Changes afoot

Decisions have been made, and plans are in motion. It's going to be a wild few months. We're putting the casa on the market in early October and finding a rental as soon as we get an offer. I am going to be spending a great deal of time in the next 2 weeks cleaning and decluttering. As our realtor said: "It should sort of look like a Crate & Barrel catalog." Happily the bookshelves won't need much work (though I'm still riding Spouse's ass about getting rid of some of his grad school books).

Nightwatch, Sergei Lukyanenko

The Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I found this book in the reverse of the usual process, after watching a movie based on this novel and the next in the series. In Russia, the series represented sort of a breakout hit for the science fiction genre there. I can see why it was so popular. Despite opposing forces of the Light and the Dark, the world of The Others (not-quite humans who include in their ranks vampires, shapeshifters, seers, witches, and magicians) is one of shades of gray; the narrator for Nightwatch, one Anton Gorodetsky, especially so. In fact, the alternative plane of The Twilight--only accessible to the Others--operates in tones of sepias and grays. In addition to great world-building with interesting, nuanced characters, Lukyanenko tells one hell of a story. Actually, he tells three stories in this novel. The reader will ride along with battles large and small, doublecrosses galore, doomed romance, and wicked chase scenes (even in text). I enjoyed Nightwatch so much that I started the next book in the series, Daywatch, 10 minutes after I finished the first.



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Parasite, by Mira Grant

Parasite by Mira Grant

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Having read 4 of Mira Grant’s novels, I have to wonder who she trusts the least: the media, science, government, or parents. None of those entities come out looking good in her books, although all have what they feel are valid reasons for taking (or not taking) actions that impact others negatively. Money and power often play huge roles, as does the butterfly effect: when one decision or action—even with good intentions—has unanticipated ripple effects that change the world.

All of these concerns and more present themselves in Grant’s newest work, Parasite (the first in a series of the same name). Set about 15 years in the future, the book tells the story of Sal Mitchell, a young woman who in many ways is even younger: She has no memory prior to a car accident 6 years earlier after which she was saved from the brink of death by a genetically modified tapeworm. In fact, almost everyone, in the U.S. at least, has one of these implants, made by one company and created to address antibacterial resistance and immunodeficiency. As is usually the case, this miracle cure for everything from allergies to diabetes is too good to be true.

Like most first books in a series, Parasite takes its time revealing the situation—Sal’s history as well as the story of the implants—unravelling details and bit of information via Sal’s current experiences as well as article and book excerpts from various sources, including 3 creators of the implants. Though the book may move slowly, with a lot of detail about how Sal got to her current place in the world, the story itself captured my interest from the beginning and didn’t let go. Grant uses cliffhangers well, so that you just have to peek into that next chapter to see what happened. Alas, she ended the book the same way, so I felt like someone snatched away a piece of chocolate cake after allowing only one bite. Hopefully, Grant will fill the time until the appearance of the second book with related novellas, as she did with her Newsflesh series.




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Boxers, by Gene Yang

Boxers by Gene Luen Yang

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Going into "Boxers," I knew next to nothing about the Boxer rebellion (thank you crappy education). I had seen mention of it once or twice (including in the book "Midnight in Peking") but was short on the details. So, I can't speak to the historical accuracy of the book, although in a story such as this what "history" says and the reality may not be particularly close.

That said, I think that Yang does a bang-up job distilling the history into a tale about real people's lives. We follow the Righteous brothers from their start in one small village until the aftermath in Beijing. The artwork shows the duality of their story. On one hand, you've got the cartoonish peasants in panels of browns and grays, with our hero being a sort of Joe China. The other side of the coin shows the lavishly drawn and brightly colored gods into which the brothers (and their supporters) believed themselves transformed during battle. We see it all from the brothers' perspective: the training, the journey, and the slaughters. I could understand why the Boxers felt justified in what they were doing. Doesn't make the whole killing-women-and-children thing less horrible, but you see their perspective (fueled by superstition, religion, and probably opium).

Interestingly, Boxers is half of a pair of graphic novels, with the other (Saints) presenting the rebellion from the perspective of a Christian Chinese girl who we briefly meet in Boxers. I think it's a great idea on Yang's part, to tell the story of a place and time in history whose interpretation depends mainly on which side the interpreter was on.

Disclosure: I received an e-copy of the book via NetGalley.





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Sixty Days and Counting

Sixty Days and Counting by Kim Stanley Robinson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Who knew that a book about the end of the world could end on a positive note? Robinson is obviously a humanist and believes that the angels of our better nature will kick in at some point before we destroy the earth completely. Me, I'm not so sure, but it made for a nice thought. He ties up the problems of the previous 2 books perhaps a little too neatly in this one (and why do authors think that a happy ending must always involve someone getting knocked up). However, along the way he tells a fast-paced story that seems all too real (ripped from the headlines, as it were), which is one of the reasons the rainbows-and-unicorns ending seemed so off.



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Forgotten review: Ashen Winter

Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


In the second book of a planned trilogy, Mullin's focus moves from the horrors of a ruined world (thanks to a huge volcanic eruption in Yellowstone) to the horrors of the people left in that ruined world and the horrific things they'll do when trying to survive. In the meantime, teenage boys can still be immature, and mothers are still overbearing. I'm looking forward to the next volume.



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Lots of books!

First the reviews:

Ancestor, by Scott Sigler

Forty Signs of Rain, by Kim Stanley Robinson

Fifty Degrees Below, by Kim Stanley Robinson

Spillover, by David Quammen

Now the rest.

Yes, it's been 2 months since I've finished a book, for a variety of reasons. First, I didn't want to get involved in another nonfic book until I finished Spillover, which was loooong (but totally worth it). Fictionwise, I just didn't get into anything for a bit. On the homefront, I was busy knitting and Netflixing, and...

Life has gotten really weird and life-changing recently. When the summer started, Spouse and I were seriously contemplating leaving the New Orleans area. I couldn't find a library job, the state legislature is batshit insane, and Spouse thought it would be rather difficult to be a family attorney doing crazy things like trying to help women and gay people (crazy for LA at least, where change won't happen until at least 2 more generations die off, although between the chemical and oil industries that may happen sooner than later). We both applied for positions in the Bay area, and I made it to the second round of the hiring process for my wet dream medical librarian job when...

I got a library job here, at last, and everything changed once again. Because the position would involve a pay cut and because Spouse still doesn't have a professional job, keeping our house was simply untenable. So, with some cash from my 401K at former job, we're going to clean it up a bit and put it on the market this fall. We're on the sliver by the river, and I don't expect we'll have any problems selling. With the money from the sale, we can dig ourselves out of the financial hole that Spouse's delayed re-entry into Grown-Up Land has caused. And I can finally get to enjoy New Orleans again, going out with friends (I actually have some!) to eat and hear music and maybe Spouse if he's good.

And in the midst of all this, I was sending resumes, prepping for interviews, and doing the work of at least 2 people since we were so understaffed (for about 3 weeks, I brought editing home every night).

So it's been a busy, crazy summer, and the fall looks to be similarly stress inducing (getting the house ready to sell, finding a rental, seeing if Spouse graduates and registers for the bar exam, and digging in to the new job, which is going quite well so far). Hopefully it won't be another 2 months before I finish a book.