#REVIEW: ESCAPING EXODUS, by Nicky Drayden

On December 9, 2019 By Luther M. SilerIn Reading, Reviews1 Comment

Nicky Drayden has written three books, and I have read all three and at least briefly discussed each of them here. Her first book, The Prey of Gods, ended up being too much for me, and I actually didn’t manage to finish it because of how completely nuts it was, although I think it’s due for a reread sometime soon regardless. Her second book, Temper, was a much more assured novel but still wasn’t quite a home run for me. The interesting thing about Drayden’s work is that she is very obviously a writer with an enormous amount of potential, and even though I didn’t finish her first book and didn’t exactly love the second she was still very much an author I was keeping an eye on and was going to continue to buy books from.

And, y’all, Escaping Exodus is the book I’ve been waiting for. I was sooooo right to keep watching Drayden; this book is the payoff, and will end up quite highly ranked on my end of the year list, which is coming in the next couple of weeks. Drayden continues with her firehose of ideas and her intensely weird fiction; this one is about a Juliet- and Juliet-esque love between an heiress to a matriarchy and someone who is effectively a manual laborer, only they’re also traveling through space in a living generation ship while they’re doing it. Throw in atypical family structures (everyone has multiple sets of parents and multiple spouses, of both genders, and blending “matrilines” is a big part of the politics of the book) and a fascinating bit at the end where we find out that there are other spaceships out there and that the colonies on those ships have evolved, and cared for their ships, very differently from the characters in this, and … man, this is really something special.

My only gripe is that the end doesn’t land quite as perfectly as I’d like; one storyline that I was quite interested in kind of gets disregarded in the last twenty pages or so, which was a bit of a disappointment, but overall this is the book I always felt like Drayden was going to write eventually and I’ve finally got. It’s just much more under control than her previous work; you got the idea in Temper to some extend and to quite a large extent in The Prey of Gods that her ideas just got away from her, and that feeling is gone from this. This novel is tight in a way her previous work hasn’t been, and you should all read it. God, 2019 has been a great year for books.

#REVIEW: CHILDREN OF TIME, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

On September 2, 2019September 1, 2019 By Luther M. SilerIn Reading, Reviews6 Comments

It is hyperbole, but only by a little bit, to state that I have hated every second of 2019. I won’t go into the details; if you’ve been reading here for a while and especially if you follow me on Patreon you know a lot of them by now, but this has been the single worst year of my life by a wide margin and there are still four fucking months of it left.

The one shining bright spot of 2019 has been the books I’ve been reading. Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time was number ninety, I believe, and it is the book that convinced me that my traditional end-of-year top 10 list is probably going to have to be pushed to fifteen this year. It was effectively a random buy; we took my son to Barnes and Noble to spend some money on him for his birthday and it jumped off the shelf at me. I will own the sequel by the end of the weekend.

Children of Time is a post-apocalyptic, more or less post-human novel set in two places: a green planet far from Earth and an ancient, decaying generation ship containing what are, as far as the occupants know, the last few thousand members of the human race. It takes place over centuries if not actual millennia– the time scale is kept fuzzy, and the human characters’ ability to put themselves into cryogenic storage until the next event that causes them to need to wake up allows the timeline to be pushed well beyond the human lifespan. At the very beginning, a human scientist attempts to seed the green planet with primate life and with a nanovirus that will tailor their evolution over the years to produce sentient life on the level of human beings. Something goes terribly wrong, and the proto-primates are lost, but the nanovirus is not … and it settles into a species of spider instead. The book tells two parallel stories: the slow evolution of the spider species and their eventual rise to supremacy on their planet, a story that takes place over many generations and thus has many different “main” characters for each part of the book, most of whom are named “Portia,” basically for narrative convenience, and the remaining humans on a generation ship called the Gilgamesh, a cultural reference they have long since forgotten the meaning of. Eventually, the two discover each other’s existence, and while there is conflict, it doesn’t work out the way you think it will, and the final resolution was so simple and elegant that it blew me away.

It is– and this is the entire review, so pay attention– one of the most fantastically inventive things I have ever read. That should be clear just from the plot summary, right? You already know you need to read this book, and you should go get it right now and get started. I know, I know, I’m prone to hyperbole, I start the review off with hyperbole and I mention my tendency toward hyperbole in damn near every positive review I write. But this book is really something special, y’all. You owe it to yourself to read it.

Anyone watching this?

On December 5, 2016December 5, 2016 By Luther M. SilerIn Television5 Comments

I haven’t heard any buzz about this program at all, and only found out about it because I was scrolling through Netflix menus pretty much at random– any of you Netflix folks watching 3%? We’re only three episodes in, so consider this a conditional recommendation, but so far my lovely wife and I are both finding the show to be pretty compelling science fiction. The disadvantage: it’s dubbed from Portuguese, so when I say things like “the acting is good,” which is a thing I’d say about this show, what I basically mean is that the actors look like they’re acting well, and the English speakers they’ve hired to overdub their voices usually don’t suck that much.

