The Peripheral is a science fiction novel from William Gibson set in an awfully recognizable near future and a slightly less recognizable but still palpable further future—there’s kind-of-time-travel, but not quite. It’s been so long since I last read Gibson. I’d forgotten how wild and weird his books can feel, while also feeling so grounded in our own reality. I wrote a little about this last week. I have more observations now.
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Reading Gibson Again
It’s been a long time since I last read anything by William Gibson. Too long, probably. I’d forgotten his talent for sentence fragments. I suspect I’ve unconsciously emulated him in my fiction.
I’m reading The Peripheral now. I’m nearly halfway through and enjoying it. He doesn’t constantly work in metaphor, but when he does…
Continue readingTristan Strong Punches A Hole In The Sky, by Kwame Mbalia
I love a good middle grade adventure story. That’s precisely what this is. As you might expect from something published under Rick Riordan’s imprint, it’s full of mythology and folk tales and legends. Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia, is all about one young boy’s discovery that the stories he’s grown up with (African-American stories with American folk heroes like John Henry, African trickster figures like Anansi, and those who blur the lines like Brer Rabbit) are all far more real than he ever could have believed. It’s fun, it’s pretty fast, it’s (heh) punchy. This is a good book.
I admit, my appreciation for this book is influenced by my desire for more high quality middle grade adventure stories aimed at boys. There’s a lot more to unpack there, some of which can be better understood by reading Of Boys And Men by Richard V Reeves. Read on for some of those details, as well as my few quibbles with Tristan Strong.
Continue readingThe Countdown Conspiracy, by Katie Slivensky (2017)
Katie Slivensky’s The Countdown Conspiracy is an upper middle grade adventure story all about six young astronaut candidates preparing for an international mission to Mars. Set on a near-future Earth still recovering from a global war fought over asteroid-mining rights, the story begins with a captivating slow burn and piles of intrigue. The Countdown Conspiracy builds from there to high stakes thrills and a satisfying, ever-escalating race towards the conclusion. I really liked it. A lot.
I’ve fallen off the querying-wagon again, but this book has revived my excitement and renewed my hope. Surely if people enjoy this they’d enjoy Bury’em Deep.
Why do I like this book so much?
Continue readingThe Joy of Recommending Books
There’s something magical about recommending books to people.
I think the same magic can be found with recommending TV shows or movies or what have you, but there’s something weirdly distinct about books. Reading books requires us to be active. Unlike with a TV show or movie, and unlike with a comic book, books expect us to provide the vistas ourselves. We have to conjure up our own vision of the story and setting, and every reader will engage just a little (or very) differently with the text. Everyone creates their own version of the book, even more so than with a more visual medium.
Those differences each reader creates for themselves, and the similarities that remain, are where the magic lies.
Continue readingOver the Woodward Wall, by A. Deborah Baker
Over the Woodward Wall (written by Seanan McGuire under her pen name A. Deborah Baker) is the first in a series of middle grade adventure stories in a mixed up sometimes-lovely sometimes-scary fairytale land. In many ways, it evokes Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The setting’s surreality contrasts perfectly with the very real-feeling children who are this story’s stars, and the book does an excellent job of conveying earnestly true human experiences and life lessons while taking us on a dreamy-and-nightmarish impossible (sorry, I mean improbable) journey.
This should be a guaranteed home run for me. However, my fondness for this book ebbs and flows, a cycle driven by my mixed opinions about the narrator. It is my fondness that shifts though—I like it, I just like it by varying amounts depending on my mood. So what do I simultaneously admire and want to complain about?
Continue readingButterfly in the Sky (2022)
I have started (but not yet finished) Butterfly in the Sky, the documentary about the creation of Reading Rainbow. I stopped when I did because I knew that if I kept watching I’d watch all the way through, and I had work to do. The documentary hooked me and delighted me—much as the show did when I was little.
I grew up on Reading Rainbow (and Star Trek: The Next Generation, which created some confusion for young me). Young me didn’t understand why Geordi La Forge didn’t need his visor when he was telling me about books…
Continue readingCascade Failure (on GeeklyInc)
I promised to link my review of L.M. Sagas’ Cascade Failure when it posted on GeeklyInc, but that entirely slipped my mind. The review is up! It’s been up for almost a month. My apologies.
In case you are deathly allergic to clicking external links, here’s the tl;dr…
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Fistful of Wits 