Descriptions of the novels, repeated from the weekly posts. Footnotes have been removed, so some parts lack further explanation. For descriptions of the shorter works, see the weekly posts.
●●●◐○ Grand Central Arena - Ryk E Spoor {Arenaverse 1} (nov) 2010
Seven people are on the first crewed ship to test Earth's new FTL drive. Things do not go well, when they find themselves appearing in a vast artificial volume, with their fusion drive and FTL offline. Their AI assistants and implants are also disabled, which was a difficult adjustment for some, and leaves the most-cybered crew member catatonic.
They learn that the Spheres and other areas are ruled by five big Factions, and innumerable smaller ones, and that periodic Challenges are enforced, whereby lives and status can be lost and won. Can seven humans stand against a thousand different races in this artificial space tens of light-years wide, a place constructed by unknown beings such that any use of an FTL drive anywhere will bring them to the Arena?
●●●○○ A Choice of Gods - Clifford D. Simak (nov) 1972
One day, 99.99% of humankind Disappeared. The survivors gained long life, telepathy, and interstellar self-teleportation. Over five thousand years later, John Whitney (who was a boy at the Vanishing) and his wife Martha are content in their robot-tended manor, while John's boyhood friend Horace Red Cloud and his tribe went back to older ways, a combinations of the woods life and the plains life.
Most other descendants of the humans left behind are out star-roving. Some of the robots have grown increasingly religious over time, while humans have largely let religion lapse. Another group of robots has constructed a large super-robot brain that they follow.
Now one of the star-roving Earth humans has found where the Disappeared went: to three Earth-like worlds near the galactic core. Worlds that had figured out where Earth was, and sent out a survey ship to check the planet out prior to recolonization. Something which the various groups of Earth were decidedly not in favor of. Could anything be done?
●●●○○ The Gourmets of Grantville - Bethanne Kim (nov) 2021
When the West Virginia town was dropped into central Germany during the Thirty Years War, many things had to change, food among them. This is a tale where uptime and downtime women get together to learn about each other's food and cooking techniques. Many things resulted at the club level: a newspaper column, a TV cooking show, a radio show, cookbooks being published.
Individually, women founded bakeries and coffee shops and restaurants. They specialized in gingerbread and bagels and all manner of foodstuffs. And they lived their ongoing lives. The diabetic woman who survived two years after she lost access to insulin. The older couple who adopted orphans from the ongoing war. Various marriages and births. This is a story told on the level of ordinary people, with a patchwork of events to fill in the quilt.
●●●●○ Too Like the Lightning - Ada Palmer {Terra Ignota 1} (nov) 2016
A complex tale of the world of 2454, where most people belong to one of seven Hives (and some smaller groups), non-geographic states. That world teeters when one of the annual Seven-Ten lists (published by the top news organization in each Hive, showing who they think are the most influential people in the world) is leaked. It eventually reveals a web of corruption linking the top levels of the Hives.
Separately, the bash'house (co-housing collective, from the Japanese i-basho) controlling the world's network of aircars gets involved, with its own security issues. As does Bridger, the thirteen-year-old boy some people have been raising in secret, since he can do miracles, making representations real. He can bring toy soldiers or a stuffed animal to life, or make a folded-paper bottle labeled "healing potion" real.
The novel has dense storytelling, many philosophical sections, and examines government, gender, free will, and more. Parts seem pointlessly convoluted, but the overall ride is enjoyable.
●●●◐○ Spheres of Influence - Ryk E. Spoor {Arena 2} (nov) 2013
Ariane Austin, spacing racer, was the Leader of the Faction of Humanity, in the view of the Arena, the artificial mega-volume that forced all FTL traffic to via it, by means far beyond human science. When Captain Ariane and some of her crew returned to Sol System, she found some people weren't crazy about that. They assigned her some ambassadors, which didn't go well.