The premise, so far: it is The Future, and The Future appears to really suck for everyone who lives in what I assume is still called Brazil. Each year everyone who turns 20 is eligible to take a series of tests that only the titular 3% will pass. Those who pass are able to go to “the Offshore,” which…

…well, none of them seem to know what the Offshore is, they just really really hope it’s better than the shit dystopia they live in now, and no scenes have been set in the Offshore yet, so the viewers don’t have any idea either. So, really Hunger Gamesy, but done pretty well. Three episodes in, we’re still all testing, and the tests have been varied and interesting enough to keep us watching. If this is what the entire first season is about, it might be a problem, but so far? So good.

Anybody else watching this? If not, anybody want to start so I have someone to talk to about it?

In which bustin’ makes me feel good

On July 18, 2016July 18, 2016 By Luther M. SilerIn movies, Reviews7 Comments

aw3snei4begajpjm8agh … which, holy shit, that’s a double entendre, isn’t it? And it took me 32 years to notice it? Okay, now my childhood’s ruined.

Here’s the clearest indication that I enjoyed Ghostbusters: the main characters’ names are Abby Yates, Erin Gilbert, Jillian Holtzmann, and Patty Tolan. The receptionist’s name is Kevin, and I don’t think he had a last name.

I need you to understand this about me: I don’t remember the names of fictional people. I can read entire books and be able to describe the plot in close detail and have trouble recalling the main character’s name. I can almost never remember the names of any of the leads of movies. And I know all five of the major characters in this film. First and last names. That’s freaking amazing. It shouldn’t be the case, but it is.

I didn’t initially want to see Ghostbusters, not because I thought it would Destroy my Childhood– that’s not a real thing– but because I thought it was an unnecessary remake. The first film is sacred to me, but its sacrality has not led to me seeing the second film more than perhaps twice, so I can’t really pretend I have any loyalty to the franchise. And there are no Marvel superheroes in this movie, so ignoring it would be well within my established prior practice. Then I looked around and decided I’d rather change my mind than be on the same side of some of the people who agreed with me about not seeing it, and then I laughed my ass off at the first trailer. And then I saw the movie on opening night, a thing I haven’t done in, literally, years.

This movie’s funny as hell and you should watch it. If Kate McKinnon isn’t the funniest motherfucker alive– can I call a woman that? What if she’s gay?– I don’t know who it is, and Leslie Jones is funny as fuck too. Also notable is Chris Hemsworth’s performance; I’ve enjoyed his Thor but I seriously had no idea that the guy could be as funny as he is in this movie.

You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned the putative leads yet, Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig. I know little about Wiig, but I’ve seen McCarthy in other stuff and she has annoyed me. Honestly, I thought the two of them were among the weaker bits of the movie. They have their moments, certainly, but they don’t do “smart” as well as McKinnon does– she is the perfect mad scientist– and many of McCarthy’s lines in particular read like the kind of dialogue that dumb people write for smart people to say. “You did not disclose that the vehicle in question would be a hearse!” or whatever it was, for example. Wiig forgets that she’s supposed to be a physicist about fifteen minutes into the movie and there’s no real need for her to remember it since someone has to be the straight woman and be the butt of all the ghost-vomit jokes. I didn’t dislike her, but she’s not a reason to see the movie.

I do find myself wishing that Patty could have been an academic– either also or maybe flip her role with one of the other women. I think the idea of a Ph.D candidate in New York history working for the MTA could have worked, for example. But Patty is a fun character and the Sassy Black Woman stereotype we were all worried about is dialed back about as far as it can go.

Interestingly, this film shares its biggest flaw with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. TFA’s worst moments all involved the characters from the original trilogy. Similarly, Ghostbusters is at its worst when it’s trying to remind us that all of the actors from the original films (except for Rick Moranis, who quit acting years ago) supported the project. Other than the nice touch of putting a bust of Harold Ramis outside Erin Gilbert’s office, the only cameo that wasn’t insanely distracting was Annie Potts. Murray and Aykroyd, in particular, brought the movie to a screeching halt the three times they were on screen. And then once you realize what’s going on, and that they’re all gonna show up, you spend the movie watching for the next one, and it’s distracting as hell.

Other than that, though, and Paul Feig’s moderately annoying habit of cutting to Kate McKinnon’s or Leslie Jones’s reaction to every line someone else says (make it part of the drinking game) it’s a hell of a movie. The villain is interesting– he’s basically a GamerGater who has lucked into some supernatural physics– the effects are fun, and some of the shit they get up to with the proton packs and the other weapons Holtzmann comes up with are awesome fun. There’s a great stinger at the end of the movie, too, even if the film should have ended with the line “I love this town!” like the first one did.

(Yes, I know what I just said about the first movie. But they set up that line and then don’t deliver it. They shoulda, dammit.)

