Heavy on sci-fi that respects physics, horror that literally keeps me up at night, abstract novellas that break my brain, fantasy that steps outside European colonialism, literature that glares angrily at the world, anything with broken and non-confirming characters, and any pop lit that has something to say. Non-fiction typically centers on exploratory deep dives on the natural world.
One night after an evening out, Jason Dessen, forty-year-old physics professor living with his wife …
Review of 'Dark Matter' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Great premise that asks a fundamental question: what could have been? Mr Crouch does a fine job of creating a tense, Michael Bay-type script around the concept, but I was hoping for more. Another layer of introspection, a bit more character depth. For example, the book flips to the protagonist's wife twice, but never spends time there except to make the end sequence more plausible. Amanda, the sidekick, is a one-dimensional and serves only to prop up Jason. The book is a blur of single. sentence. paragraphs. that try to create a sense of pace but are ultimately exhausting. Three stars for a good premise -- and a convincing ending -- but 30% more words and a hair of patience could have really brought this to life.
Science fiction classic about the rise, fall and subsequent rise of a civilization where the …
Review of "Mote in God's Eye" on 'Goodreads'
1 star
While the premise and conceit of the book is interesting in a mid-70s sci-fi way, it is absolutely ruined by racist, sexist and xenophobic themes. Which I cannot believe is not a more discussed aspect of this book.
The entire Navy is populated only with young, white, straight men. Old people are too frail. Women aren't in the military. Any person of any non-white color flat out just don't appear in the book at all. All of them are of European descent. All of them, somehow a thousand years in the future, practice the same version of Christianity as we know it today.
There is one woman human character. One. And she is only on the ship by accident. Any reference to her nudity (not even sex, just normal nudity) is through a weird chaste lens of embarrassment. And, as a real kicker, "rape" is used as casual replacement for …
While the premise and conceit of the book is interesting in a mid-70s sci-fi way, it is absolutely ruined by racist, sexist and xenophobic themes. Which I cannot believe is not a more discussed aspect of this book.
The entire Navy is populated only with young, white, straight men. Old people are too frail. Women aren't in the military. Any person of any non-white color flat out just don't appear in the book at all. All of them are of European descent. All of them, somehow a thousand years in the future, practice the same version of Christianity as we know it today.
There is one woman human character. One. And she is only on the ship by accident. Any reference to her nudity (not even sex, just normal nudity) is through a weird chaste lens of embarrassment. And, as a real kicker, "rape" is used as casual replacement for "to hell with". As in "Rape the rulebook, this is a crisis." If it had been a book instead of my Kindle, I would have thrown it across the room.
The aliens ("Moties", already starting out on a derogatory term that sticks) have genetically stratified their races into a caste system of defined, locked roles. Not only does this allow the writers to conveniently avoid any kind of individual complexity and paint entire planets with the subtlety of a kindergarten crayon set, but sets up "defensible" stereotypes, classism and straight racism. The silent servant workers are Browns. The "communicators" are brown-and-whites. But the leaders and decision-makers are, you guessed it, Whites. The abject racism is absolute fetish for white power nationalists. Brown people as silent, unquestioning servants. Just perfect.
All of that, plus the colonialist, capitalist, imperialist and xenophobic attitudes of the humans is just flat-out depressing because it's exactly how invading Europeans treated literally every country and culture they ever invaded.
This book was written in 1974 but carries the biases and outlooks of 1934. Its mildly interesting plot doesn't come close to saving this shit.
