#sci fi reads

[iambic-stan]

last book + last stethoscope, part 41

This is my MDF Procardial Titanium scope (similar to this one) with Donna Barba Higuera's novel, Alebrijes. It's mid-February, but this is the first book I've read this year that I honestly loved. I was just shelving at work and couldn't help but be drawn in by the beautiful cut-out cover (the inside reveals the entire bird). I did judge a book by its cover, and this time I was right. It's a teen novel, but it felt to me more suited to an adult audience thematically. Set 400 years into the future, it's a story about a very different Earth with scarce resources. There are two ethnic groups, the Pocatelans and Cascabels. The elites of the former group have established a terrifying regime most are afraid to oppose. The one city, Pocatel, is harsh and unforgiving, but leaving means eking out a living in a wilderness filled with deadly predators. What at first seems like a straightforward story of survival for 13-year-old Leandro and his little sister, Gabi, takes quite a turn as Leandro takes the fall for his sister when she steals a strawberry. Leandro's consciousness is placed in a sort of avatar--an alebrije-like drone, and that's when the action really starts. At that point, I was hooked. Definitely recommend it to anyone and everyone, especially if you don't mind a slow start for some worldbuilding.

[mercerislandbooks]

Book Notes: Ocean's Godori

I am not the biggest sci-fi reader. I did adore Becky Chamber’s Monk and Robot novellas (Psalm for the Wild-Built and Prayer for the Crown-Shy), though I have yet to try her full-length novels. I have a soft spot in my heart for all things Star Wars. I do my best when people ask for recommendations, but I have much more knowledge (and opinions) in fantasy. So here are the features that initially sold me on Ocean’s Godori by Elaine U. Cho:

The gorgeous cover.

A misfit crew.

The promise of humor.

When I then found out the author of this debut novel is also Pacific Northwesterner and a former bookseller at Elliott Bay Book Company, I was even more interested to give it a try. I am so glad I did.

Ocean Yoon is a disgraced pilot who is part of a crew in the lower echelons of the Alliance space program. She’s Korean, and from a long line of the famed female free divers of Jeju, but she’s never felt truly a part of the culture she comes from. When a job her captain takes on goes sideways, and Ocean’s best friend Teo is accused of murder, the stakes suddenly climb very high. Ocean is torn between loyalty to her friend or obedience to her captain. With a diverse cast of characters and a plot packed both with action and quiet pockets of introspection, this was one fantastically wild ride.

Cho's cinematic writing unfurled into my imagination. I could easily visualize the speeder chases, the fight scenes, and Ocean piloting her ship with all the finesse and verve of a race car driver. Equally as vivid are the descriptions of food shared among the crew, the drops of rain pattering on a glass roof, Ocean dancing on a subway platform. (Side note, when you get to moment you find out the song she’s dancing to, even if you know it already, queue it up -- it is utterly transporting). Ocean's fellow crew members are a lovely group of found family, minus the captain. And the crew of raiders that enters the scene is similar, with a side of snarky complexity. It’s a delight to watch them play off each other, even while it’s hard to know who to trust. And yes, there are funny moments galore, even amidst the fleeing for their lives from bounty-hunters.

Ocean’s Godori would make an interesting pairing with The Ministry of Time, as both books have a lot to say about colonialism and cultural belonging. If you’re looking to fill a Summer Book Bingo square, this would work for Friendship, Fantastical, or Something that Scares You (if sci-fi scares you as a genre). Of course, you can also use it for Suggested by an Independent Bookseller!

-- Lori

[sailor-moon-moon]

Happy Amok Time Day, friendly reminder that Theodore Sturgeon, the writer of the episode, is credited with the first positive portrayal of homosexuality in science fiction with his short story The World Well Lost (1953), 14 years before Amok Time aired. Which could mean nothing.

[failedgrailknight]

There really is something about cats in space, the perfect onboard pet

[specialagentartemis]

Also picking up new books you’ve never heard of before because the premise sounds neat or the cover is pretty or it’s on a themed library display or you’re just trying to read your library’s entire catalogue of 90s cyberpunk is just fun. Sometimes it’s not your thing but you get to mull over new ideas or the diversity of people and opinions and thoughts in the world. Sometimes you discover your new favorite book of all time

[ministarfruit]

day 3: your life is mine ♡

(femslashfeb prompt list)

[may12324]

Volatile Memory, by Seth Haddon

HAWK is a consciousness trapped inside a mask in the shape of a Hawk—or is she just code that thinks it was once alive?

Wylla is a scavenger in need of a payday. Selling HAWK might be her ticket to freedom, but can she justify the sale when the mask speaks back to her?

This is a sapphic tale of revenge and adventure out with Tordotcom July 22nd!

and an alternative version~

[phinnsyreads]

"The Deadname Meme"

by Queerious

Our Pride episode for 2024 has been released, featuring guest @demilypyro and returning guest @circeofjagd, as well as @iridethedirt, Lee Daniel, and Breck Wilhite!

You can find more of Demily on Twitch (https://twitch.tv/demilypyro) and the ruins that were once Twitter (https://twitter.com/demilypyro).

Happy Pride!

[brookbee]

David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) dir. Nicolas Roeg

[evandered]

homage to one of my favourite books ever

[evelasco-art]

Personal work inspired by greatest writer ever aka Ursula K. Le Guin's short story Winter's King. You can find it in The Wind's Twelve Quarters, it's set in the same world as The Left Hand of Darkness and it's... well, brilliant, like pretty much all her writing.

“Thus, although the best known picture is that dark image of a young king standing above an old king who lies dead in a corridor lit only by mirror-reflections of a burning city, set it aside for a while.”

And then, as she often does, proceeds to break your heart.

At first, I wanted to make 3-4 illustrations for this story, but found a way to put all scenes into a single piece. And I believe that actually works better, given the cyclic nature of the story.

I'm not done illustrating Gethen. Genly Ai and Therem Harth rem ir Estraven: you are next. Once I finish the commissions I'm working on and have the time and energy for personal art, that is.

[saint-vagrant]

Sab stops running.

mine, he/him

[isbergillustration]

Family

[multiverse-singularity]

"I try to call you every day What can I say when the truth comes out? (Of my very own mouth) I've been working on a unified theory If I make it through tonight, everybody's gonna hear me out (now)"

~Touch Tone Telephone (Lemon Demon)

[trans-ralsei]

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

The Javelin Program by Derin Edala

goodreads

When Dr Aspen Greaves signed up for the Javelin Program, humanity's first foray into colonising deep space, they expected to wake up to life in a thriving colony on a distant planet. Instead, they find themself five years away from their destination on a broken spaceship full of complex mysteries, dead astronauts, and a very unhelpful AI. Aspen wasn't trained for any of this. But if they can't keep themselves alive, get the ship in working order, and find out what went wrong by unravelling a chain of mysteries leading all the way back to distant Earth, then neither Aspen nor the five thousand sleeping passengers in their care will ever see a planet again.

Mod opinion: I haven't heard of this book before, but I love trans sci fi mysteries, so I'm hoping to check it out some day!