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20 Books of Summer 2024: Wrap Up and Other Summer Reading

20 Books of Summer
It’s time to wrap up this challenge run by Cathy at 746 Books.

Last week, I honestly thought I’d be posting “well, I got 18.5 out of 20 this year.” Maybe a full 19. I guess I wasn’t too optimistic in July, either. But as of yesterday, I finished all 20 of this year’s selections. That’s the earliest I’ve completed this challenge in the four years I’ve done it.

Most of these were as good, if not better, I expected. A couple were just good enough, but I’m still glad that I read them. There was one that I DNF’d, and I do regret that–thankfully, I had a blast with the substitute. I only read 6 of my Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Summer 2024 to-Read List (That Aren’t on My 20 Books Challenge), although, to be fair–one of them only came out Tuesday, so I haven’t had much of a chance to get it. Sure, 5 of those 6 were for a tour or an ARC that I wanted to post about by publication. The four that have no deadline attached will hopefully be tackled next month. Hopefully.

Speaking of writing about…I’ve only written about 7 of these (3 posts should’ve been posted this week, but I couldn’t quite finish them before sleep overtook me). That’s my other September goal.

Anyway, it’s done, I had fun–I read things I’ve been meaning to get to for months (if not years). Color me satisfied.

✔ 1. This is Who We Are Now by James Bailey
✔ 2. Blood Reunion by JCM Berne
✔ 3. Ways And Truths And Lives by Matt Edwards
✔ 4. The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
✔ 5. Grammar Sex and Other Stuff: A Collection of (mostly humorous) Essays by Robert Germaux (my post about it)
✔ 6. The Camelot Shadow by Sean Gibson
✔ 7. Last King of California by Jordan Harper
✔ 8. Steam Opera by James T. Lambert (my post about it)
✔ 9. The Glass Frog by J. Brandon Lowry (my post about it)
✔ 10. The Legendary Mo Seto by A. Y. Chan (substitution) (my post about it)
✔ 11. Curse of the Fallen by H.C. Newell
✔ 12. Heart of Fire by Raina Nightengale
✔ 13. Detours and Do-overs by Wesley Parker (my post about it)
✔ 14. Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1 by Brock Poulson
✔ 15. Howl by e rathke (my post about it)
✔ 16. Bard Tidings by Paul J. Regnier
✔ 17. Panacea by Alex Robins
✔ 18. Cursed Cocktails by S.L. Rowland (my post about it)
✔ 19. Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp
✔ 20. The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong (my post about it)

20 Books of Summer '24 August Check In Chart

20 Books of Summer 2024: July Check-In

20 Books of Summer
Here’s a quick check-in for this challenge run by Cathy at 746 Books.

I am making a substitution, I had to DNF one of the books. With prejudice. That’s really all I want to say about it. (but that’s why one books is out of order on the graphic and list below).

Math is not my friend right now…I’m 50% done with the reading for this challenge with 33% of the time left. And I’ve written about 15% of the books.The book I’m substituting is one I need to be posting about on August 15, so that will help the latter stat at least.

Things aren’t looking good at this point. But I’m going to go down swinging (or reading…probably reading)

Let’s take a quick look at my progress in June:

✔ 1. This is Who We Are Now by James Bailey
2. Blood Reunion by JCM Berne
3. Ways And Truths And Lives by Matt Edwards
✔ 4. The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
✔ 5. Grammar Sex and Other Stuff: A Collection of (mostly humorous) Essays by Robert Germaux (my post about it)
✔ 6. The Camelot Shadow by Sean Gibson
✔ 7. Last King of California by Jordan Harper
✔ 8. Steam Opera by James T. Lambert
✔ 9. The Glass Frog by J. Brandon Lowry
10. The Legendary Mo Seto by A. Y. Chan
11. Curse of the Fallen by H.C. Newell
12. Heart of Fire by Raina Nightengale
✔ 13. Detours and Do-overs by Wesley Parker (my post about it)
14. Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1 by Brock Poulson
✔ 15. Howl by e rathke (my post about it)
16. Bard Tidings by Paul J. Regnier
17. Panacea by Alex Robins
✔ 18. Cursed Cocktails by S.L. Rowland
19. Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp
20. The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong

(subject to change, as is allowed, but I’m going to resist the impulse to tweak as much as I can).

