Title

Author: Rudolph Kohn

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: April 26, 2023

Genres: Science Fiction

Length: 9 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 5 Stars

Blurb:

The war between artificial intelligence and mankind is almost over. VeeTwo agreed to finish the war in exchange for a plot of land with abundant resources, but a strange intruder with a cryptic message interrupts her plans.

Content Warning: Brief references to war.

Review:

Every battle must eventually end.

There was a philosophical bent to this tale that I found intriguing. This is something I’m saying as a reader who is only an occasional visit to this corner of the literary realm, so it’s a rare compliment from me. Those of you who regularly read this sort of stuff may be even more into it than I was despite my stellar rating as there very well could be moments I missed that fans would pick up on more easily. VeeTwo, the protagonist, was a thoughtful and kind robot who I’m glad I got to know, especially once their life became much less predictable after they arrived home from the war. Few things are as satisfying as seeing a character you feel connected to experience something that tests their value system in all sorts of unexpected way.

War isn’t generally a topic I enjoy reading about, either but I liked the way Mr. Kohn veered around the bloody aspects of it to explore what happens when one side has won and there are no more battles to fight. This is generally something that’s saved for the final scene or maybe not even discussed at all, so it was amusing to see it become the main focal point of a short story for once. What a creative way to explore what it means to live a good life, and not to mention an author grabbing my attention with two topics that are a little outside of my comfort zone. Bravo!

The ending was what convinced me to give this a full five-star rating. It wasn’t quite a plot twist due to some subtle foreshadowing earlier on, but it did fit the themes of this piece beautifully and gave me everything I was hoping to find from the characters. I especially loved how it not only resolved the main conflict but also left space for a sequel if the author ever decides to write one. Regardless of whether or not that happens, I’ll be thinking about these characters and their society for a long time.

Outpost was a wild and immensely satisfying ride. 

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Several of my loved ones, including my spouse, don’t like having their photos shared on the Internet. Their absence in their post is a sign of my respect for their wishes and nothing more.

I love spending time in nature. This was taken at one of my favourite parks here in Toronto  back in May.

Obviously, you all already know I spend a lot of time writing all sorts of things.

We love Pride festivities  (assuming no migraines that weekend, of course). It’s such a happy and welcoming place. This was taken at the end of June during a rare quiet moment in the section of Pride where all of the booths and street food are located.

No, this didn’t happen on the same day as the park visit. Purple is my favourite colour, so I wear that shirt a lot.

I gained some weight over the past few years while dealing with a few painful health conditions, one of which is now hopefully resolved for good.  While I still have weight to lose, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished since last autumn when I started focusing on my health more. (My body can easily develop another migraine as a result of exercise, dehydration from perspiring more than usual, or how much I eat, so it’s a delicate balance between sticking to healthier habits and not triggering bonus migraines. Aren’t bodies fun? Ha!).

My favourite types of exercise include kickboxing, weightlifting, dancing, yoga, and walking. Swimming and cycling are great, too, although I haven’t done either in a long time.

Whimsical thngs often attract my attention. Here’s a photo of me and my mom sitting in two comically large chairs in a park in Windsor, Ontario. We met up there in June and had a wonderful long weekend together.

And, look, I didn’t wear the same purple shirt that day. I did still wear purple, though. Ha!

Finally, look how close I am to being finished with Spanish on Duolingo! There are eight sections of learning for this language, each of which is divided again into many subsections of lessons. I think I’ll finish it this year at this rate.

The original theme for this week was “Books I HAD to Have Immediately but Still Haven’t Read.” It’s quite rare for me to buy books without immediately reading them, so I’m tweaking the topic a little to talk about some library books on my TBR list that I am looking forward to reading instead.

1. The End of My Life Is Killing Me: The Unexpected Joys of a Cancer Slacker by Annabelle Gurwitch

Why I’m Interested: Stage 4 cancer doesn’t seem like something that’s inherently funny, but I’m drawn to the idea of making the best of whatever is happening to you and trying to find the humour in hard circumstances when possible. No, I’m not talking about toxic positivity here. Think of it more like living in the moment and looking for the good when you can.

2. The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon: The Diary of a Courtesan in Tenth Century Japan by Sei Shōnagon, Dennis Washburn (Foreword), Arthur Waley (Translator)

Why I’m Interested:  I’ve never read a book like this before.

3. Church Girl by Naima Simone

Why I’m Interested: Every so often I peek over into the romance genre to see if anything looks interesting, and this is one of those rare titles from it that I might want to read.

4. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Why I’m Interested: My parents and the vast majority of my other relatives are wonderful human beings with whom I have warm, healthy relationships, but I also know what it’s like to be related to or otherwise socially connected to someone who stirs up difficult and painful emotions.  If only we lived in a world that was more open to discussing such topics and emotionally supporting people who don’t have the “typical” reaction to complex relationships or the death of a relative. You never know what’s really going on behind the scenes in a family or social group in general, so these folks won’t receive any judgement from me about how they should behave under these circumstances.

