Book Review: Foe by Iain Reid

Pros: atmospheric, interesting characters

Cons: somewhat predictable

Junior and Henrietta’s lives change the day Terrance shows up at their country house. Junior has been chosen by lottery to participate in the installation, meaning he’ll be away for an undetermined amount of time. But the company has decided that Henrietta won’t be left alone while he’s gone…

The book is very atmospheric. The chapters are short and punchy and leave you feeling unsettled. Junior asks Terrance questions and it’s fascinating how easily Terrance deflects the conversation or speaks a lot without saying anything. There’s a level of frustration you feel, along with Junior.

The first person perspective was a little peculiar, as both Junior’s thoughts and spoken words were done without italics or quotation marks. A few times I wasn’t sure if he’d said something out loud or just in his head.

I liked Junior and Henrietta. It was interesting seeing their lives. The book mostly takes place in their home, with only occasional jaunts to where they work or the fields outside their home. It gave the book a claustrophobic feeling.

The book is set in the near future but the world is largely ignored. There are a few SF elements but the book mostly feels like a suspense novel.

I figured out the ending around the half way point, but it was still interesting to see how the book would reveal what was really going on. It was also a quick read, which helped maintain the creepy mood.

If you like books with mystery and a touch of horror, this is a good read.

Book Review: Vessel by Lisa Nichols

Pros: great depiction of trauma, compelling story, interesting characters

Cons: not sure I believe the ending

Acting Commander Catherine Wells is the sole survivor of the presumed lost Sagittarius mission to TRAPPIST-1f, a planetary system on the other side of a warp hole. Her sudden return to Earth means NASA can better prepare the soon to depart Sagittarius II crew. Or it would, if she could remember what happened on the alien planet.

This is a quick read. The characters are all interesting, with the majority of the story focusing on Catherine returning to a husband and daughter who believed she was dead the past 6 years. There’s a lot for the book to unpack and the author does an excellent job of showing Catherine’s trauma regarding memory loss, extreme isolation for an extended period of time, survivor’s guilt for being the only member of her crew to survive, as well as the guilt over having been away from her family for so long.

The current memory lapses she has makes for a compelling storyline and I found myself rushing ahead to find out what was going on. I loved the periodic flashbacks to what happened on the Sagittarius I mission.

Once I found out what was happening some of that compulsion to finish the book dissipated. The closer the book got to the ending the less I believed how the higher ups at NASA were acting. The final acts of the protagonists seemed highly implausible and I had trouble believing NASA would go along with it considering the cost and time involved in implementing their plan.

On the whole it was an entertaining read, with some interesting twists though a somewhat unsatisfying ending.

Book Review: One Way by S. J. Morden

Pros: interesting characters, fast paced, tense

Cons: a little obvious

In an attempt to save money, XO recruits convicts to man its mission to Mars and build its NASA contracted habitat. But Mars is a dangerous place and ‘accidents’ happen.

I really enjoyed this book. Frank’s an interesting narrator who knows about as much as the reader with regards to what’s going on. A lot of the mystery and suspense surrounds the aspects of the mission that the ‘crew’ aren’t aware of as they’re rushed through training and shipped off to Mars. 

I thought there was a good mix of characters in terms of personality and the reason they were behind bars. I did wonder why Brack was so obviously antagonistic towards the convicts, considering he needed the group to work together. Yes, they needed to stay in line, but he generally did more harm than good with his comments.

The depictions of life on Mars were great. A lot of care was obviously taken to point out the very real dangers of living and working there. 

Due to a lack of attention, it took me a while to realize that the opening quotes weren’t in chronological order as I’d expected. Pay attention to the dates so you can piece together the history of XO’s planning for - and problems regarding - the Mars mission. 

The story is fast paced. While I figured out one mystery quite early, the ending was still very tense and suspenseful.