Tag Archive: sci-fi



EmbassytownEmbassytown by China Miéville
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My friend recommended this book. Thanks, Kay!

Libby had this book in the Kindle version, so I picked it up. And though it was text-to-speech enabled, there are many reasons the Audible version is so much better. Susan Duerden (Narrator), for one. Her voice and acting skills made the story come to life. I went ahead and picked up the Audible to Whispersynch. I finally gave up on the Kindle version, as the Audible was all I needed. Still, it was interesting to see how the author stacked the words visually as well as auditorily.

This story is about how language being taught to alien beings could help them and the Terrans to live. But first, the Terrans had to understand the alien language., which seemed non-existent. And when it is to be heard, it is in layers. TTS can’t do that. Somehow the narration system can do it. Fantastic!

If you are a language nut like I am, you will love the vocabulary of this book. I felt my heart race faster as words that weren’t junior high level popped up. So in a sense, I became the alien who loved words.

If you are a sci-fi fan, this book should do the trick!

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Eric Conger was the narrator of this audiobook from the Libby library app. For the most part, he was good. But when it came to acting the female parts, not so much. Male voices tend to demean women, it seems.

To the author’s credit, there were smart women and women of power in the mix of scientists, politicians, and the like. It just didn’t come across that way through the narrator.

Once past that issue, which may not show up in the written version, the story was riveting. What was that spacecraft nearing Saturn? What would the aliens look or act like? And what if the Chinese ship gets there before the USA?

John Sanford’s research is obvious. You don’t feel the magic happening. You see commonsense answers explored. And as the reader, you feel part of the team looking for answers. And the more I read, and listened, the more I wanted to know.

The end of the book is my favorite part, the science explored while writing the fiction. I highly recommend sticking around to read, and listen, to this part.

I will try to find the Kindle version and listen to text-to-speech. I want to read this again!


The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1)The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Maybe not my favorite book. Yet there are bits I think will come back to me in memory. Though I am not sure I will look for the next series book.

The characters and plot are a little different than most dystopias. The talents of some of the people are interesting. But let me say, Audio readers need to let us know when we are in a new chapter. I had a hard time figuring out who the point of view was most of the time.

Something I don’t often see in sci-fi/fantasy, but this seems a good genre for it, polyamory. No judgment, just a few people who love each other.

If you want something a little different, this is it. Try it. You might love it.

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The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers, #4)The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have just decided that Becky Chambers is my new favorite author. This, the fourth book in the Wayfarers series is such a fun book. I love the amount of philosophy, psychology, and mythologies of other beings from other planets. And yet, through those beings, Ms. Chambers guides the reader to examine their own current beliefs.

Rachel Dulude (Narrator) keeps the reader engaged in stories within a story. Her voice acting was so great, each creature a new voice and nuance.

I finally own each of the four books, so I can read them whenever I want to. I foresee many more immersions into Becky’s universes.

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The House Of The ScorpionThe House Of The Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this book. Much of it gives me the creeps. I love the Walking Dead and think cloning will never bring exact replicas due to the environment and circumstances of the original versus that of the clone. But the treatment of people in this dystopia seems horrible and never improves.

Nancy Farmer’s writing keeps the reader engaged. That is why I read to the end.

Robert Ramirez (Narrator) did well when reading for the males in the book, but all the females sounded foolish and unreal.

A few years ago, I decided to read primarily women authors who wrote of strong female main characters. I have found that women portray their sex far better than males do. The male narrators are great for boys or men but seem unable to play the fem parts.

Another thing, this is supposed to be a book for middle grades to adults. I can’t imagine a child reading this. I can’t imagine not getting nightmares from this as a kid. It nearly did that to me as an adult. On the other hand, I think it would have been a good read together and discussed with my children when they were old enough to handle the subject matter. My kids were better at the scary books and movies than I was. But I wouldn’t have wanted them to miss the lessons presented.

On the plus side, I loved getting into another culture. The Spanish language and mores are a beautiful addition.

Look, I don’t want to taint your opinion of this book. There are so many varied ratings; everyone sees this story differently. There are lessons for the modern world to look at sprinkled all over.

