by J.M. Erickson ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 29, 2014
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Erickson’s (Future Prometheus, 2013) dystopian, militaristic sci-fi saga continues the adventures of a male lieutenant who awakens from cryogenic freezing in a world run by women.
In the first book (not recapped in this volume), scientist Lt. Jose Melendez found in 2019 that he was one of the few adult men on Earth who wasn’t struck by a strange pandemic that made most of them brutal and violent. Due to his rare status, he submitted himself for medical testing and, in the process, was accidentally frozen for 150 years, finally waking up in a corrupt matriarchal society—a country called Nemericana—that continued to kill and/or banish all male children despite the pandemic having been wiped out years ago. Events proceed in the same vein in the second set of novellas, which tracks, among other things, a series of military actions between the various sides; Melendez’s capture at the hands of Aurora, the head of a cybernetic army; and the relationships between various characters, such as Maj. Mare Sade Singh and her human son, Roberto, who, to her surprise and dismay, has impregnated a woman. Melendez had been rescued by a number of cybernetic women who had also been cast out due to their beginning to achieve sentience, and their revolution against the government continues with Melendez’s help. Erickson has crafted a fascinating series with complex characters and an incredibly rich premise. It’s rare and refreshing to find such female-driven drama—particularly in the context of militaristic sci-fi—that never resorts to stereotypes. At times, the action can grow a bit repetitive, and the forward momentum sometimes stalls in favor of dialogue-heavy scenes. However, these scenes and character dynamics are so strong that it’s easy to forgive. Creating full-bodied characters is as important to Erickson as sci-fi philosophizing, which is crucial to the book’s success.
A truly original sci-fi series with strong ideas and even stronger characters.
Pub Date: May 29, 2014
ISBN: 978-1478734772
Page Count: 482
Publisher: Outskirts Press Inc.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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