5. The Future of Work Is Grey: The Untapped Value of Age in the Workforce by Dan Pontefract

Why I’m Interested: This isn’t something that personally affects me (yet, of course), but I wholeheartedly support all efforts to reduce and eliminate discrimination, especially in the workplace given that just about everyone must work for a living. There’s absolutely no reason to make the job hunt harder than it already is for many folks!

 

6. The Beauty of Being Weird: A Psychologist’s Guide to Living Guilt-Free by Sergi Rufi

Why I’m Interested: There is definitely something to be said for learning to be comfortable in your own skin.

7. Playmakers: The Jewish Entrepreneurs Who Created the Toy Industry in America by Michael Kimmel

Why I’m Interested: This is another slice of history I know nothing about, but I want to change that.

8. You x Me by Ayla Vejdani

Why I’m Interested: I know nothing about dating app culture these days, so this anthology could be a good read. (Can you tell I love learning new stuff?)

9. Homesick for a World Unknown: The Life of George B. Schaller by Miriam Horn

Why I’m Interested: I’m intrigued by the lives of scientists who worked generations ago and want to know more about their lives and accomplishments.

10. Big Worlds: Politics and Elections in the Canadian Provinces and Territories by Jared J. Wesley

(Apologies, but this was as large as this image could be sized).

Why I’m Interested: Canadian culture is fascinating and I love learning about the differences between one place here and another. It’s not a topic that our local news covers very often, and I have not travelled to most parts of my country yet.

Title

Authors and Editor: Joshua Whitehead (Editor), Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler (Contributor), Darcie Little Badger (Contributor), Gwen Benaway (Contributor), Gabriel Castilloux Calderón (Contributor), Adam Garnet Jones (Contributor), Mari Kurisato (Contribuot), Kai Minosh Pyle (Contributor), David Alexander Robertson (Contributor), jaye simpson (Contributor), Nazbah Tom (Contributor)

Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press

Publication Date: September 1, 2020

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, LGBTQ+

Length: 192 pages

Source: I borrowed it from the library.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

A bold and breathtaking anthology of queer Indigenous speculative fiction, edited by the author of Jonny Appleseed.

This exciting and groundbreaking fiction collection showcases a number of new and emerging 2SQ (Two-Spirit and queer) Indigenous writers from across Turtle Island. These visionary authors show how queer Indigenous communities can bloom and thrive through utopian narratives that detail the vivacity and strength of 2SQness throughout its plight in the maw of settler colonialism’s histories.

Here, readers will discover bioengineered AI rats, transplanted trees in space, the rise of a 2SQ resistance camp, a primer on how to survive Indigiqueerly, virtual reality applications, mother ships at sea, and the very bending of space-time continuums queered through NDN time. Love after the End demonstrates the imaginatively queer Two-Spirit futurisms we have all been dreaming of since 1492.

Content Warning:

Review:

What happens after climate change begins to make Earth a difficult place to survive?

The plot twists in “Seed Children” made me smile. I especially liked the way the protagonist, a synthetic person, described her relationships with the children in her life. She was a kind and gentle soul who I wanted to see live happily ever after. The contrast between her sweet personality and the harsh world she lived in provided another layer of meaning as well. Some people are hardened by their circumstances, so to see her remain true to herself only made the ending all that more satisfying.

In “History of the New World,” Em and her family were given a chance to move away from a dying Earth to a habitable planet that scientists had recently discovered. The world building was well done, but there a few things about the character development, especially as it pertained to Em’s wife Thorah, that I would have loved to see developed more fully. The choice Thorah made simply didn’t feel believable to me. Understanding her decision was crucial to a certain moment in the pot, so not having it dampened my enthusiasm for the ending.

My favourite story in this anthology was “How to Survive the Apocalypse for Native Girls” due to how the narrator evolved as she realized what kind of advice she should actually be sharing to future generations. While I can’t go into a lot of detail about that without giving away spoilers, I can say that the character development was fantastic and that I wish this had a sequel. There was so much more I wanted to know not only about this character but also the complex world she lived in!

Love After the End – An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction was an interesting assortment of stories.

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I tend to believe that the right books will appear when we need them, but there are a few books I wish had shown up earlier in my life.

Someone – probably my aunt or grandmother – gave me the first few Anne Shirley books as a kid, but I didn’t read the rest of them until I was an adult. Either my local library didn’t have them or someone else had borrowed them every time I looked as I do remember searching for them.

Anne’s House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery

I read the first three books in this series as a preteen and watched the film version of Anne of Windy Poplars as well. Everything from Anne’s House of Dreams onwards were titles I read in adulthood. I enjoyed seeing Anne as a wife and mother, although her life turned out quite differently than I had dreamed it might.

