Jen – Page 2 – Made of Stardust and Stubbornness

“We Came to Welcome You” Review

Posted on September 16, 2024October 8, 2024 by Jen

“We Came to Welcome You” by Vincent Tirado

Sol Reyes has had a rough year. After a series of workplace incidents at her university lab culminates in a plagiarism accusation, Sol is put on probation. Dutiful visits to her homophobic father aren’t helping her mental health, and she finds her nightly glass of wine becoming more of an all-day—and all-bottle—event. Her wife, Alice Song, is far more optimistic. After all, the two finally managed to buy a house in the beautiful, gated community of Maneless Grove.

However, the neighbors are a little too friendly in Sol’s opinion. She has no interest in the pushy Homeowners Association, their bizarrely detailed contract, or their never-ending microaggressions. But Alice simply attributes their pursuit to the community motto: “Invest in a neighborly spirit” …which only serves to irritate Sol more.

Suddenly, a number of strange occurrences—doors and stairs disappearing, roots growing inside the house—cause Sol to wonder if her social paranoia isn’t built on something more sinister. Yet Sol’s fears are dismissed as Alice embraces their new home and becomes increasingly worried instead about Sol’s drinking and manic behavior. When Sol finds a journal in the property from a resident that went missing a few years ago, she realizes why they were able to buy the house so easily…

Review

I enjoyed this for the most part – though I think I do prefer the author’s first two books. It’s a complicated read because on the one hand something sinister is in fact going on but on the other hand Sol is dealing with depression and other mental health issues that are exaggerating some of her responses to the various situations she’s dealing with. There is a very slow buildup of everything as things begin to develop in the community. Sometimes it’s a little tedious but never enough that I wanted to stop reading.

I ended up spending a lot of time wondering how Sol and Alice ended up married – they don’t seem like a good couple who actually understand each other. Beyond the fact that Alice was there for Sol when Sol’s family kicked her out. Though I suspect it’s a similar issue to Sol still visiting her father – she doesn’t know how to do anything else and feels like she has no choices. Some other reviewers are very harsh about Sol but honestly I had more problems with Alice and how she talked to Sol or handled Sol’s issues. That said we are really only getting Sol’s perspective on everything.

While we do find out what is going on with the community the ending is actually rather abrupt. It’s never really made clear how much of it was resolved. I’m also not certain of Sol’s actions near the end and what exactly she ended up doing about the community. Though ultimately it feels like she did what she felt like she had to do to survive with Alice.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “We Came to Welcome You”.

Book Details

Author’s Website: Vincent Tirado
Publisher / Date: William Morrow, September 2024
Genre: Thriller
Page Count: 347
Completion Date: September 16, 2024

“The Windweaver’s Storm” Review

Posted on September 13, 2024October 8, 2024 by Jen

“The Windweaver’s Storm” (TJ Young & The Orishas No. 2) by Antoine Bandele

TJ Young spent last summer fighting to unlock the secrets behind his sister’s mysterious death but found himself battling the magic of the ancient Orishas instead. And some of the answers he sought came with a promise he may not be able to keep: to dismantle new human construction on the coastline of Lagos, Nigeria by the start of spring.

But how does a teenager do away with decades of infrastructure in only half a year?

He’ll need to enlist the help of new allies, mortal and immortal alike. And thankfully, after surviving the grueling magical curriculum of Camp Olosa, he’s now headed to the most prestigious magic school in West Africa: Ifa Academy for Tomorrow’s Diviners.

But will that be enough as he prepares for what can only end in an all-out war between mortals and gods?

Review

This review contains major spoilers for the book and for the previous one in the series, but I don’t feel there’s any other way to explain why I ended up not enjoying the book…

I really wanted to enjoy this book, especially when TJ meets a deaf boy, named Emeka, who uses Yoruba Sign Language (a sign language used in Nigeria), on the way to Ifa Academy. I was excited about the Deaf representation and since TJ knew a little bit of American Sign Language (enough to realize Emeka was deaf and using YSL), I was excited that there might be interesting interactions with them. Unfortunately, their potential friendship was derailed by misunderstandings and lies, resulting in Emeka hating TJ and avoiding him. We find out later on what the lies were and that Emeka has been providing information to the enemy group. Near the end of the book Emeka is killed in a brutal fashion seemingly just for the shock value because he had outlived his usefulness to the enemy. Thought, it’s not even clear who killed Emeka or why. It doesn’t appear to be the people Emeka was providing information to given how one of them reacts but again it’s not clear. Ultimately I felt like this had been a cheap use of the character and since he was the only deaf / disabled character in the book it stood out.