20 Books of Summer '24 July Check In Chart

HC Chats with John Simons about RinthCon

I sat down a few days ago to talk with John Simons about the second year of his new Con, RinthCon, and the little twist to it that makes it an experience like no other you’ll find on the Convention Circuit today.

I posted a little something about RinthCon 2323 last year before the event, but didn’t follow up like I should’ve. I expect better of me this year.


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Are you a Reader of Things and want to chat with me about an author/series/something other than promoting your own work (which we will do, just not primarily)? I’d love to keep trying this, but I’m not ready to start pestering people about it. So please let me know.

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Return of The Griffin by JCM Berne: With No Time For Hope, Rohan Returns to Earth

The best part of getting this post finished (for me) is not that I’ve ticked off one more box on my “To Write” list, it’s that I can now move on to the third book in this series, Blood Reunion—which just might put me on target to catch up before this year ends.


Cover to Return of the Griffin by JCM BerneReturn of the Griffin

by JCM Berne

DETAILS:
Series: Hybrid Helix, #2
Publisher: The Gnost House
Publication Date: February 26, 2022
Format: Hardcover
Length: 389 pg.
Read Date: February 1-7, 2024
Buy from Bookshop.org Support Indie Bookstores

But I spent ten years training and fighting for the il’Drach. There arg Maybe a quarter million il’Drach alive, total, and yet they control most of this sector, running an empire of trillions. You know how? Because they have developed a system for winning wars. Which they’ve been drumming into me for a decade…

“I’m not saying you should follow me out to Nevada because you’re my friends or because I’m a great guy or because you really like me. I’m saying you should follow me because it turns out I’m not such a great guy, and that’s why I’m the right person to help you win this war.”

What’s Return of The Griffin About?

We start off* with Rohan rescuing some people who were foolish enough to try to visit the surface of Toth 3, as a nice and efficient way to pick up where we left off and to show how the time since Wistful Ascending has gone for Rohan, Wistful, and the rest.

* Okay, fine. Truly we start with a prologue in a tense moment that happens two weeks later than that, and toward the end of the novel. But I complained enough about that when I talked about Wistful Ascending, so I’ll bite my tongue now.

After a great action-filled opening to the book, Rohan returns to Wistful to find some old friends/acquaintances from Earth waiting for him. They want his help in locating another Hybrid hero, the greatest superhero from Earth—who, like Rohan, left to fight for the il’Drach. Rohan can’t help them, he says, because he’s dead. (we learned this last time). They can’t believe that anyone could kill Hyperion and become certain that the Earth is doomed.

Giant, unbelievably giant, two-legged sharks that can breathe on land have emerged, one by one, from the Pacific. The first was killed after super-powered heroes and villains from Japan stopped it (and got some help)—between the creature, the fight, and the means used to destroy it, millions died. Including most—if not all—of the super-powered population of Japan. The second wipes out a similar number. The third was still alive when they left to find Hyperion.

I’m not sure how to capture the size of these two-legged sharks. But Ben Stone gets closest (and pithiest) by observing “they must be a thousand times as massive as the largest megalodon. More.”

Rohan volunteers to come back to Earth to help out. He’s not nearly as powerful as Hyperion, but he’s the only il’Drach/Human hybrid left—and the planet isn’t really in a place to turn away help. It’s time for Rohan to adopt the mask and the name of the superhero he no longer is.

So Rohan goes home, and in addition to fighting freakishly giant land sharks, he sees his mom. He deals with the fallout of his departure from Earth (and the events leading up to it) legally and with his former friends, allies, and others. And a few other challenges, too. In fact, the unbelievably large land sharks might not be the biggest challenge he has to face.