The Shelters of Stone (Earth’s Children, #5) by Jean M. Auel

It appears that I need to grumble about this series once again. I read the first four books many years after they were first released, and then I had to wait years to read books 5 and another long stretch of time before book 6. If only each new instalment could have been released every 3-4 years at the most so I could have finished this series sooner and not spent so much time assuming it would end satisfactorily. I will refrain from listing the many plot holes and abandoned conflicts that irritated me along the way. Ha.

I look forward to seeing what everyone else came up with!

My apologies, but I could not come up with good answers for the original theme this week, Books That Live in My Head Rent-Free. 

Therefore, here are ten books I’ve read that start with the letter B. It’s been years since I read them, but I do remember thinking they were all good reads!

1.Baby Doctor: A Pediatrician’s Training by Perri Klass

2.The Ballad of Tom Dooley (Ballad, #9) by Sharyn McCrumb

3.  Bog Child by Siobahn Dowd

4. The Bear by Claire Cameron

5. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

6.Breaking Vegan: One Woman’s Journey from Veganism, Extreme Dieting, and Orthorexia to a More Balanced Life by Jordan Younger

7. The Beauty: Poems by Jane Hirshfield

8. Bad Faith: When Religious Belief Undermines Modern Medicine by Paul A. Offit

(This book cover was too large to load).

9.  Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflection on Race and Medicine by Damon Moody

10. Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina

Title

Author: Suzanne Palmer

Publisher: DAW

Publication Date: May 26, 2026

Genres: Science Fiction

Length: 416 pages

Source: I borrowed it from my local library.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Forty years ago, the world nearly ended.

Be is an old robot who was there, and doesn’t want to think about what happened, or what role they played in that conflict. They have settled into a life of isolation in the abandoned ruins of an old mill in the former New York Botanical Gardens, disinterested in what has happened in the outside world since they stepped away from the war. Someone out there, though, has not forgotten about them, and when they are attacked, their person vandalized, and one of their leg stolen, they set out to find the thief accompanied by a cyborg dog and a human mechanic.

The world has changed, but the recovery from the war is uneven and faltering, and Be begins to suspect a malicious hand trying to rekindle the old conflict and finish what was started. In order to stop them, Be needs to come to terms with both their own past and who they have become, and how everything and everyone else they knew has changed in their absence. Being left alone is no longer an option, and peace may be impossible.

This is a story about coming to terms with your past, with who you’ve become and who you still want to be: a tale of resilence and hope, an ode to those struggling to become whole in a world half-broken.

Content Warning: War, multiple pandemics, references to mass graves (mostly from disease).

Review:

Some things are too precious to part with.

Be’s backstory was a true highlight of this tale. This character didn’t’ identify as any gender or with any set of pronouns, but I will be using they and them to discuss them for the sake of making this review as easy to comprehend as possible given this character’s unique personality. While I can’t go into any detail about their past without sharing spoilers, what I can say is that it was well written and gave me fresh insight into many of their quirks that were shown from the beginning but not explained at that point. If every scene was written this way, I would have happily gone with a much higher rating as I was immersed in Be’s unique way of thinking about the world and genuinely thought of them as a robot who was filled with secrets.

As excited as I was about the premise, I struggled with the slow pacing of this novel. Every step along Be’s quest to retrieve their stolen leg unfolded slowly, and action sequences were few and far between.  This is something I’m saying as someone who loved the Monk and Robot duology and originally decided to read this due to the numerous references other readers made to those books while reviewing this one. There were similarities between them, of course, but I found myself wishing for more character development in order to tide me over until the next round of exciting events as the protagonist travelled around.

The world building was complex and memorable. Some of the best scenes in my opinion were the ones that explored the myriad of ways both robots and humans have adapted to a world several decades from now in which disease, war, and global warming have upended many of the old rules about what society, nature, and the weather are supposed to be like. There was a wide range of responses to these overlapping crises that included communities I might like to live if given a choice in this universe as well as highly dangerous areas where even robots couldn’t travel safely. Sharing too many details about these topics would give away spoilers, but do keep an eye out for the breadth of possibilities as you read.

Ode to the Half-Broken was thought provoking.

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This is an automatic no from me.

Life is filled with enough danger as is if I keep my own two feet firmly planted on the ground.

I have no reason to seek out more of either of those things by jumping out of planes. Honestly, that sounds terrifying.

If I wanted to be scared, I’d watch a horror movie instead. Zombies are frightening enough, and they’re not even real unless you’re talking about traditional Haitian folklore about stealing other people’s souls or those poor little carpenter ants that get infected by Ophiocordyceps unilateralis and start doing things that are very uncharacteristic for their species.

