Science Fiction

There are many ways one could describe Matt Dinniman’s scifi novel Operation Bounce House, but what I’ve settled on is “refreshingly brilliant”. A self-contained standalone satirical epic that mixes Dinniman’s signature over-the-top absurdity with a lot heart, this book is what Dungeon Crawler Carl was to the LitRPG swapped for Apex Legends with parallel metaphors encompassing the political tension of the last several years. Despite having a premise that sounds like a fever dream on paper, Operation Bounce House is an excellent scifi book with a lot of depth and substance, easily one of my favorite reads of the last few years. At a first glance, Operation Bounce House is a book of seemingly endless contradictions that somehow works through sheer audacity and confidence. While its synopsis and book blurb has a lot going on, when stripped of its flashy styling and scifi jargon, the story is essentially one of government sanctioned genocide. If that is a turnoff, bear with me for a sec before throwing in the towel. Taking place on the distant planet of New Sonora, Oliver Lewis is one of many humble agricultural farmers whose ancestors several generations ago were sent as settlers to colonize the planet…

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. An intriguing blend of fantasy and science fiction elements, Naomi Ishiguro’s The Rainshadow Orphans is a unique crossover novel full of Japanese cultural and folklore inspirations. Mixing a variety of concepts across the SFF genre umbrella, this book is an appealing and accessible read that feels like a throwback to YA fantasy novels of the mid 2000’s modernized for current tastes. The start of a planned high fantasy trilogy, though the Rainshadow Orphans is quite lengthy and occasionally drags in places, it’s an appealing start to a series full of great potential. Set in a fictional island archipelago and primarily taking place in the affluent Rainshadow City and the impoverished Keeper’s Crescent, the Rainshadow Orphans tells the story of young adult characters (plus Haru) caught amid the Royal Emperor Asayo’s revisioning of the island and the illegal gang activities of the Lucky Crows. Presented through multiple POV’s, the story is one that is part fantasy magical object and creature-based, and part futuristic technology-based with light hints of dystopian turmoil. The book covers the events of 48 hours that put the futures…

Masquerading under the guise of a cute and innocent story of sentient robots starting a take-out noodle restaurant, Annalee Newitz’s Automatic Noodle is brilliant satirical novella that is full of creative and imaginative metaphors. Part start-up company business story and part reflection on human experiences and rights, Automatic Noodle is a smart scifi themed exploration of many prominent and hyper-relevant social, political, and cultural topics, its charming robots serving as potential proxies for a wide variety of disenfranchised groups in a post war torn San Francisco. A timely book appropriately written for the US, minus certain conservative readers who may take issue with the thematic messages, Automatic Noodle is a unique and quirky story best suited for those that like their scifi stories to have intellect and substance. Before I get into the book’s creative success, I think it’s important to address a common misconception I see with this book and quite a few past reviews of it. For those interested in reading this book, Automatic Noodle is NOT a cozy scifi story. While the story has an inherent cozy feel to it due to the lack of fast-paced action and an almost whimsical feel to it at times, there’s…

An incredibly meta and satirical novel, Lincoln Michel’s Metallic Realms is an ambitiously written story that defies conventional genre classifications. Featuring a collection of scifi-based short stories within a larger memoir-esque story, Metallic Realms recaps the highs and lows of the Orb4 writing collective group on their real and grounded struggles in creating cosmic literary art. Full of real-world metaphors, social commentary, and sharp jabs at the publishing and online communities, this book is an incredible experience written for hardcore SFF geeks and struggling millennials.   Note: For greater clarity for those who have not read this book, I will be referring to the author by his first name “Lincoln” instead of my usual review format where I would use his last name instead. When I drafted this review, I felt it might be confusing and too easy to misread the character Michael and Michel back-to-back.  Before I get into why I found this book so incredible, I feel the need to address some of the confusion about this book and offer some respectful advice for those potentially interested in it. First and foremost, Metallic Realms is a book full of satire, far-reaching scifi and fantasy references (and by that, I mean affectionately dragging fantasy), and general…

A futuristic scifi, techno hacker speculative fiction, and queer retelling of the Great Gatsby is a concept I never would’ve considered and one that made me do a double take, but in Jay Gatsby’s own words per K.M. Fajardo’s author’s note, “why not”? Fajardo’s debut novel Local Heavens is a brilliantly crafted book that not only is wildly creative but is also a faithfully adapted love letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s original story. Modernized for the 21st century with a crazy genre-shift, this interpretation smartly capitalizes on all the best aspects of a retelling without being hindered by the typical drawbacks through careful artistic choices. Featuring beautifully poignant writing, excellent characterizations, and original storylines that work seamlessly with the original framework of events, Local Heavens is an amazing and unique read for both fans of the original book and new ones alike. “Though in this disquiet summer, a summer that pushed us forward into hedonistic apathy, Gatsby was the singular exception, flying over the dust and toils of our world on fire. Beyond that famous, corrupted name, he clung to a vestige of that old cosmic hope I’d readily believed did not exist anymore, his indestructible sincerity blossoming like an…