The Kirkman Is Strong In This One

“Well, can you give me any ideas on how to fight these things? They’re tearing us apart.”

“I would fight it on land, if I were you. Even regular sharks are frightening in the water. Get that up on land. There your chances go from zero to a multiple of zero.”

“That’s still zero.”

Poseidon waved his bottle in the air.

“Math is not always your friend, my friend.”

I don’t want to overstate things here, nor am I trying to suggest that Berne is leaning too heavily on Invincible. But I thought of Invincible often when reading this—more often than I did last time.

You know how Kirkman would introduce a character, imbue them with a catchy (possibly goofy) name, and some cool powers, and then kill them in just a few panels? Over and over again?* Well, that’s what Berne does here—I said above that super-powered heroes and villains are dying taking on these sharks, right? I meant it—and I’d have willingly read books/stories/series featuring most, if not all, of them.

* And I’m sure there are other comic writers I could reference here, but I’m not steeped enough in them to do that. Feel free to tell me who I’m not thinking of in the comments. It’s been too long since I read the first run of Bendis’ Powers, does that fit here?

The amount of time, effort, and creativity that Berne expended on these characters—even just the names—only to end up listing them as a victim? (many were dead before they were mentioned) It’s impressive, and a little sad.

I bring this up for two reasons: 1. To note just how much excess creativity Berne must have. 2. To warn you—do not get overly attached to anyone in this book who doesn’t show up on the covers for the rest of the series.**

** To date, that’s Rohan and Santa Claus.

Miscellaneous Bullet Points

bullet A teleporter named “Bamf”? You know Berne chuckled/giggled to himself when he typed that.
bullet If you’ve never thought about the potential tragic story behind the MCU’s Groot’s single word of dialogue, be prepared to.
bullet Off the top of my head, I can only think of two superheroes intimidated by their mother/mother-figure. Add Rohan to the list behind Clark and Peter. And for good reason, she’s not a woman you want to mess with.
bullet Sure, throw in some vampires, too. Berne’s kitchen-sink approach seems to continue.
bullet I’m pretty sure that I caught a The Tick cartoon reference. That just made me happy.
bullet I don’t want to rob you of learning about this yourself, but I think “Fire Speech” and the way Berne describes it is one of my favorite things of the year.
bullet The number of cover artists as good as Chris McGrath has to be tiny. I loved this one.

So, what did I think about Return of The Griffin?

Amber took her phone out of an oversized pocket. “I’ll pull up all known villains with Doc or Doctor in their names. Don’t get your hopes up; it’s going to be a long list.”

Rohan smiled. “Only real doctors, medical doctorates or PhDs only. I don’t want any evil chiropractors or physical therapists on the list.”

Bright Angel shook her head. “Really? Now is the time for that?”

“Inappropriate humor is my charm, remember?”

“I remember that you thought it was charming. What I can’t seem to remember is when anybody else agreed with you.”

“Ouch.”

All in all, this was not as fun as Wistful Ascending, the deaths of millions and millions and the devastation wreaked on the (even more numerous) survivors tends to put a damper on all the fun. In Whistful most of the suffering fell on Rohan—here, the suffering falls on pretty much everyone on Earth (including Rohan).

But beyond that, we get a better understanding of Rohan, what was already an appealing and engaging character gains more depth. That’s smart—get us to like the guy, get us to root for him, to want to read more about him, and then let us see more of the sides of him that we (probably) assumed were there, what shaped him into who he was when we met him in Wistful Ascending.

Yes, there’s still a lot of fun to be had. Berne’s banter is as strong as always. Even in—especially in—the face of grave danger.

And the action scenes? For novel #2 (at least novel #2 that anyone gets to see), Berne writes like he’s been doing this for a while. If you’re anything like me, once an action sequence starts—woe to anyone who interrupts you while reading (assuming you notice them attempting to interrupt). The better the sequence, the worse it is for events/people who dare to distract you. This book features several of those kind of scenes, each one as good as (if not better) than the last.

