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The Paradox Hotel

Title: The Paradox Hotel

Author: Rob Hart

Genre: science fiction

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I was so pumped to read this book. It sounded like something I would love. Time travel- check. Thriller- double check. Dinosaurs- I’m all in. But man alive, this book was not nearly as good as I hoped. The main character was so obnoxious and mean for no reason and was wholly unlikeable. I appreciate a good snarky character, but she was over-the-top awful. The plot was interesting, but the pacing was way off. The last 10% was full of great action, but it had so many characters and boring plot that didn’t need to exist that by the time I was close to the end, I was begging for anything to happen.

From Goodreads:

January Cole’s job just got a whole lot harder. Not that running security at the Paradox was ever really easy. Nothing’s simple at a hotel where the ultra-wealthy tourists arrive costumed for a dozen different time periods, all eagerly waiting to catch their “flights” to the past.

Or where proximity to the timeport makes the clocks run backward on occasion—and, rumor has it, allows ghosts to stroll the halls. None of that compares to the corpse in room 526. The one that seems to be both there and not there. The one that somehow only January can see.

On top of that, some very important new guests have just checked in. Because the U.S. government is about to privatize time-travel technology—and the world’s most powerful people are on hand to stake their claims.

January is sure the timing isn’t a coincidence. Neither are those “accidents” that start stalking their bidders. There’s a reason January can glimpse what others can’t. A reason why she’s the only one who can catch a killer who’s operating invisibly and in plain sight, all at once.

But her ability is also destroying her grip on reality—and as her past, present, and future collide, she finds herself confronting not just the hotel’s dark secrets but her own.

The premise is ridiculous, but in a fun way, but it didn’t hold up for me. The privatization plot point was absolutely pointless. If this book had just been about January and the reason why she can see things others can’t and her trying to solve the time travel issues the hotel is facing, that would have been a much better book. But there are so many extraneous characters that distract from the best part of the book. January is needlessly mean. She’s not clever with her sarcasm. She’s just so unlikeable. This book had so much potential but was a big disappointment.

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The Ferryman

Title: The Ferryman

Author: Justin Cronin

Genre: dystopia, science fiction

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I LOVE Cronin’s Passage trilogy. It’s one I want to revisit every few years. I’m such a fan that I’ll read anything he publishes. When NetGalley offered this one to me, I jumped on it immediately. Not only do I love the author, but it’s also dystopian, which is my favorite genre. And I can easily say this is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I was hooked and never saw all the twists this book takes.

From Goodreads: Founded by the mysterious genius known as the Designer, the archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. In this island paradise, Prospera’s lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms, meant to measure their physical health and psychological well-being, fall below 10 percent. Then they retire themselves, embarking on a ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are readied to restart life afresh.

Proctor Bennett, of the Department of Social Contracts, has a satisfying career as a ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process–and, when necessary, enforcing it. But all is not well with Proctor. For one thing, he’s been dreaming–which is supposed to be impossible in Prospera. For another, his monitor percentage has begun to drop alarmingly fast. And then comes the day he is summoned to retire his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry.

Meanwhile, something is stirring. The Support Staff, ordinary men and women who provide the labor to keep Prospera running, have begun to question their place in the social order. Unrest is building, and there are rumors spreading of a resistance group–known as “Arrivalists”–who may be fomenting revolution.

Soon Proctor finds himself questioning everything he once believed, entangled with a much bigger cause than he realized–and on a desperate mission to uncover the truth. 

This book just kept me guessing as to what was going to happen next. When I was convinced I knew where the book was headed, I realized I was only halfway done. The plot pulls the reader in so many different directions that you are also solving the mystery of just what is going on along with the characters. I’ve read more dystopian books than any other genre, and this one is definitely one of the more unique ones. It’s a mix of 1984, The Giver, and The Truman Show (along with others that I won’t disclose because of spoilers). I loved that the story is told in both first and third-person narrators. Proctor is first person, but the other characters are third, which leaves them in a bit of a mystery. I never expected a shift like this to work, but it was great, and I had no trouble following it. The worst thing about this book is that it’s not out until May, so I can’t make all my friends read it now. I absolutely loved this one.

