boxofdelights

It was almost 80 degrees out today, but there is still ice on the ground in the shade of the south fence.

I also love vaccines. I got my first shot of Pfizer yesterday, at the grocery store. I do not love being in the store with so many people, even if they were all masked. I am achy and tired today, but I was achy and tired the day before the shot too, because it is the season for gardening MADNESS!

I love all my book groups, but my SF book group is the one that has both good book talk and a feeling of community.

It's time to pick our next year's book list. Our theme this year is: Learn, Build, Explore!

[We have six months picked by our fearless leader:]

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, pub. 1950, 241 pg. Ray Bradbury is a SFWA Grand Master. I thought this would be a good classic for this year because we’re trying out short stories and this book is a collection of connected short stories. Plus it’s about exploring new worlds!

New Suns, ed. By Nisi Shawl, pub. 2019, 384 pg. This book is the other collection of short stories we’ll read. It’s won the World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award and Locus Award for anthology. It’s a great way to be introduced to more diverse new authors, and some well known names like Rebecca Roanhorse, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Steven Barnes also have stories in this anthology.

Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky, pub. 2020, 640 pg. This looks like a lot of fun and it’s about exploring multiverses. This book has been nominated for the British SF Association Award and the Philip K. Dick Award. We’ve read and enjoyed the author’s Children of Time.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow, pub. 2020, 528 pg. This author has been nominated for 16 different awards and won the Hugo for Short Story. I think it’s kind of hopepunk.

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge, pub . 2020, 432 pg. This author has been nominated for 15 different awards and has won the British Fantasy Award. Plus, dead gods dreaming under the ocean whose body parts can be stolen and used to make magic items. Nothing could possibly go wrong!

A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers, pub. 2021, 160 pg. and The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg, pub. 2020, 192 pg. Here’s a pair of novellas for us! Tea monks, self-aware robots and magic carpets.

[Then we get to choose from her suggestions for the other six months:]

First choice: Exploring New Planets
Exploring strange new worlds is part of the DNA of science fiction.

Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang, pub 2020 (in the USA), 624 pg. This author has won the Hugo and Seiun awards for her short story “Folding Beijing”. This is her first novel translated into English. A century after the Martian war of independence, a group of kids are sent to Earth as delegates from Mars, but when they return home, they are caught between the two worlds, unable to reconcile the beauty and culture of Mars with their experiences on Earth. Nope, no analogies here!

The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal, pub. 2020, 544 pg. This is the third book in the Lady Astronaut series, but the narrator is different from the first two books and it works as a standalone.

Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald, pub. 2015, 416 pg. This book is gonzo, it’s family dynasties and backstabbing, in an anything-goes Old-West style rush to stake your claim, all on the deadly airless Moon.

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? By Temi Oh, pub. 2019, 544 pg. “When an Earth-like planet is discovered, a team of six teens, along with three veteran astronauts, embark on a twenty-year trip to set up a planet for human colonization—but find that space is more deadly than they ever could have imagined. “

Second choice: Traversing the Multiverse
The only thing better than exploring one new world is exploring multiple new worlds!

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson, pub. 2020, 336 pg.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher, pub. 2020, 352 pg.

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood, pub 2020, 464 pg.

Doors of Sleep by Tim Pratt, pub 2021, 272 pg.

Third choice: Dark Academia

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, pub. 2019, 480 pg.

Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, pub 2018 (USA), 416 pg. This is a very difficult book to describe. It takes place in Russia. The main character is Sasha, a young girl who receives a strange invitation to attend a very strange school. “As she quickly discovers, the institute’s "special technologies" are unlike anything she has ever encountered. The books are impossible to read, the lessons obscure to the point of maddening, and the work refuses memorization. Using terror and coercion to keep the students in line, the school does not punish them for their transgressions and failures; instead, their families pay a terrible price. Yet despite her fear, Sasha undergoes changes that defy the dictates of matter and time; experiences which are nothing she has ever dreamed of . . .”

