Kim Miller

Remember The Artful Dodger from Dickens' Oliver Twist? Here he is in Pratchett's delightful story of a teenage boy living in the back streets and underground sewer tunnels of Elizabethan London. After an eventful day where be becomes a hero he meets a journalist named Charles Dickens. And the plot thickens.

This book has Pratchett's characteristic sense of fun and the absurd but far from Discworld.

One summer evening the children of some industrial scientists are outside on the lawn while their parents are having a dinner party. They notice that the stars suddenly go out. The adults inside have missed the most significant thing to happen in human history.

The book follows the world's exploration into what has happened and the path followed by the families of the children. It is slowly revealed that something very dangerous is happening to the solar system and the Earth is being protected from some imminent collapse.

The children follow different paths into adult life, all trying to deal with the catastrophe. Some chase scientific research, some join a religious cult, some seek answers through the terraforming of Mars.

Wilson has given us a magnificent story of hard science fiction woven around an exploration of what humanity thinks is fundamentally important when faced with the possibility of total destruction.

This book hooked me early and held me until the end. In a far future Abigail clones herself into 999 other 'shatterlings'. Although they share her gene structure the clones can be either male or female and the original person is somewhere among them. The clones then take to space in separate space ships and over the next several million years they regularly meet up.

The book is told from the viewpoint of two main characters who are both clones, one female and one male. They are in a relationship, which is generally frowned upon in the clone community. The original story of Abigail as a child and into adulthood is spread through the novel.

These two are both late to a reunion and find destroyed spaceships and the debris of battle floating in space. The goal then is to save who they can and to find the perpetrators and the reasons for the attack.

Reynolds has a way of holding a story together over the millions of years of narrative time. His writing expands into the endless space allowed for it by the intergalactic environment.

Consider that downloading your consciousness into a computer was possible. That means you could live forever, as long as somebody maintained that computer. Now imagine that a rich guy employed a software developer to write a software package that was self-preserving and could not be destroyed because it was deployed across some vast system, and in that package were various levels of habitat for downloads to live. Forever is now becoming more of a possibility.

Welcome to Permutation City. What could possibly go wrong?

I saw the TV series and loved it. And I'm a fan of both Gaiman and Pratchett, so reading the original story was essential.

The TV followed the book much more than most adaptations and the two are slavishly similar. However, the TV 'final conflict' scenes between the boy, the four horsemen, and the devil are much better than the book's portrayal.

Shteyngart was born in Russia and was a child when his family moved to the US. This is his memoir of his early life and beyond written in his particular style of making things satirical, sad and funny all at the same time. It's the story of a constant misfit finding his way in a world that probably doesn't want him.

This is the final book in Baxter's Zelee Sequence but was recommended to me as a worthwhile stand alone book.

As the sun approaches heat death Earth's scientists work out that it's happening much too soon and something must be happening to it. The Zelee series deals with alien wars etc and space travelers also work out that other stars are also degenerating too quickly.

By sending a probe into the sun they find the problem and realise that it's non-repairable and it looks like the whole galaxy is threatened by the same thing.

As the book approaches the end they work out that the aliens with whom they were at war for so long are really the solution to a galaxy wide problem.

I read this at the recommendation of a friend who likes it so much that he buys copies to give away to friends. However, MacDonald's language is to archaic for me to really appreciate his style of literature.

Lilith was a mythical figure and Adam's first wife, created from dust as was Adam, but she wouldn't submit to him and was banished so God then made Eve from Adam's rib.

Lilith continues in some mythical stories as a rebellious temptress. But MacDonald asks, can Lilith find redemption? Long story short, she does in the end. And that's it from me.

A collection of short stories that fit into the world of Reynold's novel, House of Suns. Each story finds a place and time within the original saga and fills in a bit of some of the characters. I didn't find that any particular story set up a future element of the original book, so they are engaging to read but are not necessary for continuity.

