Review: "Noor" by Nnedi Okorafor, 2021

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

"Noor" by Nnedi Okorafor, 2021

The novel is a dystopic Afrofuturism novel that touches upon late-stage capitalism, colonialism, and climate change. Our hero calls herself AO, short for Augmented Organism. She goes on the run after she inadvertently kills her assailants in self-defense, displaying the deadly range of her cybernetically enhanced capabilities. Along with her companions DNA and GPS, they evade capture from the megacorporation Ultimate Corp.

I was trying to like this book, but I feel this book fell short in many ways. I believe it is set in the same universe as the author's other book "Remote Control" and share the same villain. The character AO seemed flat without much development along the way other than acceptance of her ability to use her cybernetics and the improved manner with the effectiveness we can wield them. In the end, the climax felt rushed and somewhat of a cliffhanger. "Remote Control" is a much better story with a compelling protagonist. I sense these "powered" characters from the author's various books will eventually come together for an AfroFuturistic team-up superhero story.

I give this book a 2 out of 5 stars.

#AfroFuturism #AfroFuturistic #Dystopian #ScienceFiction #SciFi

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Review: "The Membranes" by Chi Ta-Wei, 1995

The Membranes by Chi Ta-wei
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's queerer than you might think— and that's good.

Written in 1995 and set in the 2100s, The Membranes takes place at the bottom of the ocean, where humanity retreated because of climate change, depleted ozone, and environmental collapse. The main protagonist is Momo, who is a famous dermal skin technician. The story opens into Momo's life just before she turns 30 and then slowly moves backward through her memories as a journey of self-discovery.

This slim, intelligent novella reads quickly and easily, yet there's a surprising density of information. As short as it is, the author manages to masterfully build this futuristic world envisioning global formations that are militarized and corporate. There isn't much of a plot so much as there are twists and reveals akin to The Matrix and Inception with a gender-bending queer flare.

It's tough to talk about this book without getting into spoiler territory. But I can say that I was surprised several times with how my understanding of what is happening is up-ended-- nothing is what it seems.

The Membranes is an exceptionally well-conceived science-fiction story. It's deceptively simple-looking on the surface, but it is truly an impressive piece of work and a must-read for anyone LGBTQIA+.

I rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars.

#LGBTQIA #GenderPerformativity #GenderIdentity #IdentityFabrication #Feminism #Transhumanism #NeoColonialism #SelfHood #QueerSFF #ScienceFiction

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"Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)" by Marissa Meyer, 2012

"Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)" by Marissa Meyer, 2012

If you love Anime, predictable stories that have a lot of plot holes, futuristic China, dystopian futures, and dark fairy tales that don't really work out, this is the book for you.

Otherwise, a disappointing read for me. I will not be reading any further installments in this series and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I'll give Meyer credit in terms of creativity and writing, but the truth was, I just plain didn't like the story. Cinderella being a cyborg was the biggest problem, as well as this ridiculously huge, unexplained aversion normal people had towards them. It also appears Meyer did absolutely NO research when it came to modern Chinese culture. She may as well have gone to Chinatown in some American city and read a bunch of comics for her research and not asked any questions from the locals about how things worked. Her earth of the future makes little sense, nor does the lax treatment of the Leutmosis plague that's been a problem for earth for 12 years prior to the story. You'd think the scientists would have figured out the cause far earlier than that. It sounds especially like a cheesy Asian anime with all the little "android" robots running about in everyday society. (She apparently can't tell the difference between androids and robots at all).

I'm also not buying these Lunars. There's no way, not even through centuries of genetic manipulation, that human lunar colonists would have developed such mental abilities that allowed them to project illusions, or manipulate other people's thoughts and behavior. It doesn't fly with me. In fact, I'm surprised they didn't have issues with earth's higher gravity when visiting. Human beings living in such low gravity would have become taller, thinner, and way less strong compared to humans living on earth. Maybe if Meyer had written them as beautiful, pale, humanoid aliens that had colonized the moon a short time ago, maybe the story would have been more believable. Otherwise, it sounds stupid.

