Books: The Last Emperox By John Scalzi (2020)

 

"The collapse of The Flow, the interstellar pathway between the planets of the Interdependency, has accelerated. Entire star systems—and billions of people—are becoming cut off from the rest of human civilization. This collapse was foretold through scientific prediction… and yet, even as the evidence is obvious and insurmountable, many still try to rationalize, delay and profit from, these final days of one of the greatest empires humanity has ever known. Emperox Grayland II has finally wrested control of her empire from those who oppose her and who deny the reality of this collapse. But “control” is a slippery thing, and even as Grayland strives to save as many of her people from impoverished isolation, the forces opposing her rule will make a final, desperate push to topple her from her throne and power, by any means necessary. Grayland and her thinning list of allies must use every tool at their disposal to save themselves, and all of humanity. And yet it may not be enough. Will Grayland become the savior of her civilization… or the last emperox to wear the crown?"

As I mentioned in the review of the first book, I read somewhere this series was supposed to be two volumes, not three. I think it should’ve stayed two books. Part of the problem lies in how many times Scalzi reminds the reader of the plot and while less obvious, here than book two, there still remains an over-reliance on the expository narrative trope –he tells too much of the story instead of showing it. Once again, the books ideas will resonant with modern times -the story isn't very subtle as we see greedy capitalists trying to save themselves and their fortunes and are willing letting the rest of the humans die a horrible death. Of course, not all are evil.

Despite some of my nitpicking, the three female leads are pretty fun, even if they all seem self-aware. Kiva is the best, though.

Books: The Consuming Fire By John Scalzi (2018)

 

"The Interdependency―humanity’s interstellar empire―is on the verge of collapse. The extra-dimensional conduit that makes travel between the stars possible is disappearing, leaving entire systems and human civilizations stranded. Emperox Grayland II of the Interdependency is ready to take desperate measures to help ensure the survival of billions. But arrayed before her are those who believe the collapse of the Flow is a myth―or at the very least an opportunity to an ascension to power. While Grayland prepares for disaster, others are preparing for a civil war, a war that will take place in the halls of power, the markets of business and the the altars of worship. The Emperox and her allies are smart and resourceful, as are her enemies. Nothing about this will be easy... and all of humanity will be caught in its consuming fire."

As with all middle books within a trilogy, everything must be set-up for the conclusion. The Consuming Fire is good, a fun space opera filled with interesting characters and some clever storytelling. But Scalzi relies too much on exposition here and amazing convenience. Everyone knows everything and vomits it out at a drop of hat. The Memory Room is used too much to explain the plot points for readers who’ll read this book in front of the TV or between vids on TickTok. So in the end, this middle book becomes all explanations with little plot. 

The there is the arrival of the mysterious walking holo dude (woman?) Tomas Reynauld Chenevert, who either holds the keys the Interdependency survival or has some other plan to bring it to its knees.

Some reviews claim to think this is Scalzi’s Dune, but this series is not as dense or complex as Herbert’s work. And while it features conspiracies, this series is seemly more an espionage thriller with humor, a lot of fucking, a lot chewing at the scenery. Still, at its heart, I continue to see the many parallels of modern America here. Here Scalzi makes it obvious that it was written during the most divisive time in our modern history.

So onto book three…

Books: The Collapsing Empire By John Scalzi (2017)

"The universe is ruled by physics and faster than light travel is not possible -- until the discovery of The Flow, an extra-dimensional field we can access at certain points in space-time that transport us to other worlds, around other stars. Humanity flows away from Earth, into space, and in time forgets our home world and creates a new empire, the Interdependency, whose ethos requires that no one human outpost can survive without the others. It’s a hedge against interstellar war -- and a system of control for the rulers of the empire. The Flow is eternal -- but it is not static. Just as a river changes course, The Flow changes as well, cutting off worlds from the rest of humanity (as happened with Earth some thousand years ago). When it’s discovered that The Flow is moving, possibly cutting off all human worlds from faster than light travel forever, three individuals -- a scientist, a starship captain and the Empress of the Interdependency -- are in a race against time to discover what, if anything, can be salvaged from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse."

While John Scalzi’s latest space opera is bit complex –the science is real, and he tries not to dumb it down, but it does hurt the brain- the fun part is the characters, the politics and the sheer audacity of the whole series. At its core, though The Interdependency series (apparently originally two books, but was expanded to three) is about the fall of a civilization and the realization that that it can’t be stopped. Thus the flow (if you’ll excuse the phrase) of the tale is about who’ll control End –the evil or the semi-evil. I also felt the best example of understanding The Flow was make them wormholes like the one seen on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine mixed with the Barzan wormhole from the TNG episode The Price and its semi-sequel episode featured on VOY episode, False Profits. 

As with Scalzi’s other writings, it’s a witty book full of characters who, while charming, are all basically assholes. Of course, some are worse than others, and there are a few morally good folks, but all of them have potty mouths and use sex as political points. Political machinations abound here, and while I’m not fond of these themes, it still handled rather well here.

What works –beyond the humor- is that despite everyone not giving a “fuck” about anything, despite the politicking, despite the fact that there is no one really good here, you end up rooting for the House of Wu to win it all. We’ll see with book 2, coming up next.

Books: Memorial By Bryan Washington (2020)

 

“Memorial centers on the relationship between Japanese American Mike and his Black boyfriend, Ben (short for Benson). Mike flies to Osaka to care for his terminally ill father, who abandoned his family when Mike was a boy. The timing of the father’s sickness couldn’t be worse: Mike’s mother, Mitsuko, is on her way from Tokyo to Houston to see him. Instead she’ll have to spend her visit with Ben, a stranger. After four years together, Mike and Ben’s relationship is already shaky, nearing the breaking point, and they will now have to figure out where they stand from opposite sides of the planet.”

