Science Fiction – Page 2 – Carol's Notebook

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

January 12, 2023March 21, 2023 by Carol6 Comments

Seven years ago a ship, the Atargatis, sailed to the Mariana Trench looking for mermaids. Imagine Network planned to make a huge amount of money off the planned mockumentary. Instead, the entire crew was lost at sea and only raw video footage to show what happened. They had found mermaids - and mermaids are not friendly. Now, the entertainment company is planning a second voyage. A film crew and a large group of diverse scientists are going back to find out what happened and to prove mermaids exist. Diverse in disciplines - marine biologists, cetologists, chemical biologists, cryptid hunters, and diverse in backstories - sexual orientations, disabilities, financial resources, and cultural backgrounds. Some of the scientists have personal reasons for going, like Tory whose sister died on the Atargatis and Dr. Toth whose life's work has been centered on Sirens. Others are approaching it as a cruise where they get to do their own research, not believing in the mermaids. I...

Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty

November 9, 2022November 8, 2022 by Carol3 Comments

I have a soft spot for mysteries with a sci-fi backdrop. Mallory is one of those people, like Angela Landsbury or any cozy mystery sleuth, who just seems to attract murders. She almost always helps the cops solve the crimes, but she's tired, her family hates her, and she can't keep friends - no one wants to risk being the next corpse. She seeks refuge on Station Eternity, a sentient space station populated by aliens, a station that doesn't allow humans aboard. Well, that's not strictly true. There is a human ambassador and there's also Xan, who is hiding out under rather unusual circumstances. But more people are on their way. When the shuttle carrying a human shuttle is almost docked at the space station, the space station, the shuttle, and Mallory's life explode into chaos. Several humans and at least one alien are killed in separate, but probably related events. The station's in turmoil, Mallory's vacillating between wanting to solve...

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

June 28, 2022June 27, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

First, go read A Memory Called Empire if you haven't yet. It's a fabulous book and I'm not sure you can fully understand/ enjoy A Desolation Called Peace without it. It's where we are first introduced to the Teixcalaan Empire, which spans across galaxies. It's an empire full of political intrigue and poetry. We also met Mahit Dzmare, the ambassador to Teixcalaan from Lsel Station, a small, independent mining space station with its own culture, identity, and most importantly technology. Lsel creates imagos, memory imprints that are designed to meld into the personality of the wearer and preserve the preceding generations of knowledge. This time around we meet the aliens, the ones killing people on the edges of the Teixalaan Empire. There is so much I could say about this book. The world-building is amazing and the aliens interesting, although maybe not unique. The main characters, and there are several, are each fully drawn with strengths and flaws and...

Mai Tais for the Lost by Mia V. Moss

June 27, 2022June 27, 2022 by Carol2 Comments

I absolutely love the world Moss created in Mai Tais for the Lost. All those who could, mostly the rich, have left the surface of Earth for underwater habitats. Life, at least for the lucky, is full of parties, designer drugs, and alcohol. Of course, they also brought with them security/ law enforcement and people to do the menial tasks of life, like cleaning. Marrow Nightingale was once one of the lower classes, but through a quirk of fate, was adopted by the rich and famous Nightingales. She drinks and parties with the upper classes, but isn't at heart one of them. She is, however, the only private detective in Electric Blue Moon and her brother has been murdered. Marrow is a tough young woman, both overly trusting and cynical. She's definitely an alcoholic and one of those detectives who rub those in authority the wrong way. Mai Tais for the Lost is basically noir with a sci-fi backdrop and...

The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield

May 26, 2022May 26, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

My husband was telling me the other day that the Mars lander was losing power because of dust. I asked if it was on the radiator. He looked at me funny and said it was on the solar panels. I had been in the middle of The Apollo Murders and I don't think it's a spoiler to say that an astronaut's plan to sabotage the Soviet's moon rover was to cover it in dust. It's the middle of the Cold War and the US and the Soviet Union are in a race to conquer space — for national security reasons, foreign policy objectives, and bragging rights. In this science-fiction thriller set during the Nixon administration, Apollo 18 is being sent on one last mission to the moon. The Soviets have a moon rover and a manned spy satellite. The tension between the Americans and the Soviets is palpable, both in space and on the ground. It's national pride and personal...

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

January 28, 2022January 28, 2022 by CarolNo Comments

I always say that I don't read time travel books, but really I do, just not often. There has to be a good reason to read it. The author is Claire North is a good reason. I've loved almost everything I've read by here and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is no exception. Okay, I'm not sure Harry August actually counts as a time traveler. He basically lives his same life over and over, but he makes different choices, others like him make different choices, so each time around is at least a little different, sometimes vastly different. The catch is that he remembers each life perfectly, a memory that completely forms between the ages of 4 and 6. So, knowing all he does from 80+ years of living, he has to go through childhood and adolescence again. And again. And again. There are others like him, kalachakra, who have formed a sort of secret club that he joins....