The book was also far crueler and darker than it should have been, with the nice stepsister dying of the plague, Cinder's beloved android friend getting trashed by her ogress of a stepmother, and arriving at the ball by crashing an ancient orange car and looking like a drowned rat from the rain that was falling during the event. The prince also seemed very immature for a guy who was supposed to have been groomed to take up the torch in the future after his father, and the fact that he was still acting like a rebellious teenager shows that either the author knows nothing about royalty, or she chose the cheap route of the overdone coming-of-age cliche too many teen authors use these days.

My rating: ★☆☆☆☆ (1 out of 5 stars) - I did not like it.

"The Last Town (Wayward Pines #3)", by Blake Crouch, 2014

"The Last Town (Wayward Pines #3)", by Blake Crouch, 2014

Although the weakest of the three books so far in the set, The Last Town still is both

exhilarating and frustrating. It is virtually impossible for readers to not become absorbed in the chaos that ensues as the "abbies" enter Wayward Pines. The graphic descriptions of death and the emotional ties to characters I have come to love keep me invested until the very end. 

The introduction of a new characters creates a sub-conflict that is nearly as powerful, and possibly even more gripping than the battle that ensues in Wayward Pines. As I witness the evolution of characters as they are faced with almost certain death, I will found myself wanting more. This is where Crouch falls short. Rather than further harnessing that evolution of character, nearly two-thirds of The Last Town focuses on fighting. Though the graphic portrayal of death is often thrilling, it eventually loses stamina. Eventually the potential for boredom while reading about yet another house that is invaded by the "abbies" becomes real. There's very little to imagine since the outcome is obvious. That being said, the other aspects of the novel far outweigh the hundred or so pages of fighting. 

When I reached the end of a novel and was so frustrated to find that there really is nothing on the next page; when I searched the Internet in hope that although this is a trilogy and although it is hailed as "the final installment" there indeed are plans for a 4th book; when I read the last page over and over again hoping to find something that was missed — the author knows he's accomplished his task. Well done Blake Crouch. Fortunately for those readers searching for more, FOX has brought Wayward Pines to television in a miniseries, which is currently airing/streaming.

★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars)

"Wayward (Wayward Pines #2)", by Blake Crouch, 2013

"Wayward (Wayward Pines #2)", by Blake Crouch, 2013

A thoroughly satisfying read that combines a lot of genres and tropes, Wayward will have you turning

pages to see how it all ends. The climax though takes things to a whole different level and leaves you desperately craving for the next volume. Wayward is another crackerjack thriller from the mind of one of the best thrillers writers out there.

Wayward is the sequel to Pines and a book that was highly anticipated and yet out-scored my anticipation. Firstly before even I begin my review, I would like to announce that to even discuss the blurb will be spoilery for the first book Pines. So those folks who haven't read the first book and don't want their read ruined in the least. STOP and go read Pines...

Now for those of you who have read and loved Pines, welcome and I must say you will love the second outing by Blake Crouch as he explores the strange town of Wayward Pines and its inhabitants. This book further illuminates the town of Wayward Pines through Ethan Burke but with a crucial difference, he’s an insider now unlike the previous volume wherein he was the enemy. Ethan after the events of the previous books has now been elevated to the position of Sheriff and is tasked with the town’s safety. Sheriff Ethan has seen what truly lies outside of the town's boundaries and it is forcing him to co-operate with the town's creator and protector so as to speak. After facing the end of the barrel in the last book, he finds himself quite perturbed to be on the other side and forcing people to do what he ultimately disobeyed. He has gotten his family back but is still irked by all that is hidden from the majority of the town’s population. The story though begins when a murder occurs and it falls upon Ethan to investigate the death.

My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars) Just Wow!

"Enders (Starters #2)" by Lissa Price, 2014

"Enders (Starters #2)" by Lissa Price, 2014

With a promising start and a great setup from the previous book in the series, the book still manages to somehow fall short from delivering its potential. The novel quickly fell apart about a quarter of the way in and never really recovered.

