NPR Top 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

NPR has posted a list of the top 100 science fiction and fantasy books, as nominated and voted on by NPR's audience. As you would expect, this is a terrific list of books. I enjoyed perusing the list and rediscovering old favorites that I'd forgotten, like Rendezvous with Rama, The Left Hand of Darkness, and The Crystal Cave. I was pleased to discover that I've read at least 53 of the top 100, with a few more that I might have read but can't remember for certain.

Save the Monstrumologist for a chance to win!

I just heard the sad news that Rick Yancey's excellent YA Monstrumologist series is being discontinued by Simon & Schuster. The loss of this series would be tragic, because there's nothing out there like it. It has a classic horror feel, real literary value, and plenty of action and suspense. Here's my review of book 2: The Curse of the Wendigo

Stephanie Reads is offering a chance to win a complete set of the series, including the new book due out next month, The Isle of Blood. The books will be autographed and personalized by the author. All you have to do to enter is to write Simon & Schuster and ask them to change their decision. Click here for more information and to enter.

Book Review: The Boy at the End of the World

The Boy at the End of the World
by Greg van Eekhout

Fisher's first moments of life could end up being his last. Born from a pod of bubbling gel, he comes to awareness in a lab that is collapsing around him. Fisher manages to escape with the help of a slightly dysfunctional (and humorous) robot that Fisher names Click from the noise that the robot makes. Fisher is the only "specimen" who survived the destruction of the Ark, which was built to preserve the species of the Earth, so he may be the last human left. Accompanied by Click and a young Mammoth that Fisher calls Protein, Fisher sets off to find out if there are any other humans surviving anywhere.

The Boy at the End of the World is a delightful post-apocalyptic novel that strikes the perfect tone for middle-grade readers. It's amusing, touching, and occasionally scary (the nano Intelligence that they meet is quite creepy), and it touches on themes of friendship and what it means to be human.

Fisher has "darkly pigmented" skin, giving this book bonus points for diversity. Here is an interesting post from author Greg van Eekhout talking about Fisher's skin color, the development of the cover, and his own background.

Buy The Boy at the End of the World from:
Amazon.com
Your local independent bookseller through IndieBound
Barnes & Noble

FTC required disclosure: Reviewed from ARC. Review copy provided by the publisher to enable me to write this review. The bookstore links above are affiliate links, and I earn a very small percentage of any sales made through the links. Neither of these things influenced my review.

Book Review: The Map of Time

The Map of Time
by Félix J. Palma

The Map of Time is an ode to the Victorian era, and in particular to those Victorian writers like H.G. Wells and Bram Stoker who were the forerunners of genre fiction. It's a clever book, with a self-aware narrator who speaks directly to the reader and makes sly asides, and multiple stories that connect in surprising ways. However, it takes more than clever writing to make a good book, and this is one that I didn't enjoy.

One problem is just that this isn't really the time travel science fiction story that I expected. I can't say too much about this without spoiling things, but I think this is a book that will appeal more to literary fiction readers than science fiction/fantasy readers.

If that were the only issue, I would put it down to either inadequate marketing, or my own misunderstanding, and leave it at that. However, there are other problems with the book. The writing style relies too heavily on long, expository passages. The first hundred and fifty pages are a slog, although it does get somewhat better after that. The characters are unlikeable; there wasn't one character that I could truly say I liked or admired, and a few that I outright disliked.

The thing that bothered me the most, though, was the misogyny that permeated the book. Women are objectified and treated with contempt, by the narrator as well as the male characters. The few female characters are portrayed as frigid, empty-headed, or incredibly gullible.

There are two "romances" in the book. The first one involves a wealthy young man who, after seeing a portrait of a Whitechapel prostitute, becomes obsessed with her, stalks her, and pays for her services. And this is the foundation on which their romance is built. Do prostitutes really fall in love with their clients? Pretty Woman aside, I don't think it's credible.

I don't want to spoil anything, but it probably won't come as a surprise to anyone that this woman falls victim to Jack the Ripper. When her "beloved" is offered the opportunity to go back in time and save her from the Ripper, it never occurs to him to go back a little further and save her friends who were also killed by the Ripper. For that matter, it never occurs to him to go back even further and save her from becoming a prostitute in the first place. Of course not, because his own happiness is the important thing and the woman is just an object serving that purpose.