And of course events in the Arena went on. More examination of the powers Ariane had obtained, and the ability Simon had gotten trying to help her control them. Kidnapping. A twenty-against-one space battle. Three more Hyperions show up, one on Humanity's side, the other not. More Challenges, more learning, more Orphan. Solid adventure #SciFi.
●●○○○ The Silent City - H.G. Suren {Alignment 1} (nov) 2015
Horror #ScienceFiction. All humans in the city (world?) vanish except five thirty-ish men who were playing cards and cooking khash half the night. Mark's apartment magically retains electricity, even though the rest of the building, and the city, does not. There's a dome over the city, and the five friends eventually encounter two other humans – a 22 year-old woman and a 15yo boy – and find out that human-shaped white clouds with large black eyes and black claws are hunting people.
The misplaced humans have no clue why or how they got here, but they surmise that they're not in the real world. They also find out that the reset storms that sweep through every 5½ hours instantly move cars and window shades, which they surmise is their environment somewhat keeping up with outside reality. More things are learned, but the story stops abruptly, unresolved, to be continued in the next volume. And now none of the author's books are visible on Amazon.
●●●○○ Murder in Snydersville - Valleri Saint Matthew (nov) 2023
A cozy time travel #mystery with Twilight Zone vibes. Two drivers seek shelter in an abandoned diner from a really bad hail storm, but when they get inside they find themselves back in 1952 just after a murder occurred. They leave 1952 after awhile, but researching the murder, find two more followed it. The pair decide to go back to 1952 to see if they can prevent the additional deaths.
There are many oddities in the tale. Paul buys a diner meal, and Ember an apple pie from a bakery to help with her questioning a missing girl's mother. No one notices their future money, and this isn't a story where it magically changed, since their clothing didn't. Sheriff Andy simply lets two strangers hang around the courthouse where he works, and even tag along on investigations. And the ending relies on aspects of the timeslip portal that had never been demonstrated.
●●●○○ Seven Surrenders - Ada Palmer {Terra Ignota 2} (nov) 2017
Complex narrative of the seven days that led to the fall of Earth's 2454 system of government, leading to whatever emerges in the next book. Institutions fall, people die, secrets are revealed, people learn about themselves and others.
Not as good as the previous book, because I feel the author chickened out. It's a matter of having a too-powerful character: the story should end before it begins, given what they can do. So you have to artificially restrain them. Or, when you realize you don't know what to do with them, remove them from the story altogether.
●●●○○ The Artifact - David Collins {Artifact 1} (nov) 2024
Can you go wrong with the "present-day human finds ancient alien spaceship" trope? Not really. Why the USA, Russia, and China would go along with this very-recent college graduate, providing four people for his crew, while he and his friends were the first four, seems odd.⁴
The ship's AI needs a crew so it can deal with other people, and not be seen as rogue (which it is, having vastly and illegally increased its capabilities while stuck on the Moon for 2300 years). They visit what turns out to be a pirate's waystation, salvage platinum from a wreck, and become involved with a dangerous princess. Decent action adventure.
●●●○○ The Crucible - M L Maki {Fighting Tomcats 11} (nov) 2024
#AltHist where a US naval group from 1990 ended up in World War Two. A dozen-plus books in (there was a side-series), pilot Samantha Carter is acting as a Commodore commanding the invasion fleet taking control of Italy while D-Day is ongoing in France.
There's lots of military jargon, and too many characters to keep track of, but I enjoy the series for the sociological bits of modern women (and non-white and non-straight 1990s characters) dealing with the 1940s.
●●●◐○ The Second Artifact - David Collins {Artifact 2} (nov) 2024
In the first book, the ancient alien spaceship that a human had linked up with travelled outside the regular travel routes, and encountered a damaged ship, and rescued a powerful figure. This book, they stumble upon an experimental ship from an unknown race with a hyperdrive vastly better than the galactic standard. This finding a new artifact each time is going to seem increasingly silly, but the series is light, fast-paced adventure, and I'm enjoying it.
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