Great pacing overall, good character development, strong world/universe building and expansion, we meet a whole bunch of cool characters (say goodbye to too many of them), get some strong action scenes, a series of freakishly huge and powerful monsters—and things worse than them, too. Obviously, I think you should read this if that kind of thing appeals to you.

That said, I’m really looking forward to getting back to Wistful and her residents (especially Wei Li and the Ursans) and to see what is going on off-Earth. Bring on Blood Reunion!


4 1/2 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.

Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Footer

The 2024 Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Logo was made by Witty and Sarcastic Book Club

The Irresponsible Reader On…Self-Published Science Fiction

(updated 7/257/24)
Self-Published Author Appreciation Week '24 Banner

From the first moment that people did the strange thing of asking me to talk about their books on my blog, I’ve been impressed by the quality of a lot of what’s been published by authors going out on their own, taking all the risks, shouldering all the responsibility and doing all the work to get their words, their dreams, their blood, sweat, and tears. This should be celebrated—it’s definitely appreciated, as we’re trying to show this week.

In addition to the Q&As and Guest Posts I have this week, I’m also continuing my habit of highlighting the self-published works that I’ve blogged about over the last few years—just a sentence or two.  Hopefully, this’ll be enough to make you click on the link to the full post. Beyond that, it’d be great if I inspired you to add a few of these to your TBR. Also, be sure you check out the other posts over at the SPAAW Hub.

Today we’re going to be looking at Self-Published Science Fiction. Old tropes in new garb, fresh ideas, and a creativity that astounds. These authors are well worth your time and money.

bullet Wistful Ascending by JCM Berne—if I start talking about this, I’m not sure how to stop. There’s a retired super-hero/super soldier working a menial job on a space station. There’s a revenge story. There are aliens that look like talking bears. It’s just so much fun. (my post about it)
bullet The MOST Powerful Christmas by JCM Berne—Rohan and friends save Christmas for Santa (my post about it)
bullet Return of the Griffin by JCM Berne—Rohan has to return to Earth to battle monsters that might be too much for him and the collective might of Earth’s superheroes. Rohan also has to battle the legacy he left behind when he left. (my post about it should be posted soon)
bullet The Elites by Matt Cowper—a Batman-esque figure rebuilds a government-sponsored team of heroes. They take on super-villains of all stripes and even an alien invasion.
bullet The World Savers (my post about it)
bullet Rogue Superheroes (my post about it)
bullet Nightfall (my post about it)
bullet Children of the Different by S. C. Flynn—a very different kind of YA take on post-apocalypse life in Austrailia. (my post about it)
bullet Full Metal Superhero by Jeffery H. Haskell—a young technical genius who lost the use of her legs in the accident that cost her parents their lives creates an Iron Man-esque suit and starts fighting crime in the hopes to be recruited into an Avengers/Justice League-type team. I’ve frequently talked on the blog (and even in this series of posts) about being frustrated that I haven’t caught up with a series. This one really gets to me. There’s also a spin-off series that looks great.
bullet Arsenal (my post about it)
bullet Unstoppable Arsenal (my post about it)
bullet Super Powereds: Year 1 by Drew Hayes—The first in a series about a group of freshmen in a college-level Super-Hero Training program. (my post about it)
bullet Darkside Earther by Bradley Horner—this is a series about a privileged group of teens trying to get through school and into adulthood while on a space station orbiting Earth. Their parents are the elite of humanity and are trying to mold their children into very different types of leaders.
bullet Darkside Earther (my post about it)
bullet Degrading Orbits (my post about it)
bullet Saul by Bradley Horner—a professor of nanotech tries to save his daughter in the middle of a global catastrophe. (my post about it)
bullet Billy in Space by Harry L-B—Billy has been given telekenetic abilities, and instead of becoming the government agent he’d aspired to, he’s become a human forklift in a spaceship’s warehouse. Not glamorous at all, but it’s a job. Then an alien race attacks his ship. Then space pirates do, too. And then things get bad. You’ll also witness a really bad first date. I should stress that this is a comedy. (my post about it)
bullet Proxies by James T. Lambert—Jair Howard has some big challenges ahead of him–he has to deal with his mother, he has to fix his relationship with his girlfriend, he has to prove someone hacked into the military’s computers, then he has to prove it wasn’t him–oh yeah, and prevent interstellar war. His mother might be the biggest problem, really. I just finished reading the book and haven’t finished my post, but you’ll want to give it a look.
bullet Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair—This story felt like the love child of Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency (the Douglas Adams version) and Comedy Central’s Corporate, but sweeter. A pair of old friends-turned multi-dimensional P.I.s tackle a missing persons case. (my post about it)
bullet Serengeti by J.B. Rockwell—a damaged warship—and the AI who operates it—attempts to rejoin the fleet.
bullet Serengeti (my post about it)
bullet Dark and Stars (my post about it)
bullet AI Theist by Michael J. Svigel—The world’s most advanced and powerful AI struggles with its(?) conscience and gets religion. (my post about it)
bullet Please Return to the Lands of Luxury by Jon Tilton—an MG Dystopian thriller. There’s a fantastic world here—a very plausible one, too. The story is hard to sum up in a sentence or two, but this would be a great read for an MG reader who’s able to read some unpleasantness (and a lot of wholesome and hope-filled moments, too). (my post about it)
bullet The FATOFF Conspiracy by Olga Werby—Americans have lost the war on obesity and all but the elitist of the elite are dangerously obese (while tucking away a good portion of that fat into a pocket dimension), in pain, struggling, dying young, and yet eating almost constantly. (my post about it)
bullet Genrenauts by Michael R. Underwood—Parallel to our world are various worlds populated by fictional characters in a wide variety of genres (Western, SF, Romance, etc), and when things go wrong in the stories, things go wrong in our world. n this world, there are a number of teams of story specialists who shift to the other worlds to fix the stories and set things back on course here. The first two novellas in this series were published by Tor, but after that, Underwood took it over himself.
bullet The Cupid Reconciliation (my post about it)
bullet The Substitute Sleuth (my post about it)
bullet The Failed Fellowship (my post about it)
bullet Genrenauts: The Complete Season One Collection—a compendium of all the novellas/stories in Season 1. (my post about it)
bullet The Data Disruption—a Season One Prequel (my post about it)
bullet The Wasteland War—Season Two kicks off (my post about it)