Campbell is an Australian TV journalist who dreamed of becoming a war correspondent. He gets the job as his news outlet's man in Moscow. And from there he travels to various places in Russia and under Russian influence, wherever the news takes him. Things get very dangerous as his team heads into an all too real conflict and his cameraman is killed by a bomb blast. It's a memoir that starts out with a dream and ends in a nightmare.

Imagine a man living a lonely life on the family farm. Nobody knows how old he is, it's as if he's always been there. In reality, he's been there since the American Civil War.

When he got back from the war and became the last one of his family an alien visitor arrived. The alien asked if he'd like to host a way station for interplanetary travelers. As long as the way station was underneath his house he would hardly age, but they didn't want the surrounding people to know about it.

One day something happened that brought people to his door.

The story maintains a sense of the deep humanity of Enoch, the farmer. When everything might easily collapse around him he manages to hold fast to some quality that his neighbours lack.

A difficult novel to keep up with. A priest wanders into the desert outside Alice Springs to try to work through his crisis of faith. He starts to write a treatise where he imagines a conversation between two philosophers that he thinks might each have something to say to him.

Alongside that narrative is a story of living a chaotic life in inner city Sydney as a young man, weaving through the various worlds of Redfern's indigenous community, early indy rock concerts and the beginnings of community radio as people try to stake a claim in the local culture.

It reads in part as a personal memoir but uses the priest in the desert to frame a deeper sense of aimlessness and despair. It's not the easiest read but rewards the concentration needed to see it through.

This book is a total romp - if you are a Deadpool fan. If Deadpool is not for you then this book will be a real turn-off. It starts with a content warning of depictions of violence, sexual content, and explicit language.

A bonkers mix of the time loop of Groundhog Day, the foul language, sarcastic humor and death recovery of Deadpool, and an Earthling magicked to a world of orcs and furries.

Davi has lived through hundreds of lives, and every time she dies, usually from torture, she awakens in the same pond of freezing water and the same wizard hails her as the one to save them all. Trouble is, she keeps on dying instead of saving. So this time she decides she will become the Dark Lord from whom everyone needs to be saved.

This is book #2 of Chambers' Monk and Robot books. I was so impressed with #1 that I got into this the next day. It doesn't have the consistency of #1 as it tends to drag a little at about the 75% mark. However is finishes well and the ending explains a bit of those slower parts.

Tea Monk Dex and Robot Mosscap met in the wilderness as Dex was in a time of crisis. Mosscap proved to have greater understanding of Dex than Dex did. In this book they continue as travel companions, now out of the wilderness and visiting villages along the road. Mosscap's goal is to find out how the humans are doing with the question, "What do you need?" As they travel the two companions go more deeply into their own responses to that question.

Where book #1 dealt with personal identity and meaning, #2 deals with community, family, and friendship. Once again the deeply human is opened up by Chambers to try to understand why these fundamental relationships can be so difficult.

This book is a total delight. It is the second I've read of this author and has what I imagine is her characteristic quirkiness coupled with a deeply optimistic humanity.

The setting is a far post-robot future. The robots did not take over the world but have left to live their own lives and the humans have them only as a distant history.

Sibling Dex is a Tea Monk who travels around nearby towns and sets up shop, listening to people's troubles and blending them soothing tea. Dex has no gender - Sibling replaces Brother or Sister. Dex is restless and decides to travel to a distant pilgrimage shrine that might no longer exist. Somewhere along the abandoned road a robot approaches and says, 'What do you need?'

And so begins an unexpected friendship. The genderless human and the robot who sees itself as an 'it'. Without any socially constructed identities and in an abandoned shrine the troubled Dex learns to listen to himself and find inner peace. The monk learns meaning in life from the robot and the robot's first question, 'What do you need?' is not so strange after all.

A collection of short stories that sit between books #2 and #3 of the Sun Eater series. These stories lack the fire of the novels and this collection is not up to the level of previous novellas, The Lesser Devil (set parallel to book #1) and Queen Amid Ashes (set after book #2).

There is a long time gap between novels #2 and #3 and Ruocchio has set Queen and these short stories into the gap to explain some of the intervening time. I've been reading them before I get into book #4 and they recede too far into the past, but the way they've dealt with piecemeal events has been frustrating when compared to the power of the main series.

