Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

This book is set in a world influenced by African folklore, where technology is organic and Earth is only a myth. Zahrah, born with dadalocks in her hair, discovers that she has a rare, almost mythical, gift. But when her explorations of her power land her beat friend in the hospital, she has to go on a dangerous journey to save him. I found the world fascinating, and the story entertaining, but relatively simple. I love the way that Ms. Okorafor has made her world fresh--it feels new and exciting.

The Novel and the Sea by Margaret Cohen

This monograph contends that fictions of the sea constitute a traveling, adventure genre that begins in the modern era with Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. This genre challenges our dominant accounts of the formation of the novel: Cohen insists that we account for the sea adventure narratives of writers such as Defoe and Smollett, even though the adventure genre has been critically neglected. After Smollett, the number of sea fictions wane until the subject is adopted by James Fenimore Cooper. In part this decline may be the result of the incredible, but true, tales that were happening on the world's oceans. Like the previously mentioned authors, though, Cooper is not famous for his sea fictions (The Pilot and Red Rover) but his Leatherstocking Tales. These American sea stories became popular just at the moment that the craft of seafaring became obsolete, replaced by mechanical inventions (such as accurate clocks to measure longitude). Thus Herman Melville, Victor Hugo, and Joseph Conrad had the opportunity to use their sea stories to focus on other kinds of craft at the margins. Jules Verne, on the other hand, took the exploration of frontiers beyond what people were actually experiencing to what they could only imagine. Thus, Cohen contends, sea fictions are the root of today's science fiction. I found this book to be ambitious, but thoroughly researched, and I was ultimately persuaded by Cohen's readings and her contextualizations, that we ought to pay more attention to sea fictions as a genre. I thought her description of the mariner's craft in the first chapter was particularly useful.

The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beaumont

This novel is exactly the sort of novel I love to read: it's witty, self-referential, aware of its own status as a novel, and a lot of fun. Egon Loeser is the painfully self-absorbed anti-hero whose world is crumbling around him (he's an artist in Berlin in the 1920s)--but he doesn't see the political dangers because of his personal problems (an inability to get his show produced or to win over the charming Adele Hitler [no relation to Adolf]). He serendipitously leaves Berlin for Los Angeles (via Paris) chasing Adele, but he doesn't have any better luck in either place either with Adele or with his show. Yet, as the novel progresses, we learn more and more about Loeser's obsession with Adriano Lavinci, an Italian set designer who died in what is known as the Teleportation Accident (one of Lavinci's sets destroyed a theater in Paris). The novel teases readers: was Lavinci a theatrical genius, or a scientist centuries ahead of his time, or a magician? I definitely want to re-read this book; it may have been my favorite entry on the 2012 Booker Long List.

The Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons

This book concludes the Hyperion Cantos and the adventures of Raul Endymion and Aenea. I found the story really moving in places and challenging in others. There are parts that were just confusing for me: I'm still not sure I completely understand the motivations of the Techno Core, for example. But I found the story both intriguing and exciting. I think I would like to re-read all four of these books, but preferably one right after the other.

Legion by Brandon Sanderson

This book is about a supposedly sane man, Stephen Leeds, who is surrounded by multiple personalities with extraordinary skills. Leeds and his team of aspects are called in to find the inventor of a camera which can take photographs of the past. There's a little bit of adventure and a lot of speculation in this story. I enjoyed it, and I have a feeling there's more to it--or rather more to the character Leeds, who has a mysterious woman who disappeared in his past. Unless you're a big Sanderson fan or entirely opposed to e-books, I'd recommend the e-book rather than the print version: the novella size seems more reasonably priced digitally than in hard copy.

Endymion by Dan Simmons

This entry in the Hyperion Cantos jumps forward 247 years. While you don't need to be familiar with the previous books to enjoy this one, there's a lot that carries over. The plotting is excellent. We are quickly brought up to speed with changes in a universe where farcasting's no longer a possibility, and instant communications and access to data are things of the past. Raul Endymion, the local boy who seems to be learning to make good is a great new hero, and the Keats cybrid and Brawne Lamia's daughter Aenea is an enigmatic and assertive child. I loved seeing all the different worlds, the tactics of Aenea, and the consequences of the way the Catholic Church has adopted the cruciform technology. The twists near the end kept the plot interesting; I'm eager to read the final book in the series.