If you're a self-published author that I've featured on this blog and I didn't mention you in this post and should have. I'm sorry (unless you're this guy). Please drop me a line, and I'll fix this. I want to keep this regularly updated so I keep talking about Self-Published Authors.

Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Footer

The 2024 Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Logo was made by Witty and Sarcastic Book Club

Spreading the Self-Pub Love with JCM Berne

Banner has a black bird on a colorful background. Around the bird are the words, 'Self Published Authors Appreciation Week.' In the top left corner, it says, 'July 21-27, 2024.' In the bottom right corner it says, '#SPAAW'
In the spirit of “a rising tide lifts all boats,” this year for Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week, I wanted to give some Self-Published authors a chance to spread some love (while also indulging in a bit of self-promotion, I mean, c’mon, it’s hard out here…)
Spreading the Self-Pub Love with JCM Berne


An Elevator Pitch for Something You Love
Cover for Renia by Karl Forshaw

Renia by Karl Forsham

A scribe, forbidden magics, a tragic past, assassins, politics, and some unfortunate drinking.

The best book you haven’t heard of.


My Elevator Pitch by JCM Berne
Cover to be Revealed
Eyes of Empire: Hybrid Helix Turn Five

The Empire is cruel, sadistic, and random, ordering genocides on dozens of worlds while ruling the rest with a tyrannical fist.

Thinking it can’t be stopped, Rohan abandoned it to live a peaceful life on Wistful.

What will it take for him to face the Empire again?

And if he does, what will it cost?