Lobizona by Romina Garber, pub. 2020, 416 pg.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, pub. 2020, 336 pg.

Fourth choice: Hopepunk
Hopepunk says that kindness and softness doesn’t equal weakness, and that in this world of brutal cynicism and nihilism, being kind is a political act. An act of rebellion.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow, pub. 2020, 416 pg.

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee, pub. 2020, 464 pg.

A Song for a New Day by Sarah Pinsker, pub. 2019, 384 pg.

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, pub. 2020, 576 pg.

Fifth choice: Cities and Communities
Cities are not only a place where we live but also a place where humanity evolves. For this category, pick one of the pairs I’ve listed. I tried to group them by format and theme. If we want to break up pairs and put them together differently, we can do that too!

Abbot by Saladin Ahmed, pub. 2018,128 pg and LaGuardia by Nnedi Okorafor,pub. 2019, 136 pg. In the uncertain social and political climate of 1972 Detroit, hard-nosed, chain-smoking tabloid reporter Elena Abbott investigates a series of grisly crimes that the police have ignored (Abbott).  Set in an alternative world where aliens have come to Earth and integrated with society, LaGuardia revolves around a pregnant Nigerian-American doctor, Future Nwafor Chukwuebuka, who has just returned to NYC under mysterious conditions. (LaGuardia). These are both graphic novels.

City Monster by Reza Farazmand, pub. 2020, 112 pg, and Tales from the Inner City by Shaun Tan, pub. 2018, 224 pg. City Monster is set in a world of supernatural creatures and follows a young monster who moves to the city. As he struggles to figure out his future, his new life is interrupted by questions about his mysterious roommate--a ghost who can't remember the past. Tales from the Inner City is a collection of short stories and illustrations. And they're all about people and creatures living in close proximity and specifically in cities - crocodiles on the 87th floor of a skyscraper or bears in a courtroom. These books are also graphic novels.

A Luminous Republic by Andres Barba, pub 2020 (USA), 208 pg. and In the Watchful City by s. Qiouyi Lu, pub. 2021, 208 pg. A new novel from a Spanish literary star about the arrival of feral children to a tropical city in Argentina, and the quest to stop them from pulling the place into chaos (Luminous Republic). The city of Ora uses a complex living network called the Gleaming to surveil its inhabitants and maintain harmony. Anima is one of the cloistered extrasensory humans tasked with watching over Ora's citizens experience through the Gleaming. Anima takes pride and comfort in keeping Ora safe from all harm. (In the Watchful City). These are two novellas.

Sixth choice: Group Favorites
These are some of the books we enjoyed the most last year.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, pub. 2020 336 pg. Four young Indian men transgress and kill animals that were not their rightful prey. In response, a long revenge cycle begins.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune, pub. 2020, 400pg. When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, pub. 2020, 496 pg. This is the first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.

All Systems Red and Artificial Condition by Martha Wells, pub. 2017 and 2018, 160 pg. apiece. The Murderbot Diaries, by Martha Wells, is an action-packed, cerebral science fiction series about a murderous, self-hacking robot searching for the meaning of life.


[If you've read any of these, would you recommend or disreccomend them?]

On Valentine's Day they left two valentines on my front porch, one from each of them, with two chocolates, shaped like a heart and a bee. The nine-year-old wrote "Happy Valentines Day!" in a starburst, and drew a butterfly and a bee. The five-year-old drew two hearts, and wrote "I LOVE" twice, and drew a stick figure holding one of the hearts on a string. I think the stick figure is wearing a mask maybe? There is another circle drawn over the stick figure's face, with six tiny hearts inside it.

This morning another valentine appeared on my front porch. "For your dog, Susan" is written on the envelope in their mother's handwriting. Inside is a tiny pink paper heart, on which the five-year-old has written LOVE FROM FINN.

But which dog is it for?