Armored edited by John Joseph Adams

This anthology centers its stories around characters in body armor. Most of this armor is highly intelligent and can help the user make decisions, or even make decisions for the user (if for example, its occupant is harmed during battle or in the military). A few were alternative histories (for example, one was set in Australia during the nineteenth century, another was during the Spanish Civil War). I'm not as fond of the straight battle stories, but many had interesting twists (for example, a general who kept turning up when he wasn't expected, a planet of man-eating plants). I read this anthology for the new Brandon Sanderson story, which was okay, but not as good as his other work.

The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

I really enjoyed this book, which picks up with the pilgrims on Hyperion, but also introduces a broader, realtime context to their actions. Through the dreams of another Keats cybrid, Joseph Severn (named for the real Keats's painter friend), Meina Gladstone, CEO of the Hegemony can follow the actions of the pilgrims at the Time Tombs. The pilgrims disappear and reappear as they encounter the Shrike on their own. There were some great twists--rest assured that even what you think you know, you don't! I particularly appreciated the way the book examines the hidden costs of technology. The story is chock full of literary allusions, and a great conclusion to Hyperion!

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams Live in Concert by Douglas Adams

This audiobook is a recording of a reading Douglas Adams gave in 1995 including excerpts from many of his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books. Adams is a masterful reader of his own work and the excerpts are well-selected. If you're unfamiliar with the series, they will not be significantly harder to understand, and they will retain their humor. If you're familiar with the series, the excerpts offer a fun return to familiar ground.

Songs of Love and Death edited by Gardner Dozois and George R. R. Martin

This anthology contains a number of stories about love and the supernatural. I liked the Diana Gabaldon story (loosely tied to the Outlander series) and the Jim Butcher story (featuring Harry and Murphy) especially. Most of the stories were easy to get into, but I read this anthology for the Gabaldon and Butcher entries, and the other authors didn't make me feel strongly that I needed to pick up some of their longer work immediately.

Flashback by Dan Simmons

For the most part, I enjoyed this book, which is a noir-style detective story set in the dystopic future. The technology is awesome, the drug flashback (that lets you relive your past) intriguing, and even the family drama is handled pretty well. I also found the mystery really compelling. What was less exciting was the book's political stance--not necessarily its side, but its extremism and its desire for screed instead of thoughtful consideration of the topics. I thought the politics took away from the book as a whole.

The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead

This book is set in a world much like ours, except, perhaps, that elevators loom larger than life in its mythology. While it first seems almost enchantingly quirky, we gradually discover that what's at stake is not just a guild election or a disagreement between two methods of elevator inspection (Empiricists look at the parts of an elevator to see problems whereas Intuitionists ride and meditate and know)--instead it's all about race and society but also about the roles of corporations in our government and social life. As Lila Mae Watson, the first black, female elevator inspector discovers, the question of passing becomes very important, not just to her ability to do what's seen as a white job, but to the theoretically underpinnings of elevator inspection itself. I found the book thought-provoking and beautifully written. It's definitely much better and more interesting than Sag Harbor or Zone One.

Legends II: New Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy edited by Robert Silverberg

I didn't enjoy this collection quite as much as I enjoyed the first one, but it was still enjoyable. It contained the following eleven short novels: "Homecoming" by Robin Hobb, "The Sworn Sword" by George R. R. Martin, "The Yazoo Queen" by Orson Scott Card, "Lord John and the Succubus" by Diana Gabaldon, "The Book of Changes" by Robert Silverberg, "The Happiest Dead Boy in the World" by Tad Williams, "Beyond Between" by Anne McCaffrey, "The Messenger" by Raymond E. Feist, "Threshold" by Elizabeth Haydon, "The Monarch of the Glen" by Neil Gaiman, and "Indomitable" by Terry Brooks. I particularly liked the stories by Hobb (you see a character really find herself and change from an insufferable prig to a strong heroine), Martin (Dunk and Egg at it again), Card (I need to read the full Alvin Maker series), Silverberg (great story about art and poetry), Haydon (nice twist at the end), and Gaiman (again, I need to read American Gods). I thought the others were OK, though I couldn't really get into the Feist story, I had read the Gabaldon before, the McCaffrey story felt a little fluffy, the Brooks story felt way too much like you needed familiarity with the full world, and the Williams story was a little far out there for me. Overall I enjoyed the collection.

