Transient, by Zachry Wheeler
Transient is a terrific book. It’s a gem that shows how much
raw talent lurks within the Indy Writing Community. And I heartily recommend
it.
We follow the life of an outsider, Jonas, as he navigates
the modern and sophisticated world of Vampires who now exist in modern cities, where
what remains of the human population is spread out and hidden among the
mountains. Jonas is a human infiltrator – a transient, who passes as a vampire
to bring back intelligence to his human compatriots in order to destroy the
Vampires and allow humans to once again claim dominance over the Earth.
What makes this book so strong, however, is not just a
gripping storyline of tension and deception. It has a message and it speaks to
the best and worst parts of humanity. Transient is more science fiction in that
regard in that it questions deep themes of love, betrayal, and family. I like
how humans are contrasted against the peaceful and technologically advanced
Vampires. It says a lot about human history and its recurrent violence. The
vampires are used as a reflection of our society, as in the vein of any good
classic sci-fi.
However, even books as good as this can still contain
missteps – unpolished bits that can creep in to any book – Indy or Mainstream
Press alike. In this case, Wheeler tends to over-explain this strange new world
rather than let Jonas (and therefore the reader) encounter it organically. In
one instance, Jonas joins a group at a blood bar, which pretty much speaks for
itself. Yet, because much of the book (indeed, perhaps even half of it) is told
through diary entries, we get pages on how blood bars operate, their history,
and how they evolved to fit into this advanced Vampire society.
Yet, I found myself engaged in many of these diary entries.
They were insightful, and often had a deeper message (especially toward the end
of the book). They read briskly, like the rest of the book. But, these odd
chapters, combined with sporadic bits where the storyline devolved into a
narration of sorts, still pulled me out of the story enough times to bear
mention in the review.
Even still, Transient is an enjoyable read. Wheeler won’t be
on the Indy scene for long. He has talent, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Transient is in production to be a feature film, and when it releases, expect
Wheeler to make an Andy Weir-like trajectory. So, make like a hipster at a
record store and ‘discover’ the book before it blows up big-time. It’s well
worth sinking your teeth into. 4.5 stars (for the forced world-building)
rounded up to 5.
Vampires as a reflection of our society places Transient in
the vein of classic Sci-Fi
AI Rating: 5/5
Brent A Harris
Have Space Suit - Will Travel, by Robert Heinlein
I reviewed RAH’s Have Space Suit – Will Travel because I’ve
wanted to read classic SF to see how the masters did it before I resumed
writing more of my own. I picked Space
Suit because one of my favorite science fiction authors, GRRM (yes, he’s
written more than just Game of Thrones) hinted that this book had influenced
him when he was young. Also, Robert A Heinlein is considered the ‘Dean’ of hard,
1950s pulpy science fiction, and I wanted to find out why.
After reading the book, it’s not hard to understand. Heinlein
is a master. I don’t know what I was really expecting when I started this story.
But one thing I found frustrating and riveting at the same time was Heinlein’s
complete disregard for the rules. The first 30 pages are exposition-heavy.
There times where the main character addresses the reader. For heaven’s sake,
the book is loaded with mathematical formulae and pages of musical notes! But
it was all deftly done. The pages kept turning, the characters (though firmly
stuck in their 1950s worldview) were interesting, and the conflict kept coming.
Space-Suit follows
the life of Kip, a bound-for-college-kid, who wants nothing less than to travel
to the moon. This is a wish-fulfillment story, and like any good wish
fulfillment story, the protagonist is given much more than they asked for. After
Kip rebuilds an old, worn-out space-suit, he soon finds himself in trouble when
he’s abducted. He’ll realize he’s in much more trouble when he’s thrust into a
hostile alien plot that lands him on the moon – and beyond.
This is aimed for young adult readers, and it’s better
balanced than Heinlein’s more infamous Starship Troopers (seriously, all these
famous authors really do have more than just one book/series). It’s a perfect
jumping off point for kids to moon-jump in to some rollicking good science
fiction that’s more than just entertaining pulp. At its core, it asks some
tough questions, which still resonate 60 years later. You can see the impact
the book has had – as its heady themes have inspired storylines that I
recognized in at least Star Trek (Next Generation) and (new) Battle Star Galactica.
All that from one simple book. I suppose if I’m to emulate
the best of SF writers, I have my work cut out for me. Perhaps I should build
me a space-suit and travel to the moon. 5 stars.
Necrotic City, by Leland Lydecker
AI Rating: 5/5
Brent A Harris
Necrotic City, by Leland Lydecker
Necrotic City is a Cyberpunk dystopia set firmly in the
worlds of Blade Runner/Electric Sheep and others that have come along since,
hinting at stories like The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell and a touch of a
Chuck Heston movie I dare say no more of, lest I spoil.
Adrian is a Company Man, a Hero with the pre-built, programmed
instructions to save others, genetically grown by the same company responsible
for these dystopic conditions. Heroes help others, in particular, Jumpers, that
have no where else to go when their credits run out. Jumpers jump from the
heights of the city, and Heroes must do whatever they can- including jumping
after them themselves – to save them.
While seemingly altruistic, the reader soon realizes there’s
a darker purpose to saving those who would end their lives on the streets
below. Everybody can serve The Company, even in death, so long as their remains
remain intact. But, when the cost to maintain the Hero force is insufficient to
the amount of nutrients preserved by their heroic deeds from their daily
duties, the Hero programmed is scrapped by The Company, and Adrian is left
adrift, bouncing from one dangerous situation to the next.
