Murderbot Diaries #2 and #3

 Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (2018), 158 pages

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (2018), 159 pages

I am loving this series. You really just need to read them. Both of these books (entries?) find our intrepid explorer continuing on his quest to figure out his murderous past while reluctantly trying to stop evil corporations from destroying the universe. Much to his dismay, he is becoming more and more human like and can't shake his need to protect them. I particularly like his snarky interactions with other Artificial Intelligences. Murderbot never fails to let you know exactly what he thinks and it is hilarious. 

The Murderbot Diaries - All Systems Red

 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells (2017), 160 pages

I am late to these books, but I am loving them so far. Admittedly, I watched the TV version first and was hooked. I know people always say the book is better, but I think the TV series did a pretty good job of capturing the first book. Murderbot (self-named) is a SecUnit who has managed to hack his programming so that he is no longer beholden to the company that controls him. He has gone rogue, but in a subtle way. He is still doing his security job, but with a bit more internal attitude. He is also addicted to watching Space telenovelas. He has ended-up on a security detail with free-thinking explorers who treat him more like a human than an android. This has him conflicted. The book follows the team’s planetary explorations and Murderbot's evolving relationship to himself and to the crew. Included in this is a good amount of snark. 

Project Hail Mary

 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (2021, 476 pages)

Imagine you wake up on a... space ship? With a robot nurse and no idea who or where you are. You can barely move, yet your muscles haven't atrophied. You slowly start to remember the impending disaster on Earth, and what your mission is.

INSTANT classic sci-fi for sure!!! Heartwarming, funny, emotional, scientifically mysterious. I absolutely love all the characters. It goes into the depths of science, but in a non pretentious way. You won't miss the plot if you don't understand it. My favorite bit is how the main character is a renowned scientist, but still makes silly mistakes. As he says: "At least being stupid isn't permanent. I'll press on. I know I shouldn't, but I'm too stupid to take that into consideration."

Do NOT watch the trailer for the movie before the read the book! It has a major spoiler that I think would take away from reading the book.

Sat on the couch crying after I finished it for a bit. I highly recommend this book to anyone regardless of their background.

What I liked:
✨Incredible speculation on space travel and more
✨Lovable characters with great backstories
✨Flipping narrative between present and past -- you get to figure out parts of the journey as you read. Adds a layer of mystery!
✨Goes into detail about some science, but in a non-pretentious way

What I didn't like:
💤Some parts felt a little over the top with trying to be funny
💤Bit of an emotional roller coaster near the end

Favorite quote: "This is astronavigational equivalent of doing donuts in the 7-Eleven parking lot."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
 

Project Hail Mary

 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, 476 pages.

This was my third time reading this sciencey space adventure (and my second time reading it for a book club) and I continue to be surprised at how well it holds up to further scrutiny! I first wrote about this book in 2021 here, and I still stand by most of those first impressions. However, to keep things fresh I decided to try the audiobook this time! I found it remarkably well-done. Grace's sense of humor comes across well with the audiobook narration, and the addition of sound added some really interesting elements to communication with Rocky. My book club ended up chatting about this book for nearly two hours, which proves to me that there's quite a lot to chew on for such a fun book. Definitely check out the book before the movie comes out next month!

On Mars

 On Mars by Sylvain Runberg and Grun, 180 pages.

Earth is dying, and the colonization of Mars is humanity's bright, shining hope. A hope that is propped up by the forced labor and many, many deaths of the many criminals sent to the planet. But there are many factions on Mars with different dreams from the planet, from gangs of escaped prisoners to a new age cult that helps to pacify the work force. 

This comic had such a good premise, but I unfortunately found the execution pretty lackluster. The villains were one-note and predictable, with very little humanity or depth to them. Many of the most interesting concepts were also the least explored, leaving what ends up being mostly stock characters. I also found the end of the book deeply unsatisfying. In a flooded niche of sci-fi, this is not a standout example. 

The Murderbot Diaries 2-4

 Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, and Exit Strategy by Martha Wells, 479 pages.

