro was on the 1001 Book You Must Read Before You Die list, it put me over the edge and I finally got around to reading it.

   Cue tears of remorse over never reading anything by Ishiguro before.

   So: Kathy is writing a memoir of sorts, recounting her time at school with Ruth and Tommy, and what happened to them after they left Hailsham. Kathy is in her late 20's and works as a Carer, and is anticipating becoming a Donor and eventually completing. We learn quickly that Tommy and Ruth have both completed by the time Kathy is writing, and as a result she is largely friendless and alone. The book is slow, somber, and has an underlying foreboding.

   I spent the first half of the book trying to decide just how unreliable of a narrator Kathy is, and I never really arrived at a conclusion. And isn't that how first-person perspective books should be? Fun fact: a person is never 100% unbiased. It's a revelation, I know. I kept wondering if things were as significant for the other characters as they were for Kathy, or if Ruth really meant that in that way, or if Kathy thought something was clearly communicated when it wasn't. All this questioning of Kathy reminded me of situations in my own life where events have been interpreted and remembered very differently by different people, and can I just say: kudos to you, Kazuo Ishiguro.

   Time to get a copy of The Remains of the Day. Maybe I should start going through the Man Booker winners.

before/after

   Usually it bothers me when I read a child who is written as overly precocious. "That's not the way a baby person would talk or think!" "That child would not be that intelligent or understanding!" I mean, obviously Alia Atreides and nearly all of the characters in Ender's Game/Shadow/etc get a free pass on this one but inter-planetary science fiction is a realm unto it's own. However, I can't be the only person who read Ender's Shadow and was confused by that part where baby-Bean hides in the toilet. At first I was all "so, he hid behind it? What? That is not a very good hiding place." and then I realized that OSC meant he hid IN the tank of the toilet and I was all impressed by imaginary baby-Bean saying "daaaaang, gurl, that water is cold" but the more I thought about it the more ridiculous it was. How did he get the lid back onto the tank? How did he climb up and in there? How did he not perish from hypothermia? Does everyone named Orson think they're a magical genius?

   Regardless of my feelings surrounding Bean and Alia and Ender, I was somewhat concerned going into In The After / Demitria Lunetta. I'd heard many good things about it, but I had also heard that it featured an uncommonly bright six year old. I can suspend my disbelief with the best of them, and I like far-fetched stories, but kids thinking beyond a believable cognitive level? Ugh.

   All my fears were assuaged, however, when Amy found Baby and the two of them began to bond. A story about sisterly BFFs? Working together in a post-apocalyptic world? Never speaking and developing a modified version of American Sign Language instead? Yes please. This is one of the best YA dystopia/science fiction books I have read in a long time. And it's a debut novel! I'm excited for what Lunetta comes up with in the future.

   Basic story line: monsters have invaded the earth and killed/eaten pretty much everyone. Amy was fortunate enough to have a environmentalist father and a paranoid mother, and lives in a veritable fortress. She's able to survive the onslaught, and one night while out scavenging, comes across a toddler in a supermarket. She dubs the girl "Baby", and adopts her as her sister. The book follows their adventures and misadventures, and is exciting and touching and enjoyable. I read it in a day.