While the setting is immersive, the characters felt real,
and the reader feels thrust into Adrian’s plight, I felt his character arc was
a little flat, with real no objective in sight. Adrian is reactive throughout
the story. Even as a Hero, he has no choice but to respond as events unfold,
it’s in his programming. As a drifter, he stumbles from one encounter to the
next, often having to be saved time and time again with no real agency of his
own.
As a Captain America-type do-gooder, he’s unable experience
any significant change in character. He ends the story pretty much the same as
he started – a story that simply ends as his encounters draw to a close. I
would have liked to have seen him a bit more perceptive and a bit smarter at
figuring things out and I expected the story to wrap back around to the set-up
given in the beginning, but I assume that’s for a later book. Still, if you
don’t mind a fairly mild and unengaging character reacting to a mostly listless
story, Necrotic City does offer up some strengths. It’s a story mixed with a
strong setting and solid sci-fi elements. At its core, Necrotic City provides a
glimpse into a startling cyber-punk world that could easily become our own. 3.5
Stars rounded to 4.
AI Rating: 4/5
Brent A Harris
Druid's Portal, by Cindy Tomamichel
I was keen to read Druid’s Portal because I love stories about time-travel. And, who doesn’t like ancient Rome or stories about Celts and Druids? My favorite is Household Gods, by Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove. So, I dove right in to Druid’s Portal.
What I got was perhaps heavier on the romance and less on
the time-travel, but there are some interesting time-travel concepts at work
here, which I fully appreciated. Druid’s Portal is not an Outlander knock-off;
instead it is a straightforward portal fiction romance between a Roman soldier
and Druid scholar Janet.
If anything, Druid’s Portal is perhaps too straightforward.
There’s no real twist to the tale, no deviation from the standard, steamy
romance story. I would have like to have seen the characters a bit more fleshed
out. The antagonist needed to be someone who did more than sneer and cackle and
call the heroine vulgar names. There was an opportunity to make the villain
grounded and real, but it was lost in the twirling mustache and one-dimensional
dialogue. Most character choices were made for the convenience of plot, with
decisions often running counter to the character – for example, our Roman hero
seemed adept at adopting modern morals, rather than acting as a Roman soldier. And
Janet, a college professor, doesn’t figure certain things out until well-after
an exasperated reader is yelling the answer at her.
I would have also liked to have seen a tighter focus in the
narration. It’s written in third-person omniscient (think a camera hovering
overhead) which made all the head-hopping a bit difficult. The dialogue, at
times was off (though there are some really, really good lines that balance
this out) and each character had an odd habit of talking to themselves for long
stretches; telling the reader what they were thinking/doing. At the same time,
the narration was also distant, quite often using phrases like ‘there was’ or
‘a sound of’ rather than creating an immediacy within the scene.
In general, the book is well researched (there will always
be anachronisms that slip by), and I liked the path our heroine took, even if
she played the damsel bit a bit too much. However, Janet’s journey changes her,
and I quite liked the last bit of the book where the new Janet was on display
(though the ending seemed to break a rule, or I was just confused). Druid’s
Portal is a fun romp through time toward a steamy romance, where Celtic myth
meets Roman bravado. 3 Stars for fans of SF and Time-Travel, 4 for Romance,
where character counts less than steamy scenes.
AI Rating: 4/5
Brent A Harris
A Glitch In The World, by Alex Drozd
It's hard to sum up A Glitch In The World without straying too much into spoiler territory - for there is so much about this novel that is wrapped up in questions of identity, the uncertain nature of reality and issues of mental illness that it is difficult to say too much about it without giving the game away.
Let's start at the beginning. Stuart is a school student on a distant world, a colony that is wrestling with its own identity separate from Earth. Issues of politics swirl in the air around Stuart, with matters such as universal income being debated on the colony.
A lot of this doesn't matter to Stuart - who has his own issues. He is depressed, he has no real drive to commit to anything in his future, and finds himself pushed along by the people and circumstances around him. He turns to experimenting with drugs with his best friend - but that way lies tragedy and Stuart finds himself in a disintegrating spiral, with his only lifeline being the pretty girl who pays attention to him at school. Then comes the glitch. A flaw in the world around him, that means some of the things he depended on as he clung to reality might not even exist at all. If you're thinking that this has echoes of some of the work of Philip K Dick, you wouldn't be wrong - albeit more in a young adult kind of setting.
This is a novel exploring two possibilities - the breakdown of its lead character, or the collision between two universes as opposed to one another as matter and anti-matter.
Along the way, we explore philosophical issues, such as the value of life, the nature of mature societies versus those rising up, and the question of reality. With such weighty questions in the air, it is perhaps no surprise that we are left with more questions than answers, but the book is an intriguing glimpse inside the fragmented world of a youth as he struggles to understand it, and his place within it.
AI Rating: 4/5
Stephen Hunt
I've been reading through quite a lot of Black Panther collections before and after watching the movie - and man, the work by Ta-Nehisi Coates is both tantalising and frustrating.
This is the third collection from his Black Panther run, and while I enjoyed a great deal about the ideas and philosophies explored within the book... man, it just didn't hold up as a comic story.
I honestly grew very, very tired of seeing the characters either sitting around or standing around talking. There's a dearth of action in here - Brian Stelfreeze is a smashing artist, but you've got to give him more to do than drawing conference room tables.
The Black Panther movie clearly draws on some of the ideas from this run - questions about Wakanda's role as a nation and what path its future will take, and T'Challa's dual position as both king and hero - but the movie wrapped that all up in a bundle of action, threat and purpose that this third book rarely manages. There is one superb section in here - but that issue is written by Jonathan Hickman.
The ideas that Coates showcases will make a great comic book one day, an awesome one - but this isn't there yet.
AI Rating: 2/5
Stephen Hunt
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