These three novella feature Murderbot out on its own for the first time. In Artificial Condition it goes back to the scene of the massacre that caused it to name itself "Murderbot" and in the process gets way to invested in helping some humans being hunted by corporate powers. In Rogue Protocol it decides that it is maybe more invested in helping Dr. Mensah than it wanted to admit and goes to gather evidence of corporate maleficence, once again immediately getting very invested in protecting another group of humans. In Exit Strategy it is not another group of random humans it has to protect, but rather Dr. Mensah herself, who has been kidnapped. 

These little novellas are extremely readable, and I find something about them very compelling. I am especially liking them better as Murderbot becomes more capable of being honest with itself about the fact that it cares about more than media, which is a gradual development up through these books. I do think, that with very minor structural tweaks, these books might work better as one longer novel. The slow periods would feel less noticeable in a larger book, and it feels like in many ways these book complete a single arc. I would recommend them as fun, quick sci-fi reads with a solid sense of humor. 

Finder

 Finder by Suzanne Palmer, 392 pages. 

Kara just beat me to writing about this book! So I'm going to link her review here for the facts of the book and keep this review to my opinions. 

I almost put this book down when I found out the protagonist's name was Fergus Ferguson, but I'm really glad I didn't! This whole novel has a very pulp science fiction magazine feel, to the point where I could clearly picture several scenes in the 1940s comic book style. I don't consider this a bad thing! It gives the whole novel a really interesting flavor, which is reinforced by some clever problem solving that was delightful to follow. I am definitely interested in reading more books in this world, especially if they spend more time in less human-centric space. A fun sci-fi adventure!

Orbital

 Orbital: a novel, by Samantha Harvey, 2024, 224 pgs

As stated previously, I tend to not read fiction, so my take on these things are to be taken with a grain of salt. That said this was definitely better than Ministry of Time, (which I will knock until the end of time), but also sort of not enjoyable--just in a different way. Props to the author for winning the Booker Prize on this but the exhaustive list of high praise seems unnecessarily lengthy. For me, the best fiction has to have really great prose--which this does a majority of the time--or tell an exciting story. The prose is mostly here yes, but often long-winded and arbitrary. But hey, at least the author is trying, right? Where this book goes right are some of the human mediations on life overall, as seen through the eyes of a group of astronauts. But really, it's seen through the eyes of the author. Which I find bothersome. You get to know some of the characters through ruminations but that's pretty much it. There is no plot here. How can I put that more plainly? NOTHING HAPPENS. It's just the author's mediations on the earth, space and the loneliness of the long distance human race. At times, it does make you reflect on the earth as a whole, which is what you would do if you were an astronaut, right? It makes you feel like, we're all one species, bound by collective memory and advancement. That's a happy thought, yes? But this felt more to me like the equivalent of an author trying to sound like a TikTok poetry influencer. It feels like reading the script to a Terrence Malik movie. I'm sure he's reading this right now and putting together a story board. I probably won't like the movie either. 

How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi

 How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi edited by Chris Balakrishnan and Matt Wasowski, 320 pages.

This book consists of bite-sized bits of knowledge on all sorts of STEM topics adapted from pop-science presentations given over two decades. It includes section headings such as "Mmm...Brains," "Creature Features," and "Tech (High and Low)." Most of the topics aren't more than a couple of pages long, and include a cute little comic or drawing of some sort (the book blurb describes these as infographics, but I didn't see anything I would describe as such flipping through the physical edition after I finished the audiobook).

Unfortunately, I found this book to be pretty much all style with little substance. It does a great job making the reader feel like they're learning something in a fun and easy way. Unfortunately, with how tiny the chapters are, by the time I got through the introduction and opening jokes there was essentially no time left to actually learn much. This feels like it's intended to be picked up and read a handful of pages at a time, but it's not actually efficient enough about presenting information to be very good for that. Unfortunately I don't know that I can recommend this extremely stylish book, there are better choices for books of general curiosities.

All Systems Red

 All Systems Red by Martha Wells, 144 pages.

Murderbot (formally known as a SecUnit) has hacked its regulator and is now outside of anyone's control. Luckily it isn't interested in doing any actual murder, preferring to watch trashy TV and do enough of it's job that nobody realizes it's not under any real obligation to take orders anymore. Unfortunately for its commitment to do as little as possible, a series of dangerous and unpleasant coincidences seem to be increasingly pointing to someone trying to kill the research team it has been assigned to protect, and it is now obligated to get involved. Especially since it is getting troublingly attached to this team.