This is one of the filler novellas sitting after Book#2 of the Sun Eater series. Hadrian Marlowe has been made a Knight of the Empire and given a high class space ship and sent off to mop up after a Cielcin invasion of a distant planet. The Cielcin fleet has been blown apart by Empire forces and their main worldship has disappeared into hyperspace.

He finds the planet devastated and the main city burnt to ashes. The Baroness who rules the planet is hiding with many thousands of her retainers and general population in underground tunnels.

It is when he is clearing out the remaining Cielcin that he makes a horrifying discovery and in that moment his whole purpose on the planet has changed. Hadrian has to take his newly given authority as a Knight of the Empire to an expected level as he seeks to give the planet a new future.

The story ends suddenly at the 75% mark and the rest is back-matter. There is a long history of the Marlowe dynastic line with a reference to the erroneous claim by some that they are descendants of Christopher Marlowe the English playwright of the 1500s. Coincidentally, Hadrian's new space ship is called the Tamerlane, similar to the original Marlowe's play 'Tamburlaine the Great'. Some characters in Hadrian's story are similarly named after characters in that play.

Other back-matter sections are various personae and a thesaurus of Ruocchio's terms.

In Empire of Darkness, book #1 of the Sun Eater Series, we meet Hadrian Marlowe and his priggish younger brother Crispin. Hadrian leaves their home planet and Crispin is lost to the story. In this filler novella that sits between #1 and #2 of the series, Crispin is given space to fill in his own story.

An enemy from the past emerges with a new threat and Crispin is thrown into the head of the battle. He proves to be a much more rounded person, a competent leader, and a man of mercy and integrity, attributes that were nowhere to be found when we first met him.

This is runaway bonkers stuff. Set in a far distant future (millions of years) as the sun is starting its heat death process. The culture is medieval with swords, witches, guards that close the city gates at night, hand pulled wagons etc. The protagonist grows up in a strange monastic community that lives in a tower, but as the first book progresses there are hints that it's actually the remains of an ancient space ship standing on its end. Severian is being trained to be a torturer / executioner and the whole monastic thing is at odds with the hints of space ships etc.

The book is written as a memoir by the aged Severian and there are references of things to come that sometimes demand a bit of back tracking to sort out context etc.

Wolfe's terminology for weapons etc is often ancient and cryptic. You have been warned.

It's the first of four books (or five if we count the explanatory sequel) that are generally sold in pairs, Books 1 & 2, and then 3 & 4.

Four residents of a senior living village decide they want to investigate unsolved murders. Luckily they represent a range of backgrounds and abilities that seem to fit together like a Tetris game. With a bit of manipulation they recruit the community liaison Police officer who comes to teach them to lock their doors at night. And the game is on.

This is a 'cosy detective story' in the tradition of The Number One Ladies Detective Agency series by MCall Smith. The people are delightful, if somewhat one dimensional. The police vacillate between dismissive and accommodating. The murders are many and varied and the investigation is highly intuitive but ultimately successful. And the amateur sleuths retain secrets at the end that the police won't uncover.

Osman has a way of story telling that is engaging and funny. We start out loving the characters and we still love them when their flaws are revealed. However, I was left with the feeling that murder is OK as long as the victim deserved it.

This is the second book I choose from among the many books being banned in US schools. I'm Australian and have limited understanding of how the US school system works. But I don't like what I see when any person can have books banned from school libraries even though they have no children in that school, and even from out of state.

Flamer is based on the author's own experience. Aiden is fourteen, part Asian and a bit chubby, and he's at Scout camp for the summer. He's about to move from middle school to high school and is scared that the bullying he's already receiving will get worse.

SPOILERS from here.

Even worse than the bullying is that living for weeks in close proximity to other boys he's starting to have new feelings for his best friend with whom he shares a tent. The conversations and repartee between this bunch of teen boys is already packed with sexual innuendo and open comments about various girls at school etc, and in this highly charged environment Aiden's thoughts are running wild.

