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Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card

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So, this is my first Orson Scott Card. I know, I need to read Ender’s Game. I will eventually. But this book sounded cooler. It involves time travel, and that is always cooler than the competition. 
Pathfinder is actually two stories. The main story follows Rigg, a thirteen year old boy on a planet that seems to be Earth, but has very different government, societies, and religious stories than the Earth we know. Rigg has a unique ability to see the “paths” that others have made. He is the only one he knows who has this ability. When his father is in an accident in the woods, his last words to Rigg before he dies are to instruct him to find his sister. This takes Rigg by surprise since he didn’t even know he had a sister.
So Rigg goes off on a quest, picking up a few interesting characters who tag along with him. One of these characters is another boy who has his own special ability. Turns out, his power and Rigg’s power work together to allow them to time travel. This comes in handy on their journey, but it must be used carefully since it can also get them in serious trouble.
A lot of the book is fairly standard quest material. Rigg and his crew run into a few bad guys, get captured by soldiers, are robbed, get in fights, have to steal things, and get caught up in royal politics. Along the way, there’s serious foreshadowing that there is much more to Rigg’s story than just this quest, and of course there is. Which brings me to the second story in the novel.
Each chapter in Pathfinder begins with a few pages about another young man named Ram. Ram is on a space ship on its way to another planet. He is the pilot/commander and the only human awake – the rest are in artificial sleep, and the ship is run by androids called expendables. A lot of these sections are conversations between Ram and an expendable. You’d think that nothing but talk would get a little old, but these sections were by far my favorite of the book. Perceptive readers will figure out how Rigg’s and Ram’s stories fit together early on, but they’ll keep reading to discover the details. I actually found Ram’s story more compelling than Rigg’s. (I fully admit that this is due in part to the fact that the man who narrated Ram’s story had a much more pleasing voice than the one who narrated Rigg’s.)
A lot of Pathfinder seems like fantasy initially, but Card has a scientific explanation for everything. Whether these scientific explanations are actually plausible is debatable, but they make for a fascinating read. It’s also part of the book’s downfall. Pathfinder is explanation-heavy. Don’t get me wrong, I like to understand the details of the world the author has created, and science without explanation is just frustrating, but Card takes it a bit far. Every time Rigg time-travels, there is a long explanation of how it works. And the explanations aren’t really different at each instance. It becomes repetitive, and it’s certainly unnecessary.
It’s not just the science that gets tedious. Whenever Rigg attempts to manipulate another character, the narrator goes on to tell the reader exactly how he’s doing it and why it works. I suppose what I mean here is that there’s plenty of showing, but then there’s a lot of telling too. Really, the showing was enough for the reader to understand what’s going on. Since I listened to the book on audio, these parts definitely dragged.
Pathfinder is a pretty unique book. Card uses some standard tropes, but he throws in plenty that I haven’t read about before anywhere.  It’s also smart. Despite the over-explaining, it doesn’t talk down to its readers. There’s a lot of complex science and multiple story threads that must be weaved together by the reader (or listener). It’s refreshing to read a story about a thirteen year old, written for kids/young adults, that is this smart. I would have dug it a lot as a teen. (I liked it a lot as an adult too.)

Audiobook borrowed from my local library.