From the previous book (Starters) , we are left with our protagonist, Callie Woodland, escaping evil mind-swapping services provided by Prime Destinations and the "old man" who heads the institution.  In the midst of her adventure, she gains the trust of the elderly woman Helena who rented her body and eventually inherits half of her vast estate. The riches she acquired allows her younger brother and herself to live in the lap of luxury.

In this sequel, somewhat appropriately name Enders (because this ended my desire to read another book in this series), Callie sets off to identify the "old man" in order to put and end to his reign of terror over her loved ones and to find a way to remove the chip from her head.

Along the way, she finds Helena's granddaughter, Emma, who
eventually leads her to reunite with her father whom she thought was dead.

With our expectation and buildup of the Emma subplot from the previous book, it was a bit of a disappointment to discover she is just a vain, impatient, unlikable character who gets her head popped off (blown up) senselessly.

In the end, Callie is recruited into a "CIA" or some other government black ops group for the chip in her head that allows her to be remote-controlled and for the modification of the chip that bypasses her morals and ethics, allowing her to kill.


The problem I found with this book is that the characters seem to behave outside of what is expected

of them based on how the author wrote and developed the characters.  For someone who has been living on the streets and very street-smart like our heroine Callie Woodland, I would expect her to be clued-in and didn't do obviously stupid things (i.e., getting mugged in a bad neighborhood while driving her nice fancy car when she went on an errand of distributing sandwiches to the poor).

As if the inconsistent character behaviors weren't enough, useless antics are thrown in for good measure. An over the top carnival-like show of "shoot your father" and topped off with a government black ops group recruiting Callie at the end added to the incredulity of it all.

My rating ★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5 stars) - It was ok.

"Starters (Starters #1)" by Lissa Price, 2012

"Starters (Starters #1)" by Lissa Price, 2012

Fast-paced, near-futuristic, and inventive with twists-- "Starters" is a good mystery story that unfolds in a science-fiction dystopic society.

In a future not far off, everyone between the age of twenty (20) and sixty (60) is wiped out during the Spore War. Through the establishment Prime Destinations, seniors above sixty (60), also known as Enders, can rent the bodies of Starters, anyone under the age of twenty (20). Through this service, the renter can live their lives in younger bodies, experiencing life anew, for an agreed period of time.

Our heroine Callie Woodland is smart, caring, and an unclaimed minor who lives like a fugitive. To make money to care for her younger brother, she agrees to rent her body out to an Ender through Prime Destinations and quickly finds herself in the midst of a body snatching mystery and a murder conspiracy.

Though this novel is classified as Young Adult (YA), I found it quite enjoyable. Others have compared this book to "Hunger Games" and "Divergent" series".  I, however, think it's original, with a clever premise, and a fun mystery-adventure ride.


My Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars) - I really liked it.

"We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin, 1923

"We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin, 1923

"And I hope we win. More than that; I am certain we shall
win. For Reason must prevail."

It's been a couple of years since hearing of this book's existence and I finally managed to get a copy online in PDF format. Here is the link: https://ilfyn.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/yevgeny-zamyatin-we.pdf

We was written about 1923 and is a science-fiction fantasy dealing with the 26th century A.D. The book was originally refused publication in Russia for the grounds that it was ideologically undesirable or incompatible with Russia's political landscape at the time. Eventually, a manuscript of the book made it out of Russia and translated versions began to appear in various languages.

One of the first noticeable things about this book is that Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World must have been influenced by this book; both books deal with the rebellion of the primitive human spirit against a rationalized, mechanized, painless world, etc.

The other noticeable item about this book it shares the same plot of George Orwell's novel 1984. It should be no surprise being that Orwell review We for Tribune in 1946; three years before he published Nineteen Eighty-Four. In his review, he called Zamyatin's book an influence on Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, though Huxley always denied anything of the sort. "It is in effect a study of the Machine," Orwell wrote of We, "the genie that man has thoughtlessly let out of its bottle and cannot put back again. This is a book to look out for when an English version appears." He seems to have taken his own advice.

This was tough book to get into.  The book was not written with expert control in an accessible style about a world recognizably our own so I found myself going over some sections several times over for fear of missing something.