One of the leaders is gone from the campsite and conversations focus on the possibility that he was gay and therefore evil. Aiden sinks into depression under all the assumptions that flood the meal table. He writes a goodbye letter, takes a pocket knife and heads for the lonely chapel on the hill. His favourite Marvel character appears in his mind and reveals inner strength that he didn't know he had.

This is an extraordinary book. I have gay friends who have spoken of how hard they found their life when all they hear is accusations and threats. It can be a teenager's nightmare. Rather than ban this book I would suggest schools promote it. I found it very moving and see the very real possibility that it might save some teen's life.

Book 1 in the Firefall series. A far future spaceship ride with rollercoaster energy.

Siri Keeting has severe epilepsy as a child. He undergoes surgery that removes one hemisphere of his brain to control the seizures. Many years later he crews on a spaceship as an observer/reporter because his unique brain function means he can stay emotionally distant from unexpected strange events. And those unexpected events keep piling up. The crew are all augmented in some way, as Siri has also been (after all he's got half a skull they can put stuff into), The ship's captain is inbuilt AI, the nominal commander is a resurrected vampire (so able to make harsh decisions), the linguist has four people's swapable intelligences in her brain, another crew member is in love with one of her personalities, and then there's some rather dangerous aliens. Perhaps I should have mentioned them earlier. Watts increasingly focuses in on what it means to have intelligence vs self awareness. The pace of the action speeds up as the story progresses into a frightening conflict, as does Watts' demands on the reader as his arguments deepen.

One caution. I got about fifty pages into the book and had to look up the Wiki page to sort out who these characters were. The writing is very dense and the people tend to get a bit submerged.

A giant space ship leaves Earth to colonise a distant planet. After 250 years and several generations of the community of 18,000 people, the planet is near. Of course, it's all going to go as planned, isn't it? Come on, you all know it isn't. An autocratic Governor of the community, a ship's captain who seems to be nowhere, a security officer trying to climb to power, a dedicated project scientist trying to be heard, and a bunch of misfits who have won the lottery of being alive at the final approach. But what if the planet has other plans? And remember HAL from that other movie? Yeah, don't worry about that.

A not too distant future dystopia where everything is made of glass, even the walls between rooms and units, so everything is constantly under surveillance. People walk to work in ordered four-abreast columns, relationships are allowed by the hour through application and permission slips, it's the full catastrophe. D-503 is the lead engineer of a rocket ship (also glass) designed to take the world order into space but he's worried. The concept of the square root of minus one, the foundation of imaginary numbers, occupies his mind. And imagination is outlawed.

This is the novel that Orwell says is the foundation of his 1984. I read the translation by Mirra Ginsburg which is said to have the best rendering of Zamyatin's sardonic humour. I've had to put this review under a different translator as the Ginsburg one isn't listed by the site - and it won't accept me trying to add it.

Three novellas that tie together as one story.

1. Distant twin worlds are colonised by humans. The narrator is a boy growing up on one world in a strange house that turns out to be a high-end brothel run by his scientist father. They are visited by an anthropologist from Earth named Marsh who is researching the view that one of the worlds was populated by shape shifters who killed the colonisers and took their identities.

2. A dreamlike hypnotic tale of the original inhabitants told by Marsh as if by a shaman. There are conflicts between marsh-people, hill-people, and shadow-people who may or may not even be corporeal beings. Hidden in the story is the coming of the colonisers.

3. A Kafkaesque story of Marsh being arrested, imprisoned, and questioned by an unidentified bureaucrat. The story switches without notice between direct narration, transcripts of recorded interrogations, and Marsh's notes from his journey to find the original inhabitants. His notes, by the way, have fallen apart and are picked up and read by the interrogator in any order. Luckily for us, there is one notebook intact.

The book ends abruptly and without explanation. Wolfe has scattered bits of information throughout the whole but the reader won't even see them until realising the meaning of the final few paragraphs. It's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle where all the hidden stuff is on the wrong side of each piece. A bit like Kafka's The Trial, you could read the stories in any order and be just as mystified until you sit and piece it all together afterwards.