I also feel as though the author has a habit of going out of his way to describe “odd” looking people. TJ meets another teen, named Umar, who apparently has disproportionately sized arms and legs along with some other physical characteristics that are described in detail for no real reason. There’s also a running joke that he’s been trying out for the school sport team but doesn’t make the team each time he tries. Umar does end up having more to do in the end of the book but it doesn’t really make up for him being the butt of jokes about his lack of physical ability.

The first book had similar issues. TJ meets an overweight character named Joshua who is described as smelly and gross and all he thinks about is eating. Granted TJ and Joshua end up being friends and work well together throughout the book. But in the end it’s revealed that Joshua never existed and is the secretly one of the Orishas hiding inside a body that was created for him. There was another character in the first book with bursting pimples that gets called “juice” … Again the author goes out of his way to describe differences in detail in a way that sticks out. Especially when other characters aren’t described to the same degree. One can argue that it’s teenager point of view but at the same time the author is making a choice to make TJ that kind of a teenager. It also doesn’t entirely fit in with how kind TJ seems to be otherwise.

There’s also a love triangle in the second book, but that ended up being the least annoying part of the book, as it at least made sense in some ways. I did like the family dynamics and friendships in the book along with the world building, all of which I liked from the first book and why I of why I wanted to read this book. I really wish it had turned out better but as it stands I don’t have any interest in reading the next book in the series.

As a side note Emeka is described as “hearing impaired” rather than deaf which stuck out as deaf is usually the preferred term and makes sense for a character who can’t hear at all and uses sign language. But I don’t know for sure if that is more a cultural/regional difference as the setting is in Nigeria and “hearing impaired might actually be preferred there verses what is preferred here. Plus it’s implied that Emeka lost his hearing sometime during his earlier childhood and could also speak with effort and read lips as a result. All of that could lead to more of a preference towards using hearing impaired vs hard of hearing.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “The Windweaver’s Storm”.

Book Details

There is a large figure standing sideways facing the left in the background of the cover made of white light and has lightning coming out of their hands. Two younger figures are in front of that person facing them with their hands starched up and out as if they're warding them off. Some city buildings are in the background on the right side of the cover and the cover is mostly red and brown.

Author’s Website: Antoine Bandele
Publisher Name / Date: Bandele Books, June 2022
Genre
Page Count: 505
Completion Date: September 10, 2024

“Being Seen” Review

Posted on September 2, 2024October 14, 2024 by Jen

“Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism” by Elsa Sjunneson

A Deafblind writer and professor explores how the misrepresentation of disability in books, movies, and TV harms both the disabled community and everyone else.

As a Deafblind woman with partial vision in one eye and bilateral hearing aids, Elsa Sjunneson lives at the crossroads of blindness and sight, hearing and deafness—much to the confusion of the world around her. While she cannot see well enough to operate without a guide dog or cane, she can see enough to know when someone is reacting to the visible signs of her blindness and can hear when they’re whispering behind her back. And she certainly knows how wrong our one-size-fits-all definitions of disability can be.

As a media studies professor, she’s also seen the full range of blind and deaf portrayals on film, and here she deconstructs their impact, following common tropes through horror, romance, and everything in between. Part memoir, part cultural criticism, part history of the Deafblind experience, Being Seen explores how our cultural concept of disability is more myth than fact, and the damage it does to us all.

Review

I really enjoyed this book and the way Elsa mixes personal stories with Deafblind history and criticisms of portrayals of disability in various mediums. The criticisms are all relevant to her life because the lives of disabled people are often shaped by what others assume to be true. Like all of us who are disabled Elsa has had to fight the ableist assumptions people have made in order have a life that she wants. She has a whole chapter on Hellen Keller and how Hellen’s story is often changed to suite ableist ideas of who she was. There’s also a lot to be said for the damage caused by people “not seeing disability” – because when that happens it results in a lot of internalized ableism to unpack while also needing to learn how to actually work with your disabilities instead of ignoring them to pass as non-disabled. There’s also a chapter about disability in science fiction and how we’re often erased.

Book Details

Being Seen book cover - black background with the authors name and the title and subtitle on the book: Elsa Sjunneson Being Seen One DeafBlind Women's Fight to End Ableism. The text is pale gray with a light shining through the I in the word Being in the title - the light is shining to the right of the cover hitting some of the letters in the rest of the title.