The other romance in this book involves a man concocting an elaborate lie (involving time travel, of course) to get a young woman into bed. When she seems about to acquiesce, he feels a little bad, but then reassures himself that she's only "getting what she deserved." Um, really? This sounds more like a foundation for rape, not romance.

I understand what Palma was trying to do in this book: in the letter from the author at the beginning of the ARC he talks about immersing himself in the Victorian era. Palma was trying to channel the Victorian writers and write from their perspective. However, while he may have emulated their style, I don't think that he has the skill of a Dickens or Wells or Stoker, and even with the biases of earlier centuries, none of those writers wrote with such a misogynistic point of view. By coincidence, the last book I read before reading The Map of Time was Bram Stoker's Dracula, which plays a part in The Map of Time. In Dracula, Mina is actually quite a heroic character, and while the men in the book do treat her with Victorian sensibilities — there's much talk about protecting her, for example — it's clear that they also respect her.

I've read some glowing reviews of this book, so not everyone shares my opinion.

Content advisory: sexual content and graphic descriptions of Jack the Ripper's murders.

Buy The Map of Time from:
Amazon.com
Your local independent bookseller through IndieBound
Barnes & Noble

FTC required disclosure: Reviewed from ARC. Review copy provided by the publisher to enable me to write this review. Some of the bookstore links above are affiliate links, and I earn a very small percentage of any sales made through the links. Neither of these things influenced my review.

What's your favorite fantasy world?

Underland Press is inviting readers to nominate their favorite secondary worlds for possible inclusion in their forthcoming book, If You Lived Here: The Top 30 All Time Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Worlds. Some of my favorite science fiction and fantasy books are those that take you on a trip of the imagination to elsewhere. There's so many great science fiction and fantasy worlds; which ones will you nominate? Click here to submit your nominations. My only complaint is that the nomination form only has space for three nominations. I don't know that I can pick only three!

Harry Potter Exhibit

A few weeks ago, when we were in New York City for Book Expo America, we went to see the Harry Potter exhibit at Discovery Times Square. This is a wonderful exhibit of props, costumes, and set pieces from all of the movies, and I highly recommend it to any Harry Potter fans. Even if you aren't a fan of the movies (I've never liked them as much as the books) it's still a wonderful experience to see real-life versions of all the amazing things from the books: the Fat Lady, the Sword of Gryffindor, the horcruxes, even Dobby and Kreacher.

The exhibit is organized into thematic groupings, such as Quidditch, the common room, and the various classes such as Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions. You can see the Marauders' Map and try to puzzle out the margin notes in the Half-Blood Prince's potions book. There are even a few interactive areas where you can sit in Hagrid's chair (it's big!), throw a Quaffle, and pull up mandrakes.

The exhibit runs through September 5 and advance tickets are recommended.

Harry Potter Exhibition information

Buy Tickets

Canadian Prix Aurora Awards Announced

Last month, the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association announced the finalists for the Prix Aurora Awards for the English language awards:

www.prixaurorawards.ca/wordpress/

(Thanks to nominated author Craig Russell for the news)

The Fellowship of the Rings Extended Edition in Theaters Tonight!

See The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition in theaters for one night only TONIGHT, June 14! The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers will show on June 21, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on June 28.

From the press release:

The events will begin with a new and personal introduction for each film from The Lord of the Rings™ director Peter Jackson captured from the set of his current film, and The Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit, and will be immediately followed by the Extended Edition feature presentations which altogether include nearly three hours of additional feature footage carefully selected by Peter Jackson.

