Top 100 Science Fiction Novels according to Sci-Fi Lists

Well, according to this list, I am not a well-read science fiction fan as I've only read fourteen of the hundred listed titles. And even if I crossed off the two books I started and hated (The Handmaiden's Tale and A Canticle for Leibowitz), my stats aren't much better.

Guess I know what I'm doing for the rest of the summer. You know, when I'm not rereading the Harry Potter series (WHICH ENDS JULY 31ST, SELF!), the military nonfiction titles I have stacked on the floor, or the YA books I keep requesting from the library.

So yeah, I'm sure I'll make it to fifteen out of ninety-eight in no time at all.

/sarcasm

Book of the Summer

I know it's early, but I think that Monkey See by Walt Maguire, is going to be the book of the summer for me. Taking jabs at political and social issues, while never letting the laughs stop, this science-fiction novel has everything I, or any other reader, could want. Genetic experiments on primates who will one day rise up and crush humanity: check. Heart-tugging moments of baby monkey cuteness: check. A twisted and intricate plot that jumps around repeatedly while still making sense: check. And as a bonus, a do-it-yourself guide to making your own monster. 

Monkey See starts by introducing us to Ed the Talking Monkey. A science experiment gone awry—the scientist, Dr. Cogitomni, was actually trying to create a cure for asthma—Ed the Talking Monkey finds himself in an unique situation. Unable to communicate with unenhanced primates, he is stuck trying to figure out where in this new world he actually belongs. Is it with the humans who don't understand or really like him or with other enhanced primates who alternately try to befriend and look down upon Ed the Talking Monkey for his friendships with humans?

Constantly feeling like the odd man out, Ed the Talking Monkey’s life changes when he meets Gigi, Dr. Cogitomni’s latest experiment. A young spider monkey, Gigi winds up in Dr. Cogitomni’s lab where she undergoes weeks of experimentation. The two hit it off, once Gigi has undergone enough genetic manipulation to actually understand and speak English. She’s a fifteen foot spiked monster and Ed the Talking Monkey works as a janitor in Dr. Cogitomni’s lab, but none of those matters to these two. Alas, their love is destined to die because Gigi is not only Dr. Cogitomni's newest experiment, but she's also his secret weapon in his evil plan to rule the world.

Spliced throughout the whole twisted story of Ed the Talking Monkey's journey and Gigi's metamorphosis are two other intricate plots. The first is a step-by-step guide to creating your own monster—so you, too, can rule the world—which includes a detailed plan on what to do afterward, and clever, witty lines to spout off when confronted by other scientists, your monster, and the cops.

The second plot deals with the upcoming monkey uprising. Genetically enhanced by Dr. Cogitomni and his fellow scientist, these primates have decided that they’re tired of being treated like second-class citizens. They’ve plotted out how to best take over and enslave humanity and are planning on staging a coup. Several members of this plot are trying to convince Ed the Talking Monkey that he should join their side, and it isn’t easy for Ed the Talking Monkey to turn them down. And there is a small sub-plot in this plot, showing what life for humans will be like under the new monkey overlords.

Monkey See is a very well-written novel and I highly recommend that you read it now, before the monkeys can get you.

PS: Let me know if you too catch the Cylon reference.

The Amadeus Net

The Amadeus Net by Mark Rayner was another book that I read recently (OK, two weeks ago, but c'mon, I've been busy) and really enjoyed, despite all of the questions it left me with.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart walks into the sex change clinic, determined to have his “sprouter” snipped off. So begins The Amadeus Net, a satirical novel set in the year 2028, which explores art, love, and identity at the end of the world. For more than two centuries, the one-time wunderkind has kept his existence secret while he tried to understand his immortality. Living in style through funds raised by selling “lost” Mozart works, he has also helped to create Ipolis, a utopian city-state, after the cataclysmic Shudder, a global disaster caused by an asteroid strike in 2015.

But a few complications mar Mozart’s utopia. The woman he loves is a lesbian, which, paradoxically, makes him forget about his sex-change plans. The world’s greatest reporter knows he’s still alive and will stop at nothing to expose him. The stakes are higher than he knows, because if the reporter finds him, so will the spy planning to sell Mozart’s DNA to the highest bidder. Oh, and, by the way, the world might end in seven days. His only allies are a psychotic American artist, a bland Canadian diplomat, and the city itself: a sapient, thinking machine that is screwing up as only a sapient, thinking machine can.

