Ringworld by Larry Niven

Louis Wu has seen it all. Jaded, bored with a world that has no more to offer him, he spends his two hundredth birthday reminiscing about his youth, the good old days when caprice ruled his actions and the world seemed endless in its capacity for excitement. The spark of adventure is still inside him, but Earth, shrunken and standardized by the advent of teleportation, is no longer a place of infinite variety and wonder.

Enter Nessus. A member of the “puppeteers,” an alien race famed for its cowardice, Nessus’s fellows condemn him as insane because of his bravery. Yet they find him useful as an explorer, visiting planets and stars no “sane” puppeteer would dare approach. For his current expedition, he requires companions. Louis immediately signs on to Nessus’s mission, with an excitement fueled by xenophilia and a youthful spirit. Along with two other individuals- Teela Brown, a young human woman, and Speaker-to-Animals, a fearsome alien feline- they set off to investigate the Ringworld, a massive alien artifact shrouded in mystery.

I don’t often use the phrase “thrill ride,” but there’s no other way to describe this book. The numerous plot twists and turns left me guessing every step of the way, and at several points I was left simply marveling at the author’s sheer cleverness. The characters and setting were just as richly detailed and complex as the plot, woven together into a compelling novel with a surprise ending no one could have predicted. Fantastical sci-fi concepts enrich the storyline and are made believable by the smart, polished writing. Creepy insights into what humanity’s future could look like are pure genius (and also really unsettling).

Okay, so this book isn’t exactly new, or YA, but the setting is futuristic and the book has as much action, adventure, and suspense as any novel written for teens. In short, it’s made of awesome. If this book has a downside, it’s that made-up words and new concepts are often introduced with no explanation, and the explanation comes later. A slight flaw, compared to the rest of the book. Five high-tech flashlight lasers- er, daggers.






Futuristically yours,

Tay

Double Helix by Nancy Werlin

Eli Samuels, high school senior, soon to be high school graduate, is looking for a job. On a drunken impulse, he writes an embarrassing email to Dr. Quincy Wyatt, the most famous geneticist in the world, asking for a job at Wyatt Transgenics, Dr. Wyatt’s company. Eli regrets the email as soon as he sends it. He does not expect that he will actually get the job- after all, he hasn’t even graduated yet, and he’s planning to take a year off before going to college.

Incredibly, Dr. Wyatt gives Eli the job. For a while, it seems too good to be true. Though it’s only an entry-level, lab-assistant job, the work is exciting and the pay is fantastic. Best of all, Eli begins to get to know Dr. Wyatt, a genius scientist, and learns about Dr. Wyatt’s current and future projects. He divides his time between his job, his girlfriend, and spending time with Dr. Wyatt.

But Eli’s dad urges Eli to quit the job, and he won’t say why. He is simply adamant that Eli should not be working for Wyatt Transgenics. Eli knows that his parents used to know Dr. Wyatt, and he suspects that his father’s opposition to his new job has something to do with his mother’s Huntington’s disease, which has left her a ghost of her former self, living in a nursing home. But why exactly, he doesn’t know. And Eli has some secrets of his own- he’s never told anyone, not even his longtime girlfriend, about his mother’s condition, or that he has a fifty-fifty chance of developing the disease himself.

The longer Eli works at Wyatt Transgenics, the more certain he becomes that something is wrong, and the less certain he becomes of everything else.

This book was a fun, quick read. The premise was original and highly intriguing, and there were sufficient unexpected plot twists to keep me interested. Since I am a huge science geek, I was very interested in the work on genetics being done at Wyatt Transgenics, and the idea that someday, direct and deliberate genetic manipulation might be possible. This book made me think about the ethical ramifications of such manipulations, and of the study of genetics in general.

Initially, I was a bit confused about whether this book was a sci-fi or a mystery, but the mystery aspect soon asserted itself. The mystery was okay. It was an extremely interesting concept, and all the essential elements were there, but I was annoyed by the fact that it seemed to progress in two stages. First there was very limited information, and the mystery was more of a hanging uncertainty than an actual mystery. Then suddenly, there was a sharply defined question with lots of evidence, and the outcome was disappointingly predictable. I felt that some of the plot elements could have been spaced out better throughout the book. Also, at times I wanted to scream at the main character for being an idiot and/or a total jerk.

Overall, I give this book three and a half daggers, for thought-provoking elements, an interesting plot, and science.

Genetically yours,
Tay

The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman

The Other Side of the Island, by Allegra Goodman, is the story of a girl by the name of Honor. But her name is an anomaly, you see. Though she was born in the year H and Honor is a perfectly approved government name, the H is silent, so it sticks out. Her school isn’t worried, however. They know they’ll train her to change it, because what fun is life if you’re different than everybody else?

But Honor’s parents seem to think her name is okay. They dance and sing and laugh and read and draw, push limits, go on adventures, take midnight strolls to the forbidden ocean, betting on dark and serendipity. They even go so far as to have a second child, something rare and frowned upon. No, they seem to be just fine with Honor’s name.

Honor, herself, however, is a different story. After her family was relocated to one of Earth Mother’s controlled islands, she has been in a class with Helixes, Henriettas, Harrys and Harmonies. She’s not sure how she feels. On one hand, she lives for the forbidden excitements she and her family enjoy, but at the same time, she’s frustrated. Because really—why can’t her parents just obey Earth Mother and the Government? Why can’t they just be like everyone else? The last thing Honor would ever want would be to lose her parents, and she knows that if you’re too different, you might just disappear.

Though the book was rather predictable in places, The Other Side of the Island was surprisingly good. It was suspenseful with some nicely original aspects. The characters were relatable, and there were some quite cool notions about weather and religion. “Earth Mother” combined God and Mother Nature, and the religion was centered around her. Scientists had found a way to control the weather, so that Unpredictability could be avoided whenever possible.

I liked this book a lot, it was a pretty quick read—not too hard, along the same lines as a lot of other science fiction/distopia sort of novels, but with some parts that were truly new and quite interesting.

I would give it four out of five ridiculously evil and futuristic daggers! Twas a Very Good book, edging on great.



Bowing down to Earth Mother,

Briar

P.S – How coincidental that my name works! Awesome!