Tagged: masq1
Parasite by Mira Grant
(Cover picture courtesy of Orbit Books.)
A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease.
We owe our good health to a humble parasite – a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the Intestinal Bodyguard worm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system – even secretes designer drugs. It’s been successful beyond the scientists’ wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them. But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives . . . and will do anything to get them.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ARC ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I would have picked up this book for the cover alone, but when I saw it was by Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire I knew I just had to read it. She did write one of my favourite trilogies ever, the Newsflesh Trilogy, after all. But would Parasite live up to my expectations?
It did, but in a way I didn’t expect. There wasn’t exactly the kick-butt awesomeness that made Feed an instant favourite with me, but Parasite channeled that same level of awesome in a different way. The heroine, Sal, is nothing like George from Feed but she is also an amazing character. Having almost died six years ago in a car crash, her parasitic implant from SymboGen saved her life—except that she remembers nothing from her own life and has become a completely different person. Amnesia is difficult to write about in fiction because it’s used quite a bit, but Mira Grant did it in a believable and scientific way: Sal had to relearn everything she knew before, including how to breathe, walk and tie her own shoelaces. Six years later she’s still learning the subtleties of human interaction, helped by her amazing boyfriend Nathan.
This book has been described as a medical thriller and that’s a pretty apt description. There is a lot of scientific jargon in it and so many explanations in typical meticulous Mira Grant fashion. Did I understand all of it? No, science was never my strong point anyway. But did Mira Grant explain it enough that normal people like myself can understand what’s going on? Of course! I’m sure the science in here can appeal to many different people on many different levels, depending upon their interest and knowledge of the subject at hand.
As always, there are incredible plot twists. Some I saw coming from a mile away, others completely threw me off even if looking back on it they made complete sense. The book doesn’t exactly start off with someone poking zombies with a stick, but I certainly wouldn’t call it boring as Mira Grant gradually ratchets up the tension over 500+ pages. Believe me, you won’t be able to put Parasite down. It’s just one of those fantastic books that you won’t put down for anything, including getting a proper night’s rest. If you’re also worried that there’s the old Evil Corporation trope in here, don’t be. If you’ve read Mira Grant’s books before, you’ll know she puts twists on all tropes like that and if you haven’t read her books before, prepare to be wowed.
Three dimensional characters, gross science and a fast-paced plot that throws lots of twists and turns makes Parasite one of my new favourite books. It releases on October 29, so if you haven’t already pre-ordered it, do yourself a favour and go do that now. You won’t regret it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Stealing Fire by Jo Graham
(Cover picture courtesy of The Book Smugglers.)
Alexander the Great’s soldier, Lydias of Miletus, has survived the final campaigns of the king’s life. He now has to deal with the chaos surrounding his death. Lydias throws his lot in with Ptolemy, one of Alexander’s generals who has grabbed Egypt as his personal territory. Aided by the eunuch Bagoas, the Persian archer Artashir, and the Athenian courtesan Thais, Ptolemy and Lydias must take on all the contenders in a desperate adventure whose prize is the fate of a white city by the sea, and Alexander’s legacy.
I have some mixed feelings about the second book in Jo Graham’s so far awesome Numinous World series. I mean, I’ve already read Black Ships and Hand of Isis, which were both great. But I’m just not feeling this one.
Lydias was a great, well developed character. He had a fascinating past that made his chosen path feel a little more believable and his actions throughout the novel are fairly consistent. I like how we learn his tragic backstory little by little and it really does bring some depth to the character rather than simply hinting at what happened and not letting the reader experience it as he did. Yes, it does slow down the plot but that wasn’t really my main beef with this book.
My main problem was not that I couldn’t relate to the main character, but rather that I couldn’t relate to the plot. The plot was slow, which would have been okay except for the fact that it was also a boring plot. As in pretty much nothing happened throughout the whole book. Ptolemy and Lydias arrived in Egypt after Alexander’s death. Ptolemy was crowned Pharaoh so Alexander’s spirit could be set free and Egypt could prosper once more. And yet this all took 300 pages? Truly, I just wasn’t feeling the plot like I did with Hand of Isis, where Charmian’s relationship with the gods had a more urgent, important feel to it.
Aside from the boring plot, I found that Jo Graham’s novel was pretty well researched and I learned a lot about the aftermath of Alexander the Great’s death. Of course from my Egyptian history I already knew that Alexander’s empire had been split into three pieces between his generals and their supporters, but I never really knew how long it took. Yes, they had already started squabbling before his body could cool, but I didn’t know it had taken them that long to solidify their new empires. It was fascinating to see how the politics of the time would affect Charmian in Hand of Isis later on as she remembered her previous life.
