Dystopia on your mind?
Sometimes it feels like we're living in a scifi world. A friend showed me how an author had "predicted" the corona virus, but the mathematician in me looked at the number of books the author had written that have not come true and concluded prediction might be more like good imagination. I guess the same thing happened after 9/11, where those with good imaginations were often credited with predictive skills. But science fiction authors don't predict. They use the present to imagine the future, and sometimes maybe even hope their readers might prevent that future from arising. I wish the corona virus wasn't here (after all, I'm still planning to fly to visit family!). But I'll keep reading scifi (and social-fi, and historical-fi and more). And here are some book reviews to help you choose your next "fi." (And your next cup of coffee!)
Walkaway by Cory Doctorow is a futuristic epic that imagines a near-future of ecological and social disaster. Human ingenuity, politics, greed and generosity compete to rebuild a failing world, and it's a long, slow, absorbing read, best enjoyed with some seriously dark five-star coffee.
Ichabod Jones by Russell Nohelty is my first (maybe second) effort at reading a graphic novel. It's kind of gory, more horror than futuristic, and offers a fascinating journey into a character's mind. Maybe graphic novels aren't as hard to read as I'd imagined, so enjoy it with another dark five-star coffee.
The Terranauts by T.C. Boyle is actually set in the recent past, but it points toward the future, describing the intricate science and social science of life under a dome, and the attempt to prove we can create an ecological survivable environment in a failing world (or on another planet). The snake under the dome is mankind, of course, and there are hints of deeper questions behind the competing needs of the three narrators. Enjoy with some more bold dark intense five-star coffee.
Finally, Eden Waits by Maryka Biaggio is a historical novel, but I'm including it here because it describes a (real, historical, failed) attempt to create Utopia on earth. Here, the snake is human greed outside the Utopian village (or perhaps inside too). And the tragedy is humanity itself. It's a complex, honest, and thoroughly compelling tale, best read with a four-star complex, elegant cup of coffee.
Walkaway by Cory Doctorow is a futuristic epic that imagines a near-future of ecological and social disaster. Human ingenuity, politics, greed and generosity compete to rebuild a failing world, and it's a long, slow, absorbing read, best enjoyed with some seriously dark five-star coffee.
Ichabod Jones by Russell Nohelty is my first (maybe second) effort at reading a graphic novel. It's kind of gory, more horror than futuristic, and offers a fascinating journey into a character's mind. Maybe graphic novels aren't as hard to read as I'd imagined, so enjoy it with another dark five-star coffee.
The Terranauts by T.C. Boyle is actually set in the recent past, but it points toward the future, describing the intricate science and social science of life under a dome, and the attempt to prove we can create an ecological survivable environment in a failing world (or on another planet). The snake under the dome is mankind, of course, and there are hints of deeper questions behind the competing needs of the three narrators. Enjoy with some more bold dark intense five-star coffee.
Finally, Eden Waits by Maryka Biaggio is a historical novel, but I'm including it here because it describes a (real, historical, failed) attempt to create Utopia on earth. Here, the snake is human greed outside the Utopian village (or perhaps inside too). And the tragedy is humanity itself. It's a complex, honest, and thoroughly compelling tale, best read with a four-star complex, elegant cup of coffee.
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