01/05/2015
Cooper’s awkward trilogy launch assumes familiarity with the world of her Ruby’s Song series and leaves the new reader puzzling, for much of the book, over terms like "the Glittering" and "the Diamond Deep." Humans who experimented with the hybridization of human and machine were exiled to "the deep dark" from which they have now returned, infinitely powerful. They require warmth, or energy, or matter; it’s never made clear. Standing against this Borg-like threat is Nona, a rich young woman given a spaceship by a richer aunt and thus made captain of the vessel, despite having no background or training in "captaining" nor showing any apparent affinity for it. The book is replete with contradictions: after Chrystal, Nona’s childhood friend, is killed and her memory is uploaded into a nonorganic machine, she still somehow feels pain; the invaders are all-powerful and indifferent to human life, yet willing to negotiate treaties. The characters are undeveloped, the politics are muddled, and there is little in this book to inspire longing for the next installment. Agent: Eleanor Wood, Spectrum Literary Agency. (Mar.)
For over a decade, Jim Killen has served as the science fiction and fantasy book buyer for Barnes & Noble. Every month on The B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog and Tor.com, Jim shares his curated list of the month’s can’t-miss new SF/F releases.
We’re highlighting a lucky 13 new releases this week, from a short story collection honoring the genre’s pulp age, to a new Star Wars adventure from Luke Skywalker’s point-of-view, to a book with possibly our favorite magic system ever (you’ll know which one we mean).
Sorry Hugos, but for my money, there’s no more interesting award in sci-fi than the one named for Philip K. Dick. In the tradition of everyone’s favorite gonzo pulpist, the “PKD Award” honors innovative genre works that debuted in paperback, offering a nice reminder that you don’t need the prestige of a hardcover release to […]