Book Review: The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
Kameron Hurley starts 2019 off with a flash of light and a hell of a story. The Light Brigade, releasing March 19, pulls readers into a future where corporations run the world instead of traditional governments, and Mars is an active warzone. To fight against the Martians, soldiers are broken down into light, scattered into atoms and transported to the battlefield, where their powerful weapons and strict training take over. But when Dietz joins up and starts experiencing back drops that don’t match up with the rest of her field team, she begins to get a different picture of the war. One that doesn’t match what the corporations are telling them. A page-turner if I’ve ever seen one, Hurley strikes gold with this one. With a classic yet stunning take on science, love, and loss, The Light Brigade will follow you across the galaxy, and hit you in the gut as many times as it pulls you back to your feet with a (mostly) friendly hand.
Month of Joy: Werewolves In Space… Why not? by Joyce Chng
This is supposed to be my Month of Joy post. You know, where I post what makes me happy and joyful. To be honest, I am not feeling joyful now because I keep getting reminded that I am not welcome in the science fiction and fantasy community. The gatekeepers, the old guard, want to keep people like me out of the picture because I don’t write hard science fiction. Or legit science fiction, even. Or that I am not white, not USian, not trad. pubbed etc. And besides, you all get my country confused all the time. No, Singapore is not in China. And no, Singapore is not just like the land of Crazy Rich Asians. It’s like so much more. The old guard will probably think werewolves in space is too far-fetched, too preposterous. Oh wait, it’s also space opera — but where’s the hard science? Where are the hard scientific facts? I doubt they will ever read it anyway. And it has slice-of-life and domestic scenes — probably too ‘girl cooties’ for their masculine sensibilities. Already I hear the mutterings of ‘sjw’ and ‘POC’. Whatever.
Month of Joy: Space Opera and Me by Cora Buhlert
When I got the invitation to take part in this year’s Month of Joy project at the Skiffy and Fanty Show, I wondered what to write about. So I jotted down a list of things that bring me joy. One item immediately jumped out at me and that was space opera. I sometimes describe myself as a lifelong science fiction fan. Though technically, a lifelong space opera fan would be more correct, because all of my early science fiction influences, which ignited my love of the genre, were space opera.
Book Review: The Disasters by M. K. England
The Disasters is an enthusiastic exploration of teenage underdogs trying to find their place in a universe that is intent on discarding the rejects. Add a diverse cast of characters, tense action scenes, high stakes, and the complicated mess of emotions that are teenage hormones, and you’ve got a perfect young adult sci-fi adventure. M. K. England sets up a unique and brilliant world of Earth and space in the year 2194. Space travel is a constant, there are hundreds of fully-functioning colonies, and Earth has a strict no-return policy. Hotshot Earth boy, Nax Hall, has a history of poor life choices and a shoddy criminal record, but he’s ready to rule the school—until he’s rejected from the Academy in less than 24 hours. But when his one-way trip back to Earth is cut short by a surprise terrorist attack on the Academy, Nax must get the word out about the biggest crime in the universe—alongside three other washouts. This ramshackle team are the only witnesses to wholesale slaughter—and the perfect troublemakers to pin the whole thing on. On the run from the government, Nax and the rest of his unfortunate crew must stay alive long enough to get the word out to the rest of the universe, and it’ll take the biggest heist any of them have ever pulled to get through it.
Review: Static Ruin and Memory’s Blade
Corey J. White’s Static Ruin and Spencer Ellsworth’s Memory’s Blade each willingly bring to a conclusion a space opera trilogy started in the flush of Tor.com’s season of space opera two years back.
Book Review: Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
Catherynne Valente’s Space Opera combines a love of popular music, Eurovision and a space science fiction sensibility in the grand tradition set by novels like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes were once THE punk band in music. But a death, a breakup, a failed career as a soloist, and Decibel Jones’ post Absolute Zero career is in the toilet. Pity that now that the aliens have arrived, Decibel Jones is the last hope for humanity. The aliens have a test, you see, to determine if a species is worthy of joining the galactic family, or should be blasted into oblivion—whether they can perform decently at the Metagalactic Grand Prix, a song and performance contest that the galactic civilizations put on every year as a way to channel energies that once caused the galaxy to erupt in interstellar war.
