The Morningside by Tea Obreht

February 25, 2025

The Morningside by Tea Obreht

Set in Island City, the Morningside is a once elegant but now rundown apartment building where Silvia and her mother live after being evicted from their ancestral home and resettled in Island City. The building is only partially occupied since many residents fled the city. Silvia's mother wants to forget their past and where they originally came from, but Silvia's aunt fills her head with superstition and fears. Silvia lives a lonely life until a girl close to her age named Mila moves into the building, and the two girls become fascinated by the woman who lives in the penthouse.

Meh. A dystopian novel by the author of Inland and The Tiger's Wie that sounds like it might be set in a future Manhattan devastated by climate change and war. The author doesn't seem to know what story she wants to tell: first it's about evil spirits and folklore and discovering the true identity of the woman in the penthouse, then it changes to the plight of refugees and conspiracy, and then it switches to war crimes and government abuses. And then there are these damned birds that don't have anything to do with anything. If you want to read something that has similar themes but is a much better book, read Celeste Ng's Our Missing Hearts.

Post-apocalyptic New York

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

December 11, 2024

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

In the not too distant future, musician Rainy lives with his wife Lark in a remote town in the upper peninsula of Michigan on the shore of Lake Superior. Lark owns a bookstore in an age where people no longer read - for many people, it's a struggle to survive. Rainy and Lark rent out a room in their house to travelers, offering them a bed and meals and whatever else they may need, until they are ready to move on. When one of these travelers brings trouble with him, Rainy flees in his boat on Lake Superior, running from a mysterious man who believes that Rainy knows where to find a cache of stolen drugs.

Dystopian fiction set in the near future. Confusing at first, it was hard to know what direction the story was going. Rainy may be searching for his dead wife or he may be searching for an elusive poet. There are a number of references to Don Quixote, a dreamer on a quest. Wonderful characters, even the evil ones, and poetic language as well as poetic justice. Fans of the novels of Peter Heller will enjoy Enger's dystopian story.

Lake Superior of the Michigan coast on a calm day

Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by M. J. Wassmer

July 11, 2024

Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by M. J. Wassmer

Dan and Mara are vacationing at a new island resort when the sun bursts. And not in a giant explosion in the sky, more like a pop and then broken egg yolk dripping down the sides of the sky, and then darkness. Not only are they trapped on the island, an athleisure-wear entrepreneur named Lilyanna (think Cruella DeVille dressed in Lululemon) who sounds like Dolly Parton has taken control of the resort - as well as the only plane on the island. But there is an observatory on the other side of the island, and the resident astronomer believes there is something strange going on - well, stranger than the sun exploding.

It's class warfare at a new luxury resort, where the rich people in building A take over all the resources and put the guests in buildings B and C to work for them. Except for Lilyanna and her head of security (boo, hiss), the characters might be clueless but they all have a lot of heart. BTW, this is the kind of thing that would happen to me. I suspected the answer about halfway through, but it was still a fun read. Recommended for readers who enjoy not-too-serious dystopian fiction.

Dystopian resort

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde

June 29, 2024

Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde

Following the death of a prominent Orange, Eddie Russet and his lover Jane Brunswick are about to go on trial. Since Eddie tested at 87% red, he has been forced into an arranged marriage with the awful Violet DeMauve, whose family wants to strengthen their color line with his strong red genes. Even though he is married to Violet, Eddie has no intention of giving up Jane. The village is competing in the upcoming Jollity Fair, with Jane being one of the star athletes, provided she is not found guilty during the trial. But Eddie and Jane are more interested in finding out the truth about their world, as well as following clues about what Eddie's mother was up to, and what really happened to her.

Return with me to Chromatacia where your existence is controlled by your limited color vision in the long-awaited sequel to Shades of Grey. Really delightful, clever and creative world building. Life is ruled by the color-tocracy with all of its bizarre rules (residents cannot wear gloves no matter what their job is or how cold it is, spoons cannot be manufactured, linoleum is the major produce even though no one wants it, etc.) which begins to make sense as our star-crossed lovers Eddie and Jane go digging for answers. The ways in which the villagers subvert the rules and the rulers is very entertaining. Read the first book before this one - it will make a lot more sense. Recommended for fantasy readers, especially those who enjoy world building.

