Mapping the Stars: A Review of The Forbidden Stars, by Tim Pratt

Science-fiction is one of the most versatile genres of fiction around, capable of combining settings with any other tale.  Science-fiction as a genre is also a bit of a misnomer.  The average science-fiction story is not just science-fiction.  Tales can be action films, adventure stories, romance, horror, and more.  From Blade Runner to Black Mirror, from Polaris Rising to Foundation.  Science-fiction can be defined by both fun and thoughtfulness, and there is always a place for a fun adventure that does not require readers to analyze every paragraph.  Books like The Forbidden Stars, Tim Pratt’s third novel in the Axiom trilogy, show the importance of such escapism while also taking the opportunity to define a possible future.  While entertaining, the novels also take some time to normalize behaviors and lifestyles, sexual orientations and body modifications.  Science-fiction lets us see all futures and revel in them.

Never a Hindrance: A Review of Aurora Blazing, by Jessie Mihalik

There is a certain amount of joy gained in reading some fiction.  Fiction meant to entertain, to transport the readers to fantastical worlds and witness the deeds of heroic peoples.  Where literary fiction tends to prioritize specific word choice and meaning over plot and character, many authors realize that there can be greater value in drawing in and entertaining your audience.  Sometimes the best books are the ones that make you forget that you are reading words on a page, instead conjuring images in your imagination.  These are the kinds of books that are hard to put down, and you wonder how you managed to read through them so quickly.  These types of books thrive in science-fiction, where most things, if not all things, are possible.  The only barrier is the author’s imagination.

Memory of Different Times: A Review of Recursion, by Blake Crouch

Time travel is one of the best travelled staples of science-fiction, from books to television shows to movies, it is the ultimate form of exploration.  The concept of time travel is almost as old as the history of writing, with the first known written example dating to around 400 BCE.  In the Sanskrit epic, Mahabharata, King Raivata Kakudmi journeys to heaven to meet Brahma, the Hindu creator god.  When he returns to the moral world, centuries have passed.  Time travel in fiction, from this ancient epic to Stargate and Doctor Who, usually involves physically transporting one-self through time, bringing your body and memories with you.  Threats include meeting your past self, or encountering the grandfather paradox, or making changes to the past which may affect the future.  Very rarely do we get a novel in a similar vein to Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, where time travel is a person journey into your own memories.

Insurrection: A Review of Tiamat’s Wrath, by James S. A. Corey

This month we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, where the first humans in history stepped foot on the Moon.  The first steps a human took on a celestial body other than the Earth.  For all of known history, we have looked to the stars and wondered what was out there.  Today, we know more than we ever have about the worlds beyond our own, but that has does nothing to stop people’s imaginations from filling in the blanks.  Tiamat’s Wrath is the latest novel in James S. A. Corey’s ground-breaking science fiction series, The Expanse.  Beginning in 2011 with Leviathan Wakes, these books have taken a realistic approach to fictional space travel, using the technology of today to extrapolate and imagine what space exploration may look like in the future.  It is not an exaggeration to say that The Expanse is one of the greatest works of modern science-fiction.

A Note about Tomorrow’s Review: Tiamat’s Wrath

Tomorrow morning I will be posting a review of James S. A. Corey’s Tiamat’s Wrath, book 8 in one of my favorite works of modern science-fiction, The Expanse.  This eventual 9 book series has been released almost every year since 2011, and even spawned The Expanse tv series, recently purchased by Amazon.  As this review is concerning a sequel, much of what I discuss may not make sense to someone who is not familiar with the story.  Unfortunately, this is not a series I would recommend jumping into partway through.

If you have not read The Expanse series yet, I highly suggest catching up on this excellent work of science-fiction.  I consider this series to be one of the defining works of modern science-fiction.  To see my thoughts on the series until now, check out my previous posts “2017 Reading List Part 5” which talks about the first 6 books in the series, and “The Art of Empire Building,” my review of book 7.

https://cityonthemoonblog.com/2017/12/15/2017-reading-list-part-5/

https://cityonthemoonblog.com/2017/12/27/the-art-of-empire-building-a-review-of-persepolis-rising-by-james-s-a-corey/

Doctor Who vs the Devil: A Review of Doctor Who: Scratchman, by Tom Baker

The first episode of Doctor Who aired on November 23^rd, 1963.  William Hartnell starred as The First Doctor, although he would not known to be only the first until a couple years later when, as part of a plot device, the Doctor regenerated into another body played by another actor.  This is a character who travels through time with their companions, solving problems and resolving conflicts.  There have been Thirteen doctors to date, with a few unnumbered appearing in small roles.  The latest episode aired on January 1^st, 2019.  Like the title character, Doctor Who transforms itself for newer generations while maintaining a place in the heart of pop culture.  This is a show that means so much to so many and the world is better for it.

The Space Princess and the Wanted Criminal: A Review of Polaris Rising, by Jessie Mihalik

Science-fiction takes many forms, but there are two archetypes which nearly all science-fiction stories fall into.  First, there is the hard sci-fi.  The Expanse, The Three-Body Problem, anything by Robert A. Heinlein.  These are the stories which pay extra attention to the technologies of the future and go to great lengths to explain exactly how races have progressed to their points.  This type of science-fiction can be literary, it can be intellectual, and it can be gritty.  On the other end of the spectrum is the space opera.  Star Wars, Firefly, A Princess of Mars.  In space operas the technology is present, but is not central to the story.  These stories are all about the characters.  Where hard sci-fi series can fluctuate between multiple viewpoints, space operas relish in following an individual or a group of characters throughout their adventure.  As our world changes and progresses, hard science-fiction and sometimes feel outdated, but space operas are timeless.  Polaris Rising is very much a space opera.

Roadmap to the Stars: A Review of The Dreaming Stars, by Tim Pratt

Creating a sequel is not a simple undertaking.  There is a lot of responsibility to follow up the first installment of the series in a way that satisfies your audience while also changing the game to ensure you are not remaking the original work.  There is a balance that must be found, and the best sequels are oftentimes the ones that flip the original around.  Instead of raising the stakes, they lower them.  Think of The Empire Strikes Back’s, The Last Jedi’s, or The Wrath of Khan.  The first movies in all of these series involved some sort of world-ending threat.  The sequels focus in on the characters.  The sequel, in this way, is easy to mess up, but better than the original when done right.

A Note on the Next Review: The Dreaming Stars

I am very excited to say that the next book I am reviewing is The Dreaming Stars, by Time Pratt Time Pratt.  This is the sequel to his wonderful science-fiction adventure, The Wrong Stars, which is the second book I ever reviewed on this blog.  The second book in a burgeoning space opera, I am excited to see what happens to Captain Callie Machedo and Dr. Elena Oh after their discovery of the Axiom, the demi-god aliens sleeping in the dark corners of the universe.

While you’re waiting for my review of The Dreaming Stars, go catch up on The Wrong Stars and my review, Instructions Not Included.  If you love science-fiction, this is a can’t-miss series!

Instructions Not Included: A Review of The Wrong Stars, by Tim Pratt

Universal Nature: A Review of The Three-Body Problem, by Liu Cixin

Readers will be forgiven for believing that all science-fiction originates in the West.  Since the inception of the genre, American and English authors have dominated the field, telling the stories we all know.  Jules Verne was a pioneer with The War of the Worlds, William Gibson created the modern vision of virtual reality with Neuromancer, and George Lucas will go down as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time for creating the universe of Star Wars.  But science-fiction does not belong to the West alone.  The Three-Body Problem, written by Liu Cixin, is a work of Chinese science-fiction.  Part one of a trilogy, the novel is not just a good read, but an important one as well.