Bump in the Night - Sci-Fi & Fantasy

WARNING! Unlike my review of “The Knife of Never Letting Go,” this review WILL contain spoilers. I tried to think of a way around including them, but it is difficult if not impossible to discuss this book’s strengths and weaknesses without revealing some important plot points.

“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins came highly recommended to me by my friends, and now that I’ve read it I understand why. It’s a high paced, high stakes book where Katniss, the main character, is constantly fighting for her life. If you haven’t heard about this book yet, the premise is rather simple. Sometime in the future, the United States has ceased to exist. In its place is a country called Panem, which is divided into 12 districts. Decades before the current story, those districts (along with a now destroyed 13th district) battled against the repressive Capitol – and lost. Now the Capitol forces each district to send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a kind of Survivor-gone-overboard where the kids are expected to kill each other and the victor is the last one standing. When Katniss’s 12-year-old sister is chosen, she volunteers to go in her place. The heart of the story is her struggle to survive and retain her humanity in the Games.

Now, I enjoyed this book overall and would recommend it to the same people who were intrigued by “The Knife of Never Letting Go.” But it did have some shortcomings that I think are important to discuss:

1. Point of view. “The Hunger Games” is written in first person POV (from Katniss’s perspective), and I think it would have worked better in third person. The primary source of tension in story comes from the question of Katniss’s survival – but if the story is told in first person, the implication from the beginning is that she alive to tell it. For me, the main benefit of first-person narration is an increased sense of empathy with the main character and an understanding of her motivations. Yet I felt strangely distant from Katniss, though whether this was because of her “closed off” fighter’s personality or the writing itself is hard to say.

2. The back-story. We are told that the Capitol uses the Hunger Games to intimidate the districts and decrease the likelihood of further revolt. This stretches credibility. There are far more direct ways to show military and moral strength – visible cameras, posting of nearby troops, forced pledges of allegiance, separation from families, etc. – but the easiest way to calm a troubled populous is to make sure that it is happy and well-fed. If the districts are laborers for the Capitol, why would it want to keep them unequal and malnourished and waste valuable labor hours on the Hunger Games? A demand for ghoulish entertainment by the citizens of the Capitol would have been a more convincing premise (and would have allied readers more readily against it) with closer parallels to modern-day reality TV.

3. The stakes (or lack there of). The ideas behind “The Hunger Games” are not entirely original. Parts of them have been done before, from the kid-on-kid violence of “Lord of the Flies” to the killer reality show of “The Running Man.” What makes this kind of book interesting is how the characters respond to the moral dilemmas in front of them. Will Katniss kill the friend she owes her life to or the little girl who is more like her than her sister? And if she does, what will it do to her mind and conscience? These questions, while unsettling, are what give the novel depth. But the author cheats readers by giving Katniss loopholes: the girl is killed by someone else and she mourns her death, the capitol allows both her and her friend to win. The main character doesn’t have to make difficult decisions and never commits overtly subversive acts against the Capitol. By the time we get to the end, we assume that the Capitol’s supposed threat against Katniss for “tricking” them at the Games will never play out – and it doesn’t, at least not yet.

That said, I still thought this book was well-written and had a good time reading it. I’m going to implement a new rating system so that you can compare the books I’ve reviewed on this blog: each book will receive between 1 and 4 dragon scales, with 1 being terrible and 4 being life-changing. “The Hunger Games” receives 3 out of 4 dragon scales for being an all-around fast paced and entertaining read. “The Knife of Never Letting Go” receives 3.5 out of 4 dragon scales for inspiring genuine suspense and curiosity in the reader.

Like many other teens, I enjoy reading in my spare time, but don’t have much time to spare during the school year. Winter vacation is the perfect opportunity for me to catch up on the great books that I didn’t have a chance to read in the fall. Now, I love young adult sci-fi/fantasy novels, but recently that section of the bookstore/library seems to have been taken over by vampire romances – and I’m the kind of person who believes that vampires should bite first and blow kisses…never. That’s why I was so glad to stumble upon “The Knife of Never Letting Go” by Patrick Ness, a relatively new addition to the genre that is thus far (I am about 3/4 of the way through the book) 100% vampire free.

Todd Hewitt is the last boy in a colony full of men that was supposed to be Earth’s fresh start. His world is full of Noise – the thoughts of others, which became audible after an act of biological warfare by an alien species wiped out all of the women on the planet. There is no such thing as privacy – not even from his dog, whose (usually dull) thoughts he can’t help but hear. But everything changes when Todd finds two things that weren’t supposed to exist: a silent patch in the swamp near his farm, and a girl. His town has been hiding something from him, something so terrible that he, the girl, and his dog must run for their lives. Everything Todd has been taught is a lie – but how can he survive long enough to find the truth when his pursuers can hear his every thought?

