UnDivided by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, now that the series is done, I have to re-order my expectations.

Did I expect a bigger, more creative, and crazy end? Possibly. Did I expect a revolution? Yes.

Was I satisfied with the whole perception of reality resolution and the legal niceties and sacrifices? Yes.

So what's my problem? The YA conforms to all the general YA standards. The kids are given horrible situations but not TOO horrible situations. It's mostly dealing with their own expectations and plodding their way toward changing everyone ELSE's expectations. It didn't become a horror masterpiece with tons of shambling Cthulhu monstrosities of added limbs with full personalities active in every limb. We didn't have a full society of rejects or all the old unwound kids rebelling WITHIN all the bodies they were transplanted to. Alas. That would have been brilliant.

Instead, we have legal bills, special interests, public perception, and protests.


Not that I have anything against protests. Far from it.

I mean, the whole idea that any society could be set up to drive another segment of its population crazy is not very crazy at all. I mean, with all the destruction of human rights and dignity going on, we really SHOULDN'T be surprised that the disenfranchised are so upset.

Of course, to blame that same population for being angry after having been beaten down for so long and initiate draconian measures against them is pretty much a Fascist Playbook kind of thing.


Unfortunately, when I look at society now and compare it with the mildness of these books, I think this is a case of reality being stranger than fiction. Or at least wilder.

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A Wind in Cairo by Judith Tarr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this way back in High School and I absolutely loved it. As a romance, it was magical and heartbreaking and I admit that I broke into tears then as easily as I did now.

As a fantasy set in the extremely well-researched time of the Early Crusades as written from the PoV of Muslims, it frankly blew me away. Not only did the humanity and the civilization shine through, but so did the culture.

But let me address the one problematic issue that pretty much prevented me from re-reading this well-beloved magical historical fantasy of a love story between a fiery headstrong Muslim woman and her equally headstrong horse: the rape.

This is no glorification, first of all. This was a crime in the novel that was met with a very severe punishment that could very well have led to much, much worse consequences for Hasan. But in the punishment, there was MERCY.

I know, I know, this is a trigger issue, but I personally believe the crimes should be treated with justice and not cruelty. The tale, over the full length of its telling, walks a very fine line and ends where I believe most tales SHOULD end.

They should teach us that mercy and justice are not dead. They should teach us that no one should ever be perpetually judged by the worst thing they have ever done. There is a balance here. And, indeed, the balance is all the harder because it teaches us that any of us can change.

Hasan, a selfish prick, can learn to be obedient, loving, and self-sacrificing.

If you want a novel that simply desires blood for the blood god, this is not for you. If you want a novel that is gorgeous, hopeful, redemptive, and a great tear-jerker that rests its head on Humility... then OMG, yo: PICK THIS UP.

The balance is real. Both men and women are real men and women. The quality of justice is NOT strained. It is hard, it is painful, it requires tons of effort, good-will, and the open-mindedness of all parties, but the quality of justice is NOT strained. It may, indeed, be one of the most beautiful things in the universe.

This novel touches something truly great. It may prod your boundaries, but it is still something truly great.

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UnSouled by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is what might have happened if the plight of teens was turned into an industry of Frankenstein's monsters.

You know, the older folks shamelessly profiting on the consumption of young flesh.

No, no, this is NOT an accurate reflection of our modern society! No, no, not at all.

Ahem.

Well! I honestly hoped that the first book would continue on into a MUCH darker and nastier dystopia. Instead, we just get the normal kind of social dystopia that villainizes an underclass in order to perpetuate the massive profitization.

No, no, this is obviously NOT an accurate reflection of our modern society! No, no, not at all.

Even if it doesn't go in the direction I had hoped, it's still a pretty good skewer. You could almost cut and paste the whole non-SF setup and apply it to so many modern protest groups and see a pretty obvious correlation.

Key points: don't get violent, focus on peaceful protest, but don't forget... they will lie. It's an unenviable position. Let's hope you don't lose all your body parts, too.

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Metrophage by Richard Kadrey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I admit that I'm something of a fan of cyberpunk. I guess it has something to do with my geeking out over Max Headroom and Neuromancer and all the cheeeeeesy movies of that time period, but for the most part, I was a much BIGGER fan of the post-cyberpunk movement.

Why? Because it moves beyond the punk while keeping all the tech goodies, diving into stories well beyond gangs, drug wars, noir, etc.

Kadrey's 1988 novel happens to be of that type. It's not bad. I love the idea of this kind of thing more in its ideas than its execution, granted, but, like Arnold's version of Total Recall, it's still good fun.