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Black Stars collection

Title/Author: The Visit by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Black Pages by Nnedi Okorafor

2043…A Merman I Should Turn to Be by Nisi Shawl

These Alien Skies by C.T. Rwizi

We Travel the Spaceways by Victor LaValle

Clap Back by Nalo Hopkinson

Genre: Afrofuturism

I’m not a sci-fi person. As much as I try to be, and as much as I fully support the Afrofuturism genre, it’s just not my thing. That said, I do enjoy a book here and there. The Parable of the Sower duology by Octavia Butler is a masterpiece. I also loved her Kindred. But other books in the genre were just okay for me. But that’s just me. If this is your genre of choice, you’ll love this book series found on Amazon.

From Goodreads: The Visit: One night in Lagos, two former friends reunite. Obinna is a dutiful and unsophisticated stay-at-home husband and father married to a powerful businesswoman. Eze is single, a cautious rebel from his university days whose arrival soon upsets the balance in Obinna’s life. In a world where men are constantly under surveillance and subject to the whims of powerful women, more than Obinna’s ordered and accustomed routine might be on the line.

The Black Pages: Issaka has returned home to Timbouctou and a devastating al-Qaeda raid. His only hope for survival is Faro, a stunning, blue-beaded supernatural entity who rises free from the flames of her imprisoning book as it burns. Compelled to follow Faro, Issaka is opening his eyes to their shared history and the ancestral wisdom of his own past.

2043… A Merman I Should Turn to Be: Five miles off the South Carolina coast, Darden and Catherina are getting their promised forty acres, all of it undersea. Like every Black “mer,” they’ve been experimentally modified to adapt to their new subaquatic home—and have met with extreme resistance from white supremacists. Darden has an inspired plan for resolution. For both those on land and the webbed bottom-dwellers below, Darden is hoping to change the wave of the future.

These Alien Skies: Copilots Msizi and Tariro are testing a newly constructed wormhole jump that presumably leads to unsettled habitable worlds. Then an explosion sends them off course, far from where they started and with little chance of ever making it back. Now they’re stranded on their new home for the diaspora. It’s called Malcolm X-b. But they’re beginning to wonder how many light-years from civilization they really are.

Clap Back: Burri is a fashion designer and icon with a biochemistry background. Her latest pieces are African inspired and crafted to touch the heart. They enable wearers to absorb nanorobotic memories and recount the stories of Black lives and forgiveness. Wenda doesn’t buy it. A protest performance artist, Wenda knows exploitation when she sees it. What she’s going to do with Burri’s breakthrough technology could, in the right hands, change race relations forever.

We Travel the Spaceways: Grimace is a homeless man on a holy mission to free Black Americans from emotional slavery. His empty soda cans told him as much. Then he meets Kim, a transgender runaway who joins Grimace on his heroic quest. Is Grimace receiving aluminum missives from the gods, or is he a madman? Kim will find out soon enough on a strange journey they’ve been destined to share.

I loved The Black Pages. The opening page has a quote from Fahrenheit 451 on it, so I was hooked. And yes, it’s about book burning, but it’s so much more than that. I immediately was drawn in to the story, more so than any of the other stories. The Visit was also really great. The tables were turned where the world is a matriarchy. The others were good, but just not for me. Please don’t let that dissuade you, though. These are great stories.

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Some Animals

Title: Some Animals

Author: Joshua Todd James

Genre: science fiction thriller

I had the pleasure of editing this book a few months ago. I’m going to be honest and say that I don’t enjoy every book I edit, and I certainly don’t review them all. However, this one stuck with me because the character of Jacob is so compelling. Jacob isn’t a human. He’s a Companion, a robot who acts more human than humans do. He’s thoughtful and generous. He’s helpful and kind. He can’t hurt human due to his programming. He’s a gentle soul, and I just loved him.

From Amazon:

For fans of THE MURDERBOT DIARIES and I, ROBOT, volume one in a new thrilling series: SOME ANIMALS.

Jacob Kind is your friend. He is your helper. Jacob loves everyone, in fact. He loves his adopted mother, Sylvia, most of all. Jacob is a synthetic Companion, created specifically to be whatever his Primary, his owner, wishes him to be. He isn’t allowed to harm humans and, in fact, is devoted to humanity and art.

Right up until Jacob interrupts a masked man murdering Sylvia in their home and is blamed for the vicious crime. The police believe he’s the culprit, Companion company executives want him returned for reprogramming to prevent a PR nightmare, but Jacob only wishes to bring Sylvia’s killer to justice. Which he is going to have to do on his own.

So now Jacob is on the run. After her killer, and toward justice, with but one guiding light that his mother left him. Serve and protect humanity, at all costs. Without losing his own.