This was a really fun little novella! Murderbot is a really funny character, and its perspective is a unique twist on the story. I'm excited to see where Wells is going with this, and luckily for me I'm coming to this series pretty late, so there are plenty of books to catch up on.

Architects of Memory

Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne, 350 pages

Ash Jackson is indentured to the Aurora Corporation, traveling the galaxy scavenging relics from an alien war as she works off her years of service to gain Auroran citizenship (it's all corporations now that the governments are long gone). However, every time she needs medical attention, that deducts credits from her account, adding more years to her indenture. Complicating matters, Ash is hiding a serious illness that will eventually kill her and will almost certainly put the rest of her ship's crew in danger — but if she seeks much-needed medical attention, her chances for citizenship plummet. When Ash's ship comes in contact with a high-powered alien weapon, Aurora and its competitors start a fight that finds Ash, her colleagues, and the alien race as expendable in their fight for market share.

The Orcs & Aliens Book Group will be discussing this title next week, and I really think that this book will give us plenty to talk about: corporate greed and the treatment of low-level employees; exorbitantly expensive health care; the pitfalls of stereotypes about the "other"... there's a LOT here. That said, the characters were a little two-dimensional and, combined with the many plot twists and shifting alliances, it made it a bit hard to keep track of who was doing what. Osborne created a truly alien species, which is refreshing — these are far from "human in a lizard suit" aliens, and I'd love to learn more about them. There's a second book in this series, and I'll definitely check it out.

August Kitko and the Mechas from Space

August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White, 451 pages

Jazz pianist August Kitko is prepared to die. Giant space robots are heading toward Earth with destruction on their minds, Gus just screwed up a fledgling relationship with pop star Ardent Violet, and they're both performing at a rich guy's apocalypse party, so being ready to die is kind of OK in that situation, right? But then one of the robots, Greymalkin, hears Gus riffing on the piano during Greymalkin's inexplicable fight with another robot. Suddenly, Gus is kidnapped by Greymalkin, who turns out to be one of a handful of rebel robots who are NOT bent on wiping out humanity, and Gus's musical stylings fit so well with the robots' method of communication, so why not co-opt him as an unwitting translator?

I realize that's a LOT to process in one paragraph, and considering all of that happens in the first two chapters, it's also a rough way to start the book. However, once I got past those first two chapters, things settled down and the story became a lot more about sacrifice, love, music, mental health, and humanity and less about space robot fights (though there's still plenty of that too). I love White's Salvagers trilogy (starting with A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe), and while this one isn't quite up to that standard yet, I'm definitely curious to see where Gus and Ardent's story goes.

A Pale Light in the Black

 A Pale Light in the Black by K.B. Wagers, 421 pages.

Kara beat me to the punch this month! So check out her original review of this book last year. 

I had a bit of a harder time getting into this book. The first fourth or so was a bit of a struggle for me, and I didn't really get into it until about half way through. However, from that point I was completely invested. I really appreciated the detailed explorations of how in the distant future people continue to be essentially the same, and the interesting ways that is expressed in a changing world (the examination of evangelical reactions to space was especially interesting for me). 

I really enjoyed all of the characters on Zuma's Ghost, and most of the characters in general (D'Arcey in particular is a favorite). This book was extremely sweet, and once I got into it it felt extremely comfortable to read. I'm looking forward to discussing it more at Orcs and Aliens tonight!
 

Project Hail Mary

 Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, 478 pages.

This wonderful novel has already been written about by Kara (here) and Christa (here), so feel free to look there for a plot summary and more thoughts. This was my first Andy Weir novel, and it wasn't quite what I had expected. For starters, even after hearing about how fun and accessible The Martian is for years (it's still on my list, but this book cut in line) but I don't know that I had ever really grasped how accessible and fun it would be until I read one of his books myself. Also, this book is much smaller scale and more personal than I had realized. I had seen this book described as a "first contact novel" which isn't inaccurate, but did have me picturing sort of grand scale explorations of alien civilizations. What it is instead is an intimate portrait of two different creatures meeting despite astronomical odds. 

