Moonrising

Moonrising by Clare Barner, 320 pages

Not too many years in our future, genetically modified crops are clearly the way to provide food for an ever-growing human population, though many people don't trust them, thanks to some poorly regulated crops causing widespread illnesses in the science's earlier days. But that's not keeping Dr. Alex Cole from continuing to fight for GMOs, even if there are ecoterrorists threatening her life at all times. When her latest funding request is denied, Alex is forced to accept a position creating a functioning farm on the new moon colony. When she arrives, however, she learns that some of the first consumers of her new crops will be the ultrawealthy tourists who come to stay at a planned moon hotel being built by Emirati billionaire Mansoor Al Kaabi — not at all the people who she wants to help with her science. However, Alex finds Mansoor a surprising ally, and when sparks begin to fly between them, nobody is more surprised than she.

Given that this is supposed to be a science fiction romance blend, one would hope that the science would be solid and that the main characters would be likeable. However, some of the science seemed particularly hand-wavy and convenient, and I found it REALLY hard to root for a billionaire who unrepentantly admits to manipulating and buying off U.S. politicians to benefit his own pocketbook. Nah.

The Future

The Future by Naomi Alderman, 415 pages

In the near future, three tech billionaires have determined that when the apocalypse inevitably brings the end of civilization, the three of them should be saved to help reboot the world. (They have the brains and inclinations to do so after all.) Their super-secret warning system, their network of secret bunkers, and years of preparation make them sure that they and their chosen companions will be able to survive the end of times, no matter what sort of disaster it is. Meanwhile, internet-famous survivalist Lai Zhen is fleeing from an assassin in Singapore when her wearable tech starts offering her guidance to escape, revealing a mysterious bit of software that seems to be able to predict the future. And then there's Martha Einkorn, a woman who grew up in an apocalypse cult led by her father and ended up as the assistant to one of the aforementioned tech billionaires. From her place near the head of a social media empire, Martha can see that the parables she learned throughout her childhood are becoming truer and truer, and she's no longer sure how far off her father's prophecies are.

In a lot of ways, this book is almost too realistic — the tech billionaires intent on saving themselves, the data-mining capabilities of the online lives we live, even the online survivalists forums ring VERY true to today's world. But Alderman pushes things a bit farther, and I mean that in a very good way. This is a fast-paced, compelling novel with complex characters and ideas, but one that makes you think HARD about the present and the future. I have very few quibbles with the book (and none that I can discuss here, as they're major spoilers), but even with those, I'm confident in saying this is one of the best books I've read this year. Fantastic read.

Starter Villain

 Starter Villain by John Scalzi, 264 pages

Kara wrote about this delightful little book here and I completely agree with everything she said.

This book is so FUN. I really enjoyed all of the characters, but Charlie is particular was a delight. He reminded me a little of Andy Weir's protagonists, and I suspect fans of one would really enjoy the other. This book is silly and funny, but it also has enough action that I found myself both engaged and unwilling to set it down. It feels like a novel that is precisely what it set out to be, and I admire that immensely.
 

Thirteen Storeys

 Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims, 390 pages.

A dinner party is held in the Penthouse of Banyan Court. A dinner party that ends in the spectacularly violent and unsolved murder of billionaire Tobias Fell, owner and constructor of the building. The guests have no connections, except that they are all tied to the building itself, whether that means residents of the poor side of the building, residents of the rich side of the building, or employees. The one thing they do have in common are disturbing paranormal encounters in Banyan Court.

Jonathan Sims, writer of this book, is also the creator of The Magnus Archives podcast, and anthology of horror stories that builds into something larger and vastly interconnected. Fans of that will definitely also be fans of this, which does something very similar. I didn't find most of these stories particularly scary, but they were varied enough that I think there's at least one story in the thirteen that's likely to get to anyone. It was also a real pleasure to watch all of the stories begin to click together, and by the time I was halfway through I could definitely identify characters on the periphery that appeared in previous stories. Towards the end of the book I actually went back and flipped through the earlier stories to try to figure out some of the things that were clearly references to other things going on that I hadn't understood at the time. 

I have mixed feelings about the ending. On the one hand I appreciate it's neatness and clarity of purpose. On the other hand I had sort of been hoping for something weirder. Still, this book is very thematically compelling and felt almost like a fun puzzle to read. It's engaging, but not difficult, and I would definitely recommend it.