About this Author
For his midlife crisis JCM Berne, desperate to ret-con his lifelong addiction to genre fiction, comic books, and bad action movies into some kind of deliberate preparation, began writing and publishing novels.

His motto was, “publish them even if they suck.”

Did he fool anyone? Probably not. But he tried.

Website ~ Twitter


Be sure to check out Eyes of Empire and Renia, let’s show them both some love!


Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Footer

Image by Monika from Pixabay
The 2024 Self-Published Authors Appreciation Week Logo was made by Witty and Sarcastic Book Club

Howl by e rathke: Postapocalyptic Monsters and Those Who Hunt Them

Cover of Howl by e rathkeHowl

by e rathke

DETAILS:
Series: The Howling Earth, #1
Publication Date: December 5, 2022
Format: eBook
Length: 177 pg.
Read Date: June 11, 2024

We’d give until nightfall or the first howls before we gave them up for lost. Lost to never be spoken of again. Those ghosts trapped in meat who would become monsters to haunt us, to hunt us.

What’s Howl About?

That’s the end of the first chapter—and it tells you all you need to know about how warm and fuzzy this world isn’t.

This novella takes place in some sort of postapocalyptic future, and the world is in a very confusing place. It could be filled with the sufficiently advanced technology indistinguishable from magic or, it could be filled with sufficiently ordered magic indistinguishable from technology. Or maybe in the overlap of the Venn Diagram of the two. Eh…it doesn’t matter—one or both, it’s a cool world (for the reader, anyway, not so great for the residents).

In this harsh world, a young man and woman are kicked out of their tribe, their names taken from them—they’re left to try to survive as long as they can in the wilderness (yes, I’m glossing over important things). Following an encounter with some beasts that no one wants to come across, they meet a woman powerful enough to help them. She’s a monster hunter who has recently lost her team. This pair are a team in need of shelter, food, identity, and purpose. She takes them in, starts to teach them about the world outside all they’ve known and gives them those things they need.

And then…well, as you expect from monster hunters—they run into something nasty.

So, what did I think about Howl?

The writing was solid throughout—with moments that surpassed that and approached “good.” This isn’t necessarily a book that requires good writing—it’s got an inventive setting, strong characters, a propulsive storyline, and strange magic/science. Solid, capable writing is enough to keep you engaged and turning the pages—it’s enough to bring you back for more in the series. But good writing? The parts where you really can tell that craft has gone into a sentence or more? That’s icing on the cake—and rathke brushes up against that on a few occasions. Enough to make you realize he’s capable of it–and that maybe he’ll deliver more of that soon.

That said, there were a few moments where I wondered if he was trying too hard to make some of the emotional beats hit hard. If he’s backed off a bit and let them impact the reader with their own gravity, rather than giving an extra “oomph,” I think it might have been more effective. One of those moments was tied to a big reveal for a couple of the characters—or at least they acted like it was a big reveal. All I could think at the moment was, “Were you not paying attention a few pages back? I was.” Having paid that kind of attention, the (second) revelation didn’t make much of an impact on me, so the characters’ reactions seemed a bit off.

But let’s ignore those points (or at least rush past them), they’re not all that important.

What is important is the action, the worldbuilding, the characters—and the promise that we’ll learn a lot more about everything we see in this novella.

Once it gets moving (and it takes just a little while to get there), things happen quickly and intensely. The action scenes are great, the dashes of humor are fun—and I want more of all of this.


3 Stars

20 Books of Summer

HC Chats with JCM Berne about Jim Butcher

Here’s part two of my experiment with something new… there are some things I’ve wanted to try and the written word just ain’t gonna cut it. (and I hate saying that about the written word—maybe it’s just my capabilities with it that are the problem…that seems more likely).

When I listen to podcasts or other interviews with authors, one of the things I enjoy most is when they just talk about books they didn’t write or a specific author’s work. It’s a different way to learn about the author—and it usually makes me feel like we belong to the same tribe (reader). So that’s what I’m trying to do in this series (?) of chats. Just talk with an author, blogger, or someone who just wants to talk about some author about someone’s books. If I’ve read them—great. If I haven’t read the author in question, I may end up reading something by them after our chat—at the very least, I’ll learn about someone.