Which is all to say that I ended up much more emotionally invested in this novel than I ever expected to. I had to work myself up to starting this book because I was expecting "hard sci-fi" to be a bit dense and hard to get through, even if it was very good. However, I never got that feeling reading this book. Instead I found the science interesting (and when it was too difficult for me to understand I found it was easy to gloss over it and still understand the story) and the plot kept me reading way too late at night. It was a beautiful experience that really got to me emotionally, and the pacing was very nearly perfect. I would definitely recommend this book to pretty much anyone, even those who aren't normally interested in Science Fiction.

Prime Deceptions

Prime Deceptions by Valerie Valdes, 448 pages

In this sequel to last year's Chilling Effect, Captain Eva Innocente and her crew of the smuggling spaceship La Sirena Negra are on the run from The Fridge, an intergalactic mafia, when they pick up an assignment to track down a scientist that escaped from The Fridge a year earlier. It seems one of the galactic organizations fighting The Fridge is in need of the scientist's expertise, and when Eva and her crew agree to the assignment, they're sent on an intergalactic caper that takes them through larger-than-life bot fights, through tourist-trap worlds, and into a tangled web of psychic Pokemon-type creatures. It's a fun, action-filled tale, full of psychic cats and fantastic humor, especially at the expense of a particular mansplaining and infinitely punchable scientist. I loved it, and I can't wait to see what Valdes comes up with next.

*This book will be published Sept. 8, 2020.

Contagion

Contagion, by Erin Bowman. 432 pg, 2018.
Teen space adventure meets John Carpenter's The Thing in Contagion! Smart and determined student Thea is working as a research intern when she becomes part of a search and rescue crew for a far-away drilling operation. The mission quickly descends into chaos as the corpses and questions pile up around the team. As Thea and her companions fight to survive, forces both inexplicable and all-too-human are at work against them.
If you need a fast paced space mystery with a dollop of creepy, this one might be for you!

Contagion, by Erin Bowman. 432 pg, 2018.

Cosmos

Cosmos by Carl Sagan  365 pp.

I read this book back when the PBS series was a thing. Last year an audiobook version was produced with LeVar (Reading Rainbow / Geordi La Forge) Burton as the main narrator along with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Seth MacFarlane, and Ann Druyan, Sagan's collaborator on the television series. Burton does an excellent job of narration although I couldn't help but think of all the episodes of "Reading Rainbow" I watched with my kids. It was nice to revisit this book from long ago. And yes, the word 'billions" is very noticeably used frequently but Burton doesn't give it that distinctive Sagan style. The only downside to this audio version was the introduction by Ann Druyan because I found her voice not particularly pleasant.

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson   222 pp.

This book is a quick overview of the Universe from the Big Bang up to what is known about it now. The explanations are clear and succinct and presented in an easily understandable and occasionally humorous way. It is not a book for someone embarking on an in depth study of astrophysics and the nature of matter. It is for the layperson who would like to be more knowledgeable about the whys and wherefores of our planet, solar system, galaxy, and universe. I listened to the audiobook read by the author, and who doesn't love to listen to Dr. Tyson?

A Short History of Nearly Everything

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson  544 pp.

Bill Bryson takes on science in this book that covers a bit of everything from the big bang to biochemistry. Obviously it's not an exhaustive and detailed overview but it hits upon salient points on the evolution of theories about life, the universe, and everything (with apologies to the late Douglas Adams). I listened to the audio book version and found it lacking. Bryson is known for including humor, frequently of the dry sort, in his writing. The narrator of this book, Richard Matthews, besides being distinctly British reads much of the book in the same tone throughout. You have to listen very carefully to catch Bryson's humorous conjectures among the facts especially in the first half of the book. I don't know if the narrator became more comfortable with the work as he went along or I just got used to his way of reading. But it seems to me he loosened up a bit as the book went on.

Furnitecture

Furnitecture: furniture that transforms space / Anna Yudina 271 pgs.

Very cool items included here and book shelves to make any librarian swoon!  I loved the design concepts and the ideas behind many of these pieces.  Of course the photos are also beautiful.  One thing I can't really do is imagine these pieces loaded up with my junk treasures ;-)

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