The color spectrum

The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

April 4, 2024

The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

The last 122 people on earth live in a village on an island at the end of the world - everyone else has been consumed by a mysterious fog. Technology is gone, the last of it buried somewhere beneath the island. All of the residents work for the greater good, managed by Abi, an artificial intelligence. No one lives beyond the age of 60 - when a villager dies, another appears to take their place. The deadly fog remains at bay, but they all fear that someday, the fog will consume them too. Equilibrium is maintained until a resident is murdered, and the fog suddenly begins to creep closer.

Stuart Turton writes mysteries that are anything but ordinary. I refer to them as "thinking person mysteries," with stories that are complex and original. Like the author's previous books, this one is edgy and a blend of dystopia, sci fi, and mystery. It's a "locked room" mystery, where a group of people are isolated from the outside, and one of them must be the murderer, but it seems to be impossible that any of them did it. Hints of the television series LOST and also The Prisoner. I could have used a map of the island since it was sometimes difficult to picture where the characters were at times in relation to the village and the bay. Not for someone looking for a traditional mystery, but will appeal to readers who like fiction that is "out there."

Many thanks to NetGallery and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

A foggy island at the end of the world

Titan's Tears by Chad Lester

February 21, 2024

Titan's Tears by Chad Lester

Three characters are on a collision course in a dystopian world: Seth works for an Amazon-like corporation until he is replaced by a robot. Belle is an odd young woman living in a remote Alaskan town, until she is offered a high-paying job at Eccleston Evolution, a high-level tech company, even though she has no real job skills. Sophia is the founder of Eccleston Evolution, which develops cutting edge and sometimes controversial technology, and created the world's most advanced AI, The Augur.

Strange dystopian book about scientific and bio-ethics and the evils of science gone wrong, as well as greed, megalomania, etc. As soon as I read about the forest full of bio-engineered creatures outside the compound, I knew there would be at least one frantic escape attempt pursued by wild prehistoric animals. My biggest complaint is that the writing is sloppy - it needed a really GOOD editor. There are a lot of errors - at some points, the author forgets that one of his characters is blind. At another point, two of the characters are handcuffed but not to each other, and he has them run holding hands - how awkward is that? Super advanced robots go out in the rain and short out - seriously?? Not sure where the title came from, either, as it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the storyline. I think the author tried to cover too much ground and too many topics. If you want to read a really good futuristic book that covers many of the same subjects, read The Tomorrow File by Lawrence Sanders.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins

September 24, 2023

The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins

Emi lives in Nuuk, Greenland with her parents, who have been having marital difficulties for some time. Emi is SO tired of hearing how lucky she is to be born after the Great Transition, a time of major climate change, which her parents never stop reminding her about. During the global celebration of Day Zero, there are assassinations in several locations including Nuuk. Emi's mother is supposed to be in New York but has now vanished, and it appears she may have something to do with the killings. Emi and her father set out to find her, but who can they trust?

While I'm pretty much over climate change fiction, this was well-written. Except there is too much crying. With a dual timeline that moves from the present to 20 years ago, it was recommended as a read-alike for Station Eleven, which I loved. It also reminded me of Our Missing Hearts, where an activist mother goes missing and her son searches for her under politically dangerous conditions. 

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Nuuk, Greenland

The Jinn-bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu

September 11, 2023

The Jinn-bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu

Shantiport is a major city that is slowly crumbling into decay due to flooding and political factions. Everyone who lives in Shantiport is trying to find a way to get out, except Lina, who loves the city and wants to save it. When she and her brother Bador, a monkey bot, find a magic lamp complete with jinn who will grant their wishes, they decide to punish the man who killed their father while also saving Shantiport. What could possibly go wrong? Be careful what you wish for.

A retelling of the Aladdin story from 1001 Arabian Nights, which the author tried to marry to Murderbot but not successfully. The first half of the book is some amazing world building, but the second half dragged and I started skimming. The jinn is amusing since before he will grant a wish, he goes through the user agreement and other legalese that we are all familiar with. If you are a hardcore fantasy reader, you may enjoy this but it wasn't for me. I suggest reading Martha Wells' Murderbot series instead.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Dystopian city

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

April 19, 2023

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

The country of Prospera consists of three islands: the main island of Prospera where citizens live, work, and play; the Annex, where support workers live, commuting back and forth to their jobs in Prospera; and the Nursery, the island where Prosperans are recycled to new existences. Although it seems to be Utopia for Prosperan citizens, not everyone is happy with this arrangement, and revolt is brewing among the residents of the Annex. Or is it?

