The Shamshine Blind

The Shamshine Blind

by Paz Pardo
Atria, 2023. 320 pages. Sci-Fi

In an alternate 2009, the United States has been a second-rate power for a quarter of a century, ever since Argentina’s victory in the Falkland’s War thanks to their development of “psychopigments.” Created as weapons, these colorful chemicals can produce almost any human emotion upon contact, and they have been embraced in the US as both pharmaceutical cure-alls and popular recreational drugs. Black market traders illegally sell everything from Blackberry Purple (which causes terror) to Sunshine Yellow (which delivers happiness). Psychopigment Enforcement Agent Kay Curtida works a beat in Daly City, just outside the ruins of San Francisco, chasing down smalltime crooks. But when an old friend shows up with a tantalizing lead on a career-making case, Curtida’s humdrum existence suddenly gets a boost. Little does she know that this case will send her down a tangled path of conspiracy and lead to an overdue reckoning with her family and with the truth of her own emotions.

I'm a big fan of works that blur the lines between genres, and Pardo manages to do that beautifully here. This work is a combination of the gritty noir and hardboiled detective stories from the early 20th century on one hand, and the post-apocalyptic alternate history science fiction on the other. The idea of weaponizing human emotion is fascinating and refreshing, though I wish there had been more of a good twist at the end. And as an Argentine American myself, I secretly relished in this world where Argentina was a superpower, conquering both the Falkland Islands and Great Britain (even though Argentina is made out to be the bad guys; haters gonna hate).

How High We Go in the Dark

How High We Go in the Dark

by Sequoia Nagamatsu
William Morrow, 2022. 304 pages. Sci-Fi

Follow a cast of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague. Beginning in 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work of his recently deceased daughter, where researchers are studying long-buried secrets now revealed in melting permafrost, including the perfectly preserved remains of a girl who appears to have died of an ancient virus. Once unleashed, the Arctic Plague will reshape life on earth for generations to come, quickly traversing the globe, forcing humanity to devise a myriad of moving and inventive ways to embrace possibility in the face of tragedy. 

I love how complex and intricate this story was. I'm generally not a fan of nonlinear, sweeping storylines, partly because it's hard for me to keep everything straight. However, Nagamatsu presents what feels like a collection of disparate short stories -- until you realize that they're all thoroughly interconnected. It was a fun realization to have as a reader because it was executed so expertly that it felt effortless.

Spin Me Right Round

Spin Me Right Round

by David Valdes
Bloomsbury YA, 2022. 352 pages. Sci-Fi

All Luis Gonzalez wants is to go to prom with his boyfriend, something his “progressive” high school still doesn’t allow. Not after what happened with Chaz Wilson. But that was ages ago, when Luis’s parents were in high school; it would never happen today, right? He’s determined to find a way to give his LGBTQ friends the respect they deserve (while also not risking his chance to be prom king). When a hit on the head knocks him back in time to 1985 and he meets the doomed young Chaz himself, Luis learns firsthand that a conservative school in the ’80s isn’t the safest place to be a gay kid.

I love how this story featured voices from a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds, as well as a variety of LGBTQ identities. It certainly went far beyond tokenism to provide a richly developed cast of characters that each felt true-to-life. I do wish Valdes had unpacked Luis's selfishness a little more, as there was an opportunity for some real growth that wasn't fully realized. He was also relatively unlikable, and it never really got resolved. That said, the writing was top notch, and it was fun to see the compelling, Back-to-the-Future-esque plotline adapted for a modern audience.

The Midnight Library

The Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
Viking, 2020. 288 pages. Sci-Fi

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. Nora Seed finds herself faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

Have you ever had a wonderful idea for a book to write, only to realize it had already been written by someone else? From time to time, we all wonder what our lives could have been like if only there had been some small change. Haig expertly explores these parallel universes to imagine what Nora could be living in another life. It is a bit heavy-handed on the self-help sprinkled throughout, but it certainly generates some food for thought. I guess I'll have to find another way to express my existential crises and the incidental crippling ennui. 