There are three things I love about this novel. The first is its voice. “Knife” is told in first person, from Todd’s point of view. As any reader (or writer) of young adult fiction knows, it is very difficult to create an authentic sounding teenage narrator, but Ness succeeds and goes a step further by using realistic slang and phonetic spellings (Todd never quite learned how to read). The main character embodies the conflict between independence and self-doubt that is often said to define teenagers without sounding contrived. And not once does the author “talk down” to the reader.

The second thing I love is the plot. Sometimes it seems like there are only 3 or 4 plots in YA sci-fi/fantasy that get repeated over and over with slight variations. While journeys set against apocalyptic settings have been done before, the idea of Noise was original enough to catch my interest and new discoveries over the course of the plot kept me reading and genuinely wondering what Todd and his companions would ultimately uncover. I know a plot is good when I find myself reading so fast to find out what happens next that I have to go back and reread sections that I accidentally skipped over.

The third thing I enjoyed, and this has a lot to do with voice, was the character of Todd and his dog, Manchee. At the beginning of the book, I found Todd a little irritating, with a tendency to make stupid decisions. But as the pages flew past, I realized that I was becoming more and more sympathetic towards him. He becomes a fully realized person with hopes and doubts that readers can readily identify with. Ness does not try to forcibly manipulate you into liking Todd by making him perfect or pathetic (something that usually backfires) – such feelings are a natural progression that follows Todd’s personal growth.

If you have read this book and would like to share your impressions, please leave a comment! Next week, I plan to read “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, and may post a short review.

I first saw “The Dark Knight” over a month ago. The film was captivating as few have the potential to be, not because of its intense action sequences, skillful acting, or remarkable artistic design, but because of its unflinching exploration of human nature and the depth of its moral dilemmas. The world had never seen a superhero movie like this before - a movie that challenged them intellectually and spiritually, that left them deep in thought long after the final credits. As the lights came up in the theater, I was struck by a sudden and indignant thought: where is our dark knight?

Science fiction and fantasy have mirrored superhero comics for far longer than most people realize. In the 1920s, they were essentially one and the same - fantasy first gained widespread popularity in the pulp magazines and “graphic novels” of that decade, not the written format that is most common today. Read any sophisticated comic book, and you will realize that the themes between the covers are almost identical to those in sci-fi/fantasy: pushing the boundaries of humankind, good vs. evil (and the true nature of each), fate, responsibility towards your fellow (wo)man, overcoming adversity to accomplish the impossible, and so on. Until recently, both fantasy and superhero comics were maligned arts (science fiction has fared somewhat better, in my opinion), considered to be appropriate only for children and the chronically immature. The popularity of movies based on these genres in the last few years has begun to open them up to a larger audience. But until this July, labels like “escapist” and “juvenile” still endured.

Then “The Dark Knight” came along, and everything changed - or at least started to change. Today, people are excited about comic book superheroes. They’ve realized that they can be something more - something deeper - than pure entertainment. Hopefully the release of “Watchmen” (one of Time magazine’s top 100 English language novels since 1923) next March will only continue to emphasize that message. But in fantasy land, we’re still struggling for recognition. Perhaps this is because fantasy films have yet to stray far from genre stereotypes (elves, dragons, massive battles, etc.). One notable exception is “Pan’s Labyrinth,” a fantasy film so atypical that even I didn’t know what to make of it on first viewing - and whose promise has yet to be echoed in any more recent films.

What do you think? Are we in need of a “Dark Knight”? And if we are, which authors, titles, or subgenres is he or she most likely to come from?

Sure, watching highly trained athletes compete in soccer or gymnastics is fun - but imagine what it would be like if they had magic or jet packs! In honor of the 2008 summer games, here are the top three fictional sports that would, in a perfect world, be part of the Olympic lineup.

Quidditch - Most people reading this blog are probably familiar with quidditch, a sport from J.K. Rowling’s popular Harry Potter series. In case you need to refresh your memory of the rules of the game, here’s a quick overview. Each team is composed of seven witches and wizards - on broomstick, of course. Three chasers try to throw the quaffle past a keeper into one of three ring-shaped goals, while two beaters try to hit them with bludgers and one seeker looks for the golden snitch - which, if caught, will award his or her team 150 points and end the game. (Takes a deep breath). Real life versions of quidditch (minus the broomsticks) are becoming popular all over the world, especially on college campuses. Stay tuned for the 2012 Olympics!