Ultraviolet by R. J. Anderson

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It’s almost impossible to discuss Ultraviolet by R. J. Anderson in any meaningful way without spoiling it a little, so here is the requisite warning: There are mild spoilers ahead. I won’t give away details of major plot points, but I will discuss in a very general way the twist that occurs near the end.
Alison has synesthesia. What this means is that she experiences each of her five senses using a different sense. For example, she can taste words and see sounds. It’s bizarre, but the best part about it is this condition/superpower actually exists.
Too bad for Alison that no one recognizes she has it. Instead, Alison thinks she’s simply crazy. This feeling is compounded when she witnesses a classmate – a mean girl – disintegrate in front of her. Alison thinks she did it and confesses to it. No one would have believed her, except the mean girl can’t be found anywhere, and there’s evidence that Alison did something to her. So Alison is promptly taken to a mental institution, where the cops continue to investigate the alleged crime, Alison tries to piece together what actually happened, and the reader tries to figure out if Alison is insane or not. Her synesthesia is finally brought to light by a visiting doctor named Faraday, and Alison starts to believe that she may be able to put her life back together.
And then, a few chapters before the book ends, it takes a serious turn into science fiction territory. I’ll be honest and admit that I only picked up Ultraviolet because I knew it would eventually reveal itself as science fiction. I’m not really into psychological dramas, and stories about mental institutions mostly depress me. Therefore I welcomed the twist with open arms. I thought it was clever, made sense in context, and was pretty fascinating.
I know some others don’t agree. Lots of readers feel cheated or duped, thinking they were reading a realistic novel only to find out – and right near the end, no less – that it is most definitely not. I can relate. I have a problem with books that do the opposite – make me think I’m reading a science fiction or fantasy novel and then reveal at the end that there’s a logical explanation for everything. It rankles most when there’s not much set-up for it, or the set-up is so obscure that it might as well not be there. While Anderson’s science fiction explanation makes sense here, there really isn’t much set-up for it, so I sympathize with readers who were irritated. But I love science fiction, so for me, the twist was terrific.
Of course, readers who enjoy genre-bending novels – and there are plenty of them out there – won’t have a problem with Anderson’s twist. It’s just good to know ahead of time that this book is genre-bending before recommending it to someone.
Overall, Ultraviolet was a solid and enjoyable read. Alison’s synesthesia made it unique and will probably be a great draw for readers. There just aren’t that many books that talk about this very real condition, and the condition itself is fascinating. Turning Alison’s story into science fiction doesn’t change the fact that synesthesia truly exists in our own real world.
That said, the book definitely set off my skeeze alarm. Faraday is the romantic interest, and that whole relationship is just… wrong… although I definitely see how he will appeal to certain teenage girls. But he’s old enough to have gotten an advanced degree, and he’s in a position of power over Alison, and I really didn’t like it. Anderson tries to make it sweet, but it just made me feel kind of icky.
Copy borrowed from my local library. Ultraviolet is available now.

Variant by Robison Wells

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Benson has been accepted to Maxfield Academy, a prestigious school whose existence means he won’t have to stick around in his dead-end life as a foster kid, jumping from one home to the next. But the minute he arrives at the school, he realizes something is wrong. For one thing, there aren’t any adults around. The kids all teach themselves, receiving instructions via computer. They’re sometimes instructed to complete pointless or cruel tasks, and there are terrible punishments for anyone who breaks rules.
Benson soon realizes that the school is a prison. Anyone who tries to leave is subject to punishment – and some of them just disappear. Benson – and a few allies (or are they allies?) – try to discover what the true purpose of the school is, because it’s definitely not educating its students. They also begin working on a daring plan to escape.
Variant has everything a good sci-fi thriller should: a quick pace, plenty of twists, a good narrative voice, and a few surprises. While I could predict a few of the events (anyone who’s read any amount of science fiction will be able to), Wells still managed to throw me for a pretty big loop near the end, and an even bigger one in the final chapter.
Variant isn’t earth-shaking or life-changing. Benson is well-drawn and most ancillary characters have some depth, but I wouldn’t say there’s much depth to the story as a whole. The writing is taut and propels the story forward, but it’s never lovely or particularly clever. It doesn’t try to be. Variant is a solid example of novel as entertainment. Like Harlan Coben’s Shelter or Ally Carter’s Heist Society, it succeeds because of its clever plot and quick pace.
I’d recommend Variant to readers who like thrillers. It will also have appeal to readers who like dystopias, although this book is NOT really a dystopia. The science fiction element is important, but it’s light and not very complex, meaning people who only have a passing interest in sci fi would have no problem getting hooked. If you like your books page-turners that won’t let you set them down until you finish, Variant is your match.

Three Books That Didn’t Work for Me

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Michelle of Galleysmith has a phrase she uses to describe some of the books she reviews: “Michelle is from Mars, this book is from Venus.” I think that’s a great way to describe some of the books we read. In each of the books I discuss here, I address exactly why I didn’t care for the book, but I acknowledge that it will certainly hold appeal for another audience. Sometimes that audience will be a small one, or it will be a large audience that is much more forgiving of bad writing and sloppy plotting.

