THE FERRYMAN

5 stars out of 5

No matter what I write about this awesome book, it's going to sound like I'm a blithering idiot. At the moment, at least, I'm awestruck; after finishing it, I still can't believe another human could conceive such a complex story, much less write it coherently and so engrossingly that I really, really didn't want to put it down.

So what's it about? Well, in general it's a sort of "Soylent Green" meets "Brave New World" with a few other fantasy/science fiction works that played with our minds mixed in. The setting is Prospera, an archipelago that's a sort of utopia for residents. They live their lives for the most part in the lap of luxury, served mostly by "Support Staff" who live, some in squalor, on a nearby island known as the Annex.

Prospera's citizens have some kind of monitor in their forearms that are "read" with regularity. When their physical and mental health fall below an established percentage - which may not happen for many years - they are retired (voluntarily, for the most part) and sent to a nearby island called the Nursery. There, they are turned into what are called "iterations" who begin life all over again and returned to Prospera to begin another life cycle with no memories of their previous stint (or stints) there.

One of those iterations is Proctor Bennett, who as a young man was adopted by husband and wife parents and now, at age 42, serves as a Ferryman - one who personally escorts the retirees to the ferry that will take them to the Nursery to begin their transformation. On one fateful day, he gets a somewhat unsettling charge: the man he's to escort to the ferry is his own father. All goes well until the last minute, when his father suddenly balks and a fiasco ensues - Proctor must do whatever it takes to get his charges on the ferry, after all. But his father utters some cryptic words that are confusing and upsetting but at the same time make him determined to get to the truth, especially since he's been having strange dreams of late (and Prospera's reiterations don't dream). On top of that, Proctor's arm monitor readings have been dropping like a rock. How long will he have before he, too, must be traded in for a reiterated model?

As all this is going on, all is not well on the Annex, where the people are becoming unhappy with their servile status. Led by a resistance group called the Arrivalists, their unrest seems to be quickly turning toward out-and-out revolt. 

And it is here that I must stop, even though I've barely scratched the surface of this 500+ page tale. For that, I'll blame the author; you see, he's concocted so many - well, not exactly twists and turns, but rather angles and perspectives - that mentioning much of anything that happens beyond the first few chapters would totally spoil it for others.

Okay, did all that make sense to you? I didn't think so. Ignore my ramblings and go read it for yourself - you won't be sorry. Meanwhile, I'll just say a big THANK YOU to the publisher, via NetGalley, for offering me a pre-release copy of this mind-bending book to read and review. 

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin (Ballantine Books, May 2023); 560 pp.

THE PARADOX HOTEL

5 stars out of 5

Back when I was a teenager and Jeff Bezos, much less Amazon, wasn't even a gleam in his mother's eye, science fiction was my favorite genre. Dogeared paperbacks by Bradbury, Orwell and Heinlein were all over the house (who could afford hardbacks)? This book, coming to me in the form of a prerelease review copy - thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley - brings back much of that early interest in time wrinkles and such, but with a twist: Even though it's set in 2072, a lot is relevant to today, when Kindles and virtual wallets are taken for granted and billionaires tout cryptocurrency,  excursions into outer space and elimination of fossil fuels. In fact, climate change has taken a toll here, obliterating Florida and New Orleans, and there's talk of colonization on other planets. The latter isn't being taken too seriously, even with the prediction of an estimated two generations of life left on earth; instead, guests at the Paradox Hotel enjoy taking trips to long-ago periods using the nearby Timeport. Heck, there's even a shop in the hotel that rents costumes appropriate for the destination.

January Cole used to be a guide on these tours, making sure paying guests follow the rules and don't do anything that could alter something that happens in the future. Now, she's chief of security at the hotel, taken off the job that she loved because she's become an "Unstuck" - the term for a person for whom the present isn't always present. She can see things no one else can, and that's not a good thing; the condition will only get worse, the end stage being an vegetable-like existence until her body gives out. Her big challenge as the story opens is maintaining control over a very important conference; the hotel, owned and managed by the government, is losing money, so the plan is to sell it off. To that end, a group of four trillionaires are gathering to place bids - and not surprisingly, security is a nightmare.