Also, this:

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I wanna marry Kate McKinnon, guys. I know; I’m married and she’s gay. Realistically, though, if you think about it, neither of those two things really have much of any effect on my chances, so I figure I’m free to dream on that point. Then again, I’ve never seen her in anything other than this movie, so maybe it’s the possibly-straight-but-I-doubt-it Jillian Holtzmann who I want to marry. She’s not real. That doesn’t affect my chances much either, I guess.

This movie is funny and you will like it so go see it.

The end.

Christmas books!

On December 11, 2015December 11, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Reading1 Comment

Know someone who would love an autographed science fiction book for Christmas? Did you know you can order autographed books directly from me?

(There’s two weeks until Christmas. Order by a week from today– let’s call that the 18th– to come closest to ensuring pre-Christmas delivery. I make no guarantees on timing one way or another.)

The books are priced a bit cheaper than you can get them on Amazon, shipping and handling are $4. If you want them shipped faster than that or shipped outside the lower 48, email me and we’ll work something out. Make sure to include who you want the books made out to and if there’s a special note you’d like included.

Sale goes until I run out of stuff to send. SKYLIGHTS and SANCTUM are not in danger of a sell-out but I only have a handful of copies of BENEVOLENCE ARCHIVES. MALUMBA is not included in this because I have no copies on hand and can’t get more from CreateSpace in time for Christmas; if you don’t particularly care about the Christmas part, again, email me.

SKYLIGHTS: $12.00 USD

THE SANCTUM OF THE SPHERE: $12.00 USD

SKYLIGHTS and SANCTUM: $20.00 USD

THE BENEVOLENCE ARCHIVES, VOL. 1: $7.00 USD

Comics!

On November 11, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Geek

Just for the heck of it, I posted a list of the comics I bought this week over at Sourcerer. Go check it out and let me know if anything else came out today I should buy.

More on yesterday’s announcement

On November 10, 2015November 10, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Writing5 Comments

c2e2_6

C2E2 had seventy thousand attendees last year, guys, a number that puts me firmly into what is this I don’t even mode. I’ve got plenty of time to figure it out, but right now I don’t even have a sense of how to order books for an event of that size. I’ve basically spent no money at all other than the hotel and the actual registration for Starbase Indy because I (deliberately) overordered so much for InConJunction. But… hell, if I sell a book to one percent of the visitors at C2E2 that’s seven hundred books, which is thousands of dollars to print and get to me. My conversion rate for InConJunction, despite how poorly most of us thought that con went, was way more than 1%. Then again, InConJunction wasn’t that big, and I could count on damn near every person at that con walking past me at some point. That’s not going to be the case at C2E2, and I don’t really have much of a way to estimate how many of those folks I even have a theoretical chance to sell books to.

I need folks with con experience. I know I have one Zen master of Zen floating around in my online circle, but if any of the rest of you have any experience with selling things at large conventions and have any particular advice you’d like to give me, I’d love to hear it. Particularly since I don’t have a huge cash reserve floating around right now, so whatever books I do buy are going to have to be put on a credit card, which hopefully will be then paid off with funds from the con. Which, obviously, is going to have an effect on how many I feel comfortable ordering.

So. Yeah. Anybody’s got a way to help me get a handle on how to manage this, feel free to drop me a line.

An entertainment and an announcement

On November 9, 2015November 9, 2015 By Luther M. SilerIn Writing1 Comment

augustus_primaporta First, a bonus story for those of you who have read Searching for Malumba, particularly those of you who have gotten to the chapter called “A Long Day, Pt. 2.”

Out of nowhere, my Bruce Banner Facebook account just got a friend request from Caesar, of all people. I haven’t heard from Caesar since the last day of the Washington DC trip I took him on when he was in 7th grade. Technically, I wasn’t supposed to do that, because he had transferred out of our school earlier in the year, but the adults involved basically looked around and went hell, he’s a good kid, let’s just not tell anybody, and it ended up working out fine anyway.

Caesar, and this will only be funny to those of you who have read Malumba, is a politician now, as in “he is actually running for state office in 2016,” and he has a Facebook page full of pictures of himself in a nicer suit than any of the ones I own, standing next to important politicians, including one former President and at least three people currently running for office.

I approved the request immediately. This is one of the ones I have wanted to be able to keep an eye on. 🙂

And now, the announcement, and this one’s a big one: I have just received confirmation that I will have a Small Press booth at C2E2 2016, running from March 18th-20th of next year. This means that I have three convention appearances currently planned out and official: Starbase Indy later this month, C2E2 in March, and IndyPopCon in June. I’m still trying to get into one more in August that I’ve not been to before (and which will also be a really big deal), and I’m thinking about going to next year’s InConJunction, which was the one I want to last summer. If Starbase Indy is fun and profitable, I’ll seriously consider doing that again next year too, but we’ll see how the first one goes.

That’s a big deal. That’s tens of thousands of people who I’ll have access to next year in person and not through my blog or Twitter. 2016 could be a very, very big deal for Luther Siler.

I’m excited already. 🙂