Science Fiction

I first picked up this book expecting a lot. I was not disappointed. The Maze Runner is about a group of boys stuck at the middle of a dangerous and foreboding maze in a synthetic world. This has been the same for as long as the oldest ones can remember, but upon Thomas's arrival to the maze, strange things begin to happen. This book is full of twists and turns, and Dashner writes with an amazing aptitude for suspense and surprise. I have not read the following books yet, but I intend to, as this book was more than worth reading. I strongly recommend it, as it is powerful, suspenseful, and just downright intriguing. As of right now, it is one of my all-time favorite dystopians.
Reviewer Grade: 11

Despite struggling through both Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters , I was pleased to find the most lengthy of these “monster classics,” Android Karenina, was a fast and engaging read.
If anything, it proves to me that I can’t grasp Jane Austen’s writing style nearly as smoothly as I can Leo Tolstoy’s. Part of the ease of reading Android Karenina probably came from knowing the original plot ahead of time a little better than I did for Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility . And yet, the real reason is more visceral than that.

What Android Karenina’s predecessors attempted was to take two vastly different genres and mash them together in the hope that the combination would interest readers. Where Android Karenina succeeds where the others have failed is that the addition of the steampunk/science fiction genre enhances the story. Adding zombies or sea monsters to a romantic story to liven up the boring sections merely accentuates where these boring parts are. When the robotic-themed changes to a piece of classic Russian literature directly enforce the overt themes of the rise of communism, then the story becomes much more compelling.

Granted, some of the source material can be easily implied past the steampunk coverings, but that’s always been the case with these “Quirk Classics.”
At the very least, the pacing of this story kept my interest throughout and rarely dragged itself down via the “drama” of aristocratic gossip and endless discussion of potential marriage partners. But again, this is likely the outcome of adapting Leo Tolstoy instead of Jane Austen. After reading this book, I certainly want to go back and read the original Anna Karenina , even despite the hefty page count.

An enhanced version of Tolstoy’s original in more ways than one, I give Android Karenina 4.0 stars out of 5.

The first time I was introduced to Alan Glynn’s writing was through the
film, Limitless (2011), which itself was based off his first novel, The Dark
Fields. While I enjoyed the film for its visuals, what really struck me as
interesting was the storytelling and characters Glynn created. Now fifteen
years after his first standalone novel, Paradime continues to show Glynn’s
talent in creating engaging plots and characters. Since I really enjoyed this
book, I will do my best to review it without spoiling it for anyone.

At its most simple level, Paradime is a modernized retelling of Mark
Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper, or at least half of it anyway. Told from
the perspective of an out-of-work and out-of-luck cook, Danny Lynch, the
pacing of each of the three acts is steady and intense. Even if some of
Danny’s vocabulary seems a little advanced at times, he is the perfect
“everyman” to convey his peculiar circumstances to the reader. Those
familiar with Limitless will probably see many parallels between the two
stories, with the main exception being how the story ends for Danny.

Glynn’s writing style is very natural and easy to read in this modern
thriller. Each chapter left me wanting to read more and I found myself having
difficulty stopping because the pull of the plot was so intense. I also
appreciated the ability of Glynn to tie things up in an almost unexpectedly
expected way so that no detail in this book was left unused. While this may
have been the first time I’ve read anything by Alan Glynn, I am now
certainly a fan and will have to go back and pick up his other books to read.

A fast-paced and thrilling read, I give Paradime 5.0 stars out of 5.

If you’ve been following along recently, you’ll know that I’ve been on
a bit of a “movie” kick when it comes to the audiobooks I’ve listened
to. While there are plenty of movies based on books, I haven’t really been
one to read novelizations of movies. That being said, I’ve found the
writing style in my own novels to be a bit of a novelization of the ideas in
my mind, since I usually try and describe scenes in a cinematic way. At any
rate, I was expecting a story that held close to the film, and this book
certainly delivered on that promise.

I’ll admit that the more I think about the plot and characters of The Force
Awakens, the more I find that it almost exactly matches the events of A New
Hope. However, there were some weaknesses in the first installment of the
Star Wars franchise that I feel are addressed in this recent installment.
Sure, all the elements are there, but they’ve been mixed around into
different characters, settings, and conflicts that add a bit more depth to
the story than the archetypical one presented in A New Hope. As a reboot, The
Force Awakens does an excellent job of calling back to what made the original
great, but doing so in a way that is still different enough to provide
interesting twists and questions.