I loved the premise of this novel--I have a thing for post-apocalyptic stories--and loved that the novel wasn't just from Mozart's point-of-view, but from all of the main characters, including One's.  Truthfully, I found One's point-of-view to be the most interesting.  It reminded me very much of the robots in I, Robot who take over to "protect" humanity from itself; One was very much like that, controlling what and who came into Ipolis, stopping information from being sent out (information that would have harmed Mozart), and trying to stop the war between the North (the haves) and the South (the have-nots).    

The other characters had compelling stories and I loved how many of their stories were wrapped around Mozart's.  We have Bella, the psychopathic artist, born after the Shudder who grew up with her survivalist father.  She's beautiful, twisted, insane, and completely devoted to her art.  There's Les, the boring Canadian diplomat with an obsession for Helen Printo, a self-serving investigative reporter who will stop at nothing to get a story.  She's "friendly" with Alex Burton, a cruel, former black-ops solider who is desperate to get the funds together for an upcoming trip into outer space.  He's got plans to sell Mozart to the highest bidder.  Oh, and we can't forget Katerina, the beautiful Czech woman Mozart has found himself in love with.  Did I mention she's a lesbian?  Or that she's half in love with Helen Printo, and half in lust with Bella?  

And it wasn't just the characters and their stories that I found so compelling, but the ideas that this novel incorporated into the story.  Like how do you define your worth in a society where money doesn't exist?  Or what is art, how is it defined, and how far should someone be allowed to go to produce?  And what about the idea of the truth at all costs?  I don't really think we want a transparent society, no matter how much we want the truth.  I haven't even touched on the idea of immortality (through living forever and through works of art) or artificial intelligence.  Honestly, the idea of AIs scares me.  I don't want one thing, one intelligent computer running my life, not ever.  

The Amadeus Net was a very thought-provoking novel and I'm looking forward to my rereading of it this summer.  There was so much to take in, I'm sure I missed something.  And I still haven't made up my mind about the ending; it's kind of left up in the air.

Or is it?

ETA:

Flash Me Magazine has a review of The Amadeus Net up as well, although you have to be a subscriber to actually read the whole thing.  I did manage to see a clip of the review though and the reviewer agreed with me:

"Strange? Yes. Implausible? No, because Rayner successfully crafts an inherent logic into his surreal story with a collage of plausible first person narratives, which includes the first person “thinking machine” narrative of the actual setting of the story—the post-apocalyptic, utopian city-state of Ipolis, which is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Furthermore, Rayner’s flair for sustained humor, and compelling story telling enhances the preposterous premises, characterizations, and worthy themes of art, love, and the search for self-identity and sex in the day-to-day existence of an eclectic cast of characters making their way through the end of the world."

--Janet Paszkowski, Flash Me Magazine (April, 2009)

Recent reads

A War of Gifts is a short story by Orson Scott Card, sent in Ender's world during the time that he's at Battle School. It features several of the characters from Ender's Game, namely Ender and Dink, but it introduces Zeke, a young boy who believes in Christ, peace, and whatever his father says. Taken against his will to Battle School, Zeke vows to participate in nothing, setting himself against everyone else there. Dink, meanwhile, is wagging his own little battle against TPTB (refusing a promotion, refusing to play the games). As something of a joke, Dink gives another Dutch boy a Sinterklass gift, which Zeke seizes as a violation of the no-religion rule at Battle School. His attempts to get Dink in trouble backfire at first; in fact, Dink manages to get most of the other boys to continue the gift giving, but eventually this plan backfires when Zeke manages to get the Muslim students involved. Ender isn't featured much in this novella, although he does play the peacemaker in the end.

Despite the fact that I found the story interesting, I don't really feel like this story belongs in Ender's world; more like Card was writing this to prove some sort of point. Religion never really featured in Ender's world (a few small mentions in the beginning of the book, but that was it). From what I remember, religion becomes important in the Peter and Bean sequels .

Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge was another recent read (last night, actually) and another disappointment. Det. Luna Wilder is a reluctant were in hiding as weres and witches aren't welcome. (It was only a few years back that they could be shot on sight.) Hiding her nature, Luna lives with her witch cousin Sunny and gets by. A homicide detective, Luna gets called in when a young woman turns up dead, her throat torn out and her index finger removed. Starting to search for the killer, Luna ends up with another case (missing person), as well as crossing paths with one of the local were packs. Despite reading through the whole novel, I couldn't seem to connect to Luna or any of the other characters. Also, things weren't explained so much as just stated; you had to take things for fact. I don't mind a bit of that in a "new" world, but the fact that everything had to be taken for fact bugged me. And the weres seemed to be mostly violent people (OK), but they were also usually prostitutes, pimps, or dealers; not really sympathetic characters. Despite how much I crave books in urban fantasy, I don't think I'll be reading any of the following books.