Book Review: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

This is one twisty, suspenseful, mind-f*ck of a book… and I mean that in the best way possible!

Synopsis via Goodreads:

“Are you happy with your life?” Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable–something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Okay, wow. I could not put this book down. I mean, edge of seat, biting the nails, all in.

So… enough gushing. Let’s talk about why this is such a great read.

In Dark Matter, the author (a) creates a scenario that feels actually possible, even though it’s pure science fiction; (b) trusts that his readers are intelligent enough to follow the plot down the physics rabbit holes; and (c) creates characters who we can truly care about.

Poor Jason. Of all the ways a life can go wrong, I’m sure he never expected this one! One day he’s teaching college physics, married to a lovely woman, father of a pretty awesome teen boy. Next thing he knows, he’s kidnapped, drugged, and waking up in a strange lab to applause and cheers, surrounded by people who seem to be his super-impressed colleagues.

It all comes down to quantum physics. Of course. Years earlier, Jason and Daniela each compromised on their dreams — Jason to make the kind of physics breakthrough that changes the world, Daniela to achieve renown as an artist — in order to focus on family and marriage. But what if there’s a world where Jason made different choices? In the multiverse concept (as explained by me, a non-physicist, so be kind and forgive anything I get wrong), each decision a person makes spins off an entirely new universe from that decision point (okay, yeah, that’s totally simplistic, but best I can do in a quick digest)… and Jason, being a world-class physicist, can appreciate the dilemma of worlds colliding and splitting more than most.

I really don’t want to say too much about the plot of Dark Matter. It’s complicated and fast-moving, will occasionally make your head spin, and moves along its path in all sorts of WTF-ish ways.

I loved the complexity of Jason’s situation and the seeming hopelessness of his quest. The climax of the book includes scenes that are absolutely out there, but also kind of perfect. There are shades of grey and some practically impossible decisions that must be made. And oddly, beyond being a very cool and fascinating science fiction novel, I think it’s fair to say that Dark Matter is also a love story. It’s Jason’s love for Daniela and his son Charlie that propel him through his despair and force him to keep trying when all hope seems lost.

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The details:

Title: Dark Matter
Author: Blake Crouch
Publisher: Crown
Publication date: July 26, 2016
Length: 342 pages
Genre: Science fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley (and then bought myself a copy!)

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30Aug2016

Shelf Control #49: Riverworld

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to the newest weekly feature here at Bookshelf Fantasies… Shelf Control!

Shelf Control is all about the books we want to read — and already own! Consider this a variation of a Wishing & Waiting post… but looking at books already available, and in most cases, sitting right there on our shelves and e-readers.

Want to join in? See the guidelines and linky at the bottom of the post, and jump on board! Let’s take control of our shelves!

My Shelf Control pick this week is:

Title: River world
Author: Philip José Farmer
Published: 1971
Length: 448 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

From award-winning author Philip Jose Farmer comes his most famous science fiction work: the first combined edition of the first two Riverworld novels, To Your Scattered Bodies Go and The Fabulous Riverboat.

Imagine that every human who ever lived, from the earliest Neanderthals to the present, is resurrected after death on the banks of an astonishing and seemingly endless river on an unknown world. They are miraculously provided with food, but with not a clue to the possible meaning of this strange afterlife. And so billions of people from history, and before, must start living again.

Some set sail on the great river questing for the meaning of their resurrection, and to find and confront their mysterious benefactors. On this long journey, we meet Sir Richard Francis Burton, Mark Twain, Odysseus, Cyrano de Bergerac, and many others, most of whom embark upon searches of their own in this huge afterlife.

How I got it:

I bought it.

When I got it:

About five years ago.

Why I want to read it:

Long story (okay, maybe not that long) — I reconnected with an old high school friend on Facebook after being out of touch for many years. We discovered that we shared a geeky love for all sorts of science fiction, and he began rather mercilessly pushing me to read the Riverworld series. I kept promising to do it, and even bought myself a copy. And then, well… it kind of fell off my radar. My old friend and I are still FB friends, but haven’t been in touch much lately. I do feel guilty every time I see this book on my shelf!

And since I do love sci-fi and haven’t started any new series in a while, maybe I should finally give this one a try. It sounds weird and trippy enough to be something I’d probably enjoy!

__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link below!
And if you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
Check out other posts, and have fun!

For more on why I’ve started Shelf Control, check out my introductory post here, or read all about my out-of-control book inventory, here.