Bryan Washington’s debut novel is very self-assured. It’s about race, nationality, sexual orientation, and family. I got a sense as a white reader, Washington was trying to not to pander to me, rather I would read this book about POC and just get a glimpse into a lives white readers never really, or want, to see. The first person narrative works so well here, with the first part focusing on Ben, the second on Mike, and finally the third on consequences of those first two parts. It’s clear that the readers loyalty is supposed to be on Ben, a charming middle-class adult who has is own family issues. But then the focus shifts to Mike, who's family dysfunction has made him the man he is, a bit of dick who wants to be self-assured but mostly comes off as lost. But you can’t help but feel sorry for him at times. His dad, Eiju, is a hoot, but also a bastard. Despite his ways, despite him still having issues with a gay son, he is never truly mean. Like many parents of gay children, I think Eiju is just bewildered.

It’s clear, though; Washington has a love for Houston (where the novel is based, as well as the writer) but seems more comfortable in Japan. So I think Japan wins out in many ways, especially in the description of food (another theme of Memorial). Mike is a cook at a Mexican restaurant, but makes a lot of the same stuff his mother made as he grew up for Ben (don't we all?). But Mitsuko teaches Ben a lot through Japanese food. She seems more supportive, in a sometimes opaque way, that Ben is good for her wayward son. Ben, however is never too sure where and what his feelings are for Mike -and that gets more complicated when a gentleman named Omar enters his life.

It’s a brutal and yet tender novel, an embarrassment of riches for the reader. I highly recommend this book.

Books: The Only Good Indians By Stephen Graham Jones (2020)

 

"Four Native American friends went hunting one night on land that was reserved for tribe elders. It was dark and snow had started falling, but they found a herd of elk at the bottom of a hill. Bullets rained. Large bodies dropped. One refused to die. Lewis, one of the men, had to work hard at killing the beast, shooting it more than once. After the mayhem, nine carcasses littered the ground, the snow falling steadily on them. The friends celebrated and began field dressing the elk — that meat would keep their freezers full all winter. But the animal Lewis struggled to kill was pregnant, the calf inside it still alive. Then they got caught by the law and had to throw away the meat. Almost a decade later, what happened that night still haunts them. Lewis is literally haunted, by something that appears as a woman holding an elk's head. It killed his dog. He has to destroy it before he becomes the next victim, but killing something you already killed once is hard.”

Not to sit on the fence here, but I found The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones to be a very complex tale that I liked and hated –sometimes at the same time. While it has a completely inventive characters and setting, and something unique in the horror genre we rarely see -Native American representation, I found the pacing to be glacial and Jones' prose something I never really grasped. At its core, though, it's ghost story of revenge, same as say Peter Straub’s 1980 masterpiece Ghost Story, which carried the same idea, but I never felt the book was creepy scary enough. Never felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. There are some thrills, but the final set piece is silly and will look sillier if anyone adapts the book for TV or movie.

So I liked the book for being different, something a lot of reader’s sometime struggle with –trying untested writers. And would recommend it, but in the end, the books progress and the literary devices the author foists on said reader are distracting.

Later By Stephen King (2021)

 

While Hard Case Crime publisher claims they’re devoted to releasing and reprinting the best in hard-boiled crime fiction, it does seem strange they’ve published this horror tale from Stephen King (his third after 2005's The Colorado Kid and 2013's Joyland). But of course, it is Stephen King and that may be the only reason Hard Case Crime needs.

 “Jamie Conklin sees dead people. Not for very long—they fade away after a week or so—but during that time he can talk to them, ask them questions, and compel them to answer truthfully. His uncanny gift at first seems utterly unrelated to his mother Tia’s work as a literary agent, but the links become disturbingly clear when her star client, Regis Thomas, dies shortly after starting work on the newest entry in his bestselling Roanoke Saga, and Tia and her lover, NYPD Detective Liz Dutton, drive Jamie out to Cobblestone Cottage to encourage the late author to dictate an outline of his latest page-turner so that Tia, who’s fallen on hard times, can write it in his name instead of returning his advance and her cut. Now that she’s seen what Jamie can do, Liz takes it on herself to arrange an interview in which Jamie will ask Kenneth Therriault, a serial bomber who’s just killed himself, where he’s stowed his latest explosive device before it can explode posthumously. His post-mortem encounter with Therriault exacts a high price on Jamie, who now finds himself more haunted than ever, though he never gives up on the everyday experiences in which King roots all his nightmares.”

Once again, King delves into the world of magical kids with Later. But, as always, he’s able to bring a lot of depth and horror to this well-know road he’s traveled for nearly fifty years. But I think this works a lot because the lives these kids live are so ordinary, so everyday, that you can’t help but see these some of things truly happening to them. Here we get 22 year-old Jamie recounting his life that starts at six and the runs to about year 15. King loves kids as protagonists, I think, because it generates sympathy for someone who has no real control over their life and must depend on their parent(s). Plus, I think, when we were all kids, we wanted some darkness, some supernatural aspect to part of our everyday life. Of course, all of King’s supernaturally blessed (?) kids are a bit more adult than most (see Luke Ellis from King’s The Institute). And, again, everything is so ordinary.

Jamie is likable and as much as he narrates and claims he’s not like the kid in The Sixth Sense, you can’t help but think he is. Still, unlike the M. Night Shyamalan’s film, where the kids sees real ghost, Jamie just sees dead people who are seemly disinterested in the living.

There is crime here, but not in the traditional sense this publishing company produces. There is no femme fatales (as the cover tries to imply) or extraordinary villains here, just your average bad guy (and gals) who do horrible things in pursuant of their goals.

But I enjoyed this book, even if it’s not his best. It's still a treat.