That said, some of the books I discuss in these sort of posts are bad (or mediocre) books, and some are just not to my taste. I think that’s an important distinction to make, and I’ll indicate it in my individual reviews.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
What it’s about: Mara Dyer wakes up in the hospital with no memory of how she got there. She eventually learns that she and two of her friends were in an old building that collapsed. Her friends died, but Mara survived without a scratch. If you thought that the rest of the book would be dedicated to Mara’s investigation into what happened in the building, you’d only be half right. After Mara is released from the hospital, Mara and her family move to a new town, so Mara starts a new school and meets a new boy named Noah Shaw. Noah is good-looking, has an English accent and ridiculous amounts of money, and has slept with almost every other girl in the school. Naturally, he and Mara begin a relationship.

Why it didn’t work for me: The execution. I feel like this could have been a compelling novel with more judicious editing. The pacing is all off, a prominent character is written out of the book partway through for what seems like pure convenience’s sake, and the book has a prologue that doesn’t fit in with the rest of the story at all. The plot jumps all over the place and certain threads are dropped and never picked up again. Despite that, the book could have succeeded as a romance, but I found Noah Shaw so repellent I kept crossing my fingers and hoping for the scene where Mara would publicly tell him off. (It never came.) Example: Noah pursues Mara, who has told him to leave her alone, into the girls’ restroom at the school and tells the other girls in there to leave. They do, of course. I have many, many more examples, but I’ll stop there.

Who might enjoy it: Readers who can overlook messy writing (mostly the plotting) and who are drawn to the type of character that Noah is. I can’t see anyone primarily enjoying the paranormal storyline, but I can see someone enjoying it for the relationship between Mara and Noah. Many girls like to read about a bad boy every now and then, but Noah takes it way past my comfort level.

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch
What it’s about: Stephen lives in a world post-Collapse. The US fought a war against China, and the US lost, partly due to the fact that China released a terrible plague upon the Americans (hence the title). Slavers roam freely, violence is rampant, and it’s a daily fight to stay alive. Stephen, his father, and his grandfather are scavengers, trading for what they need and keeping to themselves. Then his grandfather dies and his father is in an accident. Stephen is taken in by a community that calls themselves Settler’s Landing. The people in this community are attempting to rebuild some sort of civilization, complete with school for the children and a form of government. Not everyone in Settler’s Landing is OK with Stephen coming to stay, and Stephen forms a bond with another outcast, Chinese-born Jenny. Then a prank that Stephen and Jenny play upon the residents of Settler’s Landing has unexpected consequences, and violence erupts in the previously peaceful settlement.

Why it didn’t work for me: Oh, dystopias. I know so many of you are terribly mediocre, but I can’t resist your siren call. The main problem I had with the book is that Hirsch had the whole world of horrible (and by that I mean awesome) dystopian tropes at his fingertips, but he chose to tell this particular story. While Hirsch does describe how awful the world is, the book is mostly a story about two teens’ prank gone wrong. The prank has terrible repercussions, but I never felt its magnitude, and I wanted a story on a larger scale. The prank (which is alluded to on the flap copy) also doesn’t occur until about 2/3rds of the way through the book, so there’s too much time spent on Stephen’s acclimation to Settler’s Landing. Additionally, Stephen and Jenny are fairly well-drawn, but the ancillary characters are flat and mostly interchangeable.

Who might enjoy it: There’s definitely an audience for this book. Readers who get tired of dystopias’ fixation on giant wars or major rebellions may enjoy the smaller story recounted here. It’s more about creating community and fitting in than overthrowing corrupt governments. There’s also a dearth of dystopias told from a boy’s perspective, so this fills a gap.

The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
What it’s about: Lexi lives in Near, a small, secluded town whose inhabitants distrust strangers. Then one night, a stranger – a boy Lexi’s age – appears on the moor. His appearance coincides with the disappearance of Near’s children, and the townsfolk are quick to blame the stranger boy, who has been taken in by two old women who live near the outskirts of Near. Lexi doesn’t believe the boy is responsible, and, with his help, she sets out to determine who is actually taking the children. If not the boy, could it be the Near Witch, whom the townsfolk supposedly destroyed years ago?

Why it didn’t work for me: The plot was a bit dull. I thought it was overly predictable and moved at a rather slow pace. Schwab’s writing is gorgeous and atmospheric, but I’ve always been the type of reader who needs a strong plot to stay interested. My ideal book would have both great writing and great plotting, so The Near Witch only partially satisfied me. This is one of those books that was more not to my taste than actually bad.

