I loved ‘All the Birds in the Sky’ and ‘The City in the Middle of the Night’, and was overjoyed to see that Charlie Jane Anders was taking her first stab at YA. I was even more excited to be able to get it as an ARC (Advance Reader’s Copy)! I read this book back in October, but scheduled it to publish today, April 13, when the book is coming out. A quick plot synopsis: Tina has known since she was thirteen that she had a higher calling– literally. Some day, someone would be coming from the stars to whisk her away to resume her post as one of the most celebrated heroes of the Royal Fleet. See, Tina is a clone of the fallen Captain Argentian, who gave her life to save her crew. When the Fleet comes calling, Tina/Argentian is their greatest hope in their fight against the insidious Compassion, but Tina struggles with this expectation. With Tina and a ragtag band of other Earthlings along for the ride, the crew of HMSS Indomitable strike out across the stars to find the means to stop the Compassion’s scourge. This is a fast-moving sci-fi adventure with a fun cast of teen protagonists from all over the world. Although the book is a little bit jumpy, hopping from incident to incident, there’s very little downtime, and the whole last hundred pages is one long hype-train roller coaster. I love some good space combat scenes! I also loved a lot of the questions the book posed about things like humanoid bias and the interactions of cultures. It’s definitely not hard sci-fi, but encompasses enough plausible specifics to explore interesting questions. Oh, and if you’ve played Mass Effect I think you’ll see some inspiration in this book. From a queer/social justice perspective, this book has a lot to offer. First, the normalization of pronouns other than he/she was great, especially the default inclusion of pronouns in introductions. One great moment was someone says what her pronouns are before declaring the protagonists are her prisoners. Amazing. Homophobia doesn’t exist in the Royal Fleet, and why should it? I love when authors are willing to leave behind problems that exist in our society and envision a better one– while homophobia can be a source of realistic conflict, there are enough other problems in space! While there are some minor bumpy parts in the book, largely caused by the amount of exposition that gets packed in, it was a still an awesome read that I devoured in a single day– and I’m even more excited for the rest of the series, whenever it might be coming out! Also, if you read this and like it, the author’s other books are amazing, especially All The Birds in the Sky. |
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Tag: Science Fiction
Latinx Heritage Month Display
Happy Latinx Heritage Month! If you’re looking for a book about Latinx characters by a Latinx author to read this month, we’d love to recommend a few. From science fiction to realistic fiction to historical fiction, fantasy to romance, and poetry to prose, Latinx authors are (and have been) putting out amazing work in every genre and style you can imagine.
Here’s the titles and their current availability– almost all are available from the Uni Library!
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo Ac37cl (on reserve)
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo ac37po
What if It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera AL146wh
Labyrinth Lost by Zaraida Córdova C8123la
Salty, Bitter, Sweet by Mayra Cuevas Available from CPL
Jazz Owls by Margarita Engle En35ja
Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland Available from CPL/UFL
Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older Ol17s
Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz Coming to Uni soon! and Available from CPL/UFL
Photographic : the life of Graciela Iturbide by Isabel Quintero 770.92 Q458ph
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera R5243ju
They Both Die at the End by Adam SIlvera SI394t
Here’s a couple of our favorites:
Salty, Bitter, Sweet by Mayra Cuevas is an excellent romance-ish novel with some unique elements. Part-Cuban Isabella Fields has a passion for cooking, and isn’t going to let anything stand in they way of winning the internship of her dreams. Not even Diego, no matter how cute he may be. But what if her dreams don’t match the reality of being a chef? This was a really good, cute read, and the amazingly detailed cooking scenes make the book very vivid (and educational!)
Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz also has a teenage female protagonist who knows what her dreams are– but Lana Torres dreams about being chased up a mountain by fire-breathing dragons! Ever since the first Puerto Rican dragons emerged from the island itself, Lana has wanted nothing but to be the Runner for Puerto Rico’s Blazewrath team, and it’s not too much of a spoiler to say that she gets her wish. Like Isabella, though, Lana soon finds her dreams were a lot simpler than reality. Set in a fresh fantasy world where only a few have magical abilities, but ‘Regulars’ know all about them, this novel is the perfect thing for Harry Potter fans who find themselves less into Harry Potter after, well, you know. If you liked Quidditch, you’ll love Blazewrath! I (Charlie) just finished this one this week (got it this week too, which says good things about it), and will have a more in-depth review up early next week.
Wildcard by Marie Lu
In Marie Lu’s riveting sequel to Warcross, Emika Chen must choose a side as the destiny of free will hangs in the air. Emika is on a mission to put a stop to the formidable plans of Hideo Tanaka, a young billionaire who created the sensational virtual reality game known as Warcross. After uncovering the secrets behind Hideo’s NeuroLink algorithm used to create the virtual reality images of Warcross, Emika, a teenage bounty hunter from New York, discovers an additional threat. A bounty has been placed on her head and her chances of survival relies on Zero and his team, skilled hackers known as the Blackcoats who previously caused many problems for Hideo. Emika groups with her world championship Warcross team, the Phoenix Riders, to face the problems around her, soon discovering that Zero and the Blackcoats aren’t all what she’d initially thought. Set in ultramodern Tokyo, Wildcard provides a spectacular finale to the first book in a fast-paced, intense read.
Wildcard is a fantastic and thought-provoking book that sparked many emotions. The setting was portrayed vividly, as it was a huge aspect of the story’s plot. The setting, along with the unique and complex characters featured, arose questions involving the future: What will happen if technology evolves to be the way it is in Wildcard? The storyline was fast-paced and although there were some slower parts of the book, they were still interesting and helpful in the progression of the story. One important point to take note of is that Warcross, which is the first book in the duology, must be read before Wildcard. Wildcard picks right up after Warcross ends and there is no reintroduction of the characters or background of the story, so it would be best to read the two books back-to-back. The climax of the book featured many plot twists, keeping the reader on edge, and the structure of the book was helpful and easy to follow. Furthermore, the characters were highly diverse and the narration was effective, although it would have been nice if there were some reminders on the previous events of Warcross. All in all, Wildcard presents a well-balanced blend of action and stimulating questions, tying the whole duology together in a way that doesn’t disappoint.
Call # Fiction L9605wa2
Student review by Cadi
Warcross by Marie Lu
Orphaned college dropout turned bounty huntress, Emika Chen, survives a futuristic New York City by using her expert hacking skills to uncover illegal gamblers – specifically those who bet on the virtual reality game Warcross, created by prodigy billionaire Hideo Tanaka. Emika’s decision to hack the opening ceremony of the international Warcross championships for some quick money gets her noticed by Tanaka and tapped to join the competition; however, she’s not just a competitor. She’s gathering intel for the game creator and is on a mission to figure out who is trying to destroy the world-renowned tournament.
Emika’s fierce intelligence, rainbow-colored hair, inventive tattoos, and surprising but plausible vulnerability all combine to create a heroine worth reading about. She is also surrounded by an inspiring, nuanced ensemble of supporting characters who reflect the diversity of an international arena, including representation of characters with disabilities and who are LGBTQ. This story presents an added sophisticated layer of asking profound questions about our world, our society, our technology, and our future – what will happen when technology evolves to be like the kind depicted here? Emika borders on being an anti-hero as so much of her power comes from illegal hacking, yet one cannot resist cheering emphatically for her and also hoping that when immersive yet potentially dangerous technology like the kind in this book becomes a reality, someone just like her will be around to do the right thing.
This impressive blend of heart-stopping action and philosophical questioning is remarkable; given that it has only one follow-up book to round out a duology (Wildcard published Sept. 18, 2018 – review to come!), the cliffhanger conclusion suggests a satisfyingly robust but manageable second narrative arc that will likely present a similarly well-paced combination of addictive adventure and provocative questions.
Call # Fiction L9605wa
Review by Vicki