One thing I do like about this version of the story, compared to the movie,
is the “deleted scenes” that help explain some of the plot holes from the
film. Maybe these scenes hindered the flow of the movie (or weren’t
important enough to include) but they certainly helped me understand the
story a lot better now that I know about them. Finally, while I know that
many films have “enhanced audio” for blind people, I’d almost recommend
these people listen to this audiobook instead. The music, sound effects, and
even many of the actors’ voices all are used at a pace that’s much slower
in order to really grasp what’s happening with the story.

A fantastic audiobook that faithfully captures everything (and more) that
made the film great, I give Star Wars: The Force Awakens 4.5 stars out of 5.

One of the nice things about listening to audiobooks from my library (via the
Overdrive app), is that I can pick up a book and listen to it without really
knowing what it’s about other than a title and a cover. In this way, I
often have no preconceived notions about the book other than first
impressions. At this point, all I’m giving up to “read” the book is the
time it takes me to listen to it, and I have plenty of that driving to and
from work every day.

Since I had no idea what this book was really about, I was surprised at how
humorous it was. If I were to combine a few, better-known series together,
I’d say this is X-Men mixed with James Bond, with just a dash of Jason
Bourne all blended together in Monty Python’s Flying Circus. An odd
combination, I know. But somehow, it works here. The humor is markedly
British, but the characters and their powers are supernatural, to say the
least. Since this was merely the first in a developing series, I can’t wait
to get to book #2: Stiletto.

All this being said, there were a few structural choices to this book that I
often found confusing, which may just be part of listening to it in audiobook
form instead of reading it. First off, the decision to have the main
character afflicted with amnesia was an interesting way to essentially give
the audience what the character already would have known but had conveniently
forgotten. Secondly, because the letters from her former self were used as
backstory, these “flashbacks” were often confusing because it was easy to
lose track of which Mfwany Thomas (glad I had the audiobook for the
pronunciation of this name) was “speaking” at the moment.

An interesting premise with plenty of potential in future iterations, I give
The Rook 4.0 stars out of 5.

Unlike Practical Applications for Multiverse Theory, The Infinity of You & Me
really nails the complex and unique challenges of dealing with multiple
universes. Far more serious than its comedic counterpart, Infinity takes the
reader on a journey through the multiple lives of a teenage girl. The
descriptive writing used for this task was quite adept at conveying the
transition between worlds, as well as the numerous dystopian scenarios
present within them. Clearly, the Sylvia Plath poems the main character holds
dear also influenced the author’s writing style.

As I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of the young adult genre, especially
when it devolves to cliches. This book managed to reside in that young adult
genre, but successfully told a story that didn’t make me roll my eyes in
annoyance. Sure, the elements were there, but they were handled much more
subtly, almost in the vein of how The Hunger Games did it years ago. The
complexity of the internal struggle of the main character really made her
come alive. Her growth by the end of the book was significant and made me
enjoy reading this book.

While it’s almost perfect, there are still a few weaknesses in this book.
Early on, it was difficult for me to figure out that the other multiverse
worlds were taking place in the same timeframe, and not in the past.
Furthermore, there were some sections that didn’t make as much sense as I
would have liked, but I suspect that’s also a limitation of dealing with
the multiverse as your main topic. Despite all these things, the story is
solid and the characters are complex and understandable.

Perhaps the best fictional account of the multiverse I’ve ever read, I give
The Infinity of You & Me 4.5 stars out of 5.

In another “lapse” of my reading habits, I didn’t manage to read
Ender’s Game until the movie of the same name came out in 2013. At the
time, all the sci-fi fans were eagerly anticipating a film that had taken
over 25 years to finally become a reality. While I thought the movie was
quite well done and engaging, after I read the book, I can understand why
some of the diehard fans of the series were disappointed. As is usually the
case with book-to-movie transitions, sub-plots often find themselves on the
cutting room floor. Of course, I don’t blame them for cutting what they
did; after all, it is called Ender’s Game.

Even though watching the movie first spoiled the exciting twist of the ending
when I read the book, I almost read the book differently knowing how it would
turn out. I could see the signs leading up to the shocking reveal, almost as
if I had read it before. I did appreciate the sub-plot with Ender’s
siblings and their efforts back on Earth as their brother was winning the war
in space. If anything, it helped to break up the intense action surrounding
the eponymous main character so that the reader could fully absorb what was
happening in the universe on a political level as well as a military one.