It's mostly about plot. Drug running, a wide variety of inner-city locations, post-government crime cabals, and even intrigue with a moon colony. More than anything, I was reminded of a lite version of Altered Carbon. Between an interesting plague, various factions, freedom fighters, and a poor MC bouncing like a pinball between everything, I was always kept on my toes.

Was this something that rose above a crazy slip-and-slide gangland adventure?

No, not really, but it did give me a flashback feel of the '80s.

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UnWholly by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Continuing the Unwind books remains pretty interesting. No huge over-plot has really developed, but it IS very interesting to see all the cracks in this society's facade.

I especially like how all the cracks are widening in such blatantly WEIRD ways. :) Re-wound? Yes, please.


I'm really curious to see if these novels get super dark and wild. Right now, I'm just seeing implications take on a life of their own.


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The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood by Tommy J. Curry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think this will be a hard book for people in academia to accept.

Not because there isn't a mountain of evidence displaying not only the misandry of black men, because there is a big movement to maintain and further their entire erasure from the discussion.

What? Men are included, aren't they? We have reportings of their deaths almost every single day. I mean, just look at the news. This one was shot, this one was brutalized, this one... oh. Wait. These are just bodies. Did you want to talk about the actual MEN? Well, no. We only assume they are about to become a statistic.

Black MEN are not worthy of study despite a mountain of evidence proving that they are raped as often as women. Their suicide rates, depending on age, is 4-6 times higher than women. Job opportunities are much less available compared to black women, and it gets much, much worse after having the stigma of having been incarcerated. And they are arrested, searched, and brutalized at a much, much higher rate than any other sex or race, and often for only trumped-up reasons.

And yet, they are only studied as their dead bodies.

There is a major disconnect here. When men's balls are literally being crushed so as to need hospitalization, when plunger handles are used to penetrate men, is this not the definition of rape? When the numbers prove they aren't isolated examples, but pervasive and sickening, is this not WORTHY of study?

Let's face it. Academia has its own misandry and racism to acknowledge. When papers and books, even when they are monumentally well-researched, are not published because they don't set the right "narrative" about the plight of women, or about LGBTQ, they are, in effect, ERASING a whole CLASS of men (MEN, mind you, as defined by feminists).

When we talk of toxic masculinity, of patriarchy, of anything like this, it is NOT based on actual evidence.

Do not look at a class struggle in the same light as a sexual struggle, because the theories will come crashing down. Men, not just black men, are victims of class struggles too. Poverty doesn't give men a patriarchal advantage. It's completely absurd, with all the additional factors aligned against black men, that they are automatically the beneficiaries of male privilege.

Look at the actual evidence instead of pushing an ideological theory.

Neither men nor women are saints. One should not use intersectionality to dehumanize ANYONE.


As for this book, please read it as the academic eye-opener that it is. This work is about the erasure of men. So much talk goes on about "how they bring it on themselves," or "how to strip them from their actual gender identity," or to dismiss them on the basis of a perceived but unfactual arguments that have become fashionable in the rise of feminism. And by the way, dehumanizing men just because they are men is called misandry. Both men and women are guilty of it.

The NEWS is guilty of it. Academia is guilty of it. Politics is guilty of it. None of us are perfect, but disenfranchising a whole class of people is, in actual fact, the definition of prejudice.

Be aware.

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We Are Where the Nightmares Go and Other Stories by C. Robert Cargill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a big fan of Cargill's fiction. First, I loved his SF, but it wasn't until I dived into his two fae-based fantasy novels that I was rather blown away.

This particular book is a collection of short stories that really showcase his love of fantasy in general. When I judge them, I judge them solely on how much fun I had. *hint -- I had a lot of fun* Dark Fantasy? Yes, please!

There are more stories in the collection than the ones I mention here, but these are the ones I personally loved.

We Are Where the Nightmares Go - I kinda squeed on this one. It's all about a fairy tale gone very, very wrong. I actually chortled. CHORTLED.

As They Continue to Fall - At first I thought it was gonna be a little like Supernatural where the angels are all dicks, but no. This is much worse. And the implication underneath? Even darker. :)

Hell Creek - Why not have a MC be a triceratops surrounded by an undead invasion of other dinos? There's only one thing to say about this: HELL YES!

I Am the Night You Never Speak Of - Sin-Eating as a rather UF-y profession. I think I'd love (and be sickened by) a full UF series based on this.

A Clean White Room - (co-authored) but totally awesome continuation of the Sin-Eating profession. This is one HELL of a sick job. Perfect for those of us who want to be thankful for the jobs we already have, thank you very much. :)

The Soul-Thief’s Son - A side tale of Cargill's dark fantasy novels featuring Colby Stevens in dreamwalking Australia. I personally LOOOVED this one. It was like coming home. Even if home is a soulless husk. :)

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