Author’s Website: Elsa Sjunneson
Publisher / Date: S&S/Simon Element, October 26, 2021
Genre / Topics: Memoir, Disability
Page Count: 288
Completion Date: September 2, 2024

“Contingency Plans for the Apocalypse And Other Possible Situations” Review

Posted on September 1, 2024October 8, 2024 by Jen

“Contingency Plans for the Apocalypse And Other Possible Situations” by S.B. Divya

A sickly biologist shuts herself off from the world and its deadly pollutants to research her beloved microbiota in peace – until a chance encounter drives her to venture out into an unlivable Bangalore. In a dystopian Arizona, a couple performs forbidden life-saving abortions amid the threat of tanks and drones, the strict report of automatic weapons and the spying eyes of neighbors. A young woman competes in a grueling challenge, determined to win a place in a world where body modifications equal class and grant people the privilege of transcending gender.

In this collection of 14 layered stories featuring dying cities, undying humans, amorphous bodies, cyborg racers and magic beetles, internationally acclaimed writer and data scientist S.B. Divya treads the line between the present and the future, while exploring the eternal conundrums of identity and love in speculative worlds.

Review

I’ve read (and reviewed) S.B. Diva’s two Alloy Era Novels “Meru” and “Loka” so I knew what to expect from her writing and the short stories were no surprise. I really enjoyed them all and how the author handles everything from disability to gender to various technologies and how it can be used for good or bad. I really enjoyed all of these stories though with any short story there are a couple I wish had been longer.

LOSS OF SIGNAL – This is an interesting story about a dying teenager whose consciousness was uploaded into a spaceship – the first test flight of such ships as an alternate way to explore space. It’s a lot of internal thoughts as the teen is flying the ship towards the moon and thinking about his previous years and the choices he’s making.

CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR THE APOCALYPSE – A dark story about surviving after being attacked for performing lifesaving abortions in Arizona. The surviving spouse (who always expected to be the one killed) has to get their children out of the state. One might wonder if the cost of staying was too great but the help they gave was also vital.

MICROBIOTA AND THE MASSES: A LOVE STORY – This one would not be my usual cup of tea since it’s a love story but it’s got an interesting premise. The main character, who is also a biologist, has been isolated in their home because of the pollution making them sick. So their house is completely contained with clean air and water. The way they end up making various choices was interesting and I liked the way they end up helping everyone while falling in love with a repair man who came to their home.

AN UNEXPECTED BOON – This was an interesting story of a young girl who has ODC or Autistic traits (though it’s never named as such) and her older brother. The brother is a bit of a jerk but it’s actually an understandable issue because he’s been left to take care of her temporarily by his parents and he insisted he could do it without considering what it would mean. I like the way it plays out though with the girl being stronger than he thinks despite everything that happens.

NAVA – I’m pretty sure this is a story set in the author’s Alloy Era series (probably an early version since this book was published before both “Meru” and “Loka”). Or it’s different take on that universe. It has an interesting concept with a living ship having been created and needing to learn how to function as its maker intended.

BINARIES – Interesting glimpses in time of a person’s long life. The method for which they live their long life isn’t explained but it seems like it has to do with being converted to digital signals. But in the end though it has to do with family and finding someone who was lost.

THE EGG – This one is really short on details and the ending is a little vague but it’s a look at choices people make and consequences. The vague unknown ending is actually the point given what happens. The looming unknown after a death changes everything.

DUSTY OLD THINGS – Cool story about someone talking to an alternate version of themselves through a light board. It’s not clear exactly how the technology worked as the version that discovered the technology is the one in the alternate universe. I liked the way it played out and that the differences in their lives was an important part of the story.

THE BOY WHO MADE FLOWERS – In a world where superpowers are real a boy develops the power to make flower. He of course hates it at first but soon learns what his power can mean for others. I really enjoyed how this one ended up.

SHIPS IN THE NIGHT – A very brief look at the life of someone who can see the future and what happens when they meet an immortal. Interesting story and I liked the way it plays out. Probably not what you’d expect but it makes sense when you think about it.

GAPS OF JOY, AND A KNOT FOR LOVE – This one is a little weird as I’m not sure what the ending is saying about the persons powers vs reality. He has the power to collect and share happiness but it’s not all that his family needs.