My theory about extreme sports like skydiving is that they mostly appeal to people whose lives are already pretty easy and who crave large doses of adrenaline.

The rest of us are busy just trying to survive one hour or day at a time as health issues, budget considerations, work problems,  caregiving responsibilities, etc. pop up.  We don’t need extra stuff on our plates. If anything, we probably want some peace and quiet as we rest our nervous systems instead of stimulate them.

We’ll see if this theory actually rings true as responses to this post start popping up. Who knows? Maybe I’m the only WWBC participant who doesn’t want to court danger. I have been wrong about some of my predictions for this community in the past!

All of these books are on my TBR list, and many of them have long waitlists at the local library. I enjoy the anticipation that comes with trying new authors. Sometimes you can find some real gems that way!

1. Trans and Disabled: An Anthology of Identities and Experiences by Alex Iantaffi (Editor)

Why I’m Interested: I’ve been trying to read more books by and about people who are LGBTQ+ or disabled. Including both groups in the same anthology makes it even more appealing to me.

2. Somewhere, a Boy and a Bear: A. A. Milne and the Creation of “Winnie-the-Pooh” by Gyles Brandreth

Why I’m Interested: I loved Winnie-the-Pooh as a kid and am looking forward to learning more about the inspiration behind those classic tales.

3. Facing Infinity: Black Holes and Our Place on Earth by Jonas Enander

Why I’m Interested: I am fascinated by black holes.

4. Wild Swans by Jung Chang

Why I’m Interested: I adore multi-generational family sagas, and this one sounds wonderful.

5. Celestina’s House by Clarissa Trinidad Gonzalez

(I wasn’t able to size up this book cover, unfortunately).

Why I’m Interested: Celestina seems like such a memorable character.

6. In Sickness and in Health: Love Stories from the Front Lines of America’s Caregiving Crisis by Laura Mauldin

Why I’m Interested: I’ve been responsible for caregiving duties in the past. People who haven’t lived through that experience don’t always understand how much time and effort it can require from caregivers. While this book was written about the U.S. in particular, I hope it will have some good advice for caregivers from other countries as well.

7. Keeper of Lost Children by Sadeqa Johnson

Why I’m Interested: I don’t know much about what happened to the mixed-raced children who were conceived during World War II and then abandoned by one or both parents soon afterwards. World War II generally isn’t a setting I seek out, but this could be a great read.

8. Lokum by Selin Kahramanoglu

Why I’m Interested: Turkish culture is another topic I don’t know much about. Isn’t it wonderful that books can teach us so much about the world and how other people live?

9. Every Exit Brings You Home by Naeem Murr

Why I’m Interested: The blurb mentions a wide variety of conflicts, and I’m curious to see how they will blend together.

10. The Best Dog in the World: Essays on Love by Alice Hoffman

Why I’m Interested: It sounds sweet and wholesome. I love seeing how dogs react when their favourite human approaches them.

Author: Ana Oncina

Publisher: LoveLove

Publication Date: February 18, 2025

Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery, LGBTQ+, Romance, Contemporary, Futuristic

Length: 224 pages

Source: I borrowed it from the library.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Welcome to Planeta.For months, Valentina has been dreaming of a strange world and a beautiful girl.In her dreams, she’s Val3, and she and An3 live together on a lonely planet in a distant future, entirely unlike the picturesque village where Valentina resides in her waking life. One fateful day, Val’s world gets turned upside down when the girl from her dreams appears in front of her as Anne.While Valentina and Val3 grapple for control of their respective realities, the question of which is real threatens to derail the course of both their love stories. In either world, can anyone really be made for each other…?

Content Warning: Depression.

Review:

Who wouldn’t want their dreams to come true?

The romance between Valentina (Val3) and Anne (An3) was sweet and gentle. I loved seeing them interact with each other and wondered what their future(s) might hold together. These were among my favorite scenes in this graphic novel, and I would have enjoyed having even more of them. They added depth to the plot and helped me get to know both of these characters much better than I would have otherwise. It was a good example of how the romance and science fiction genres can be blended together in natural ways that can appeal to fans who might otherwise not pick up a book from one of those genres.

I struggled to understand the ending and thought what was shared in those last few scenes didn’t match the tone of everything that had come before. It felt like the storyline was foreshadowing a conclusion that never ended up happening.  For example, the dual timelines were written in way that made me think one of them was the real one and the other was a dream world, but this mystery was never really solved. As much as I wanted to give this one a higher rating, my confusion and disappointment at how this wrapped up prevented me from doing so.

With that being said, this story did capture the feeling of waking up from a hyper-realistic dream and being momentarily confused and disappointed that none of those events actually took place. This isn’t something that’s easy to explain in fiction, so kudos to Ms. Oncina for making it feel so realistic and relatable. I can’t think of many other authors who have pulled it off, and it makes me want to read more from her in the future.

Planeta was creative.