Apparently I went on a science fiction and
historical kick this month, with four books that each take place in the past,
two of them with science fiction elements, and all with some real events. Must
just have been the mood I was in.
Equilateral
by Ken Kalfus
A physicist has a plan to dig a hundreds-of-miles
wide equilateral triangle into the Sahara desert to attract Martians by
lighting it on fire as a signal on the night that Mars is closest to Earth.
Fascinating premise, and I was super excited to read this book. The jargon and
scientific language slowed down the plot a bit, but I am educated in science
enough understand it completely. The characters are so dynamic, well-defined,
and interesting. A great read for those
who enjoy sci-fi rather than historical fiction.
The Movement
of the Stars by Amy Brill
A twenty-something girl who has grown up in a
Quaker community in the 1800s has a dream of discovering a new comet and has no
interest in getting married, as her family wishes her to do. But then she meets
a foreign sailor who she begins teaching navigation skills, and she falls in
love. I didn’t think the sailor character was very believable, and though he was
a very sweet guy, I wasn’t entirely sure what she saw in him—or what he saw in
her. Though the characters and premise were not original or quite deep enough
for my liking, I did enjoy the writing style of this book.
Bright and
Distant Shores by Dominic Smith
Extremely thorough and rich detail—so much the
plot was too slow for my tastes, but also so much that a vivid image of the
setting could be immediately conjured, almost dreamlike—made this book a deep,
fantastic read. The level of detail could sometimes make the story boring, but
I generally found myself caught up in the imagery. It’s a story set partly in
turn-of-the-century Chicago, partly in some Pacific islands, where a museum
item collector sailed to bring back native islanders for a museum exhibition. I
would highly recommend this read for those with the time, intellect, and
attention-span to make it through.
Pastwatch:
The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card
Half of this book is a historical account of
Christopher Columbus’ life, and the other half is the account of a distant
future community where a machine can peek into the past and observe. But one
girl believes she can develop the technology to actually travel back and change
Columbus’ mind about his journey across the ocean in order to divert the
corruption of Christianity—and even more terrifying, she believes that someone
has already done this before. I loved the plot, though the historical story
line wasn’t all that engaging, and, to be honest, the conversation taking place
in the future story line wasn’t all that exciting either. Maybe it was just the
premise that kept me reading, wanting to know how the plot would resolve.
Peace, Aimee
