Nate's recent blog post about scientific literacy reminded me of something I'd wanted to write about since reading Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang. I'd call it, for lack of a better term, "science in literature."
The Stars Now Unclaimed manages to combine two very common genres into something unique - post-apocalyptic space opera. The protagonist - unnamed until halfway through the book for some admittedly cheap mystery - is responsible for retrieving gifted children - telekinetic abilities and the like - made possible after a galactic calamity a hundred years ago, which has also rendered all of the planets of civilization incapable of supporting technological advancement to various degrees. (On one planet, any advancements after microcomputers would spontaneously break down due to "Pulse radiation"; on others, anything from the printing press on is unviable.) The protagonist and her latest charge end up gathering a broad smattering of misfits from across the galaxy as they get chased by the ruthless Pax - small-time militarized zealots who threaten the galaxy not because of any great skill on their part, but because they had the good fortune for their world to not get knocked back too far.
The unique combination of two often opposite settings works quite well within the book's own logic and I found it quite easy to slip in to the mindset of a colorful fantastic romp through space. The science is soft enough to cut with a butter knife, though only once to my personal detriment while reading, and always in the service of some fantastic imagery. Betrayal is a common theme, but in Unclaimed is dealt with in the past tense - this good companion, someone discovers, once did something horrendous. The characters have to work through that, to figure out if past misdeeds forever tarnish who a person can be, and of course, to try to come together and become the family that they each need. ~ Reviewed by Andrew Bugenis
In my line of work I read a lot of books. And most of them are good. But I, like all of us, live for the literature that reminds me that writing can be astounding. Stories tickles the little-used ventricle in my heart that is simultaneously in love with both science and literature, using narrative and mathematics and linguistics and physics and neuroscience to achieve a perfect golden spiral. ~ Reviewed by Katelynne Shimkus
Stephenson literally and figuratively kills the ideas of "cyberpunk" in the first pages. There's no need for the old staples from earlier works like Snow Crash and the writing of William Gibson in this post-cyberpunk, post-scarcity world. But even when humanity wants for nothing, it still needs no excuse to keep causing trouble, as our signature Stephenson multiple protagonists have the misfortune of finding out. ~ Reviewed by Andrew Bugenis
Citizens on Earth know nothing of what's out there in space, but when they turn 75 they have the opportunity to enlist in the army, unable to turn back but able to go out into the galaxy to protect humanity. This premise allows the reader to join protagonist John Perry on his journey, full of discovery, as he goes from fresh-faced wonder to a battle-hardened veteran. ~ Reviewed by Andrew Bugenis
A superb collection of stories, each with a unique settings portraying a star-faring humanity, and how they deal with outsiders... and themselves. My favorite story included might be "Looking Through Lace" by Ruth Nestvold, a look at the assumptions of gender roles as seen through the lens of a xenolinguist studying a new alien species. ~ Reviewed by Andrew Bugenis
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