Book Review: Murder by Memory, by Olivia Waite
The novella starts when Dorothy Gentleman wakes up and discovers she’s been uploaded off schedule and into the wrong body, and she finds out soon that someone else is dead. As one of the ship’s detectives, she shelves her personal feelings (that’s my little in-joke) and immediately starts investigating.
Book Review: The River Has Roots, by Amal El-Mohtar
The novella is a retelling of a reasonably well-known fairytale murder ballad, so alert readers may anticipate some of the story beats. There are two sisters, and a suitor, and a warning from beyond via music. But even if a reader has an idea of where the story is going, there are bends in this river of a plot.
Death of the Author: A Novel, by Nnedi Okorafor
I love the vivid characters in it, the way they face their challenges, the fiercely exuberant explorations of personhood and choice and negotiating relationships, and the sheer joy of life apparent in how Okorafor plays with ideas.
Book Review: We Lived on the Horizon, by Erika Swyler
An artisanal bio-prosthetist and her personal house AI become aware of growing data gaps in a post-cataclysmic city run by an artificial intelligence system, precipitated by the murder of an acquaintance and the subsequent erasure of facts about the victim and his death.
Book Review: ON VICIOUS WORLDS by Bethany Jacobs
On Vicious Worlds continues, and significantly expands those themes of the first novel [These Burning Stars], with the continued stories of its characters and the introduction of some fascinating new characters.
Book Review: DIAVOLA by Jennifer Thorne
Diavola is interesting as a gothic horror through the inclusion of modern-day family vacation chaos and emotion. But it also follows a unique path from the setup and haunting and predictable responses to an original take on consequences and after-effects.