JCM was kind enough to chat with me about an author who has influenced us both, Jim Butcher, and a few other things. Sit back, watch, enjoy, tell us where we’re wrong…or all four.

I’m not sure how long we talked after I ended the recording, but I could’ve gone for a couple of hours. I had a great time with this and hope you enjoyed it.


Are you a Reader of Things and want to chat with me about an author/series/something other than promoting your own work (which we will do, just not primarily)? I’d love to keep trying this, but I’m not ready to start pestering people about it. So please let me know.

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20 Books of Summer 2024: June Check-In

20 Books of Summer
Here’s a quick check-in for this challenge run by Cathy at 746 Books.

So far, I’ve read 4—which puts me a 2/3 of a book behind last year. I should read at least 1 more this coming week, but I’m a little intimidated about my picks for the rest of the summer. A little. Really 8 books a month doesn’t sound that bad for the rest of the summer, but I know full well that other things are going to pop up to distract me. It’s a self-inflicted problem—and one I fully predicted. But still…

I’m more intimidated by the fact that I haven’t written about any of these four yet—am hoping that I can get at least one posted about by Friday. (stranger things have happened, I hear).

Let’s take a quick look at my progress in June:

1. This is Who We Are Now by James Bailey
2. Blood Reunion by JCM Berne
3. Ways And Truths And Lives by Matt Edwards
✔ 4. The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
✔ 5. Grammar Sex and Other Stuff: A Collection of (mostly humorous) Essays by Robert Germaux
6. The Camelot Shadow by Sean Gibson
7. Last King of California by Jordan Harper
8. Steam Opera by James T. Lambert
9. The Glass Frog by J. Brandon Lowry
10. Rise of Akaisha Morningstar by Kataya Moon
11. Curse of the Fallen by H.C. Newell
12. Heart of Fire by Raina Nightengale
✔ 13. Detours and Do-overs by Wesley Parker
14. Bizarre Frontier Omnibus #1 by Brock Poulson
✔ 15. Howl by e rathke
16. Bard Tidings by Paul J. Regnier
17. Panacea by Alex Robins
18. Cursed Cocktails by S.L. Rowland
19. Big Trouble in Little Italy by Nicole Sharp
20. The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong

(subject to change, as is allowed, but I’m going to resist the impulse to tweak as much as I can).

20 Books of Summer '24 June Check In Chart

REPOSTING JUST CUZ: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi: Delivers Everything the Title Promises

Things are afoot at Irresponsible Reader HQ that made posting today impossible. However, I started the audiobook for this just for something to do. I remember thinking it was great, but I’d forgotten just how ridiculously fun this book is. Incidentally, Wil Wheaton is a fantastic choice to read this.


Kaiju Preservation SocietyThe Kaiju Preservation Society

by John Scalzi

DETAILS:
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: March 14, 2022
Format: Hardcover
Length: 258 pg.
Read Date: April 1-4, 2022
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You have no idea how difficult it was for me to not say, ‘Welcome to Jurassic Park!’ to all of you just now.”

Jurassic Park didn’t end well for anyone in it,” I pointed out. “Book or movie.”

“Well, they were sloppy,” Tom said. “We’re not sloppy. And, they were fictional. This is real.”

What’s The Kaiju Preservation Society About?

Jamie Gray drops out of his Ph.D. program (writing a dissertation on utopian and dystopian literature) thanks to a quarter-life crisis that gets him to want to make a lot of money. So he goes to work for a tech startup, starts to make decent money, and gets fired just as COVID lockdowns start. He starts scraping by on his savings and meager work for a food-delivery app.

Until he delivers shawarma to Tom one day—the two were acquaintances in college, and they have a brief conversation where a couple of things come out—Jamie hates delivering food, and the NGO that Tom works for has an immediate need of someone on his team. He doesn’t give Tom a lot of information, but that the work involves travel and large animals. His team is set to depart soon, and they can’t without a full team. They just need someone who can, and is willing to, lift things. Tom points out his nice condo as proof that they pay well. Jamie signs on.