And if you’d like to post a Shelf Control button on your own blog, here’s an image to download (with my gratitude, of course!):

Save

29Jul2016

Audiobook Review: Agent To The Stars by John Scalzi

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

The space-faring Yherajk have come to Earth to meet us and to begin humanity’s first interstellar friendship. There’s just one problem: They’re hideously ugly and they smell like rotting fish. So getting humanity’s trust is a challenge. The Yherajk need someone who can help them close the deal. Enter Thomas Stein, who knows something about closing deals. He’s one of Hollywood’s hottest young agents. But although Stein may have just concluded the biggest deal of his career, it’s quite another thing to negotiate for an entire alien race. To earn his percentage this time, he’s going to need all the smarts, skills, and wits he can muster.

Agent to the Stars is John Scalzi’s first novel, but you’d never know it. It’s hilarious. And wonderful. And just so perfectly entertaining.

A heavy-duty reflection on the nature of humanity… is not what this is. Instead, it’s a fast-paced, in-your-face, silly look at the world of Hollywood, the art of the deal… and aliens.

In this case, very smelly aliens. The Yherajk communicate via smell, so attending one of their senior officers meetings onboard their space ship is likely to make a human vomit or pass out. And yet, they’re a peaceful race with advanced intelligence and technology, and they just want to get to know us.

Tom Stein is placed in the once-in-a-lifetime position of being the man chosen to introduce an entire race to humanity. As a Hollywood agent, Tom is an expert when it comes to making something attractive, garnering attention, and making people want more. But how to package and promote a species that looks like blobs of goo? With Yherajk representative Joshua designated as Tom’s personal liaison, things go from weird to unbelieavably weird in a flash, and meanwhile, Tom is still trying to place his of-the-moment hot actress into the dramatic role of a lifetime.

To say any more would be to ruin the fun. In case I haven’t made it perfectly clear, this is not at all a serious book. As an audiobook, it suited my needs to a T. Light and breezy, it’s a perfect listen for when you don’t need to engage a lot of brain cells. I can definitely attest to the fact that this audiobook made for a great couple of weeks of commuting.

Narrator Wil Wheaton takes the crazy imagination of John Scalzi and turns it into a wild and hilarious performance that’s silly and light, and yet with some surprisingly touching moments too. Such fun. If your sense of humor runs toward goofy and you enjoy wholly unusual sci-fi plots (with smelly aliens), don’t miss this book!

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The details:

Title: Agent To The Stars
Author: John Scalzi
Narrator: Wil Wheaton
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Publication date: 2004
Audiobook length: 8 hours, 49 minutes
Printed book length: 363 pages
Genre: Science fiction
Source: Purchased

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2Jun2016

Book Review: Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.

Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved—its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected.

But some can never stop searching for answers.

Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top secret team to crack the hand’s code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the provenance of the relic. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?

My thoughts:

Sleeping Giants is so weird… and I loved it.

The entire story is told through transcripts, a series of interviews and journal entries that, once pieced together, tell the story of a world-changing discovery and the lengths one man in particular will go to see the project through to completion.

While there are a handful of recurring central characters — Kara, the gutsy helicopter pilot, Vincent, a linguist, Dr. Franklin, the project leader — the main character is really the unnamed person conducting the interviews. He (I’m pretty sure it’s a he) sets the wheels in motion for the entire project, and has a cold, logical approach that seems brutal at first, although over time we can also see his brilliance and his absolute mastery of manipulation, even on a global scale.

The hand initially discovered is only one piece of an artifact that will, over the ensuing years, be pursued and retrieved all across the world — even if that involves entering foreign air space and initiating near-catastrophic political and military actions. The reasons for the seemingly blind pursuit of the objects become clearer over time, as the true implications of the discovery and what it means for humanity as a whole are revealed bit by bit. Meanwhile, there’s non-stop action as the tension builds and builds.

Sleeping Giants is really a geeky delight. For people into science stories, this is a good one. It involves decoding never-before-seen language and technology and recreating a device without knowing what its purpose is. For those who enjoy action and thrills, there are plenty, including military expeditions and mad escapes. For those into medical thrillers, there are biological experiments and humans being subjected to all sorts of studies, willing or not.

On top of all that, the characters are just plain fun. Kara is especially terrific — and maybe it’s the combination of her name and being a pilot, but I couldn’t help picturing her as a modern-day version of Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica.

Sleeping Giants is already being developed as a movie, and I can easily imagine it being great. Meanwhile, the second book in the series, Waking Gods, is scheduled for publication in 2017 (and believe me, I can’t wait to see what happens next.)

You know when you read a library book, finish it, and then realize you need your own personal copy? That.

Sleeping Giants is a terrific read. Check it out!

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The details:

Title: Sleeping Giants
Author: Sylvain Neuvel
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication date: April 26, 2016
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Science fiction
Source: Library

8Mar2016

Shelf Control #26: Agent to the Stars

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to the newest weekly feature here at Bookshelf Fantasies… Shelf Control!

Want to join in? See the guidelines and linky at the bottom of the post, and jump on board! Let’s take control of our shelves!