American Royals

American Royals

by Katharine McGee
Random House Books for Young Readers, 2019. 448 pages. Sci-Fi

Book #1 in the eponymous series

After the Revolutionary War, General George Washington was offered the throne. And everyone knows he said yes. This alternate history explores the America's reigning House of Washington and the drama that surrounds Princess Beatrice as she prepares to become the first queen regnant of the United States. Living in her sister's shadow, Princess Samantha generally is unbothered, but that changes when she shows interest in a boy who is strictly off-limits to her. And let's not forget Samantha's twin Prince Jefferson, who is adored as the quintessential royal heartthrob and being pursued by two very different love interests. 

This work seems like a standard YA contemporary romance, where the enjoyment comes from untangling the drama. The premise of an American royal family is quite a fun sandbox to play in, but I wish McGee had colored a little more outside the lines. Beyond the fact that this takes place in the United States, there isn't much to tie this work and its characters to the nation. 

Cold Storage

Cold Storage
by David Koepp

Harper, 2019. 308 pages. Sci-Fi

Settings: Kiwirrkurra, Australia in December 1987; Eastern Kansas in March 2019 (near the Missouri River, probably circa Kansas City)

Plot Summary: In 1987, Pentagram operative Roberto Diaz was dispatched to rural Australia to investigate a suspected act of biological terrorism. However, what he discovered was Cordyceps novus, a highly mutative, sentient fungus that seeks out humans for nourishment and breeding grounds. This threat to all lifeforms on the planet was safely contained and placed in a cold storage unit beneath a former military repository in Kansas. That is, until things started warming up some 30 years later. Pulled out of retirement to handle this emergency, Diaz must team up with two unsuspecting security guards to stop this contagion from destroying all life on Earth.

Subject Headings: Epidemics, mycology, mutation (biology), biological terrorism, government investigations, microbiology, retired individuals.

Elements of Science Fiction: (From Wyatt & Saricks, 2019, p. 94)

• Explores ethical, moral, philosophical, or other question in a setting outside everyday reality. This work ventures beyond the confines of our typical life experiences by introducing a sentient fungus on track to eliminate all human life. While a real-life fungus probably cannot exhibit motivation, complex analysis, and abstract thought, perhaps this serves as an analogy to discuss the idea of something out there that is lurking and lying in wait for us.
• Setting evokes the otherness of time, place, and reality. The location of the storage unit deep underground and in a former military installation imparts a sense of otherness and unfamiliarity to the work. Also, the otherness of the reality in which the story occurs is revealing to its purpose as a work, and it helps transport the reader to another setting as they read.
  
• Style and language suit the storyline and reinforce the intellectual nature of the genre. The descriptions of the origin, adaptation, and proliferation of the fungus use a jargon specific to mycology and microbiology. This helps the reader feel immersed in the intellectual tone of the book.  
• Wide range of tones to disorient readers and highlight issues. The use of darkly humorous dialogue (such as Roberto's commentary of the physical limitations that prevent him from being a hero at age 68) and chilling, dark tones (such as the description of the mutant rat found in the underground storage unit, or the various scenes where human chest cavities erupt to spread fungal spores) provide contrast and help to emphasize the message of the work, forcing the reader to "grapple... with the responsibilities and consequences of exploration" (p. 94).
• Characters underscore issues and atmosphere; creatures emphasize otherness. The development of Roberto, Teacake, and Naomi takes a backseat to the general feeling of the book, as well as the issues that are discussed. The depictions of the fungus's mechanical, utilitarian thoughts sharply contrast the emotional, often vulgar outbursts of the human characters.
• Focus drives the pacing. Since this work is focused more on adventure elements and physical action than on ideas and philosophies, the work unfolds at a rapid pace. However, passages that explore the psychological or biological processes at work in the fungus do provide a somewhat more leisurely pace.

It's worth noting here that Cold Storage also contains several elements from other genres, such as Horror and Thriller. However, it primarily revolves around science fiction elements, and it holds the genre characteristics of Science Fiction. 

Rule of Three: (From Saricks, 2009) 

1. Fast pace. Born from the work's focus on adventure elements and non-stop action, the pace of the book is quite fast, with a slowdown during somewhat jargon-laden passages that discuss the scientific side of what's going on.
2. Suspenseful tone. The psychological unease that comes from knowing what the characters don't blossoms into a very suspenseful story. This is broken up at times with mild humor, but the overall tone is suspenseful.
3. Compelling writing style. The reader feels drawn into the rich, textured story, and it's a hard book to put down.