A few days later, Jamie and a few other new people on the team find out what the initials in KPS stand for—after it’s too late for them to back out. They’ve traveled to a parallel Earth populated by Kaiju for a six-month stint at one of the human bases.

Obviously, like the book and movie referenced above, things go wrong. They just have to for the sake of a novel, right? (but up until then, I think I could’ve made a case for this being an entire novel without that—it exists as one for longer than I expected—and I would’ve liked it just as much as the one Scalzi delivered).

The Science Fiction-y bits

Given Tom’s work, and Jamie’s, Scalzi’s able to gloss over a lot of the how-they-eat-and-breathe (and other science facts…la! la! la!) stuff, but he does reference things like the square-cube law when it comes to enormously big creatures. Jamie’s new friends include scientists who can deliver some of the biology, chemistry, etc. that are needed for the story—but when it’s needed, they’re always explaining it to the liberal arts guy on their team, so the reader doesn’t have to wade through the heady stuff (something Michael Crichton could’ve used, for example).

It’s not a perfect way to deal with these things, but it sure works well, and Scalzi feeds it to the reader in his usual charming way, so I embraced it.

Pop*.* Fiction

In his Author’s Note, Scalzi states:

KPS is not, and I say this with absolutely no slight intended, a brooding symphony of a novel. It’s a pop song. It’s meant to be light and catchy, with three minutes of hooks and choruses for you to sing along with, and then you’re done and you go on with your day, hopefully with a smile on your face. I had fun writing this, and I needed to have fun writing this. We all need a pop song from time to time, particularly after a stretch of darkness.

I’d been describing it as a popcorn movie in a book. He says pop song. It’s pop-something.

It’s the movie you escape to in the middle of a heatwave and forget about the oppressive weather, the sun, and everything else to enjoy the heat and some pure entertainment. It’s the song you find yourself overplaying because it’s just so catchy until you get sick of it (although you can’t help singing along) and abandon it for years until it comes up on some random mix and you become obsessed with it again for a couple of weeks.

What I found striking about Scalzi saying that is that it reminds me of Seanan McGuire’s comments about the last Toby Daye novel—she needed to write something like that (and I enjoyed it for similar reasons to this one). Are we going to see more books like this from other authors soon? Did 2020/2021 gift us a slew of authors writing happy books as a way to shake it off? (I wonder if Winslow’s Free Billy fits here).

Frankly, I hope so.

So, what did I think about The Kaiju Preservation Society?

“Why isn’t he eating us?” I asked. We were now close enough to Edward that this was not an entirely irrelevant question.

“He’s asleep,” Satie said.

I glanced over at him. “Asleep?”

“They sleep, yup.”

“How can you tell when he’s asleep?”

“He’s not eating us, for one,” Satie said. “You can’t see his eyes, for another.”

I love popcorn movies, I love pop songs like that…and well, you can probably see where that’s going. I’m not the world’s largest Kaiju fan (don’t actively dislike them, either), but it really doesn’t matter, this book skips all that and jumps right to the pleasure center of the brain the same way a catchy tune can.

Reading The Kaiju Preservation Society reminded me of the first time I read Ready Player One (before the movie, distance, and the sequel made me take a second/third/fourth look at it). Or Snow Crash (a wise reference for Scalzi to make early on). It sort of reminded me of the first time I read High Fidelity, too. The catchy, irreverent narrative; the snappy dialogue; the first-person narrator you click with right away*…it just took me a few pages to know that I was going to find nothing but joy in these pages.

*or probably never.

And really, I don’t have a lot to say about the book beyond this. It brought me joy for a couple of days. Thinking about it now is doing the same thing. Go get your hands on this text-based dopamine hit in your preferred medium (I bet Wheaton’s audiobook narration is perfect), sit back, and enjoy yourself.


5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

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