After Sylvia’s murder, however, Jacob’s demeanor shifts. He’s out for justice. Not blood, not to hurt any and all humans. But he wants to know who killed Sylvia and why. To see that person(s) brought to justice. And the journey Jacob takes is great. Through Jacob, we meet other Companions, journey through the lands, and see just how terribly Companions are treated in various parts of the country. James does a great job writing Companions of the future for today’s minorities. They are looked down upon, mistreated, and oftentimes abused. The parallels are noteworthy and important. I’ve been told there will be more from Jacob in future books, and I’m already excited to see where his story will lead.

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The Midnight Library

Title: The Midnight Library

Author: Matt Haig

Genre: post-apocalyptic time travel/science fiction

Everyone has been talking about this book. Seems like I can’t escape the buzz. And, like always, I knew nothing about it when I started reading. I didn’t even know what genre it was. Turns out, it was a book right up my alley. Fantastical, but not really fantasy. Great characters, interesting plot, well-written. Who could ask for more?

From Goodreads: Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

What was really great about this was that Haig kept the plot fresh. It isn’t just about Nora living in various lives, one after another, until they blur together for her and for the reader. She definitely visits a few lives that you spend some time in, but various other events keep the plot from getting stagnant. Nora, even though she was struggling when we meet her, becomes much more dynamic as the book goes on. You feel her pain in the beginning, and you really root for her to “find” the life that’s perfect for her. I read this one in just a couple days. I really couldn’t wait to see which life Nora found for herself.

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Sorrowland

Title: Sorrowland

Author: Rivers Solomon

Genre: Black science fiction

Thank you Netgalley for this book!

Holy smokes this book. I have already read An Unkindness of Ghosts and The Deep, so I am familiar with Rivers Solomon’s genre-bending style. I discovered them in last year’s PopSugar challenge for the “author who is trans or non-binary” prompt, so I’m using Solomon’s preferred pronouns of they/their. I am so thankful I stumbled upon their work because all their books have been outstanding. And seriously, thank you to Netgalley for letting me have this one. I was so excited to read it.

From Goodreads: Vern – seven months pregnant and desperate to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised – flees for the shelter of the woods. There, she gives birth to twins, and plans to raise them far from the influence of the outside world.

But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of, her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes.

To understand her metamorphosis and to protect her small family, Vern has to face the past, and more troublingly, the future – outside the woods. Finding the truth will mean uncovering the secrets of the compound she fled but also the violent history in America that produced it.

So, this book isn’t at all what I thought it would be. I should have known not to expect “traditional” when it comes to a book written by Solomon. I was thinking it would be a story about a woman escaping a cult and struggling with the outside world. It is that, of course, but so SO much more. Vern begins to notice that her body is stronger than it should be. She doesn’t tire as quickly and can heal herself. By the time she realizes this, she knows she has to figure out why.

Vern’s journey takes her to people who are kind and helpful, and she finds a home, of sorts. Her children are protected, while Vern can search for answers. And those answers, whew, they are pretty crazy. And so terrible. I had no idea where this book was going once Vern left the woods, but the story just becomes richer and richer as the story unfolds. What a fantastic, important adventure.

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The Deep

Title: The Deep

Authors: Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes

Genre: Black science-fiction

PopSugar Reading Challenge Prompt: A book set mostly or entirely outdoors.

The concept of this book is just so cool. Rivers Solomon heard the song “The Deep” by the band clipping. and was so moved that they wrote this novella in response. You can find the lyrics and a clip (pun intended) of the song here. I wanted to listen to the song before I read the book so I could be in the same frame of mind that Solomon was. And the song was really familiar. I’m a big Hamilton fan, so I knew Diggs had a rap group, but I’ve never listened to any of the songs. When I read the Afterword, I realized that clipping. wrote the song for an episode of This American Life. That’s when the light bulb went off. I heard that episode. It’s an excellent one about Afrofuturism. Here’s a link.

From Goodreads: Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.

Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.

Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.

I’m not a fantasy/sci-fi person at all. It’s my least favorite genre. Well, romance is way worse. But I read An Unkindness of Ghosts last year, and I have Solomon’s newest, Sorrowland, from Netgalley to read, so I wanted to read The Deep as well. The concept is kind of like The Giver where one person holds the past memories of the community, but that’s where the similarities end. Yetu is trying to find who she is deep down and ends up making connections where she least expects it. This book was great. I love that it’s inspired by a song, because music and lyrics can truly be powerful. This book was impactful and will stick with me for awhile.

