Joie du Livre

Tag: science fiction

  • The Measure by Nikki Erlick

    The Measure by Nikki Erlick

    No spoiler overview

    Overnight, everyone in the world over 22 receives a box. The box tells them, “The measure of your life lies within,” and inside is a string that shows how long they will live. Quickly, society devolves into long-stringers versus short-stringers, and a group who choose not to look at all. We follow several different narrators who have their lives completely changed by this appearance, no matter what camp they fall in.

    The premise of this book is interesting and unique. It feels relevant to what we deal with today, despite it being a completely different situation. It highlights that there are always people who want to make the best of it for everyone, and those who want to make the most of it for themselves.

    While this has a sci-fi angle to it, don’t expect to get any answers about where the strings come from and why. Those details fade into the background quickly; the main focus is on the people and what they do with this new world.

    This is Erlick’s debut novel, and I’m hopeful for more unique ideas from her.

    Full review

    While the premise is differentiated, I didn’t love the execution. There are so many narrators that we follow (I can’t even tell you how many), and it made things hard to keep track of at first. I had to start writing out the characters in the back of the book for myself to keep it straight. Then sometimes, there are random third person chapters thrown in between everything, which completely fall off toward the end. I feel like we could have had a more impactful story with two or three POVs, and a more thoughtful use of the third person zoom-out.

    The writing also overly-explained things, in my opinion. Instead of letting the reader get there, we were told outright what to think about every situation.

    That being said, this book begs reflection on some big questions. Personally, I found myself wondering how religion comes into play.

    • If we all have a pre-set date that we’re set to die, does that mean we also have a pre-set fate? Or do we have free will, within our given time?
    • For what reason would a god would want everyone to know the length of their lifespan?
    • Would you still want to believe in a god in this type of world, where something so big gets dropped one day with no further explanation?

    While it was not my favorite writing, these are the types of reflections that I love from a good story. I have thought about this book and these questions a good amount after finishing it.

    Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

  • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

    No spoiler overview

    Project Hail Mary is a fun read, despite being about the potential death of the sun and end of all life on our planet. Ryland Grace wakes up as the sole survivor in a spaceship approaching a foreign star with no memory of why he’s there. Eventually, he remembers that he’s on a mission to save the sun (and therefore the Earth), which is dying from an alien parasitic infestation. But, Grace quickly finds out he isn’t the only one trying to find a solution to this problem.

    Having already read The Martian by Weir, I knew that I was going to enjoy Project Hail Mary, as well. Weir has found a balance of humor and action that makes these science-heavy stories accessible. I always enjoy a well-done timeline jump to put the pieces together as we’re reading, and Weir nails it.

    A few people I talked to said they felt like the facts and formulas Ryland was able to toss around made them feel dumb. Yeah, he’s an expert scientist on extraterrestrial life. Of course the average person isn’t going to have the same level of knowledge that he’s supposed to have. Personally, I just skimmed the numbers, because there’s always a summary in plain English that tells you what’s going on.

    Whether it’s humans on Earth or aliens in space, there is a theme of coming together to solve a problem. This is a story about how we’re better working together, no matter where you’re from.

    Full review

    I’m going to say something a bit controversial here. I didn’t love the ending of Project Hail Mary. Take a second, take it in. Let me explain.

    Ryland’s defining trait is that he runs away from the hard things in his life. I cheered Stratt for telling him he’s wasted his potential. He abandoned his field when people disagreed with him, going out in a blaze of infamy rather than stay and methodically prove his point. It’s a small plot point, but he also would rather not have his heart broken, so he doesn’t date. The guy became the foremost expert on Astrophage in the world (which he basically forced himself into, mind you), but refused to put himself out there when it really mattered.

    Of course, there are some ethical concerns about what Stratt did to Grace… But I can’t help but be sympathetic to her. The two expert astronauts who were intended for the mission suddenly die, and the only logical choice is refusing to step up to literally save the world from freezing over. She made it clear that she was doing everything possible to save the world, and Grace’s fear wasn’t going to stop that.

    Given that Ryland’s character flaw is that he’s a coward (his word, not mine), I wanted to see a bit more growth on that area. Was it brave of him to fly back to save Rocky after discovering the Taumoeba could get through xenonite? Yes. Ryland thought going back for Rocky meant he’d run out of food and not make it back to Earth. He had gotten the beetles off to Earth with the info about Taumeoba and Astrophage. Rocky was supposed to be the one delivering this info back to Erid; without Ryland saving him, the whole planet would die. That was the right choice.

    Here’s where I get annoyed. Ryland had many years of not knowing whether everyone on Earth was going to make it. He doesn’t know if the beetles made it back, if the scientists would be able to implement the solution, if any of it worked. The foremost expert in Astrophage and now Taumeoba, the only person in the known-universe who could help them if something had gone wrong in some way, decided to stay on Erid. He had the option to go back to Earth almost immediately after he got to Erid. They made food for him, refueled and fixed his ship. No, he wouldn’t have known what he’d be coming back to or who would still be alive. But he could have been a bigger part of the solution, made new friends. He was willing to die for Rocky and Erid, but not for his friends and family back on Earth.

    Several people have pointed out that people on Earth didn’t really do much for him, forcing him into this mission he didn’t want to join (really that was just Stratt). Meanwhile, Rocky was willing to do anything to help his friend. They see it as Ryland earned time to be with friends and did his part. I get that side of it, and I really do think the friendship of Ryland and Rocky is what made this story resonate. But I can’t imagine going on with my life not knowing if everything on the planet had survived, and knowing it was my responsibility to get the necessary solution back.

    Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.