It is disappointing that there will likely be no more movies in this series
since the source material is full of interesting ideas that I’d like to see
on the big screen. Perhaps the series would be better suited for a television
show (a la Game of Thrones) to fully include all the different elements that
made it a classic of sci-fi back in 1985. Either way, I look forward to
exploring more of Orson Scott Card’s universe in the next book of the
series: Speaker for the Dead.

A fantastic sci-fi story with an incredible twist ending, I give Ender’s
Game 5.0 stars out of 5.

What a world we live in! It’s exciting to see a self-published book receive
such attention, eventually becoming a New York Times bestseller! Truly, if a
writer is talented enough with a good enough story, they can make it in this
over-saturated market. And while some of my love for this book comes from my
hopes of eventually being “discovered” as a self-published author, most
of it comes from my love of scientific realism in fiction. Truly, this is
more of a challenge than world-building in a fantasy genre, because in order
for it to be believable, it must obey the laws of physics.

But let’s get down to brass tacks here. There is no doubt that Andy Weir
did his homework on this book. In fact, some sections almost read like the
output section of a very complicated spreadsheet (which I certainly
appreciate, on a personal level). Even with the technical detail to keep the
story grounded in science, the successive cause-and-effect events that
eventually lead to the climax of the story give the reader equal amounts of
elation and heartbreak right along with the protagonist, Mark Watney. Still,
the problem solving accomplished in this novel merely proves how smart we are
as a species today, and how the vast knowledge of the universe has catapulted
us into the very realistic scenario portrayed in the pages. In fact, Weir’s
methodical approach really gives the reader a scale of how big an operation a
trip to (or from) Mars would be.

Even though the science is front and center, the whole reason we read these
almost intimate logs of a Martian astronaut is because the characters are so
well written. With a humor and spunky attitude that help alleviate his dire
situation, Watney almost comes across as a genius “everyman” in that most
of his solutions could be arrived at with a little bit of thought and
ingenuity. And while the majority of the book centers around Watney’s logs,
every minor character has a depth and expertise that helps to propel the
story forward.

A fast and fun read full of excitement and ingenious science solutions, I
give The Martian 5.0 stars out of 5.

For more reviews of books and movies like this, please visit
www.benjamin-m-weilert.com

From the title of this book, I would have expected it to be about the
aftermath of an apocalypse-inducing event. If anything Echo of the Boom is a
misnomer and the book should be titled Prelude of the Boom. The cover also
doesn’t give much into what it’s about, other than the four different
points of view which are followed throughout the narrative.

While I did eventually like the book, it took too long to get there (some of
the occasional typos didn’t help me get into it either). With the
characters’ motivations unclear from the start, it becomes obvious about
150 pages in that nothing is really going to happen in this book. Instead of
having any driving force propelling the characters forward, it’s more
accurate to describe this book as a nearly 500 page rap battle. Each
character has their own track, living their lives the way many teenagers
today might (which in itself is a scary thought), but occasionally the tracks
mix together albeit briefly and with little perturbation to the individual
characters. At least the words the author uses are artistic and articulate,
making it fun to read.

Honestly, the very last sentences of this book made me want to read what
happens next much more than what had already been written, since it sounded
like it was going to be much more interesting than the origin stories of
these characters. If the author’s opinions and worldviews weren’t so
blatantly obvious through this book, it might have been interesting as a
“slice of life” novel, but at least he has something to say (even if
it’s regularly redundant). If anything, this book should give parents the
motivation to be more actively involved in their teenagers’ lives, lest
they end up with the motivation to destroy all systems of authority if for no
other reason than pure anarchy.

A rewarding read that takes some getting used to; I give Echo of the Boom 4.0
stars out of 5.

For more reviews of books and movies like this, please visit
www.benjamin-m-weilert.com

Nerve is about a coward named Vee who decides to try this game online called NERVE. In this mysterious game, you can either be a player or a watcher.

Watchers must pay money to watch, and players get paid to do dares. Vee thinks this is a stupid idea, but then begins to wonder if it actually a fun thing to do. She decides to try it out. One challenge leads to another, and the dares begin to become deadly. Should Vee risk her life for a good prize, or will she lose NERVE?

This is a great book for anyone obsessed with online games, or thrills in general. I definitely recommend this book for any thrill seekers.