The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

The Gods Themselves Isaac Asimov, 1972 Hugo Winner - 1973 Premise: The Electron Pump is the most revolutionary invention in history, creating free energy through a complicated exchange system with another universe. Only young physicist Lamont begins to believe that the downsides to the Pump might soon outweigh the benefits... This was a great read. It’s divided into three sections, which were originally published as (and still work as) separate but interlinked stories. The first part works the best on its own, and I was actually a little disappointed that the story continued; it has such a great, pointed ending. The second section takes place in the parallel universe, focused on an utterly alien, three-gendered race. This was equally fascinating for completely different reasons. The social structure and norms of the aliens are not completely divorced from human culture, but there are tons of intriguing wrinkles. If you’re not paying attention, you might miss the allusion to...

Locke & Key Volume 4: Keys to the Kingdom Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, 2011 Premise: Sequel to Crown of Shadows . Life continues to get stranger for the Locke family as Tyler, Kinsey and Bode keep trying to solve the puzzles of Keyhouse, and trying to stay alive as Dodge steps up his pursuit of the Omega Key. Locke and Key continues to be awesome and disturbing by turns as the action ramps up even more. I’m torn on this volume between being happy the pace is picking up and sad that there are so many new adventures and new keys that we’re only getting to see in passing, or in a montage. The power of the keys is starting to influence our heroes in more insidious ways, though, which is interesting. The plot threads are starting to pull further together here, all the minor characters getting lined up for the next act. Each issue in this collection is very different from the last, and each is special. The ending was shocking and amazing and horrifying. So, yeah, par for thi...

To Your Scattered Bodies Go (Riverworld 1) Philip José Farmer, 1971 Hugo Winner - 1972 Premise: Sir Richard Francis Burton saw many things and had many adventures in life. He is rather surprised to continue doing so after death. All of human history has been mysteriously resurrected along the banks of the great River, although no one knows why. This is one of those books where I found the premise really interesting but the execution lackluster. The descriptions of the Riverworld and the juxtaposition of people from different points in history was pretty neat. (Not as neat as in The Big Time , but still.) Burton is an interesting choice as protagonist, a historical person whose life reads like fiction. However, because the narrative so closely follows Burton and his (dated, chauvinistic) attitudes, it has some issues with its female characters. They feel a bit like props used to prove a point when they are present at all. Somewhat oddly, the character of Peter (J) Frigate se...

The Naming: The First Book of Pellinor Alison Croggon, 2006 Premise: Girl has never known anything but the life of a slave. when a mysterious man claiming to be a Bard offers to take her away to a new life, she leaves without another thought. Urgh. This is only sort of a review. I didn't finish this book. I was skeptical from the start, when the prose lurched awkwardly between too cliche and too purple. The mixed metaphors made me wince. “Freedom was a fantasy she gnawed obsessively in her few moments of leisure, like an old bone with just a trace of meat, and like all illusions, it left her hungrier than before, only more keenly aware of how her soul starved within her, its wings wasting with the despair of disuse.” I was having trouble putting my finger on what bothered me at first. It seemed okay for a while, I mean. Well until the characters luck into a crazy unbelievably perfect under mountain passage to a magically perfectly timed meeting of ridiculously good ...

The Lost Fleet: Dauntless (The Lost Fleet, Book One) Jack Campbell, 2006 Premise: What should have been the Alliance’s greatest victory has turned to ash. What remains of the fleet is stranded in Syndicate space, out-maneuvered and out-gunned. Captain John “Black Jack” Geary is somehow suddenly in charge. Only he’s only recently been woken up from a century of hibernation, and his hopeless last stand became a galaxy-wide myth of heroism while he slept. Geary wants to rescue his people, save the fleet and the Alliance. But he’s not actually a hero of legend, just one soldier, out of his time. You know, until I actually wrote it down, I missed the parallels with Captain America. Anyway, this is a fun military sci-fi piece with action, pathos, and some interesting world-building. The mechanic for space battles sounds like it would make sense, I don’t really care if the math works or not. The characters are interesting, although the story trips along so quick that we don’t have ...

Fantastic Four Vol 1: Solve Everything Fantastic Four Vol 2: Prime Elements Writing: Jonathan Hickman, Art: Dale Eaglesham, et. al., 2010 Premise: Collects Fantastic Four 570-574, 575-578. Marvel’s First Super-Family stars in all-new adventures. In the first volume, Reed Richards turns his brain to the most intractable problem of all: everything. In the second, the Fantastic Four explore four alien cities, and struggle to make peace between Earth and different civilizations. The Fantastic Four have been getting short shrift in the public consciousness recently. They’re a little stodgy and a little old-fashioned, and their movies really stunk. Hickman proves here, though, that there’s a lot to love about these characters. Everything that makes them really work is on full display here: their strengths and weaknesses and their rock-solid relationships with each other. The first plot arc really reminded me what’s amazing about Mr. Fantastic, a guy often relegated to one-panel ...

Thuvia, Maid of Mars, 1920 The Chessmen of Mars, 1922 Edgar Rice Burroughs Premise: Books 4 and 5 of the Barsoom Series, following Warlord of Mars. John Carter has built an alliance over much of Mars, but there are still plenty of dangers to challenge the younger generation. These are the further adventures of the children of John Carter and Dejah Thoris. Yes, these books are dated and silly and really repetitive, but I love them anyway. I enjoyed Thuvia, Maid of Mars, which follows Cathoris (John Carter’s son) and Thuvia of Ptarth. Others try to keep them apart, and Thuvia quickly gains a stalkery admirer who kidnaps her and blames Cathoris. The young lovebirds have to rescue each other, escape, and get home in time to stop a war. It’s more of the same from the earlier books, although I still found it a really fun read with some new supporting characters and enjoyable action. On the other hand, I really adored The Chessmen of Mars, which I think is best described as a fai...