Ring by Stephen Baxter (1994) This science fiction story is really two separate plots that don’t converge until almost the end of the 500-page novel. One story is of a multi-generation ship and the trials and tribulations of its colorful crew as it makes its way to a distant artifact on the other side of the universe. During the centuries that pass, the population of the ship grows into three factions: the natives in the jungle who have given up their immortality, the immortal captain […]
Hot Times in Polar City
Polar City Blues by Katharine Kerr (1990) A young derelict who can read minds tries to survive in the slums of the misnamed Polar City. The colonial world is so hot people need personal tents if they go into the open air. When he helps the police “read” a murdered alien ambassador, he places himself and his friends in danger. Cursed with his ESP gifts, he’s a second-rate baseball player, a junkie, and a bum. Fortunately, he’s got an occasional girlfriend, a retired space navy […]
What Have I Done to Deserve This?
A Virtual Soul by Kevin Teixeira (1999) NEVER have I felt more compelled to skim a 500-page science fiction story. This guy could teach a few things to George R. R. Martin about how to avoid story progression. It seemed like a likable premise – in the near future, genetically bred sub-humans (called Tubies because they are created in test tubes) are a separate race of submissive servants and a very competitive market because they only live seven years. One hyper-competitive business creates a virus […]
Equations of Life: The Metrozone Series, Book 1
Equations of Life is the first in the Metrozone Series, which is also known as the Petrovich series. It was recommended to me by a friend who also enjoys science fiction and fantasy books as suitable for a vacation read. I am not much of a romance reader, and haven’t really found anything breezy to read lately, so took both Equations of Life and Gardens of the Moon with me to the South Pacific. While I started with Gardens of the Moon, once I picked […]