Category: Science Fiction

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


One for the Great Lakes Gothic shelf! I CHEERFULLY REFUSE by Leif Enger spins a tale that imagines how our world might disintegrate or regenerate in the years just beyond our own horizon. The characters in this book are recognizable, for their flaws, their oversights, their confusions and convictions. Culture and circumstances change quickly, but perhaps people don’t, and in that reality lies a balancing act for morality when the chips are down. Enger’s book celebrates the stubborn and trusts Lake Superior as a rarely forgiving (but always honest) setting on which to prove oneself. An entrancing sail through the dark.



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Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What will we leave the world?
Also: will we leave the world?

–Two central questions at the heart of this boundary-pushing novella that imagines human history’s farthest-reaching future through its oldest written literary form. Unforgettable, weird, and wonderful stuff from Oliver K. Langmead.

We haven’t seen the end of epic heroes. History has more waiting for us. I think, in the end, that’s the idea that made this book so touching to me.



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Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Ned Beauman’s VENOMOUS LUMPSUCKER is a bold, scathing, and brilliant commentary on the impact of human industry on the natural world. It’s funny, incredibly dark, and grusomely incisive. 0% lyricism, 100% wit. But always with an honest love that you can tell is probably still alive, way down there, somewhere in the brackish depths.



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The Seep by Chana Porter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


THE SEEP by Chana Porter is quiet and strange, a new utopia for a new era with new discomforts and new questions. Porter’s questing, soft narrative explores the burdens and the wisdom of resistance to easy solutions. Humor, otherworldliness, fantastic worldbuilding, and open-ended possibilities abound.



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All Systems Red by Martha Wells

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Science fiction at its absolute finest, the first book in the Murderbot Diaries series ALL SYSTEMS RED is downright delightful. A solid adventure-rescue story in its own right is enhanced into something really special with the narration of its genderless, socially anxious, reluctant hero–a robot designed to kill stuff who really just wants to binge watch a show called Sanctuary Moon.



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Light Bringer by Pierce Brown

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Pierce Brown is at it again, rewarding his loyal legion of Howlers for their ability to keep track of a million different characters/loyalties/feuds/family ties with another powerful ride. Perhaps the most introspective book of the Red Rising series while approaching the grandest scale, Light Bringer feels like coming home. Hearts will break. Mayhem will ensue. Last page will leave you frantically looking up the expected release date of the final book.

Disclaimer: If you don’t want spoilers, do NOT read the acknowledgements in advance. I’m probably the only weirdo with that habit, but just in case.



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