Brockian Ultra-Cricket - A parody of actual cricket, the rules for Brockian Ultra-Cricket, from Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams, go something like this (as presented in the book and borrowed from wikipedia):

Rule One: Grow at least three extra legs. You won’t need them, but it keeps the crowds amused.
Rule Two: Find one good Brockian Ultra-Cricket player and clone him off a few times. This saves an enormous amount of tedious selection and training.
Rule Three: Put your team and the opposing team in a large field and build a high wall round them. The reason for this is that, though the game is a major spectator sport, the frustration experienced by the audience at not actually being able to see what’s going on leads them to imagine that it’s a lot more exciting than it actually is. A crowd that has just watched a rather humdrum game experiences far less life-affirmation than a crowd that believes it has just missed the most dramatic event in sporting history.
Rule Four: Throw lots of assorted items of sporting equipment over the walls for the players. Anything will do — cricket bats, basecube bats, tennis guns, skis, anything you can get a good swing with.
Rule Five: The players should now lay about themselves for all they are worth with whatever they find to hand. Whenever a player scores a ‘hit’ on another player, he should immediately run away and apologize from a safe distance. Apologies should be concise, sincere and, for maximum clarity and points, delivered through a megaphone.
Rule Six: The winning team shall be the first team that wins.

Rollerball - Rollerball comes from the 1975 sci-fi film of the same name. It is an international, full contact sport designed not only as entertainment, but also as a way to kill off players in the overpopulated future. Two teams roller skate around a circular arena as they try to throw a softball-sized steel ball into a cone-shaped goal in the wall. Three motorcycles (which players can grab onto) are added just to create some extra excitement. Roller derby is a real life parallel without the violence.

Summer and camps go together like chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers. But many teens are gravitating away from traditional outdoors camps for single subject, learning focused programs. Writing camps can be a great opportunity to improve your skills and learn new techniques, especially if a topic that interests you, like creative writing, journalism, or poetry, isn’t available as a class at your school. By sharing my experiences, I hope to help you decide if the writing camp experience is right for you.

Over the last two years, I have attended two different writing camps at Duke University (many great camps for teens are connected to colleges - I know that at least one other blogger here has mentioned attending a writing camp affiliated with a university). The first, called the Creative Writers Workshop, allows campers to write as much as they want on any subject that interests them in order to produce a finished project (such as a one-act play, a series of memoirs, or a short story) in two weeks. Instructors provide lessons and critiques both in groups and individually, which was a nice change from school, where teachers do not always have time to discuss the fine points of students’ writing one-on-one. This camp was a great opportunity to work on my novel, which I am now busy revising!

The second, the Duke Young Writers camp, gives campers the opportunity to choose two “classes” from a variety of subjects (you attend one in the morning and one in the afternoon). Last year, I chose journalism and slam poetry. Not only were we given plenty of time to write (in the journalism class, we were expected to produce a finished paper by the end of the camp) and receive instruction from people who were knowledgeable about their subjects, we also got to play creative games, have fun competitions, share our writing daily with others, listen to interesting and informative guest speakers, explore a range of goofy and serious exercises, read our work at a local bookstore, and more.

I think it’s these “extras” that separate a writing camp from a writing course that you might take at school. When writing becomes not just a one hour class with the added pressure of a grade, but an immersive process that lets you explore your interests and work with others who share them, it is exponentially more interesting and enjoyable. As a result, I have learned more in two weeks than I have in some whole year courses, and I know my writing reflects it.

For more information on the two camps that I mentioned, please visit: http://www.learnmore.duke.edu/youth/. Maybe I will see you next year!

At its most daring, cutting edge, science fiction is no more or less than a foreshadowing of tomorrow - unless, of course, its a blueprint. Some of the most prominent inventions of the 20^th and early 21^st centuries were previewed in the pages of science fiction novels almost a century before they were studied in a lab. History makes it clear that when literature not only morphs into reality, but shapes it, remarkable advances are born. From robotic limbs to underwater exploration, examples abound of works of pure imagination that have evolved into technological innovations with the potential to improve the lives of millions and make the world a more interesting place.