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Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers, #3)Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

This is my second reading of the series thus far. In fact, I just read this book a month ago and decided I needed to read the whole series again. So here I am again. Below is the first review I wrote on this book, and I am sticking with it.
***
This is my favorite kind of science fiction! So many questions about what might happen if we were to get out among the stars! Patricia Rodríguez (Narrator) made the story even better! Becky Chambers writes such different and intriguing books!

I am still feeling the charm, so I have downloaded the first two books to read again. I just didn’t want to leave Ms. Chambers’s universes.

What if we left Earth? What if it were doable to save as many as possible and fly through space? What if other worlds were found? What if other beings were found and able to learn from us and vice versa? What if whole generations lived, died, and were born on a spaceship of some kind? How do we deal with the dead? How do we document life and death to make it understandable for us and others? How do religion and politics play a part? Sexuality? So many questions!

So many characters. A friend mentioned keeping track of the characters. I may need to do that on the next read. I think I’ll need to dedicate a whole notebook for this next read!

Don’t worry. No matter that you don’t know who or what is speaking, it all works out that you realize you did follow it and are so happy to have been there with the author in the end.

I can’t wait to start again!
***
And I intend to read this another few times. I still loved it!

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The Walking Dead Deluxe #21The Walking Dead Deluxe #21 by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As much as I love Michonne in the show and in the previous issue, I am not a fan of hers in this book. This story is full of intrigue and keeps you guessing.

Again, I have to say how much I love reading comics on Kindle, where you have control of the font and picture sizes.

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The Walking Dead Deluxe #19The Walking Dead Deluxe #19 by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Michone! Need I say more? She is why I started watching and continue to be intrigued by the series no matter what form I consume. In fact, the depth of characters, especially the female ones, grows with each new birthed version. Finally, books and shows that have true equality. Even the bad guys show their good sides, and all the others show faults to overcome.

These Kindle versions are shorter but, for a $1.99 pack quite the story. And far better than the paper comic books in that you can enlarge the font or pictures for better understanding.

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The Walking Dead Deluxe #18The Walking Dead Deluxe #18 by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found these deluxe editions thinking it was the way I was reading these before. I had been on #18, I thought. But although this is the same story, these $1.99 comics are shorter in length. It seems about where I left off before, maybe a little of a review, but easy to get back on track.

I love The Walking Dead. I love human interactions. The monsters, the dead, don’t scare me as much as the people. As would happen in a situation like this, you don’t know who to trust anymore.

Rick is going crazy in this edition, and we are not even sure about him.

This may be the way to go if you can’t afford to read the larger editions that cost a lot. I love reading the comics on the Kindle because you can enlarge to a frame-by-frame situation and see the picture and words better than a paper version. I’m spoiled reading comics this way, even though I have had cataract surgery and can now read paper books.

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I’m sticking with my first review below only to add that I want to read this a third time.  Rachel Dulude (Narrator) was fantastic!

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Because of this review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show… by my friend, Cheryl, I couldn’t wait to read this book! And it was everything she said it was and more!

I picked up the Kindle copy from Amazon and the Audible version to go with it. It made a perfect go to sleep book at night. I was able to have my girl dreams of space travel and meeting new creatures. Oops! If there’s one thing I learned from this book is that we don’t consider the aliens creatures. They are just beings that are different than us. Often in many ways, they are superior to us that we should expect that. But as the author points out just because beings that look like, maybe, um, a giraffe from earth, doesn’t mean it has the intelligence of a giraffe from earth. It may actually have the abilities to move back and forth in time or travel in a different dimension. This was a good lesson for me as I like to write science fiction about other beings on other planets.

The narrator, Rachel Dulude, brought this book to life in ways I don’t think could have been possible to just read or even with the text-to-speech. She was able to separate the characters and beautiful ways, so you knew exactly who is talking without even reading it.

I do want to read this book again. Maybe when I’m more awake, to see how it is she actually built these characters and her plot and her worlds. It was very well written! And I can hardly wait to be able to afford and read her next book in the series!

If you like science fiction that isn’t all men and war. If you like science fiction that uses imagination with science possibilities, this book is for you! Well done, Becky Chambers!



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