Jean

Science Fiction / Adventure
Pub. 2011 by Broadway Books

Reviewed by Jean, 4/23/15

Could a human, left behind on Mars, make it until rescue arrives? This is not so much a retelling of Robinson Crusoe as it is “MacGyver in Space”… with a little Big Bang Theory thrown in.

Mark Watney is part of the third manned mission to Mars when the crew makes an early exit due to a severe wind storm. The crew sees Watney get hit in the chest with a metal antenna and his spacesuit’s bioreadings go dark. They can’t find his body and are forced to leave without it, thinking him dead. When Watney becomes conscious, he realizes that the landing crew has left him behind. Due to some luck with the antenna and his own blood acting as a patch in his spacesuit, Mark Watney is alive.

From that moment on, Watney survives, day to day, step by step, with the hope that he can survive long enough to communicate with Mission Control and to wait for rescue. I will not spoil the story for you by telling you how Watney plans to accomplish this, but oh, he’s clever, clever. His diary entries are such an exciting read. The reader cheers his triumphs and agonizes with him over the setbacks. He is a likable fellow with a sharp brain and a gallows sense of humor. You delight in traveling this journey with him.

Aside from a touch of foul language (not overused) this book is good for men and women, adults and teens. A friend who works at NASA says the space nerds love this book!

Jean Chapman, 3/30/15

I love to read space opera. I really do. I just didn’t know it was called “space opera” until a few years ago. If you like the works of C. J. Cherryh, the Vorkosigan Saga by Bujold, the Honor Harrington books by Weber, or even the Star Wars movies and books, then you like space opera too.

What makes a science fiction work a space opera? Think of it as an adventure story in space. The science isn’t the main draw here; the characters and galaxy-spanning plot are the focus.

In my favorite space opera series, the Liaden books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, the diaspora from Earth resulted in three sub branches of the human race: Terran, Liaden and Yxtrang. There are ethnocentric segments in each of those branches, resulting in racism, wars, and isolationism. The books in the series include all those elements, plus giant space traveling turtles (the Clutch-whom everyone fears), mercenaries, wizards, anthropologists, explorers, Jutavas (the mob in space), babies, planets breaking apart, offended sensibilities (imagine saving face with the deadliness of the samurai), sentient trees, cats talking to robots, and clutch spaceships that are as big as moons.

Some of the other well-known space opera books include the:

• Foundation series by Isaac Asimov
• Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card
• Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
• Old Man’s War series by John Scalzi
• Commonwealth Saga by Peter F. Hamilton
• Culture series by Iain M. Banks
• Expanse series by James S. A. Corey

Reviewed by Jean, 9/27/14

2010, Broadway Books

Sometimes a book gets traded in and we take a peek at it so we know what it is about. This happened to me this week with The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin. The book is so good that I ended up reading the entire thing.

Dr. Ben Payne is traveling back from a medical conference when he meets writer, Ashley Knox, at the Salt Lake City airport. She’s also traveling east for her upcoming wedding. When poor weather cancels their flight, he charters a plane for himself and because he knows she is in a hurry, offers the extra seat to Ashley. When the pilot dies of a heart attack in midflight, Ben finds himself crash landed in a harsh and remote wilderness in Utah with broken ribs, the pilot’s dog, and Ashley with a badly broken leg. As he struggles to bring the three of them to safety, Ben travels an internal journey as well. He questions decisions he’s made: the last fight with his wife, her dangerous pregnancy with twins, physical attraction to Ashley, and his ability as a man to keep them fed and warm long enough to find help.

The transitions between the present situation and Dr. Payne’s past are seamless and add essential information. Ashley’s humor and beauty contribute lightness and complications. The writing is approachable and interesting. This book looks like a rugged adventure story but is so much more. I highly recommend this adventure/love story. -Jean

Based in Midnight, Texas, in the middle of nowhere, Midnight Crossroad is a wonderful character study of the kinds of people who desire to be out at the back of beyond. If you need an action-packed plot to be a happy reader, this is not the book for you.

Manfred Bernardo moves to Midnight to run his online psychic business and immediately meets Bobo Winthrop, the proprietor of a pawnshop across the street. Bobo helps Manfred unload his U-Haul truck. Readers of Harris’ other works will recognize both characters as coming from the Harper Connelly and the Lily Bard series. At dinner that first night, Manfred meets more of the people of Midnight. Fiji the witch, Joe and his boyfriend Chuy, their dog Rasta, the vampire who lives downstairs from Bobo, Madonna who runs the local diner, the Reverend, and the seemingly normal Lovell family. The prime question in this book is why does anyone chose to live in such a godforsaken place?

When they find the body of Bobo’s missing girlfriend, plots unravel and secrets come out. This book is a study in character. The slow unfolding of what secrets people choose to hide and what makes them tick is a journey I found vastly clever and interesting. What morals can a vampire have? What lengths will a father go to protect his psychotic son? This is Charlaine Harris’ magic, her ability to create interesting characters that live in a slightly un-normal world.

This is the first book in the new series by Harris, most famously known for her Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood series. I have found her other series to be just as compelling.

May 2014, Ace Books.

—Jean, Kazoo Books