While Mortals Sleep
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
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In his touching preface, writer Dave Eggars refers to Kurt Vonnegut Jr. as a “hippie Mark Twain”. Never has Vonnegut’s appeal been described so accurately. While Mortals Sleep features unpublished, short fiction pieces by the Slaughterhouse- Five, Breakfast of Champions and Cats Cradle author. This is the second posthumously released collection (the first being Look At the Birdie) and it focuses solely on the author’s early work before receiving literary notoriety. In these stories, we get a preview of themes and tones that will exist later in his most famous writings: mainly bizarro science fiction and his select brand of acerbic wit and humor (this is where we mostly relate his Twain influence).
In these rich stories, we encounter the mother and widow of a fallen World War II soldier, a restless newspaper man who has no time for Christmas and a scientist who falls in love with a talking refrigerator he’s modeled after his ex-wife. These tales from the young author manage to succeed as classic Vonnegut.
Reviewed by Jason
Tagged: Fiction, Humor, Science fiction
Halting State
by Charles Stross
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This science fiction adventure takes place in a semi-dystopian future in which our reliance on internet technologies and mobile devices has increased just enough to appear both futuristic and close at hand. The story, written from multiple perspectives and told entirely in the second person, follows a group of strangers brought together by a strange crime committed inside a computer game. The style takes some getting used to, but overall, this is a very fun book.
Reviewed by Ben
Tagged: Fiction, Science fiction
Inside Job
by Connie Willis
[Book]
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Willis, one of sci-fi’s most spirited writers, rounds on the New Age; pays tribute to a great, skeptical journalist, and upends doubters and fakes alike. Unexpected ending.
Reviewed by Forbes Library Staff
Tagged: Fiction, Science fiction
The Eyre Affair
by Jasper Fforde
[Book]
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Surreal and hilariously funny, this alternate history, the debut novel of British author Fforde, will appeal to lovers of zany genre work (think Douglas Adams) and lovers of classic literature alike. Set in 1985 in an alternate London, literature is (refreshingly) so important that you can get punished for forging Byronic verses. Then someone starts kidnapping literary characters from their manuscripts. Jane Eyre’s disappearance is particularly traumatic and Special Operative Thursday Next must stop this before it’s too late.
Reviewed by Forbes Library Staff
Tagged: Fiction, Science fiction
Passage
by Connie Willis
[Book]
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A clinical psychologist obsessed with near death experiences, Joanna Lander joins forces with Dr. Richard Wright, a neurologist who has come up with a way to manufacture NDEs in the laboratory with the help of a mind-altering drug, but the experiments may yield far more than she ever anticipated when she volunteers to become a test subject in the experiment. This book a a mind-bender.
Reviewed by Forbes Library Staff
Tagged: Fantasy, Fiction, Science fiction
The Time Traveler’s Wife
[DVD]
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A time bending tale of love trying to stretch to its limits. This science fiction film has characters who win you with their believability and their commitment never to give up on love.
Reviewed by Forbes Library Staff
Tagged: Feature film, Science fiction
Asimov’s Mysteries
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A collection of short stories, each of which could equally well be described as science fiction and as a mystery. These stories are fun, amusing, and all the more charming for being a little dated. A quick, easy read.
Reviewed by Ben
Tagged: Fiction, Mystery, Science fiction, Short stories
