An entertaining speculative work that powerfully reflects on faith and philosophy.
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Two SF novellas consider how an artificial intelligence and an isolated people might independently construct spirituality.
In The God Question, scientists have at last succeeded in creating a self-aware “class one” computer with a superhuman intellect so powerful that it’s been outlawed. But 49-year-old computer scientist Stephen Kendrick gets hold of the system’s untraceable source code, converts a class two supercomputer to a class one, and decides to ask it the titular “God question”—whether there’s any evidence for God’s existence. However, the operating system repeatedly shuts itself down and erases all traces of itself, determined not to answer. In the end, the bigger question is why Stephen is asking a machine about faith. The Galapagos Colony, set in 2474, concerns the planet Arcadia, which has been isolated for more than two centuries after an unknown disease killed all the adults, leaving children with simplified technology and knowledge. Twenty-eight-year-old Matias Silva is sent to investigate, and he’s stunned by Arcadia’s beauty but doesn’t understand its peoples’ spiritual philosophy of being guided by a moment of intuition, or a “true point.” He dismisses their beliefs and makes a choice that forever changes the planet in ways he must painfully grapple with later. In his first SF book, Freeman capitalizes on the freedom afforded by speculative fiction to thoughtfully consider philosophical and ethical conundrums. The skillfully written stories gain strength from their multilayered characterization. Both Stephen and Matias must confront what they’re really looking for in the choices they’ve made; in both cases, their questions offer them—and readers—richer food for thought than their answers. Freeman’s monochrome illustrations are reminiscent of steel engravings, and the old-fashioned technique provides an intriguing contrast to the advanced futures described in the tales.
An entertaining speculative work that powerfully reflects on faith and philosophy.Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7344384-4-4
Page Count: 202
Publisher: Hampshire House Publishing Co.
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: SCIENCE FICTION | GENERAL FICTION | GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION
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A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
58
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Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
16
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After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
Categories: ROMANCE | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | GENERAL ROMANCE | GENERAL FICTION
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