Station Eleven

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is about the world after a pandemic kills the majority of humans. 

Beginning in the last days of the current civilization, then jumping a few years into the future, we see how life has changed for the survivors. 

Kristen was a young girl when the plague happened. She was already drawn to acting, so her membership in the Traveling Symphony years later is no surprise. The group of actors and musicians travel along the edge of Lake Michigan, stopping in the towns to perform, trade news and supplies, and provide a break from the new normal for the town folks.

This is all I will say about the details. This is one of the best post-apocalyptic stories I have read. Mandel does not shy away from the dark parts of the change, but also does not gratuitously explain each gory detail. In fact, the plague was so fast and efficient, it is over quickly. 

Read the book before you watch the HBO series based on the book. 

Mandel, Emily St. John. (2014). Station Eleven. New York: Alfred A Knopf.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (Singing Hills Cycle #2)

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo is the second book in the Singing Hills Cycle of fantasy novellas with the feel of a loved folk tale.

Cleric Chih continues their journey to gather stories. Needing a ride up the mountain, they are offered a ride by Si-yu and her mammoth Piluk. She will get them to the next way station where they will travel to their next planned destination.

Before they can reach safety, the mammoth is surrounded by three tigers. After a standoff, Chih offers a story to the tiger in exchange for their safety. Tigers love stories. If the story is good enough, she will not eat them.

Chih tells the intricate story of the famous tiger ancestor who took a human lover. But for every part of the story that the tiger feels is wrong, they will be closer to becoming dinner.

I love this series! Deceptively simple seeming stories (based on the length of the books) are packed with history, cultural wisdom, and everything else a good story should be. 

Vo, Nghi. (2020). When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain. New York: TOR.

Noor

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor is a science fiction book that feels like the near future.

Anwuli Okwudili - who prefers to be called AO - has enhanced limbs due to birth defects. She chose to have surgeries to replace her useless limbs with state-of-the-art technology. This tech makes some people in her world think of her as unnatural - a cross point between tradition and religion of the past and the possibilities of the future. 

When she is attacked in the market, these enhancements save her life, but now she is on the run. She has no one who will harbor her, so she heads into the northern Nigerian desert. Where she comes across a man with two cows. 

DNA (he also prefers to be called by his initials) is a Fulani herdsman. He was traveling with all of his cattle and a few other herds. When they tried to go through a town they were attacked. But the videos only start when he is defending himself. Now he and his two remaining cows, Carpe Diem and GPS, are heading north to find help.

The only place to hide is the natural disaster in the desert - the Red Eye - a continuous sandstorm that has been raging for years. There is rumor of a safe haven in the middle of it. 

Okorafor has written a timely, compelling novel of corporations, social media, and the human ability to adapt. This is a beautifully told tale of the crossroads of so many things facing us in this time - all coming to a crashing head in the African desert. Read this today.

Okorafor, Nnedi. (2021). Noor. New York: Daw Books.

The President and the Frog

The President and the Frog by Carolina de Robertis is a beautiful book about a life spent in the service of making a country more just. 

In an unnamed Latin American country, a former president is about to be interviewed by yet another foreign journalist. Though he has been out of office for a while, his journey from protesting the previous regime and spending years in prison before becoming president is inspirational to people everywhere.

At 82, the president spends most of his time in the garden enjoying the quiet. He is a little surprised and resigned that he is still getting requests for interviews. Always when they come, they exclaim at the size of his small home and then move outside to film the interviews. 

And each time, the president considers telling them about the frog that came to taunt and encourage him to talk - keeping him from going insane while he remained in a hole in the ground with no human contact. A frog that may well have been a figment of his imagination.

Filled with humor and the strength of the human spirit, The President and the Frog is a philosophical novel about survival for the greater good. Told in flashbacks and present day, this is a wonderful book that everyone should read. It reminds me of my other favorite recent read: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Both capture the best of what it can mean to be human. Buy them both today from your local, independent bookstore. 

de Robertis, Carolina. (2021). The President and the Frog. New York: Alfred A Knopf.

The Unspoken Name (Serpent Gates #1)

The Unspoken Name by AK Larkwood is the first book in the Serpent Gates YA fantasy series.

Csorwe lives at the Shrine of the Unspoken. She is about to be the latest sacrifice to the god of her homeland. Every fourteen years a young woman is given to the god. 

A month before her date, a pilgrim comes to the temple and requests a prophesy from the god. Csorwe is the conduit for this. Sethennai is asking about the Reliquary of Pentravesse, a legendary item that allowed Pentravesse to live in harmony with his god. Usually being tied to a god, and using the magic they emit, is very hard on the human body, most magicians dying young.

When Csorwe gets to the temple a month later, Sethennai offers her another way. If she comes with him, he will teach her languages, fighting and more. He thinks she can eventually help him win his city back from the man who usurped him.

Larkwood has started a great young adult fantasy series. Csorwe is a strong character who learns a lot about herself in this first book. She also falls in love and risks all to save the woman she loves.

Larkwood, AK. (2020). The Unspoken Name. New York: Tor.

Matrix

Matrix by Lauren Groff is about a twelfth century young woman, half-sister to the Queen of England, who was exiled to an abbey to live among the nuns.

Marie, half-sister to Queen Eleanor, only spent half a year at court when Eleanor sent to her live at an abbey in the county - far from court. 

When Marie arrived, at seventeen years old, the abbey was a poor and gloomy place. Born in the north of France, orphaned, moved to court and then exiled, Marie knew little of religion when she arrived at the abbey. 

Over time, Marie will learn to love the abbey, the sisters, and her life. As she is promoted, she does what she can to strengthen the abbey. She changes rules as she goes until she has a fortress of safety in a time when women had few safe places in the world.

Though not interested in the time period, Groff's excellent story telling had me right away. This is a story based on a real historical figure in early England / France. A woman who had a great influence on her community and country.

Groff, Lauren. (2021). Matrix. New York: Riverhead Books.

The Taste of Sugar

The Taste of Sugar by Marisel Vera is the story of Puerto Rico and early American capitalism's effect on Puertorriqueños.

Following the saga of one Puerto Rican family through the Spanish - American war, colonialism by Spain and then the United States. After the hurricane of 1899, when Puerto Rico had already been hit hard by the high US tax, a group of sugarcane growers in Hawaii advertised what appeared to be a good job with housing for families.

The Vega family were coffee growers in the Utuado region of Puerto Rico. When the younger son, Vicente, went to the city for his cousin's wedding, he met Valentina Sanchez. Her family had a stationery and printing shop. 

Life on the coffee farm was very different for Valentina than life in the city. They were also in for more changes as the US and Spain fought and the hurricane loomed.

Vera has written an important story that is not taught in US History - one more of the many that is skipped - of Puerto Rico's introduction to US capitalism. More than 5,000 Puerto Ricans moved to Hawaii to face the horrible conditions on sugar plantations. 

Vera, Marisel. (2020). The Taste of Sugar. New York: Liveright Publishing.