A series of improbable and unfortunate events leave an astronaut stranded on the Red Planet in Andy Weir‘s The Martian. The novel is a unicorn in fiction, the rare title that can impart scientific accuracy without losing readers who lack the education to follow along. Continue reading
Years after a mysterious border shut Area X off from the rest of the continent, the Southern Reach research organization has sent in a dozen expeditions. When Jeff VanderMeer‘s Annihilation opens, readers know little about the four experts making the twelfth trek. By the time the novel closes, we hardly know more, but the ride along is a Lovecraftian trip that shouldn’t be missed. Continue reading
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Video game tie-in novels aren’t known for being big-L Literature, and you won’t spot B.K. Evenson‘s Dead Space, Martyr on any awards lists. That’s a shame, too, because Evenson’s novel is a unicorn — a visceral, horrific unicorn. Dead Space, Martyr is a damn good work of fiction that transcends franchise appeal. Continue reading
I was first introduced to Natasha Allegri‘s Bee and PuppyCat in a rather unlikely place: Facebook Messenger. Having never heard of Allegri’s webseries, I assumed the poofy-haired girl and her cross-looking pet/sidekick were from an aeni or manhwa. It wasn’t until I bought Bee and PuppyCat, Vol. 1 in a Humble Comics Bundle that I found out the history of what’s become one of my favorite comics series. Continue reading
You can’t deny it: Canadian author Margaret Atwood is the queen of dystopian fiction. In The Heart Goes Last, she takes us to Positron/Consilience, a prison/city where you’re given a home and a good life, provided you never want to leave. Set against a post-financial-apocalypse backdrop, Atwood’s novel examines the question of consent with its broadest possible lens. Continue reading