For more information and to purchase tickets:
http://ping.fm/6Ulqh

Book Review: Rot & Ruin

Rot & Ruin
by Jonathan Maberry

Benny Imura was just a toddler on First Night, when the world fell to the zombies, but he has flashes of memory from that night. He remembers his half-brother Tom taking him and running away, leaving his mother behind to become one of the walking dead. Because of this, Benny knows that Tom is a coward, even if other people think he's some bad-ass zombie hunter. Benny refuses to apprentice with Tom, even though he has to find a job by the time he turns fifteen, or his rations will be cut in half. Finally, jobless on the eve of his fifteenth birthday, Benny has no choice but to ask Tom to take him on as an apprentice zombie hunter. But when Tom takes Benny on his first trip into the Rot & Ruin, the zombie-infested world outside the walls of the town, Benny begins to learn that things are not as simple as he expected. For who can make sense of a world where heroes become monsters and monsters turn out to be human?

I'm not all that interested in zombies, and when this book was nominated for the Cybils award, I resisted reading it initially. But when several of my fellow Cybils panelists not only added it to their working shortlists, but actively pushed for it, I had to read it. I was glad that I did!

Rot & Ruin is not only an action-packed story with suspenseful scenes that will keep you reading late into the night, but it also has depth and character development. The heart of the story is Benny's developing relationship with Tom, and coming to terms with the past and the present. Even killing zoms is not as simple as it seems; Benny learns from Tom to recognize that they once were human, with loved ones who might mourn them still. As often is the case in horror, the real monsters are not the zombies, but the humans.

On its surface, Rot & Ruin is a zombie novel, but it's really much more than that. At it's heart it's a Western, with some Samurai mythos added for good measure. (But then, there are close ties between Westerns and Samurai movies, anyway). In one scene where Tom steps into a confrontation, I swear I could hear the music from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in my head.

There's an ethnic diversity in this book that feels genuine, not forced. Of course the survivors of a diverse nation would be diverse, and the population of the town of Mountainside reflects that. Benny himself is half Japanese, and his half-brother Tom is a full Japanese-American. (Tom and Benny share a father but have different mothers). Tom is a hot guy, a deadly fighter, and yet sensitive too, which makes a welcome change from the frequent stereotypes.

With a couple of strong female characters, and a credible teen romance (from a guy's point of view), Rot & Ruin has something for everyone.

Rot & Ruin was the 2010 Cybils Winner for Teen Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Buy Rot & Ruin from:
Amazon.com
Your local independent bookseller through IndieBound
Audio book from audible.com
Barnes & Noble

The sequel to Rot & Ruin, called Dust & Decay, will be published August 30.

Preorder Dust & Decay from Amazon.com

Preorder Dust & Decay from Your local independent bookseller through IndieBound

Preorder Dust & Decay from Barnes & Noble

Reviewed from library copy. FTC required disclosure: The bookstore links above are affiliate links, and I earn a very small percentage of any sales made through the links. Neither of these things influenced my review.

Book Review: Thirteen Days to Midnight

Thirteen Days to Midnight
by Patrick Carman

Jacob Fielding can’t die. He can’t even suffer injury. His foster father transferred this amazing power to him just before they crashed into a tree, killing Mr. Fielding instantly. But while being indestructible sounds great, it has a darker side, as Jacob and his friends Milo and Oh (short for Ophelia) discover as they try to understand the power, then use it to help people. Death can’t be defeated; put on hold it lies in wait. And the three teens find that there is a terrible price to pay for trying.

Patrick Carman has a knack for writing gripping stories with lots of teen appeal. The straightforward writing style, combined with a dark and creepy story and credible teen characters, should make this a win with reluctant readers. Yet there’s enough depth and character development to also appeal to good readers who enjoy a creepy story. I like that Jacob, the narrator, is just an ordinary teen boy who does the kinds of things that teens do, like trying to impress the girl. Mr. Fielding never explained the power to Jacob, and as the three friends struggle to understand the “black lion,” as they call the power, they make mistakes that they will have to pay for in the end.

Thirteen Days to Midnight was a 2010 Cybils nominee in the Fantasy & Science Fiction—Teen category.

Buy Thirteen Days to Midnight from:

Amazon.com
Your local independent bookseller through IndieBound
Audio book from audible.com
Barnes & Noble

FTC required disclosure: Review copy provided by the publisher to enable me to write this review. The bookstore links above are affiliate links, and I earn a very small percentage of any sales made through the links. Neither of these things influenced my review.