Perhaps We deserves more recognition than it has had given the idea that it is the granddaddy of all science-fiction dystopian novels.



★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5 stars) - It was ok.



_________________
The summary as found on
https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/We

We takes place in the far-future One State, a totalitarian society one thousand years after a cataclysm which killed the majority of the world's population. It is told from the point of view of D-503, an engineer and mathematician. Through his journal, initially undertaken in response to the State order to create writings glorifying their society, we learn about the totalitarian One State and the secret rebellion plotting to take it down.

Kustodiev_Zamyatin

As the Builder of the Integral, the massive spaceship intended to conquer and subjugate alien societies under the totalitarian and mathematically perfect rule of the One State, D-503 is an esteemed member of the One State. He is initially completely subsumed in the ideology of the One State, and thrills in the uniformity and emotionless repetition of the life in the Metropolis. His only regret is that his hairy, atavistic arms remind him of humanity's more primitive roots. In the One State, such physical characteristics appear to be one of the few remaining ties to the life of the people who lived before the One State, the "Ancients." The One State's citizens are shielded from nature inside the Green Wall and privacy - except for during State-sanctioned "sex visits" - is a thing of the past. D-503's regular companions include his lover O-90, who laments being too short to be allowed children, and his friend R-13, a State poet and also O-90's lover.

D-503's blissfully regulated world is shaken when he meets I-330, a femme fatale whom he finds simultaneously repulsive and irresistible. I-330's influence over D-503's life increases as she takes him to the Ancient House, gradually reveals her use of illicit substances such as alcohol and tobacco, and tells D-503 that she can have a corrupt doctor excuse him from work. D-503 is horrified, but finds himself incapable of turning I-330 over to the authorities.

Yevgeny Zamyatin

D-503 becomes increasingly smitten and begins to have dreams at night, a crime in the One State. Upon visiting a doctor, he is told that his affliction is that he has developed a "soul." I-330 ultimately reveals the existence of human beings living beyond the Green Wall and of the MEPHI, an underground resistance movement whose aim is to destroy the Green Wall and the totalitarian One State government. D-503 increasingly questions the mathematical perfection and soullessness of the One State. After he fulfills O-90's request for an illegal pregnancy, he has I-330 smuggle her beyond the wall.

The rebels spark a revolution, destroying parts of the Green Wall and allowing birds to re-enter the
city. D-503 is arrested and his imagination removed using x-rays, after which he tells the Benefactor and Guardianship Agency all that he knows about MEPHI. I-330 is brought before D-503 and the Benefactor and tortured for information; she gives none, which perplexes D-503. The novel ends with D-503 saying that all MEPHI agents in captivity will be executed. The battle for the city goes on, but D-503 is confident that the One State will win, "Because reason should win" (Zamyatin 203).

Ready Player One (Ready Player One #1) by Ernest Clines, 2011

Ready Player One (Ready Player One #1) by Ernest Clines, 2011

Taking place in the dystopian future of 2044, where everyone is connected to a virtual reality called Oasis, our hero Wade Owen Watts races to solve puzzles to win the ultimate prize of wealth.


I've read a lot of dystopian/sci-fi novels, some good and some bad, but very few that stand out among the crowd.  Ready Player One is a definite stand out.

Ready Player One is probably one of the best, if not coolest, sci-fi stories around. It's sure to wow any pop culture fan, especially those who have lived through the 80s and 90s. This book seemed to be endless pop culture nostalgia; everything from the Atari 2600 to ZZtop, or Pac-Man to Rubiks Cube are referenced.

Wade Watts is the average teenage outcast who prefers to lose himself in obsessing over this game (egg-hunt), while simultaneously escaping his pathetic trailer park life. Wade tells us the story of how he became a legend.

