Book Review: Valhalla by Ari Bach
Valhalla, written by Ari Bach, is dark, gritty, dangerous, and subtly representative. Bach unpacks his new world, layering loud violence, subtle queer identities, and a disturbing dystopian premise that promises an interesting alternative. Valhalla pushes the boundaries of science fiction to make you question the lines drawn between dystopian governments, outside companies, and the people who make up the world those entities control, and sets up the foundation for a strong trilogy that centers around a queer female protagonist. Violet MacRae is our wonderfully violent narrator, living in the year 2230, when war is obsolete and most everyone knows their place. With her propensity for violence and her less than spectacular intelligence, Violet doesn’t fit in, and doesn’t want to. Faced with uncertainty about her immediate future, and ostracized from the only place in polite society that she had even a slight chance of fitting into, Violet returns to an empty home and is subsequently snatched up by Valhalla. That is a secret military-esque organization that keeps the outer world in line with their unique methods, and there, Violet finds a real home. But Valhalla and her new friends are in danger, and Violet finds her new skills are stretched to the limit as she defends her safe haven from genetically enhanced criminals.
Book Reviews: Martian Girls, Home and Abroad
Martians Abroad by Carrie Vaughn & Mars Girls by Mary Turzillo Two young adult (YA) novels featuring feisty teen heroines from Mars recently landed in my to-be-read pile. Beyond the surface similarity between their protagonists, the two novels diverge completely, each with unique focus and drive, and different kinds of success. Newly out in trade paperback from Tor, Martians Abroad by Carrie Vaughn is the simpler of the two, written with familiar themes (adversity-conquering intellect, exceptionalism) that recall YA science fiction adventures from ‘Golden Age’ writers like Heinlein. The plot of this stand-alone novel from Vaughn is even more broadly recognizable as a typical coming-of-age setup. A teen leaves the familiarity of home to enter an institution populated by antagonistic peers and aloof adults. The ridiculed outcast slowly proves the utility of her or his outsider perspective/experience, showing-up the cliques and saving the day.
My Superpower: Geoffrey Girard
My Superpower is a regular guest column on the Skiffy and Fanty blog where authors and creators tell us about one weird skill, neat trick, highly specialized cybernetic upgrade, or other superpower they have, and how it helped (or hindered!) their creative process as they built their project. Today we welcome Geoffrey Girard to talk about how his Supreme Strategic Suspicions relate to Cain’s Blood… In Cain’s Blood, the teenaged clones of infamous serial killers (Bundy, Gacy, Berokowitz, Dahmer, etc.) cause all sorts of nasty havoc. I was somewhat puzzled by early reviews that focused on how “dark and violent” the book is. I’d never really thought about that. I just wrote about what might happen next, the most-likely thing in a given situation. When Scott Smith, the author of The Ruins, called the book “very dark,” I didn’t think much of that either, until I watched The Ruins for the first time in years and thought: “THIS guy thinks I’m dark!” It was the first time I stopped to consider what I’d ultimately created. And How.
Check it Out! Competition to win Celine Kiernan's Into the Grey
One of our favoritest authors in the whole wide world, Celine Kiernan, has a new novel coming out this month! Which means we’re going to have to interview her again soon (*hinthint* Celine). Into the Grey is a YA novel about a boy who is losing his twin brother to a ghost: ‘The scream was awful – a horrible desolate cry…the child led my unresisting brother up the path and further into the tangled garden. Out of my sight’. My name is Patrick Finnerty. I am fifteen and I’m losing my brother. A ghost is stealing him away. I know how crazy that sounds. But my brother, my twin, is going to die; I’m watching him die. No one else can see what’s happening. What can I do? The answers seem to lie within the memory of a dream – between this world and the next. Within The Grey. But I don’t want to go into The Grey. I don’t want to. I’ve seen what it’s like! In honor of the upcoming release, Celine is hosting a competition to win a copy of the book! You should head over to her blog and check things out. All she is asking for is a simple, up to 200 word, description of what it would be like to be a ghost! Sounds positively spooky. So go to it! For a recap of how much we love Celine and how wonderful she is, please feel free to check out our Interviews with her over here: The Skiffy and Fanty Show #28a: An Interview w/ Celine Kiernan The Skiffy and Fanty Show #28b — An Interview w/ Celine Kiernan (part two)