But concurrently, a blizzard is rolling in so time travel bookings, flights and transportation services are shut down; nobody can go anywhere. Worse, January finds a dead man in her room - except no one else can see it, so she's pretty sure he's the victim of a murder that hasn't happened yet. She also sees someone who has died who was once very close to her, but she doesn't dare reveal that lest she be sent away never to see her again. In the midst of all this, clocks start going screwy, electricity flickers, and January's drone, Ruby, gets flustered from time to time (pun intended) for no apparent reason. Something's going very wrong, but no one can, or wants, to believe January because of her shaky mental state. She sets off to investigate, but she can't do it alone so faces still another challenge: Who can she trust when she can't even fully trust herself?

All that said, let the action begin as she fights to keep her job amid a trio of smuggled-in prehistoric critters, fighting among guests who demand only the best accommodations and unsettling visions of the past and future. As I suspected from the beginning, this is a very complex, but thoroughly entertaining, story that's action-packed but requires more than a little concentration to fully comprehend (which, IMHO, is well worth the effort). And if you're like me, strains from "Hotel California" will run through your head almost from the first page. For a big Eagles fan like me, that's not a bad thing, but for others, forewarned is forearmed. And to this very talented author, thanks for rekindling an old passion.

The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart (Ballantine Books, February 2022); 336 pp.

PROJECT HAIL MARY

5 stars out of 5

Right up front, I'll tell you there's one thing I didn't like about this book: Almost from the git-go, I couldn't get my mind off the possibilities for how it would end - and not a single one sounded appealing. Also in my mind was this: How do you top two previous stellar (pun intended) books by this author - "The Martian" and "Artemis?" Honestly, I'm not sure which of the three I loved the most, so I'll just go the advice of Stephen Stills: Love the One You're With.

And boy, did I ever. Mind you, I'm both math- and science-challenged, and the MacGyver-like musings and calculations by science teacher Dr. Ryland Grace by and large were Greek to me. No matter; thanks to a winning recipe of writing and storytelling - liberally sprinkled with humor - it was easy to figure out what the good doctor's intentions were (well, enough to know to hold my breath during the let's-hope-this-works parts and cheer wildly when they did).

The story begins as Grace wakes up in a mental fog, in a strange bed, connected to tubes and besieged by a computer that spits out questions to which he can't recall the answers. Slowly, the fog lifts - and he realizes he's in a room with two dead bodies in some kind of container somewhere in outer space. But he still can't remember his own name, much less how he got where he is and why.

As reality sets in, chapters flash back and forth to his pre-mission days - letting readers in on pre-launch events as well as the task it's hoped he can complete (let's just say it involves preventing the extinction of a very important planet). Along the way, of course, his memory starts to return, ushering in an awareness he'd rather not confront. And just when it seems all is lost, both emotionally and physically, an impossible-to-not-love stranger appears on the horizon who just happens to be stuck in a dire, and eerily similar, situation.

What happens from then on takes up the rest of the pages, and trust me, there's never a dull moment. Even though I'm itching to spill the beans, I can't get more specific without revealing too much, but I will say it's quite an exciting journey that evokes all kinds of emotions from gasps of fear to sighs of relief. Put another way, it's a book not to be missed. Many, many thanks to the publisher (via NetGalley) for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy. 

Oh, and those possible endings? Well, the real one wasn't even on my radar. Read the book and you'll understand.

Is good, question?

Tears in eyes, fist-bump: No. Is perfect.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Ballantine Books, May 2021); 496 pp.

THE IMMORTAL GENE

As I read this, the first of a new series, I couldn't help but feel I was channeling medical thriller-writer Dr. Robin Cook. While the sci-fi aspect here may be a little harder to swallow than in those books (pun intended, and if you've read it, you'll know what I'm talking about), that doesn't make it any less exciting.

The book begins with two separate stories, the first of which is a look into the life of Jeffrey Harris, a serial killer dubbed the "Blood Eagle Killer" because of what he does to the husband/father of the families he murders. The second focuses on Ontario Police Department Detective Jake Wood, a.k.a. new series hero), who's called in when the killer takes down a family in his jurisdiction. Just as he and partner and friend Kirk are getting into the nitty gritty, though, Jake has an unexpected allergy attack and lands in the hospital. While he's there, old friend and scientist Luke Mercer begs Jake to follow him to remote Brazil. Jake declines - at least until he gets a message from Luke saying it's a life-or-death situation.