Stealing Fire certainly wasn’t a bad book, but it definitely isn’t one of Jo Graham’s best books. If you already have read books in the Numinous World series, go ahead and read this one. But if you’re just starting out I’d highly recommend either Black Ships or Hand of Isis. Chronological order isn’t really an issue.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
Feyland: The Twilight Kingdom by Anthea Sharp
(Cover picture courtesy of Orca Books.)
THEIR LAST CHANCE…
Jennet Carter and Tam Linn are almost out of time. Feyland, the most immersive computer game ever designed, is about to be released into the world—along with the Realm of Faerie’s dangerous magic.
WIN THE GAME…
The faeries, desperate to break free from their realm, have set treacherous plans in motion. Despite magical allies of their own, Jennet and Tam have no idea what dire threats await, both in-game and out.
OR DIE TRYING…
Battling for their lives against the united powers of the Dark Queen and Bright King, Jennet and Tam’s quest to stop the fey takes them into the perilous Twilight Kingdom, where illusion reigns—and magic can break all the rules.
[Full disclosure: Anthea Sharp provided me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]
The Dark Queen and the Bright King have formed an alliance to get into the real world and it’s up to Jennet and Tam to stop them. But how can they fight the two most powerful beings in Feyland when they can’t even access the game anymore—except as part of the beta testing team consisting of a professional gamer, Roy Lassiter from The Bright Court, Zeg and Jennet’s father.
So it’s up to Tam and Jennet to find a way around the beta testing’s constant monitoring and find the Elder Fey, the only ones able to stop the alliance. Since the only way the fey can survive is by entering the real world, they certainly have motivation to sabotage Jennet and Tam’s plan and go so far as to kidnap the Bug, Tam’s little brother. The Changeling replacement for the Bug is hilarious, but there’s still the very serious fact that the Bug could be killed if Tam and Jennet don’t succeed in their plan.
With a description like that, you can tell The Twilight Kingdom was extremely fast-paced. There were some great plot twists that kept me guessing until the end and the plot was so fast I couldn’t put the book down. I just had to keep reading to see what happened, even though I had to work early the next morning! Yes, it was that good.
My favourite portion of the book was Tam and Jennet’s relationship. Not because I’m a romantic (I’m not), but rather because of how their relationship and characters develop. They’re not crazy possessive of each other like you see so often in YA, but you can definitely feel the passion between them. And guess what? Anthea Sharp has written it so that their love feels real; it’s not the shallow, possessive lust a lot of YA writers pass off as love. At the same time, Tam and Jennet have great character arcs as their own characters. They learn to trust one another, but also that some of their own preconceived notions were wrong the whole time.
With the best characters I’ve seen in a long time, excellent world-building and a crazy fast-paced plot, Feyland: The Twilight Kingdom is a great resolution to a great trilogy. It also gives a little preview as to what the spin-off trilogy, Feyguard is all about.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Transhumanist Wager by Zoltan Istvan
(Cover picture courtesy of KurzweilAI.)
Philosopher, entrepreneur, and former National Geographic and New York Times correspondent Zoltan Istvan presents his bestselling visionary novel, The Transhumanist Wager, as a seminal statement of our times.
Scorned by over 500 publishers and literary agents around the world, his indie philosophical thriller has been called “revolutionary” and “socially dangerous” by readers, scholars, and religious authorities. The novel debuts a challenging original philosophy, which rebuffs modern civilization by inviting the end of the human species–and declaring the onset of something greater.
Set in the present day, the novel tells the story of transhumanist Jethro Knights and his unwavering quest for immortality via science and technology. Fighting against him are fanatical religious groups, economically depressed governments, and mystic Zoe Bach: a dazzling trauma surgeon and the love of his life, whose belief in spirituality and the afterlife is absolute. Exiled from America and reeling from personal tragedy, Knights forges a new nation of willing scientists on the world’s largest seasteading project, Transhumania. When the world declares war against the floating city, demanding an end to its renegade and godless transhuman experiments and ambitions, Knights strikes back, leaving the planet forever changed.
[Full disclosure: I received a free print copy from Zoltan Istvan in exchange for an honest review.]
I usually steer away from reviewing books on controversial topics, but this one is definitely the exception. I was so interested from the blurb that I couldn’t pass up a chance to read it. So what did I think of The Transhumanist Wager?