Who might enjoy it: Readers who value beautiful writing and don’t mind when it’s accompanied by a slow or predictable plot. I do want to emphasize how gorgeous Schwab’s writing is, so if you’re the kind of person who digs that, you might want to give this a shot.

First two books were review copies received from the publisher. Last book checked out from my local library. All books are available now.

Tankborn by Karen Sandler

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Kayla and Mishalla are GENs, genetically engineered non-humans. Unlike other people who were born to mothers naturally, Kayla and Mishalla were gestated in a tank. Not even considered human by the trueborns (upper-class natural-borns) and lowborns (lower-class natural-borns), GENs are created for a specific Assignment, which they take at age 15 and from then on are treated as slaves. All GENs are marked with a tattoo on the side of their face upon creation, which serves a dual purpose of making them recognizable to non-GENs as well as being used as a sort of electrical conduit to upload information to their brains.
Kayla and Mishalla are close friends and almost sisters. They were raised together and turned 15 at around the same time, with Mishalla leaving to take her Assignment a little before Kayla. Mishalla serves as a caretaker for trueborn children in a sort of nursery and Kayla serves as the attendant to Zul Manel, the bed-ridden patriarch of a very wealthy and influential trueborn family.
The book alternates between their perspectives, but most attention is given to Kayla. Kayla has been told her entire life that she is worthless, good only for the one thing she has been Assigned, so much of the book is necessarily Kayla’s path to realizing her own self-worth. She’s an interesting character who experiences a lot of growth, and her story (involving the secrets kept by the trueborn family she serves and by extension secrets kept by her world at large) is fascinating. Mishalla is a bit flatter, but I liked her story as well – the children she cares for are disappearing in the middle of the night, spirited away by her trueborn keeper and never seen again. About halfway through the book, Kayla’s and Mishalla’s stories intertwine.
I loved so much about Tankborn. Sandler has created a unique society (set on an entirely new planet called Loka) ruled by a strict caste system: trueborns at the top, lowborns at the bottom, and GENs beneath even them. What’s more, the trueborns themselves are divided into castes. The ideal skin color is what most would consider medium-brown. The farther away from this color a person’s skin deviates (darker AND lighter), the lower they are on the totem pole. (Kayla’s skin is light brown and Mishalla’s is pale white, so even if they were trueborn, they would both be low trueborns.) It’s a unique take on the caste systems in our own past and present worlds, and Sandler makes it believable.
I loved the plot of Tankborn. That’s a fairly simplistic statement to make, but it’s a true one. As a seasoned SF reader, I thought I knew where Sandler was heading with the story, but she surprised me multiple times. The biggest twist was something I never saw coming, but it wasn’t a cheat since I could look back and see the groundwork Sandler had laid for it the entire book. There are a couple of love interests for our two lead females, but they’re among the weaker aspects, although they are sweet.
Tankborn is a science fiction story for readers who like science fiction. What I mean by that is Tankborn most likely won’t hold the interest of casual science fiction readers. Sandler’s world-building is complex, involving a string of new vocabulary, complicated social structures, a completely new religion, and a giant backstory that unfolds over the course of the book. It’s necessary for the reader to understand all of this world-building to comprehend the story, and it’s too easy for casual SF readers to give up when they stumble across yet another unfamiliar element. Readers who enjoy SF naturally, though, will relish this aspect.
I think the length of my review is a good indication of how complicated this story can be, but that makes it wonderful for readers who want to get lost in another world. There are so few YA books out there that are wholly, unabashedly science fiction. Most YA SF books I come across are set in our world with a twist, and while I enjoy those, they’re not my original love.
I hope to see this one on the Cybils finalist list. Tankborn is one of the first books published by Lee and Low’s new Tu Books imprint, which aims to publish YA SFF with diverse protagonists. But make no mistake, it’s not only a great science fiction story with a person of color in the lead role, it’s a great science fiction story period.

Sidenote: I initially believed Kayla’s skin was a fairly dark brown, since that’s how she is portrayed on the cover of the book, but a helpful Amazon reader pointed out that she is, in fact, much lighter-skinned. In the first few pages, her skin is described as “pale mud” and lighter than the “medium brown” of a trueborn she encounters. I was snookered by the cover and didn’t read carefully enough. I think it’s interesting that the cover made her darker, since it’s usually the other way around.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Tankborn is available now.