Similar Works (Read-alikes): 

• The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
  Both of these suspenseful sci-fi works by American author-screenwriters focus on a microorganism that endangers the human race and threatens a pandemic apocalypse. These fast-paced and plot-driven works use this scenario to explore the social concerns of their time.
• Red Hands by Christopher Golden
  In both of these action-packed sci-fi stories of suspense, a retired expert is asked to assist the government in its battle against a mysterious contagion on American soil. Red Hands features a bioweapon that has renders its victim unable to touch anyone without killing them instantly.
• Frozen Solid by James M. Tabor
  These suspenseful, plot-driven works focus on the prevention of mass annihilation and a pandemic apocalypse while creating a sense of suspense. Whereas Koepp's contagion is a mutated fungus, Tabor's work features a group of scientists who plot to release a virus to end overpopulation.
• The Next Pandemic: On the Front Lines against Humankind's Gravest Dangers by Ali S. Khan
  Khan, a former director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) uses a fast-paced and somewhat disturbing tone to discuss his thoughts on the where, when, and how of Earth's next major disease outbreak in this richly detailed work. (Published in 2016, its foreshadowing of the Covid-19 pandemic is haunting in its accuracy.) 
• Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard: The Mysterious World of Mushrooms, Molds, and Mycologists by Nicholas P. Money
  For the reader compelled by Koepp's antagonist and the passages that explore their biology and physiology, Money reveals secrets and mysteries about real-life fungi (including brewer's yeast, Penicillium, and the poisonous death cap) and how they have shaped the history of the world.
• The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story by Douglas J. Preston
  While the subject matter of these works may vary, fans of Koepp's action-packed storyline and suspenseful tone may also enjoy Preston's high-octane chronicle of his real-life expedition in search of a fabled lost city deep in the Honduran jungle.
  

Saricks, J. (2009). At leisure: The rule of three. Booklist, 106(3), 25.

Wyatt, N., & Saricks, J. G. (2019). Science Fiction. In The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction (pp. 93-118).

Vox

Vox
by Christina Dalcher
Berkley, 2018. 326 pages. Sci-Fi

When the United States government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than one hundred words per day, it's only the beginning. Soon women are not permitted to hold jobs. Girls are not taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. As a mother of four and a cognitive-linguistic scientist, Dr. Jean McClellan will reclaim that voice, fighting against the broken system she did nothing to correct as she saw it being installed.

This dystopian novel for adults obviously deals with sexism: citizens are denied rights based on their gender, and women are legally viewed as lesser than men. But it also shows a dark, possible future where the boundary between fundamentalist religion and government has been completely erased: the basis for this double-standard has roots in religious extremism. The fast pace makes this a quick read and a good thought-piece, although it's not without some strong language.

*This blogpost first appeared on Provo City Library Staff Reviews blog.*  

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
by Suzanne Collins
Scholastic, 2020. 517 pages. Sci-Fi

The Tenth Annual Hunger Games are about to begin, and Coriolanus Snow has been chosen as a mentor. A win in these Games could bring glory to the Snow name, which saw better days before the war; the family depends on the slim chance that Coriolanus's tribute outlasts the other twenty-three. But the odds are not in his favor: humiliatingly, he's been assigned the female tribute from destitute District 12. He'll soon see how intricately interwoven their fates are: both inside the arena in a fight to the death, and outside the arena as the desire to follow the rules competes with the necessity to survive.

This newest installment of the Hunger Games saga has received some heavy criticism since it's publishing earlier this year. It certainly has a more philosophical feel when compared to the previous plot-driven novels. It goes above and beyond the typical villain origin story, exploring morally grey areas and the importance of following the rules, rather than presenting the villain in as a sympathetic character. To be honest, I didn't read it as voraciously as the original trilogy because it wasn't as much of a thrill ride. But I don't think it's bad for a book to make you think as you read it.

*This blogpost first appeared on Provo City Library Staff Reviews blog.*