From the back cover: Lauren Olamina's love is divided among her young daughter, her community, and the revelation that led Lauren to found a new faith that teaches "God is Change." But in the wake of environmental and economic chaos, the U.S. government turns a blind eye to violent bigots who consider the mere existence of a black female leader a threat. And soon Lauren must … [Read more...] about Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler: A-
Sci-Fi
A, A’ by Moto Hagio: B+
Back in the late ’90s, Viz dabbled in this weird thing called “shojo manga” and released a few one-shot volumes. A, A’ (A, A Prime), a collection of science fiction stories, was among these, and (lamentably) represents the largest chunk of material from Moto Hagio available in this country. Hagio, along with many other women who were pioneers of shojo manga, was born in 1949. … [Read more...] about A, A’ by Moto Hagio: B+
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer: B-
From the back cover: When Miranda first hears the warnings that a meteor is headed on a collision path with the moon, they just sound like an excuse for extra homework assignments. But her disbelief turns to fear in a split second as the entire world witnesses a lunar impact that knocks the moon closer in orbit, catastrophically altering the earth's climate. Everything else in … [Read more...] about Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer: B-
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler: A-
From the back cover: God is change. That is the central truth of the Earthseed movement, whose unlikely prophet is 18-year-old Lauren Olamina. The young woman's diary entries tell the story of her life amid a violent 21st-century hell of walled neighborhoods and drug-crazed pyromaniacs—and reveal her evolving Earthseed philosophy. Against a backdrop of horror emerges a … [Read more...] about Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler: A-
Akira 3 by Katsuhiro Otomo: A+
From the back cover: In the 21st century, the glittering Neo-Tokyo has risen from the rubble of a Tokyo destroyed by an apocalyptic telekinetic blast from a young boy called Akira—a subject of a covert government experiment gone wrong now imprisoned for three decades in frozen stasis. But Tetsuo, an unstable youth with immense paranormal abilities of his own, has done the … [Read more...] about Akira 3 by Katsuhiro Otomo: A+