The Tusks of Extinction, Ray Nayler

 

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

Started: April 5, 2025
Completed: April 7, 2025
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nebula Award Committee

Review:

This book is both a conservation work as well as a Science Fiction work.  That is a tough combination.  I have been sort of wrapped up in the concept of "uploading" one's intellect into a computer and this book examines that possibility while also looking at the possibility of recreating extinct creatures (not really Jurassic Park) while at the same time examining how those creatures would impact the environment and still be subject to the very conditions that brought them to extinction.  This is well done for the most part and the shifting perspectives are useful.  The book is brief, however, so it feels like the characters are truncated and only one of the characters undergoes meaningful change or development.

Untethered Sky, Fonda Lee

 

Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

Started: March 15, 2025
Completed: March 16, 2025
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: I cannot remember how I came across this book, but it has been on my To Be Read audio book list for quite a while.

Review:

I enjoyed this book.  It was an odd combination of romance and adventure which was not fully part of either.  This was an interesting way to look at the start of a new profession.  Sort of a journey woman thing, but also a look at adventure that comes from a challenging profession.

The Grace of Kings, Ken Liu

 

The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

Started: 9/13/2022
Completed: 9/21/2022
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By: The Nebula list

Review:

This book had its moments.  It is difficult to tell which of the characters is thought to be heroic.  It feels to me like simply none of them were.  Throughout the book, the characters basically held to the same broad stereotype with which they were painted from the start.  It did not feel to me like any of the characters learned from the life-changing experiences that littered the novel during the timeline of the novel.  Status changes happened and then the characters did not adjust, but continued to operate in the same manner in the new status.  This happened over and over.  Maybe this is an effort to demonstrate fundamental character flaws, but the characters rarely grappled with these flaws.  I had the impression that this book was something like Neil Gaiman's American Gods, but I see only passing similarities.  Finally the references to different positions of sitting and bowing are surely rife with meaning to someone familiar with Chinese culture, but, to me, these were just labels put on positions I could not envisage.  Moreover, these various positions were certainly intended by the author to indicate levels of comfort and respect that I found it quite challenging to distinguish.  I'm not sure how that could have easily been fixed without creating a tripping point over and over in the story, but it did not help me understand the novel and actually distracted from it as I had to go back over in my head what each position meant.

Finna, Nino Cipri

 

Finna by Nino Cipri is a book nominated for a Hugo, so I want to read it before voting.

Started: 9/17/2021
Completed: 9/17/2021
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Hugo Awards

Review:

This was a good and well written story.  The use of they/them pronouns threw me several times as I thought on some occasions that the reference was to a plurality and not and individual.  When I took the position that the author was going to have to make it clear to me when it was a plurality ("they both" or "they all" or something like that), I had a much easier time.  The way that the metaverses work was coherent and sensible.  It was worth the read.

The Poppy War, R. F. Kuang

 

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang got a simply wonderful review by a blogger who said that it truly haunted him (in a good way?).  There have been other good reviews.  It was a finalist for both the Nebula and the Locus awards.  I think that I first saw it on the Nebula awards website.  This is the debut novel for Kuang and is the first in The Poppy War Series.

Started: 10/25/2020
Completed: 10/29/2020
Recommendation: Not Recommeneded
Recommended By: Generally good reviews

Words for which I sought help:

immure -- enclose or confine (someone) against their will

Review:

This book has a grand scale with decent character development.  It is well written.  I simply did not like it.  I did not enjoy the scenes of genocide and the relish to have it repeated.  I found the characters off-putting with the lead character particularly off-putting.  It is just not the kind of escape fantasy into which I was comfortable escaping.

Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorator is a fictional story that is getting international recognition.  I cannot remember how I heard about this book.

Started:  5/2/2018

Completed: 5/27/2018

Recommended By:  Nobody

Recommendation: Recommended

Review:

This is a stirring tale in a seemingly post-apocalyptic future.  It feels like an allegory for current conditions particularly given the #MeToo movement.  It is hard to talk about the book without providing spoilers, so bear with me if it seems that I'm not saying much about the plot.  In a sense, this is a coming of age story.  As usual, however, it has implications for all known civilization.  I really liked listening to this book on CD as the dramatist, Anne Flosnik, has a rich and expressive voice.  I happened to have a copy of the book (as I was planning to read it) and when I skimmed it for the spelling of various names, I would never have pronounced them correctly.  Also, Ms. Flosnik brings a sense of "other" with a rich accent that I simply could not place (perhaps that is the intent).  It could also be that I am simply unfamiliar with many African accents.

I cannot say that this book is Earth shattering or that it gave me a new perspective, but it was displacing.  Perceiving the world from the protagonists point of view makes the familiar artificial and the use of Ju-Ju (a form of magic) further takes the world from the familiar.  It is unclear to me, however, whether it is magic in the traditional sense or whether the practitioner is tapping into something else (perhaps some future technology).  Shape changing suggests it is just plain magic, but I still like to leave the opening for something else.

As a fun read, this was fine.  It have enough oomph to make it worth my time and I am glad to have read it.