From that point on, chapters shift between progress in the two plots. We see the serial killer making plans for his next big thrill. And after some serious action in Brazil, we learn that Jake has been sidelined in a hospital for 18 months; he wakes up to learn he's been gone so long that he's lost both his fiance and his dog (yee-haw, cue in the country song). His doctor, though, lets him in on a more astounding tidbit: After a freak ingestion of snake venom out in the wilds, Jake has somehow acquired reptilian characteristics. Say what?

If that's a bit of a stretch for readers, imagine how tough it is for Jake. He comes home to find that some nasty folks want a piece of his hide, but that just gives him a reason to put his newfound powers to the test. As he deals with the bad guys, he tries to balance what he's feeling inside and out with what he felt before - hoping to maintain some semblence of a human relationship with Kirk (just as Kirk struggles to understand the ramifications of the "new" Jake, such as his rather unusual taste in food). Then lo and behold, they agree to once again tackle the serial killer case - bringing the whole thing full circle. There's a cliffhanger ending, but I suppose that's intended to whet readers' appetites for what's to come. The only way that works for me, though, is if the author will be releasing that next one within a month or two; a year and another 100 books later, I'll have totally forgotten the details of everything I wrote about here.

If I have an issue, it's that the concurrent plots are wildly different; and with the exception of one barely noticeable clue fairly early on, it was impossible for me to envision them connected in any way (even though common sense and reading enough novels that use this approach told me they must somehow converge). And converge they do - but not till after the halfway point. For me, that was frustrating; the connection - or at least a few other breadcrumbs - should have come sooner (boo, hisssssss). Other than that, though, this series is off to a fine start with an intriguing character. Count me in!

The Immortal Gene by Jonas Saul (Vesuvian Books, July 2018); 334 pp.

ARTEMIS

5 stars out of 5

Okay, I'm Jazzed.

Finally - a heroine who's independent, feisty and could give MacGyver a run for his money. That much of the time Jasmine ("Jazz") Bashara skirts the edge of the law makes her all the more interesting. Throw in a kinky sense of humor that doesn't let up from start to finish, and I'm in it all the way.

Jazz, now in her mid-20s, has lived in Artemis - the first and so far only city on the moon - since early childhood. Residents live and work in five self-contained spheres called bubbles that have numerous fail-safes to protect residents from an unfriendly moon atmosphere. People come from all parts of Earth to live and visit (tourism is big business, and trips from Artemis to Earth take half a dozen days or so). Jazz herself is from Saudi Arabia, brought by her father, who practices the welding trade in his adopted city. They aren't particularly close - for openers, he's a practicing Muslim and she has no interest in any kind of religion.

Because it's forging new territory, life on Artemis isn't as fully regimented as is Earth; some rules, for instance, like no firearms (or fire of any kind, for that matter), are more stringent, mostly for safety reasons. In addition to her regular but peon-type job, Jazz has been smuggling goodies up from Earth for quite some time. But because she's almost desperate to earn lots of money (called "slugs" on Artemis) so she can move out of her coffin-like living quarters and eat food that isn't reminiscent of Soylent Green, she's hoping for something closer to a windfall.

Then along comes her big chance, in the form of filthy rich businessman Trond Landvik. He's consumed with the notion of putting Artemis's huge aluminum smelting operation out of commission so he can buy it at a fire-sale price and take over. Knowing her proclivity with a blowtorch (some skills she bothered to learn from her father) and willingness to color outside the lines, he offers Jazz a monumental amount of slugs if she can disable the company's four "harvesters" that gather rocks from the moon for use in the smelting process.

Needless to say, things don't exactly go according to plan, and Jazz and her cohorts more than once find themselves between a rock and a hard place (literally). Telling more would ruin the story for others, though, so you'll just have to read it to find out who wins and who loses. 

What I will venture to say is that I liked this book even better than the author's previous book, The Martian, which also earned 5 stars from me (and FYI, each of the two books stands totally alone). Admittedly, Jazz can grate on the nerves a bit, although overall I enjoyed the heck out of her sense of humor. And as was the case in The Martian, the technical stuff is both educational and fun but can be a bit overwhelming at times. 

But in the end, I loved it. Many thanks to the publisher (via NetGalley) for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Artemis by Andy Weir (Crown, November 2017); 320 pp.