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Recursion

Title: Recursion

Author: Blake Crouch

Genre: technothriller, science fiction

PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt: a book about forgetting

Blake Crouch is one of my favorite authors. I make a point to read all his work. Abandon, Dark Matter, Wayward Pines, the Andrew Thomas series, Perfect Little Town, Snowbound, Summer Frost, and Famous have all been great, fun reads. There’s usually some sort of mystery and some science fiction. This book is heavier on the science fiction than others, but still just as fun.

From Goodreads: Memory makes reality. That’s what NYC cop Barry Sutton is learning, as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.

That’s what neuroscientist Helena Smith believes. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.

As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face to face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds, but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it. But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them?

At once a relentless page-turner and an intricate science-fiction puzzle-box about time, identity, and memory, Recursion is a thriller as only Blake Crouch could imagine it—and his most ambitious, mind-boggling, irresistible work to date.

I really did have to pay attention when reading this because the timelines not only jump around between Barry and Helena, but also between years and events. This book isn’t so complicated that I was lost or confused, but I’m a fast skim reader, which didn’t work on this book. No complaints about that here, though, because this book was great. I was engaged from the beginning, kept guessing, and wholly satisfied by the end. I’m going to keep Crouch’s books on the top of my “to read” list.

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Booth

Title: Booth

Author: Jason Pellegrini

Genre: Time travel fiction, science fiction, historical fiction

PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt: a book about a fresh start or do-over

At some the author Jason Pellegrini entered my twitter feed. He’s a Stephen King junkie like I am, so I’m pretty sure I followed him for that reason. When he offered up a pdf of one of his books in exchange for an honest review, I gladly took him up on it. And since I’m King fan, he felt Booth was the one I’d like the most. And this novel is very reminiscent of 11/22/63. In this King novel, a character goes back in time to prevent the assassination of JFK. In this book, not only does a character go back in time to prevent a death, the story is also one of redemption, like A Christmas Carol.

From Goodreads: At dawn, on the day of his execution, Joseph Bateman finds himself reflecting on his life, one filled with poor decisions and evil people. Even his lifelong best friend played a pivotal role in earning Joseph his seat on death row. A phenomenon occurs as the electricity meant to kill Joseph is sent through him, and his essence is ripped from the body he has known his entire life and thrown into a new one. Only the body he now inhabits isn’t new at all; it is the body of a person who lived over a hundred years before Joseph’s birth. Now living in an unfamiliar era of history and trapped inside a foreign body, Joseph learns he has been sent back for a reason: to earn redemption for his damned soul and to find a sense of peace he has never known. All he needs to do to get there is to prevent one of history’s most infamous murders.

The execution doesn’t even happen until over halfway through the book. The first half is just getting to know Joseph and see how he got to this point in his life. I found the first half much more interesting. There’s a good chance that’s because I enjoy realistic fiction over science fiction. That said, the book was great overall. Once the execution happens, the plot quickly moves forward, and Joseph’s fate is, you assume, on the path to redemption. I found Joseph’s story captivating and definitely recommend this book.

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An Unkindness of Ghosts

I love Octavia Butler. Her books are just brilliant sci-fi. Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents are her best. The second is prophetic. She speaks of a president who wants to make America great again. Seriously. Kindred tells the story of a black woman who mysteriously time travels back to the days of slavery. And the Xenogenesis series is her most sci-fi book in which humans meet aliens. All this said, when I see a book blurb that compares the novel to one by Butler, I’m in.

At some point, this book came on my radar for the above mentioned comparison. While doing my research for the PopSugar Reading Challenge, I discovered that Rivers Solomon is non-binary, which was one of the categories I needed to fill. I was curious of their non-binary status would impact their writing. And I was right. This book isn’t just a great sci-fi book, it also places non-binary characters into a world where their status is simply the norm.

The story follows Aster who lives on a ship in space. The ship has been traveling from decimated Earth for over 300 years. The lower parts of the ship are for the Black people who do the manual labor. The white people are essentially aristocrats who live on the upper decks of the ship. Aster is the Surgeon’s assistant, so she commands a tiny bit of respect, but she’s also outspoken and angers Guards a lot. She doesn’t fit in well anywhere. She’s methodical, logical, unemotional, and just says things point-blank. She’s endearing, though, and you cheer for her from the beginning.

As Aster uncovers more secrets about the ship and her dead mother, the story unfolds, and the story takes you down a path of revolution. Aster knows the system has to change, how unfair her life and the lives of her friends is, and she knows she must overthrow the regime. Aster is a fantastic character, and I loved this powerful novel.