The first 2/3 of the book is fabulous; I read it in a single day and could not put the book down. But the last third - not so much. We find out that the first 2/3 of the book is just a dream, a fantasy world created by the characters. Been there, done that, used to have the t-shirt (am I the only person who watched LOST or St. Elsewhere? Or the old TV show Dallas, where mercifully at least only one season was a dream? Maybe the author is figuring no one over 20 reads his books, so they've never heard of a dream sequence before). The it-was-all-just-a-dream is a copout when a writer doesn't know how to finish up a story in a satisfying manner. And there is more than one ending - what is this, choose your own story? Really disappointing after such a great start.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

March 4, 2023

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

Set in the far north of Canada, in a virtual ghost town called Dominion Lake, three different groups of people are following different agendas: a group of glamorous prostitutes, a female paramilitary unit stationed at an abandoned meteorological post called White Alice, and a warehouse full of men who are doing some kind of manual labor that has to do with mining. Why? That question is barely answered and not in any kind of satisfactory way.

Interesting premise but too many themes: mineral rights, global warming/climate change, ecology, indigenous peoples, patriarchy, privilege, etc. I didn't connect with or care about any of the characters, and the three narrative threads barely came together at the end. It felt like the author was trying to write something like Station Eleven (which I loved) where seemingly separate stories are inextricably linked. Overall disappointing.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

The frozen northern regions of Canada

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

January 14, 2023

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

On a spring morning, little wooden boxes show up at every door in the world, even non-traditional doors such as Bedouin tent flaps and next to homeless people sleeping outdoors. Every adult over the age of 21 receives a box with their name on it. Inside the box is a string that measures the length of each person's life. Nina, a magazine editor, gets a long string while her girlfriend Maura's string is barely half the length of Nina's, yet they stay together. Nina's parents and her sister Amie opt to not open their boxes, preferring to live in blissful ignorance. Ben, an architect, gets a short string and his girlfriend of two years breaks up with him almost immediately. Hank is an emergency room doctor who receives a short string and decides to resign from the hospital and use his remaining time as best he can. Political figures, governments, and religions all weigh in on the importance, meaning, and origin of the strings. What do the strings really mean? How will they change society and impact the future? Written by several narrators with differing viewpoints.

Normally when I see a book with one of those celebrity book club stickers on the cover, I go the other way or don't expect much, in this case the "Read with Jenna" TV book club. I decided to read this book since it was recommended to me by a friend. It's an interesting take on a futuristic/dystopian society combined with the mythology of the Fates and also the story of Pandora. After people begin receiving the strings, the societal response is similar to the varied responses to COVID-19 and the vaccines: some extreme, some violent, some benign, some believing it's a hoax, some looking to profit. Highly recommended.

"Que sera, sera (Whatever will be, will be)" - song by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, sung by Doris Day

The Fates — Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos — were divinities in Greek mythology who presided over human life. Clotho spun the thread, Lachesis measure it out, and Atropos cut it off. They represented birth, life and death.

The Shamshine Blind by Paz Pardo

January 5, 2023

The Shamshine Blind by Paz Pardo

The United States and the rest of the superpowers lost the Falklands conflict after Argentine developed a psychopigment weapon of mass destruction called Deepest Blue. Psychopigments alter human emotions positively or negatively. Kay Curtida is a Latinx detective with the Psychopigment Enforcement Agency, tasked with tracking down black market distributors of psychopigments in the sleepy town of Daly City just outside the ruins of San Francisco. When an old friend visits Daly City and drops hints about a ring selling fake Sunshine Yellow. Sunshine Yellow is an antidepressant pigment that most people take just to get through their day. The fake yellow pigment, called Shamshine Yellow, mixes the real pigment with Slate Gray, a major depressive.

