A somewhat standard-issue premise effectively commanded by a fan of the genre.
In Lallier’s first flight in a new military SF series, humans in deep space go from joint Earth-alien war games to the real thing when they answer a distress signal.
This story is set in 2144, when humankind is a discounted, junior member of a vast space “Commonwealth” of spacefaring civilizations. They’re somewhat friendly with the Tyndal, blue-skinned humanoids who superficially resemble earthlings and play a mentoring role; however, they often come across as curt, aloof, and suspicious due to their mystical and highly logical nature. Their war games are strained when the humans realize that their Tyndal opponents have been cheating by using long-embedded surveillance devices. Then the humans’ instruments detect a weak distress signal, indicating an attack in territory that’s under the control of the Ssenn—a race of headless quadrupeds whose wisdom and technology even the Tyndals respect. At the insistence of the Earth’s Regent, the war games’ ships divert to Ssenn space on a rescue mission—one that not only strains treaties, but also becomes a violent conflict with alien raiders, and self-doubting Rear Adm. Jason Ngene is in the thick of it. The author specifically credits the original 1960s Star TrekTV series as a major influence, and the human-Tyndal relationship here certainly recalls the one between humans and Vulcans on that classic show. However, the material also calls to mind a number of other favorite SF franchises with its mix of interplanetary diplomacy, derring-do, and troopship maneuvers, including David Weber’s Honor Harrington novels, Larry Niven’s tales of the Man-Kzin wars, and Ian Douglas’ Star Carrier series. The essential thrust of the narrative is also familiar for the subgenre—a crisis test in which Earth soldiers must exhibit proper courage, brains, and judgment to prove they can take their place among more advanced alien cultures. But despite its familiarity, Lallier executes the mission successfully, and indeed, once things get underway the pace doesn’t let up. The plotline, which emphasizes duty, ethical choice, and sacrifice, avoids any romance or unexpected twists, but the author manages to wrap up this installment with a satisfying conclusion.
A somewhat standard-issue premise effectively commanded by a fan of the genre.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-70698-732-1
Page Count: 314
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Suspenseful, full of incident, and not obviously necessary.
Atwood goes back to Gilead.
The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), consistently regarded as a masterpiece of 20th-century literature, has gained new attention in recent years with the success of the Hulu series as well as fresh appreciation from readers who feel like this story has new relevance in America’s current political climate. Atwood herself has spoken about how news headlines have made her dystopian fiction seem eerily plausible, and it’s not difficult to imagine her wanting to revisit Gilead as the TV show has sped past where her narrative ended. Like the novel that preceded it, this sequel is presented as found documents—first-person accounts of life inside a misogynistic theocracy from three informants. There is Agnes Jemima, a girl who rejects the marriage her family arranges for her but still has faith in God and Gilead. There’s Daisy, who learns on her 16th birthday that her whole life has been a lie. And there's Aunt Lydia, the woman responsible for turning women into Handmaids. This approach gives readers insight into different aspects of life inside and outside Gilead, but it also leads to a book that sometimes feels overstuffed. The Handmaid’s Tale combined exquisite lyricism with a powerful sense of urgency, as if a thoughtful, perceptive woman was racing against time to give witness to her experience. That narrator hinted at more than she said; Atwood seemed to trust readers to fill in the gaps. This dynamic created an atmosphere of intimacy. However curious we might be about Gilead and the resistance operating outside that country, what we learn here is that what Atwood left unsaid in the first novel generated more horror and outrage than explicit detail can. And the more we get to know Agnes, Daisy, and Aunt Lydia, the less convincing they become. It’s hard, of course, to compete with a beloved classic, so maybe the best way to read this new book is to forget about The Handmaid’s Tale and enjoy it as an artful feminist thriller.
Suspenseful, full of incident, and not obviously necessary.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-385-54378-1
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.
A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.
Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
PROFILES
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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