STRANGE ATTRACTORS – this one is an interesting look at a couple who marries and divorces and then meets again centuries later (no explanation other than technology being available). I actually liked the ending of this one because it felt very realistic for people who keep meeting up again despite everything.

SOFT WE WAKE – A person tries to adjust after waking up in the far future without the person who was supposed to be there with him. Everything is so different and he’s not comfortable with all the changes. I liked the way it played out and the friendship he ends up developing with another person who was revived at the same time. Her situation is different but with similar ideas of not being sure how to live again in such a changed world.

RUNTIME – I believe this one is the longest of the short stories in the book but it has a lot to say. I’m not entirely sure how the postnatal licensing works but naturally it’s yet another way to keep poor people poor since they can never afford to pay the fees and without it they can’t get jobs or better educations. Anyway the main character attempts a race to earn more money to get out of their situation. The way things go down was exciting and naturally it doesn’t go as planed. I did like how it worked out though.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “Contingency Plans for the Apocalypse And Other Possible Situations”.

Book Details

Two people are standing on the surface of a planet holding hands while looking upward at a sky filled with greens and blues and purples of a nebula and another planet at the top right of the cover. The title of the book is in the center of the cover with the authors name below that.

Author’s Website: S.B. Divya
Publisher / Date: Hachette India January 1, 2019
Genre: Science Fiction, Short Stories
Page Count: 264
Completion Date: August 31, 2024

“Buffalo Is the New Buffalo” Review

Posted on August 31, 2024October 8, 2024 by Jen

“Buffalo Is the New Buffalo” by Chelsea Vowel

Powerful stories of “Metis futurism” that envision a world without violence, capitalism, or colonization.

Inspired by classic and contemporary speculative fiction, Buffalo Is the New Buffalo explores science fiction tropes through a Metis lens: a Two-Spirit rougarou (shapeshifter) in the nineteenth century tries to solve a murder in her community and joins the nehiyaw-pwat (Iron Confederacy) in order to successfully stop Canadian colonial expansion into the West. A Metis man is gored by a radioactive bison, gaining super strength, but losing the ability to be remembered by anyone not related to him by blood. Nanites babble to babies in Cree, virtual reality teaches transformation, foxes take human form and wreak havoc on hearts, buffalo roam free, and beings grapple with the thorny problem of healing from colonialism.

“Education is the new buffalo” is a metaphor widely used among Indigenous peoples in Canada to signify the importance of education to their survival and ability to support themselves, as once Plains nations supported themselves as buffalo peoples. The assumption is that many of the pre-Contact ways of living are forever gone, so adaptation is necessary. But Chelsea Vowel asks, “Instead of accepting that the buffalo, and our ancestral ways, will never come back, what if we simply ensure that they do?”

Indigenous futurisms seek to discover the impact of colonization, remove its psychological baggage, and recover ancestral traditions. These eight short stories of “Metis futurism” explore Indigenous existence and resistance through the specific lens of being Metis. Expansive and eye-opening, Buffalo Is the New Buffalo rewrites our shared history in provocative and exciting ways.

Review

I really enjoyed reading all of the stories in the book! The Locating Myself, Preface and Conclusion chapters are important to read as they give a lot of context for the kind of stories that are included. Something that is often ignored is that all of the stories about world ending invasions have already happened to many Indigenous populations. The stories in this book play on that concept in different ways. The introduction gives a short explanation for the stories included. Each story also includes an explanation of the story and several footnotes which are interesting to read as they give additional context for the story and the inspiration for them.

BUFFALO BIRD – I liked the way it played out though it was tricky keeping track of the story as it jumped between different times in the life of the shapeshifter character. Though I did think the different time and situations had a common thread that made it work.

MICHIF MAN – This one was interesting as it was split between a modern day academic presentation of whether or not Michif Man actually existed or was just a metaphor and then actual scenes from the character’s life. Interesting story!

DIRTY WINGS – This one is a dream / stream of consciousness story so it’s a bit tricky to get. It’s interesting though and I really enjoyed the explanation section for this one.

MAGGIE SUE – This one takes some work to get through because it’s a detailed story that the POV character is telling about an event that happened. The character isn’t the main character of the story but actually a side character who encounters the main character as they head off on a quest (basically). There’s a lot going on in the story with a few side stories as the character explains things and it does take work to follow along. Worth it though.

A LODGE WITHIN HER MIND – A pandemic story! Interesting take in the idea of being uploaded into a virtual reality and what it can mean for you afterwards. The ending of it is neat.