This was a really creative and clever take on a dystopian society. The characters are well-written and engaging but the plot was very complicated and at times I had a hard time figuring out what was going on and keeping all the characters and their affiliations straight. The names of some of the pigments are clever: Ginger Curiosity, Cool Teal, Lavender Hope. 

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

September 22, 2022

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

Bird Gardner is a mixed-race child - his mother, the poet Margaret Miu, is a PAO, a person of Asian origin. Three years earlier,. she vanished one day, and her disappearance devastated the family. Bird's father gave up his position as a linguistics professor and now shelves books at the university library, while he and Bird live in one of the dormitories. One day, Bird receives a communication that could only have come from his mother. He sets out to find her and ask her why she left them.

Set in the near future in a dystopian. post-crisis world where Asians are viewed with hatred and suspicion for causing everything afflicting the U.S., this is an old story retold that could easily happen again. There are themes of racism/racial purity (think Nazism), cultural homogeneity. fear and suspicion. But there is also bravery, especially among a group of librarians who are determined to continue making information accessible (as we have always done). It will keep you thinking long after you finish reading it. Really great cover art. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.

Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon

September 12, 2022

Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon

Will Bear (one of his many aliases) has lived off the grid for most of his adult life. He is a 50 year old man who basically does not exist: he doesn't have a regular job, home address, telephone, credit card, bank account, or even a Social Security number. All transactions are cash. He does jobs for a shady organization, mostly delivery cargoes, both human and inanimate, and he regularly doses himself with a variety of legal and illegal drugs. His closest relationship is with his rescue dog, Flip, who suffers from PTSD (so does Will). He is on a job to drop off a prisoner in Utah when he starts receiving calls on his many burner phones from a woman who claims to be his biological daughter. He tries to get rid of her but she persists, although he can't figure out how she found him or continues to trace him. But the more she talks to him, the more he believes that they are caught up in a much larger conspiracy.

Futuristic, dystopian, wonderfully paranoid, full of dark humor, and noir-ish. Will isn't a traditional noir hero, more of an antihero: he does questionable work, he gets involved with women he should avoid, he lives by his own code of ethics, he is loyal to his friends, he lives in a dark world. I enjoyed this offbeat novel very much (and yes, the dog is okay at the end of the book). I listened to the audiobook and the narrator had the perfect stoned-out hippie intonation.

Dystopia artwork (hero frequently has a dog in dystopian fiction)

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

 December 16, 2020

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

Shortly after winning the Oasis contest, Wade Watts discovers a new development in the Oasis vaults, one that will make the game even more addictive.  With the new challenge comes a new and dangerous rival, willing to kill to get what he wants.  Wade and his friends must band together to defeat this new enemy.

Ready Player Two is the sequel to Ready Player one.  It's no where near as good as the first book.  It was really disappointing because I loved Ready Player One so much.

Severance by Ling Ma

November 26, 2019

Severance by Ling Ma

Candace Chen is an office worker at a publishing company in Manhattan when Shen Fever hits, an epidemic that turns people into non-violent zombies doomed to repeat the same mindless tasks over and over.  As the number of people dwindle, she begins recording photographs of Manhattan in a blog she calls NY Ghost.  When she finally is forced to leave Manhattan, she joins a group of eight other survivors, led by an ex-IT guy named Bob who claims to know of the perfect place for them to regroup and start civilization over.  The place turns out to be an abandoned shopping mall outside Chicago they refer to as The Facility (aka Deer Oaks Mall, probably based on Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg).  When her fellow survivors learn that Candace is pregnant, they elect to hold her prisoner until her baby is born.  Candace fears what their actions mean for her unborn baby and is determined to escape.

Based on the description I wrote above, this should have been a more exciting story than it turned out to be.  There are parallels between the infected zombies’ repetitive actions and Candace’s repetitive tasks at work, her mother’s early onset Alzheimer’s, and the factory workers’ jobs in China.  There is lots of filler about Candace’s life when she first came to New York, also about her jerk boyfriends and co-workers.  While it reminded me at times of Station Eleven, it’s basically the millennials’ search for meaning other than mindless consumerism.  Unfortunately Candace, her friends, and the other survivors are all pretty boring.  Maybe I would have connected more with the characters if I was a millennial.  I listened to the audio version and I found myself skipping ahead through some of the boring parts.