The Scar by China Miéville

I really enjoyed this book, although you never know quite where everyone stands. Bellis Coldwine is fleeing New Crobuzon because she has noticed that the government has been going after the friends and acquaintances of Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin. But before her ship can reach its colonial destination, it's hijacked by the Armada, a mysterious floating city on its way to great things under the leadership of the Lovers. Bellis finds herself caught in webs of betrayals, where no one is trustworthy, as she moves through a fantastic landscape. This book is really well written and full of thrilling ideas.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

This book is an amazing tour de force: the world is crumbling, and seven strangers are called upon to go make the Shrike pilgrimage--a journey to the strange world of Hyperion, where the Time Tombs go backward in time, to face the Shrike. One will be granted his wishes, and the others will die. To pass the time on their journey, these pilgrims tell of their connections to Hyperion. In the race against the Ousters (a differently-evolved branch of humanity which is seen as uncivilized and threatens Hyperion), though, not everyone is who he seems. The individual stories are great and the frame narrative is gripping. There's also a lot of interest in both Chaucer and Keats, which makes the story rich with literary allusions. An absolute must-read.

Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov

In this book members of both the first and second Foundations are concerned that the Seldon Plan is proceeding too well and with too little deviation. So both groups start to investigate what could be causing the lack of aberrations. I enjoyed watching the layers being peeled back, and I really enjoyed the character of Golan Trevise.

Warriors edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

This anthology has a variety of stories from several genres that share a common subject: warriors. I initially checked it out for the Lord John story by Diana Gabaldon and the Dunk and Egg story by George R. R. Martin. Overall, I found the quality of the anthology to be mixed at best. Some of the stories I liked, and some I found hard to get into. There was a moving one about a man who is drafted to run a "soldierboy"--a fighting machine that he's mentally linked to. The Lord John story wasn't bad (but I find I prefer the longer versions of his stories) and I liked the Dunk and Egg story (though it took me some time to get my bearings, as I haven't read the first two yet). An interesting collection, but nothing that makes me regret checking it out of the library instead of buying it.

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

I enjoyed reading this book. It's set in a dystopic, alternate universe full of a variety of teachers. It focuses on Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin (a scientist who works on the edges of society and is trying to restore flight to a garuda who has been stripped of his wings) and his lover Lin (an artist who has just taken on a commission from a scary crime lord). I was interested in the freedom of modification of the body possible in this world. I also liked the way the plot worked--it was a mystery figuring out how the crime lord plot fit in with the scientist plot and how it all fit in with the terrors that have started turning up in the city. As a reader, I enjoyed assessing each new character's motivations. Not your mother's science fiction, but very smart and very fun.

Embassytown by China Miéville

This book was very difficult to get into because the world it presents is so different from our own, but richly rewarding in the way it played out. Avice is an immerser, someone who can travel between the manchmals of the worlds we live in normally through the immer, a substance that makes most humans sick. She uses this talent to escape Embassytown, the backwater trading post remarkable for the Hosts, a species that can only speak Language in which only the truth is possible, but not before she becomes a simile in Language. When she returns with her linguist husband, she finds tensions growing over language and the doubled Ambassadors who go between the human colonists and the hosts. This story has a fantastic plot (I don't want to say too much about the conflict, because a lot of the pleasure in the story comes from figuring it out), and not only develops characters that you'll care about, but also reflects on the nature of colonialism, communication, and power. This book was a fantastic read.

Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov

In this book we finally learn more about the Second Foundation, which Seldon established as a backup plan to the Foundation hundreds of years ago. Since the disaster of the rise of the Mule (and his near-discovery of the location of the Second Foundation), it has been operating with increasingly bad odds in order to set the Seldon plan back to rights. Meanwhile, the Foundation is hunting for the Second Foundation to put an end to it. This book gives a fitting conclusion to the original trilogy within the longer series.