Not convinced? Consider Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, one of the first science fiction novels published in the modern era. While hers was primarily a tale of remorse for tampering with the boundaries of nature, it also raised the possibility of organ transplantation - a vision that would not become a reality until almost 140 years later. Or look at the works of Jules Verne, which have been credited with predicting air conditioning, television, submarines, helicopters, and the internet. More recently, bionics and genetic engineering have made the leap from fantasy to scientific fact. The cochlear implant (a device to aid the hearing impaired) is the most famous example of a mechanical implant fulfilling the role of a biological organ, but also of note are a totally implanted artificial heart¹, a silicon retina², and a robotic arm driven by an amputee’s own thoughts³, all of which have been developed to an advanced stage in the last five years. And clinical trials are currently underway which involve the manipulation of patients’ genomes to correct disease causing mutations⁴.

So what’s on the horizon? Nanotechnology is one rapidly growing field whose origins can be traced to science fiction (and is the main focus of Michael Crichton’s recent novel, Prey). The growth of individually tailored organs from a person’s own tissues is also a tantalizing (and viable) candidate for the next major advance. To reach further towards the boundaries of science and the physical universe, a good novel may be your best guide.

Since this blog post addresses the science in science fiction, I have included a few links that technology and biology junkies like myself might enjoy. The next time your parent chides you for browsing the internet when you should be doing your homework, lay one of these bad boys on them and prepare yourself for a dazed surrender.

1. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01443.html
2. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050429100652.htm
3. http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/09/25/bionic.arm/
4. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050418203454.htm

When the school year is finally over and the lazy days of summer within reach, the requisite assigned reading list can seem like a shackle holding your freedom-yearning spirit to the cold, hard earth. All right, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I have long suspected that nothing turns teens off reading more than being forced to plod through winding, dusty volumes authored by people who died long before they were born. Today, everything you thought you knew about summer reading lists is going to be turned on its head. That’s right…you thought it was impossible, you thought someone would have to be crazy even to attempt such a feat, but today, I am going to give you a summer reading list that will make you want to spend your free time lost in the pages of a novel.

Book One: The Starry Rift, edited by Jonathan Strahan
The first book that I recommend is actually an anthology of short stories. Although I often find myself frustrated by anthologies - whether due to the inevitable mix of talent and disaster tossed together between the covers or the basic principal that you can only view a quick snapshot of each author’s style before being whisked off to the next - I found this one more interesting than most, representing enough different sub-genres and literary styles to give everyone something that they will enjoy. If nothing else, you may be introduced to new authors of whose work you weren’t previously aware (each story is accompanied by a short author biography and a paragraph about where they found their inspiration for the included tale).

Book Two: Shade’s Children and Sabriel, by Garth Nix
I love Garth Nix both for his vivid and complex science fiction and fantasy worlds and the deaths to which he illuminates the characters who inhabit them. The multifaceted cat spirit Mogget (from Sabriel) is my absolute favorite character in any sci-fi/fantasy novel. For younger teens (and older teens who like their fantasy with a softer edge), I also recommend Nix’s more recent “Keys to the Kingdom” series, which is arguably among the most imaginative and intricate YA creations being published today.

Book Three: Peeps, Uglies, and The Secret Hour (Midnighter series), by Scott Westerfeld
Scott Westerfeld is the archetypal YA sci-fi/fantasy writer - for good and for ill. His novels are innovative, fast paced, and exciting, but his writing technique is only just above average and he tends to either leave too many loose ends when wrapping up a story or throw in a contrived, disconnected finale. Still, he is fun to read and definitely worth a look.

Book Four: Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Fresh from Russia, Night Watch is the first novel in a trilogy that takes a surprisingly original take on the battle between Good and Evil (yep, with capital letters). If you like your epic battles often and your landscapes compelling (most of Night Watch takes place in Moscow), Night Watch is the book for you. The “cliff hanger twists” at the end of each section of the book can be annoying, but are not enough to cancel out the pluses of the raw action and intriguing political power scheme of the supernatural “Others” that are the central figures in this novel. Personally, I thought that there was a bit too much romance involved, but I hear that some people like a love affair or two in their books…

Book Five: The Dream Merchant, by Isabel Hoving (translated by Hester Velmans)
Generally less well known than the books outlined above, The Dream Merchant nevertheless deserves a place on this list for being one of the few relatively recent fiction books that still delivers plenty of surprises and a lot of raw fantasy punch. Arguably marketed towards younger teens, I would recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in economics, dreams, history, time-travel, or magic of any sort…more or else everyone.

Happy reading!

If you’re looking for a new and semi-bizarre sci-fi/fantasy writer, A.A. Attanasio’s a good one. He writes everything from Arthurian legends to futuristic dramas. It’s all very well researched and he usually has a lot of psychology and sociology worked in, so it gives you ton to think about. Always interesting reads.

http://www.aaattanasio.com/