My Shelf Control pick this week is:

Title: Agent to the Stars
Author: John Scalzi
Published: 2004
Length: 366 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

The space-faring Yherajk have come to Earth to meet us and to begin humanity’s first interstellar friendship. There’s just one problem: They’re hideously ugly and they smell like rotting fish.

So getting humanity’s trust is a challenge. The Yherajk need someone who can help them close the deal.

Enter Thomas Stein, who knows something about closing deals. He’s one of Hollywood’s hottest young agents. But although Stein may have just concluded the biggest deal of his career, it’s quite another thing to negotiate for an entire alien race. To earn his percentage this time, he’s going to need all the smarts, skills, and wits he can muster.

How I got it:

It was a Kindle daily deal!

When I got it:

Last year.

Why I want to read it:

I loved John Scalzi’s Redshirts, and this sounds just as weird and funny. Plus, a friend with great book taste (i.e., we like a lot of the same things) told me I had to read Agent to the Stars, so there you go.

__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link below!
And if you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
Check out other posts, and have fun!

For more on why I’ve started Shelf Control, check out my introductory post here, or read all about my out-of-control book inventory, here.

And if you’d like to post a Shelf Control button on your own blog, here’s an image to download (with my gratitude, of course!):

13Feb2016

Take A Peek Book Review: All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

“Take a Peek” book reviews are short and (possibly) sweet, keeping the commentary brief and providing a little peek at what the book’s about and what I thought.

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

From the editor-in-chief of io9.com, a stunning novel about the end of the world–and the beginning of our future

Childhood friends Patricia Delfine and Laurence Armstead didn’t expect to see each other again, after parting ways under mysterious circumstances during high school. After all, the development of magical powers and the invention of a two-second time machine could hardly fail to alarm one’s peers and families.

But now they’re both adults, living in the hipster mecca San Francisco, and the planet is falling apart around them. Laurence is an engineering genius who’s working with a group that aims to avert catastrophic breakdown through technological intervention into the changing global climate. Patricia is a graduate of Eltisley Maze, the hidden academy for the world’s magically gifted, and works with a small band of other magicians to secretly repair the world’s ever-growing ailments. Little do they realize that something bigger than either of them, something begun years ago in their youth, is determined to bring them together–to either save the world, or plunge it into a new dark ages.

A deeply magical, darkly funny examination of life, love, and the apocalypse.

My Thoughts:

What a weird and wonderful book!

All the Birds in the Sky mashes together magic and crazy science to create a whole that’s odd and unique and utterly engaging. We first meet the lead characters Patricia and Laurence as outcast kids — bullied, friendless, and with home lives that just scream abuse. When they finally meet, they provide each other with refuge and support, but ultimately part ways until a seemingly random reconnection as adults.

The story switches perspectives between both characters, showing us the life of Patricia the witch, cursing and healing people, always being cautioned against the #1 sin for witches, Aggrandizement… and Laurence, the genius mad scientist working on anti-gravity and the possible salvation — or destruction — of the planet.

The writing is often quite funny, although the subject matter can get pretty heavy, what with the impending end of the world and all. The witches and the scientists have plans to save everyone, but each plan may also bring the apocalypse. Patricia and Laurence battle their own factions as well as each others’ in order to avert disaster, even while dealing with their own inner turmoil and competing interests and emotions.

This book truly brings together science fiction and fantasy in a way very few do. As the author said in an introduction to the book on the io9 website, “A young witch and a wild science genius—the characters in my new novel All the Birds in the Sky don’t even belong in the same book together.” Read more from this piece, here.

If you enjoy oddball fiction with a science-y, magical flair, check out All the Birds in the Sky!

PS – Bonus points to Charlie Jane Anders for making excellent use of San Francisco — not just the obvious tourist attractions, but all the odd little corners and neighborhoods that make SF so SF!

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The details:

Title: All the Birds in the Sky
Author: Charlie Jane Anders
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication date: January 26, 2016
Length: 316 pages
Genre: Science fiction/fantasy
Source: Purchased

10Feb2016

Thursday Quotables: All The Birds In The Sky

Posted in Thursday Quotables by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week. Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
(published 2016)

I’m about 25 pages from the end of this odd, sweet, fascinating book about a mad scientist, a witch, and the end of the world. The writing can be beautiful and sad, but it also includes some weirdly funny bits, like this:

Theodolphus had not eaten ice cream since the poisoning at the mall, and he didn’t deserve any now. Ice cream was for assassins who finished their targets. Still, he kept imagining how ice cream would taste, how it would melt on his tongue and release layers of flavor. He no longer trusted ice cream, but he needed ice cream.

