by Roy Harris ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 20, 2017
A sometimes-preposterous but often profound tale of civilization struggling to persevere.
In this debut sci-fi novel, one man’s journey leads to a group of survivors spending a century aboard a spaceship in search of a new Earth.
September 2197 marks the 100th anniversary for the people on Protostar, who will finally learn of the events preceding their expedition. It begins in the late 21st century with the “spacecase hero” named “Harrison, Jack.” He’s a spacecase because he’s String-trained, able to access the fifth dimension. Stealing a micro thought-recorder gets Harrison sent to work in subterranean mines in Alaska. It’s there he notices authorities’ apparent mistake in removing both the thought-recorder and his Appro-recall implant. Harrison has newfound perception, since part of the Appro-recall’s function is to block full access to memories. Fellow mining techies, led by “Larkill, Han,” enlist Harrison for a prison break: they plan to drill their way to the surface and head to Sanatan, the Satcit (satellite city) version of Las Vegas. Harrison can use his skills to play the String game, with everyone then splitting the winnings for whatever destination’s next. Along the way, Harrison has new experiences, including sex that isn’t virtual. Nevertheless, Han has another plan involving hijacking a ship and starting a new civilization elsewhere. Indeed, Earth has been devastated by overpopulation, global warming, and a third world war. But Han’s true objective may entail some explosions and ensuing deaths. Before long, someone’s being held captive by a very dangerous organization, and somewhere in the months prior to Protostar’s takeoff is a secret (or two) that’s been hidden for 100 years. Harris’ story is a shrewd genre piece taking place in an expansive universe that doesn’t shy away from farce. For example, the techie escapees encounter Bob, an unabashed cannibal who remembers his last girlfriend more fondly as a meal. Likewise, it seems Dog has taken the place of God, as in “Dogdamn” and “Oh my Dog, there is a Dog!” (The eventual explanation for this is best left unspoiled, though it’s certainly bizarre.) Other aspects of the future world, however, are deeper. The state of Earth, for one, is clearly derived from present-day concerns, and the only real form of government is 7, or the Seven Cartels—cartels around the globe under one umbrella. One of the tale’s strongest points is its treatment of flesh-and-blood intimacy versus the virtual kind Harrison initially prefers. There are numerous instances of the former in which affection is surprisingly lacking from either partner, while Harrison, when on the String, is tender and vulnerable with Han. Dialogue’s rife with jargon typically defined by context. Several characters speak Amerab (American-abbreviated), which the narrative doesn’t translate, but there are only a few words at a time (and they are memorable: “Washi mufu?”). But some readers may be thrown by the excessive amount of commas throughout. One example of how this can be jarring is the spoken line “Do you see, Jack?” Though it looks to be dialogue uttered to Harrison, he’s actually the subject of the query and not in the scene.
A sometimes-preposterous but often profound tale of civilization struggling to persevere.Pub Date: July 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63568-122-2
Page Count: 501
Publisher: Page Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by TJ Klune ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.
A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.
Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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by Samantha Shannon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 26, 2019
A celebration of fantasy that melds modern ideology with classic tropes. More of these dragons, please.
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New York Times Bestseller
After 1,000 years of peace, whispers that “the Nameless One will return” ignite the spark that sets the world order aflame.
No, the Nameless One is not a new nickname for Voldemort. Here, evil takes the shape of fire-breathing dragons—beasts that feed off chaos and imbalance—set on destroying humankind. The leader of these creatures, the Nameless One, has been trapped in the Abyss for ages after having been severely wounded by the sword Ascalon wielded by Galian Berethnet. These events brought about the current order: Virtudom, the kingdom set up by Berethnet, is a pious society that considers all dragons evil. In the East, dragons are worshiped as gods—but not the fire-breathing type. These dragons channel the power of water and are said to be born of stars. They forge a connection with humans by taking riders. In the South, an entirely different way of thinking exists. There, a society of female mages called the Priory worships the Mother. They don’t believe that the Berethnet line, continued by generations of queens, is the sacred key to keeping the Nameless One at bay. This means he could return—and soon. “Do you not see? It is a cycle.” The one thing uniting all corners of the world is fear. Representatives of each belief system—Queen Sabran the Ninth of Virtudom, hopeful dragon rider Tané of the East, and Ead Duryan, mage of the Priory from the South—are linked by the common goal of keeping the Nameless One trapped at any cost. This world of female warriors and leaders feels natural, and while there is a “chosen one” aspect to the tale, it’s far from the main point. Shannon’s depth of imagination and worldbuilding are impressive, as this 800-pager is filled not only with legend, but also with satisfying twists that turn legend on its head. Shannon isn’t new to this game of complex storytelling. Her Bone Season novels (The Song Rising, 2017, etc.) navigate a multilayered society of clairvoyants. Here, Shannon chooses a more traditional view of magic, where light fights against dark, earth against sky, and fire against water. Through these classic pairings, an entirely fresh and addicting tale is born. Shannon may favor detailed explication over keeping a steady pace, but the epic converging of plotlines at the end is enough to forgive.
A celebration of fantasy that melds modern ideology with classic tropes. More of these dragons, please.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63557-029-8
Page Count: 848
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
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