Well, I can say that I don’t really feel one way or the other about it. It’s fascinating from a philosophical perspective because it combines libertarianism, liberalism and conservatism all together to create transhumanism. If you like what I call ‘philosophical thrillers’ I would recommend The Transhumanist Wager. And while I know a little bit about philosophy, I’m far from an expert so that angle didn’t work for me.
This brought along the obvious problem with this book: it really, really, really tries hard to promote transhumanism. There are pages of transhumanist rhetoric that the main character, Jethro Knights, thinks and says. Sure, it’s interesting from a philosophical standpoint as I said before, but as a regular book it’s boring. In fantasy books I don’t like heroes or villains going on big moral rants. In science fiction books I don’t like pages and pages of explanations for technology. So would I put up with pages and pages of philosophy for this sci-fi/philosophy thriller? Not really. There comes a point in time when it stops being interesting and starts getting boring.
The Transhumanist Wager was supposed to be a novel but I think it would have done much better as a nonfiction manifesto. The main character Jethro Knights is generally unemotional and utterly dedicated to transhumanism. He barely has doubts along the way, something that I find a little unbelievable. I mean, doesn’t everyone question their beliefs once in a while? The only thing I found sympathetic about him was his love for Zoe. Despite his beliefs he tolerated her spiritual beliefs and eventually placed her beliefs over his because he knew it would have been what she wanted.
Considering how slow the beginning started out I was surprised that it actually picked up at the end. Zoltan Istvan got off to a pretty shaky start with Jethro’s backstory and his transhuman beliefs, but I did appreciate that the plot gradually picked up later on. It wasn’t exactly a fast-paced thrill ride, but it wasn’t mind-numbingly boring. If he had cut out some of Jethro’s long speeches the plot wouldn’t have dragged in places, but I think the philosophy of transhumanism was more important to him than the pacing.
Overall I’d have to say that The Transhumanist Wager is a good book if you focus more on the philosophy than on it being a book that’s supposed to entertain you. If you’re interested in transhumanism, go ahead and read it. But if you’re looking for a science fiction novel you’re meant to enjoy for its plot, characters and world-building I don’t think this is the right book for you.
I give this book 2.5/5 stars.
Improbable Women by William Woods Cotterman
(Cover picture courtesy of Syracuse University Press.)
Zenobia was the third-century Syrian queen who rebelled against Roman rule. Before Emperor Aurelian prevailed against her forces, she had seized almost one-third of the Roman Empire. Today, her legend attracts thousands of visitors to her capital, Palmyra, one of the great ruined cities of the ancient world.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, during the time of Ottoman rule, travel to the Middle East was almost impossible for Westerners. That did not stop five daring women from abandoning their conventional lives and venturing into the heart of this inhospitable region. Improbable Women explores the lives of Hester Stanhope, Jane Digby, Isabel Burton, Gertrude Bell, and Freya Stark, narrating the story of each woman’s pilgrimage to Palmyra to pay homage to the warrior queen. Although the women lived in different time periods, ranging from the eighteenth century to the mid–twentieth century, they all came from middle to upper-class British backgrounds and overcame great societal pressures to pursue their independence.
Cotterman situates their lives against a backdrop of the Middle Eastern history that was the setting for their adventures. Divided into six sections, one devoted to Zenobia and one focused on each of the five women, Improbable Women is a fascinating glimpse into the experiences and characters of these intelligent, open-minded, and free-spirited explorers.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
As someone who personally admires Zenobia, I knew I just had to pick up Improbable Women. A biography of one of my favourite heroines as well as five other incredible women? How could could I not read it?
I was slightly disappointed in the level of detail in the biographies, but I’m fully aware that including enough details to satisfy me would have meant a separate book for each woman. If you haven’t heard anything about these women the information could be a little overwhelming at first, but William Woods Cotterman has a great writing style to help you along. It’s actually easier to read Improbable Women if you read one biography and then pause to reflect before going onto the next one, but it’s not a requirement.
Improbable Women was actually broken up into logical segments which seems to be rare in the nonfiction books I’ve read through NetGalley. Each section is clearly labelled and the order the biographies are in actually make sense. Some of the women profiled in here were inspired by other women in the book, so I liked how that was mentioned and the similarities between each the two were pointed out. At the same time, readers are never spoken down to when these similarities are drawn.
Overall, Improbable Women is a great read for anyone who loves reading about women who were ahead of their time. Every single woman in this collection of biographies from Zenobia to Freya Stark was ahead of her time and lived a fascinating life. Some were more interesting than others, but that’s a matter of personal preference than anything. I would highly recommend Improbable Women to people who love history when it comes out on October 15 or 16 (it says 15 on Goodreads, 16 on NetGalley) of this year.
I give this book 5/5 stars.