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Two Out of this World Reads by John Scalzi: When the Moon Hits Your Eye and Old Man’s War

26 Mar

When the Moon Hits Your Eye
by John Scalzi
Science Fiction legend, John Scalzi’s latest takes a nod from the classic crooner song That’s Amore and wonders what would happen if one day the moon didn’t just look like Swiss cheese due to its craters, but one day actually was cheese. When the Moon Hits Your Eye, is an epistolary novel with bits of
ephemera including newspaper articles and transcripts of presentations by experts that occurred when the moon went from being rocks to suddenly being made of cheese. Most of the novel occurs close to when the change happened, but starts fast-forwarding in time towards the end of the story. The many perspectives range from astronauts to religious leaders, which gives added reality to such an outlandish premise and how different people would come to accept the new way of the world. There are some very funny sections and very cheesy puns and also some very touching moments. My favorite day/chapter was about a woman who has always wanted to be a writer since she was a young girl, but got so trapped in wanting her novel to be perfect she kept rewriting and workshopping the same few paragraphs over and over; the moon incident finally gives her the nudge she needs. This may not appeal to some hard Science Fiction fans since the cheese moon’s behavior is only loosely reality based, but for those that like to see a master story teller’s imagination take flight, this will be a delight.

Old Man’s War
by John Scalzi
We read Scalzi’s classic novel, The Old Man’s War for our January Hoboken Library Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Discussion. We had previously read his novels Red Shirts and Kaiju Preservation Society, making him currently the most read author for the group. His creative stories and fun humor make him popular with the group members. Old Man’s War takes the idea of Starship Troopers where military service is necessary to protect human colonies and allow people to expand beyond earth, but asks what would it be like if those doing the fighting weren’t young people, but senior citizens given new and improved bodies but all of their previous life experience still in their mind. Like the other novels we read this one is filled with humor, which reminded me more of the Starship Troopers film than book. But it also asks some philosophical questions about what makes us human and the ethics of expanding one’s life beyond its natural period which lead to an interesting discussion. There are several more books in the series if you enjoy Old Man’s War including The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony, and Zoe’s Tale. If you are interested you can join us in April for our next book discussion.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Outstanding Stories in Outer Space: The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles and Chilling Effect

7 Feb

Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles
by Malka Older
The second in The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti series, Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, by Malka Older comes out February 13. We will be discussing the first book in the series The Mimicking of Known Successes during our February Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Discussion Group. Although both books clock in around novella length they are packed with interesting world building and fun mysteries. Mossa is a detective while Pleiti is a professor who studies the classics, as in the classical way things were done on Earth and that the human’s who are now living in Space hope they may be able to return one day. Platforms built around Jupiter, a Gas Giant, as well as life on IO one of the moon’s is detailed in the story with clever details like a bunker home being referred to as a “Hobbit” style. Although a couple in their younger days, the two women, have only have become reunited after Mossa’s last case and the tentative attempts between them to develop their relationship further add another sweet element to the plot. I hope we will see more adventures starring the couple in the future.

Chilling Effect
by Valerie Valdes
Chilling Effect is the first in the three book trilogy by Valerie Valdes that revolves around a spunky Cuban Captain Eva Innocente and her rag tag crew of La Sirena Negra (the black mermaid). I haven’t read a lot of Space Opera incorporating Latin American influences and it was cool seeing how Valdes incorporated cultural details and Cuban idioms in the novel; my favorite is arroz con mango or mango with rice which Eva uses when she gets in sticky situations (they happen often enough she also uses it as her code word at one point in the story in answer to what her favorite food is). Much of the story revolves around her blood family causing dramatic situations for her found family of crew. In this story she also is being stalked by a creepy space emperor and has a slow burning romance with one of her fellow crew members whose species gives off different scents based on their emotions and thoughts, which Valdes uses to clever effect. There is a great deal of humor and heart in the novel and if you are looking for cozy Space Opera (a colony of space cats lives on board the ship) than check this one out. I look forward to also reading book two, Prime Deception, and book three, Fault Tolerance, in the series.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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