ÂNISKÔHÔCIKAN – This one has an interesting idea – using nanites to force all language heard by a person into Cree, from birth, in order to create more native speakers of the language. The story is short and it’s intended to raise more questions than answers as we only see the beginning years of the child’s life without a lot of detail. How will it work as the child grows up? There’s hints of the idea of how we claim that technology will save us but it never works without consequences.

I, BISON – This story takes the idea of digital uploads and expands on what it would mean in the context of spiritual connections to the body. It also explores the idea of disability or mental illness and what actually disabled us. I really liked the ideas presented and the explanation is after the story is interesting.

UNSETTLED – And this is the story that deals with the idea that Indigenous populations are already postapocalyptic. They’ve had their lands stollen and their people enslaved or killed. What would happen if they were given control back? What would it take for them to decide that it was worth whatever cost they had to make? It’s an interesting idea and makes an interesting point. The explanation afterwards is great too.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “Buffalo Is the New Buffalo”.

Book Details

Author’s Website: Chelsea Vowel
Publisher / Date: Arsenal Pulp Press, June 2022
Genre: Science Fiction, Short Stories
Page Count: 341
Completion Date: August 31, 2024

Additional Thoughts About Murderbot

Posted on August 30, 2024October 5, 2024 by Jen

Note: This was originally posted along with my review of “Artificial Condition”, before I decided to move it to a separate post.

As much as I’ve enjoyed the first two books in “The Murderbot Diaries” by Martha Wells I have to say I have mixed feelings with the way intelligence is talked about in these books. Murderbot thinks of itself as superior to all other AIs because it hacked its governor unit and is no longer being controlled by the company. It also thinks itself superior to all humans. It has a lot to say about the intelligence of everyone – AI and human alike. Sometimes going as far as making judgements about the usefulness of those who are less intelligent. Since the books are from Murderbot’s POV the bias can be interpreted as bias on the character’s part more than the narrative suggesting it but it was something I noticed.

I also made note of how humans a categorized as human and augmented humans and it’s not clear who is augmented. Can anyone be augmented or are most of them previously disabled humans who need assistive tech like hearing aids or glasses? If most of them are in fact disabled humans then there’s some negative implications about the distinction. Though again it’s Murderbot’s POV and if it categorizes people that way because it feels closer to augmented humans than humans that’s different.

I do feel the way Murderbot feels superior to everyone and free to call everyone unintelligent (the word stupid is used a lot) is a problem. The idea that one is better than someone else just because they’re smarter is not the greatest idea to hold. It’s the root of eugenics and the reason people with intellectual disabilities are treated badly by everyone including people with physical disabilities who often try to distance themselves from the idea they may be unintelligent. “I may be physically disabled buy my brain is fine” ableism is rampant. People with varying degrees of intellectual disabilities have been categorized in the past with their level of usefulness for jobs and I see hints of that in how Murderbot talks about the various AIs it has worked with in the past and encounters on its journey. The idea of dumb vs smart technology may be a thing that is common in Science Fiction and talking about AIs but we should all be aware of where it comes from and what it means when applied to people.

It’s true the humans Murderbot encounters are putting themselves at risk and making choices that would have gotten them killed if not for Murderbot being there to protect them. But is that really a lack of intelligence? Are they really stupid or merely young and inexperienced with how bad things can be? Should they “know better” or have they not yet had the opportunity to learn because they are young? Even for those who should “know better” the choice is still theirs to make. We may think those choices are wrong but if they know the risks and make them anyway are they really “stupid” or just reckless with their lives? While it’s true people use “stupid” as a short cut for a lot of flaws, that is in fact the problem. We make these kinds of judgements all the time and feel superior because we apparently smarter than those who make “poor choices” but I’m sure somewhere along the line we go out and make a choice someone else would question us about.

Previously I wrote an essay called “The Problem of Intellectual Ableism” that I think is relevant to this post. Give it a read. I don’t believe the problems I see in this book are entirely intentional, and I don’t have anything against the author for any of this. The issues I see in the Murderbot Diaries are present everywhere to varying degrees as they are systemic issues. People often use intelligence based insults whenever they judge others – which is the whole problem. These books just seemed to emphasis that a lot because of Murderbots superiority complex. At least in this book Muderbot learns that it can be wrong in its assumptions – it originally assumes ART is a “dumb bot” before it learns better. Still… the assumptions were made, as they often are about intelligence and worth.