Desolation Road ~Ian McDonald

–originally published 1988
–Pyr Books edition, 2009
–365 pages
–nominated for Arthur C. Clarke Award
–4.25/5 stars

In the lonely vast desert of a terraformed Mars, Dr. Alimantando meets his destiny in the form of a greenperson. This brief, almost spiritual, meeting puts Dr. Alimantando in just the right place to help a malfunctioning environmental engineering module create an oasis in the desert. This oasis, sprung unplanned alongside a railroad track, is the seed that becomes the town of Desolation Road.

Desolation Road, by its very essence of existing where a town should not exist, acts like a magnet, drawing an interesting and varied cast of characters that will shape its destiny.

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Star Trek Vanguard: Harbinger ~David Mack

–published 2005
–374 pages, Pocket Books
–4/5 stars

With the successful reboot of the Star Trek franchise this past summer, it was all I could do to restrain myself from diving head long into original series novels. Wanting to honor the reading I was currently involved in, I squirreled away that desire for another time. Watching the film again on DVD so close to the third annual Sci Fi Experience was just the excuse I required to unleash this hunger for some new adventures with old friends. And I knew just where I wanted to start–with the Vanguard Saga. Although the first novel ultimately does little more than set the stage, it does so with superb writing from an author who is obviously devoted to the franchise. If you are looking for some old school Star Trek with a new flair, your search is at an end.

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Chasm City ~Alastair Reynolds

–published 2001
–Ace Books, 694 pages
–Winner 2002 British Science Fiction Association Prize
–5/5 stars

Tanner Mirabel is a “security expert”, driven by his own sense of honor to avenge the death of his former boss’ wife at the hands of a man named Argent Reivich. His mission of vengeance carries him to one of the most richly realized and imagination inspiring places ever created in a science fiction novel–Chasm City. Far from being a simple tale of revenge, Alastair Reynold’s award-winning space opera captivates the reader with engaging characters, skillful and exciting world-building, and a deeply layered plot that satisfies on so many levels.

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Podkayne of Mars ~Robert A. Heinlein

–originally published in novel form in 1963, my version 1970
–176 pages, Berkley Books
–3.75/5 stars

Robert Heinlein was and remains one of America’s most celebrated science fiction authors. Although Heinlein wrote a number of short stories for various magazines on any variety of themes, his first published work in novel form, and several of his novels thereafter, were classified as “juveniles”, what would be defined as YA (Young Adult) today. His later works took on more decidedly adult themes and were definitely not for a younger audience. The two books that seem to fit in between these two styles were Starship Troopers and Podkayne of Mars. According to Wiki, “both books were written for a publisher expecting to market a juvenile science fiction novel, and both raised serious objections from the publisher.” More on that later.

I picked up a used copy, pictured above, on a birthday celebration/Christmas gift visit to Half Price Books last week for a whopping two dollars. Something about the cover and the size of the book and my previous positive experiences with Heinlein, and an ever-growing urge to immerse myself in science fiction, made me want to get right to this novel. And that is just what I did, reading it over the course of a day or two this holiday weekend. I’m glad I did. While not my favorite Heinlein story to date, it was a very engaging tale with an interesting history to it.

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Boneshaker ~Cherie Priest

–published 2009
–Tor Books, 416 pages
–4.5/5 stars

“A steampunk-zombie-airship adventure of rollicking pace and sweeping proportions, full of wonderfully gnarly details. This book is made of irresistable.”
~Scott Westerfield

“Boneshaker is without a doubt Cherie Priest’s breakthrough work: This hollering, stamping, crackling thing is the best fun you’ll have with a book all year.”
~Warren Ellis

“If Jules Verne and George Romero got together to rewrite American history, it might go something like this. I loved it. I want more.”
~Mike Mignola

Three quotes from three authors with incredible geek cred who are also at the top of their game. Combine that with the eye-catching Jon Foster cover, the fact that steampunk is one of my favorite sub-genres of science fiction, and the fact that I have heard nothing but high praise for Cherie Priest in the past and had yet to read her fiction and you have a recipe that made it a foregone conclusion that I would be picking this book up as soon as it was released.

The risk of showcasing the above quotes and of tossing out the “steampunk” label is that it could potentially scare away readers who would:

a) Profess that a book like this is “not their kind of thing”.

b) Erroneously presume that this book is some sort of Night of the Living Dead zombie-fest.

and/or

c) Fear that any book categorized as science fiction would contain technical details that they just would not understand.

If you will allow me a few minutes of your time, dear readers, I will attempt to dispel those concerns and explain to you why this book should not only go immediately on your to-read lists, but should be a book that you read soon. Very soon.

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