Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

A truly unusual happening - the creation of a sorcerer - has set the magic and wizards of the Disc all aflutter. The youngster doesn't really understand his own power, plus, he's being controlled by a not-quite-dead wizard father in the form of a staff. Things will never be the same again.

Rincewind is once again called on, as the worst wizard in the world, to be the hero. He meets up with the daughter of Cohen the Barbarian and together they're forced with the company of a very rich, very bored seriph with literary aspirations.

There's quite a bit of bickering between the crew during their quest, which I found more annoying than smart. I was much more interested in the machinations of the Librarian trying to save the living, magic books of Unseen University. And, in the magic war reforming the Disc.

It ends with things a few things unresolved - but there are 36 more books in the series.

Every Anxious Wave by Mo Daviau

Karl's a nice enough guy, but maybe a little lonely. When he discovers a wormhole that allows him to drop into and out of the time continuum, he builds a side business transporting people to seminal rock concerts. See Hendrix at Monterey Pop! Watch the Ramones at CBGB!

When he bumbles a date and accidentally sends a friend to 980, Karl is forced to enlist the help of an astrophysicist to work the science end of getting him back. Lena's a socially awkward genius in punk goddess guise. Of course, there are sparks. Of course, there are complications.

It's a fun, light book full of 1990s music references and the kind of characters to whom you can relate. The time travel begins to make things a little sticky - not everybody is as diligent as Karl about not altering the past - but even at its twistiest the story never gets super sci-fi complicated.

I read it in a single sitting, and it was a welcome departure from more serious topics I'd been pondering. Plus, now I keep trying to decide what my ultimate concert experience would be ...

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

In a primitive world changed by a flu pandemic, a band of minstrels and actors wander the American midwest performing Shakespeare to the survivors. As the novel's timeline flashes back and forth - before and after the Georgia Flu - we see the interconnectedness of the survivors, whose stories link back to a celebrity actor, Arthur Leander.

This book was on a lot of best of 2015 lists and was a finalist for the National Book Award. The author went on record saying she doesn't consider it sci-fi because there's no technology and gadgets involved. She says it's literary fiction.

While the "no technology" is technically accurate and the traveling symphony-and-Shakespeare troupe offers a bit of high-brow flair, I think it's cutting a pretty fine line to say this post-apocalypse novel isn't really in the sci-fi genre. The book is at heart a look at the invisible links between people, man's ability to adapt to survive, and a look at what the world could be like without "modern technology."

I enjoyed the book. The shifting perspectives keep the narrative moving along without getting bogged down in the minutia of survival, plus allow some dramatic tension as story threads cut out and return again later. I was pleasantly surprised a couple times as the connections back to Arthur were revealed.

Plus, now I know that living in the airport may be the best option, post-plague.

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

It all starts with a bullying and a beating, and then things continue downhill until giant bugs ravage an Iowa town. But mostly, this is a book about love, friendship, small towns, and Cold War paranoia.

As horny, sexually confused teen Austin Czerba keeps a record of the end of the world, his version of history is muddled up with his family genealogy, the story of a small town's industry, and an intense love triangle between Austin, his girlfriend, and his best friend Robby. It's a bawdy, messy, hilarious book: there's a lot of talk about sex, and Austin is haunted by the word "experiment." But the charged emotions of the love triangle are offset by the need to absurdly save the world from 6-foot man-eating mantises.

I couldn't put this book down. It's unique, in a sci-fi genre where it's hard to break new ground. Smith revels a bit in 1950s pop-culture nostalgia, then knocks it right out of the park. I'll admit I was slightly disappointed with the ending, but only because it's not what I wanted to see happen - no fault of the story or author. I won't tell you why, though. Because you should read this book. It's excellent.

Lexicon by Max Barry

As unlikely as it seems, this is a geeky word-nerd action-adventure novel with guns. Seriously!

A secret organization has discovered how to control people simply with language: using the right combination of sounds, and they can instantly hotwire your brain to believe anything or do anything they tell you. They call it "compromising" a person, and the expert practitioners of this art are called poets.

This is a fast-moving, hard to put down book. The story shifts around in time a bit, so you're often uncertain if the events are now, later, or before - which adds to the suspense. What students we meet will eventually become the poets? What on earth did they unleash in Australia? Seriously, a WORD could do that?!?

It's very good, and moves along quickly. Once I finally picked it up, I read it in just 2 days.

Nation by Terry Pratchett

The big wave took everything Mau has ever known - his Nation (a tropical island) has been swept away, along with all its inhabitants. The young man lived only because he was on the water when it happened.

The same wave killed everyone aboard a large sailing ship - except one properly raised "princess" ill-equipped for primitive survival. Against the odds and a language barrier, together they survive, grieve, grow, learn to communicate, and build a new Nation with the refugees who appear one by one on the island.

As with any Pratchett book, there's a lesson, some philosophical questions to ponder, and a lot of just really funny gags. This one pokes fun of monarchy and manners, introduces us to the tree-climbing octopus, and introduces a new brand of Robinson Crusoe.

The Twelve by Justin Cronin

What a giant, sweeping saga of life after the apocalypse! Skipping across three generations of Americans during and after a virus changes the world. (The beginning of the story was told in The Passage.)

My only problem is, I keep losing track of all the seven quintrillion characters Cronin has given us. Across three generations! And I should at least be able to keep track of the viral vampires, right? Except most of them haven't been talked about for what seems like a thousand pages, so they feel a little distant. And while they're referred to as the Twelve - there are really 11 now ... except there's also Zero who's not in the count, nor is Amy who's something else entirely.

So perhaps I should have had a graph or a map or something. Cronin gives us a few outlines and character lists in the back, but I didn't find it wildly helpful. (And I know it seems bad that I found that list only because I was peeking ahead to see how many pages I had left. The book is 568 pages, but seems a lot longer.)

It's an interesting idea of the future, and I appreciate the religious and moral implications he presents. He's got some great characters with true, human flaws and drives.

Honestly, I did enjoy the book - but maybe, it was due to the fact I so loved the first book and that bled over. I'm curious to see where Cronin takes us in the next book (it's supposed to be a trilogy).

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

The bus ride to school takes a fateful turn in this gripping, completely engrossing apocalypse story. Boulder-sized hail and a deadly bus crash are just the beginning, and a group of kids (kindergarten through high school) are forced to persevere during an epic crisis.

Fortunately, they're trapped inside a superstore. As they find ways to be safe, stay well, and keep busy, the kids form a community - complete with romances, rivalries, and disagreements.

I loved this book, until I got to the very end: This book has NO conclusion. Perhaps they're planning on a series. Even with that plan, there needs to be some resolution at the end in order to make a stand-alone story. I needed something! Instead, there's action-action-action ... blank page. 

The Passage by Justin Cronin

Sorry I haven't posted any new books in a while ... I was reading this 800-page giant. I'd like to tell you I just sat down and read it in a sitting, but that would be a lie. :) Actually, I took it in about 100-page chunks at a time. And loved every one of them.

I've read reviews that say, essentially, if you dismiss this as a vampire book, you're missing the point. I'd agree. I actually thought the vampire element was diminished in importance by the "epic quest" element of the story (and decided that most vampire lovers would be disappointed if that's why they picked up this book). But in honesty, I also didn't realize this is the first book in a trilogy until I got to the end; maybe the other books will be all chock-full-o'-vampire-goodness.

The government is trying to build a super soldier. Sound familiar? This time, they're working with a virus that makes biological changes, including slowing the aging process (it also makes those infected kill to drink blood). Just as the military thinks they've got things perfected, the test-patients take over and the world's in trouble.

Jump ahead 100 years. Humans live a life of vigilance to stay alive. The community described could be the only humans left alive; they're so completely cut off they don't know if there's another un-infected person anywhere. Their life and armor are becoming harder to maintain as technology ages. Then one day, a "walker" appears at their gates: a mute, young human woman. And everything shifts.

The time shifts in this book were interesting. It begins just a few years ahead of today, and the action in this book happens within a hundred-year period. But the various diary entries, scholarly papers, and narratives touch the future as far as a thousand years out, giving historical perspective and some foreshadowing to the story.

I really enjoyed the book, and recommend it for sci-fi and military lovers. Although this is not my usual genre, I will look forward to the sequel to find out what's coming next. The book leaves you with more than one cliffhanger to ponder and some gut-wrenching hints.