Right from the start I found myself easily connecting with his witty personality. While he does make mistakes along the way, his perfectly flawed nature makes his character and this whole journey very compelling. He's intelligent, no question, but he gets ahead of himself, learns a few life lessons, falls in love; showing us that he's human, above all else. Along the way, we meet characters who are or become, Wade's loyal friends in this hunt. Having a common enemy will bring people closer, and I loved seeing the sincere integrity of some of these other players. In the end, it shows how important it is to lean on others to help, instead of greedily trying to go through it alone. This is something we see during Wade's transformation in this story. He starts off as an introvert with self-esteem problems and comes out a true hero.

My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars)  It was amazing!

"Rebels: City of Indra: The Story of Lex and Livia (City of Indra #1)", by Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, Maya Sloan, 2014

"Rebels: City of Indra: The Story of Lex and Livia (City of Indra #1)"

 by Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, Maya Sloan, 2014

I can't even.... so instead I'll just give you the  top 10 best reviews on Amazon of the Jenner girls’ new book.

Perhaps they should have had some of these reviewers help them write their book. At least it would have been entertaining.

1. “B.D.” compares the book to toilet paper…
“Garbage from start to finish. Don’t bother wasting your time or money on this piece of trash. The trees that died to make the paper for this book would have been better off as toilet paper.”

2. “T. O’Connor” gives the girls suggestions for their next literary masterpiece…
“To the authors, I have a suggestion for your next book. It might actually be something you know about. Although you’ll probably have to get a ghost writer for that too. It should be called, ‘Your Big Sister Gets Pissed on In Film: How to Make it Work for You.’”

3. “Madison” mourned the loss of the trees it took to create the book….
“By the time I reached 240 or was it 242, I wanted to shriek like a hellion and soil my tablet with whatever gunk I could find. But, I love my tablet way too much to soil it for anything (even the loss of my brain cells)…I’m mentally holding a memorial service for the trees that perished because Kylie and Kendall decided to “write” a book.”

4. “Alexandra Ware” managed to find a good use for this book–warding off coffee shop creeps!
“Are you tired of cute hipster guys or girls hitting on you in the coffee shop while you try and have a quiet read with an almond milk soy cap frap? Me too! This book acts like an EMP on Sentinels, it shuts that s*** down. Money saving tip – Just print off the front cover and stick it to any old book you’re reading. Honestly, don’t buy it – otherwise you’re just enabling the Cardissian’s filler addiction.”

5. “Knox Kingston” gives us a peek into how this whole mess began….

“I can only imagine how this all begin…
“OMG, like, I’m bored. You know what we should do? We should, like, write a book.”
“OMG I know, right? Writing books is soooo easy.”
“So what do we have to do?”
“Well, like, apparently we have to sit down and write a lot of words.”
“Ugh, that sucks SOOO bad. I don’t even like words. Isn’t there an easier way?”
“I think, like, we can just hire a ghost writer or whatever.”
“Oh, cool! So hey, ghost writer lady, like, can you write a book about us as like, I don’t know, Hunger Games girls? And make us super cute, okay?”
“Totes. And call us when it’s done, cuz, like, we totally gotta have a book party or whatever those author nerds do when they make a book. We love parties.”
“Totes!”
Then the book is released, IQ points are massively destroyed world wide, and I die a little inside from even having written this review.”

6. “David” offers advice for a more exciting alternative purchase…
“Kim Kardashian’s sex tape had a better plot and a more powerful climax. At least there were no misspelled words, I gave it star for that.”

7. “K. Sanderson” figured out how this book came to be…
“I really think that the ghost writer just slammed her head against the keyboard and came up with this crap.”

8. “Luke”— I’d pay to see what you suggest…
“Jenner & Jenner should stay out of novel-writing for the same reasons Stephen King should stay out of bikini modeling–though I’ll venture he’d do a far better job of crossing over careers than they have here.”

9. “Rebecca Wordd” does remind us that the Jenners are good at a few things…
“Awful book, no plot development, character development-what the heck? Sorry pretty little girls-stick to what you do best, posing for selfies and shopping.”

10. “I. Patricia” proves that the characters in the book are based off of Kylie and Kendall…
“The characters were poorly developed – Lex and Livia, are they serious? You just don’t get attached to them, they seem like puppets without real emotions, they act like puppets with no mind…”

My rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ (0 out of 5 stars)