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

22Jan2016

Book Review: Lock In by John Scalzi

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

Not too long from today, a new, highly contagious virus makes its way across the globe. Most who get sick experience nothing worse than flu, fever and headaches. But for the unlucky one percent – and nearly five million souls in the United States alone – the disease causes “Lock In”: Victims fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. The disease affects young, old, rich, poor, people of every color and creed. The world changes to meet the challenge.

A quarter of a century later, in a world shaped by what’s now known as “Haden’s syndrome,” rookie FBI agent Chris Shane is paired with veteran agent Leslie Vann. The two of them are assigned what appears to be a Haden-related murder at the Watergate Hotel, with a suspect who is an “integrator” – someone who can let the locked in borrow their bodies for a time. If the Integrator was carrying a Haden client, then naming the suspect for the murder becomes that much more complicated.

But “complicated” doesn’t begin to describe it. As Shane and Vann began to unravel the threads of the murder, it becomes clear that the real mystery – and the real crime – is bigger than anyone could have imagined. The world of the locked in is changing, and with the change comes opportunities that the ambitious will seize at any cost. The investigation that began as a murder case takes Shane and Vann from the halls of corporate power to the virtual spaces of the locked in, and to the very heart of an emerging, surprising new human culture. It’s nothing you could have expected.

My Thoughts:

This book is crazy, and I mean that in the best way possible. I absolutely love the world created here, some 25 years or so into the future, where Hadens are now a part of society and the definition of being a person has changed dramatically.

Hadens are those who are in the long-term, seemingly irreversible “lock in” phase of Haden’s syndrome. Their bodies are alive and their minds are fully functional, but they have lost the ability to control or manage their voluntary systems. An entire industry has sprung up around the vast number of Hadens, resulting in the creation of neural networks and “threeps”. Hadens are implanted with a neural network in their brains, which gives them the ability to control a robotic form (known as a “threep”, named for C3PO) that moves in the “normal” world as an avatar of sorts. The body is still the actual person, but the threep is also a manifestation of the person, and conducts business and goes about life just the same as anyone else.

Battles have sprung up over Haden rights, government funding of Haden resources, and the issue of Haden separatism and culture. And what makes this book amazing and so fascinating is that this is all background to the actual plot — which revolves around a dead body, a murder investigation, and a newbie FBI agent, who just happens to be one of the most famous Hadens, thanks to a celebrity father and his early years as a Haden poster-child.

On top of the terrific plot and world-building, the writing is a treat. John Scalzi provides complex technical and medical details, but makes it comprehensible and accessible through the characters’ dialogue. The exposition feels natural, not like a lecture. On top of that, the characters are fully fleshed out, have distinct personalities, and some can be awfully funny, especially main character Chris Shane.

My reading tip is that before reading Lock In, it’s well worth your time to check out the novella that John Scalzi released just prior to the publication of Lock In. It’s called Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome, and provides background on the onset, diagnosis, treatment, and political ramification of the disease. It’s utterly fascinating, and adds a lot to the understanding of Lock In, letting us jump right into the events of the novel without needing a whole lot of time or pages devoted to backstory.

Final word: Lock In is a bizarre and original science fiction/crime thriller mash-up, and I just loved it. My conclusion is that I haven’t read nearly enough John Scalzi yet in my life, and I need to fix that ASAP.

Oh, and a final, final world: While this book appears to be a stand-alone and I have no reason to think that it’s not, I could easily see an ongoing series revolving around Agents Shane and Vann and their crime-fighting adventures in a post-Haden world. John Scalzi, pretty please?

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The details:

Title: Lock In
Author: John Scalzi
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication date: August 26, 2014
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Science fiction
Source: Purchased

20Jan2016

Thursday Quotables: Lock In

Posted in Thursday Quotables by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week. Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

Lock In by John Scalzi
(published 2014)

This science fiction/crime story is so weird and fun! I mean, how can you not love a book where this is a “normal” conversation with a real estate agent:

“Will your body be physically present, and if so, will you need a room for a caretaker?” she asked.

“My body and its caretaking are already squared away,” I said. “I won’t be needing space for either. At least not right away.”

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

12Jan2016

Shelf Control #18: Lock In

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to the newest weekly feature here at Bookshelf Fantasies… Shelf Control!

Want to join in? See the guidelines and linky at the bottom of the post, and jump on board! Let’s take control of our shelves!

My Shelf Control pick this week is:

Title: Lock In
Author: John Scalzi
Published: 2014
Length: 336 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

How I got it:

I bought it.

When I got it:

Earlier this year, as soon as the paperback version was released.

Why I want to read it:

Because it sounds amazing! I’ve had my eye on this book ever since the pre-release publicity for it started, and I made myself wait for the 2015 paperback release before actually buying a copy. I’ve only read one other John Scalzi book before (Redshirts), but I know he’s an amazing writer and I’m pretty sure that Lock In will be a great choice for me!

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Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how: