Review: Under the Eye of the Big Bird

Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Am I the only person who was surprised at the sci-fi aspect of this book? I've read quite a few of Hiromi Kawakami's books, and while they often veer into surrealism, this went full-on futuristic dystopian sci-fi. The short stories are interconnected, and seem to come together at the end. I confess they gave me much to think about, especially given the AI aspect, but it felt very different from her other novels. 

So, while I realize my disappointment might be a tad misplaced, I still feel like I was robbed from reading a Hiromi Kawakami novel, which I had been looking forward to. Hence the 3 stars. 

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Review: Your Utopia

Your Utopia by Bora Chung
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Science fiction is a copout, since, much like with fantasy, you can invent the rules and orchestrate any number of deus ex machinas (machinae?) to change the plot as you wish.

This is why I never really understood or got into sci-fi.

And this is why I think Bora Chung is the best sci-fi author for people who don't like sci-fi. This is the second book of hers that I've read (plus one short story), and I've loved everything I've read by her thus far.

The Center for Immortality Research - Nice twist ending.
The End of the Voyage - This might have been my favorite. Some odd virus has overtaken earth so a ship escapes into space to preserve the human race.
A Very Ordinary Marriage - A short, fun read.
Maria, Gratia Plena - Excellent, if a bit sad.
Your Utopia - Great story, showcasing evolution in robots(?)
A Song for Sleep - A good story about IOT
Seed - Evolution of people (and plants)
To Meet Her - More about protests than anything, it seemed like, albeit in a dystopian future.



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Review: Tower

Tower by Bae Myung-hoon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Once again, I never thought I enjoyed sci-fi. But I recently read Bora Chung's "On the Origin of Species" and thought it was great. I figured that was the exception, but then I read this book and raced through it.

Interestingly, I found Chung's book a philosophy book, and decided that good sci-fi must also be a philosophical book. This book, however, seemed more a study of markets, economics and urban planning more than anything, and I loved it.

I may give this 4 stars instead of 5, for a pretty petty reason. I didn't understand the ending of the first story. I thought it would be explained later on, but it wasn't, and this annoys me a lot.



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Review: On the Origin of Species and Other Stories

On the Origin of Species and Other Stories by Kim Bo-young
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm not generally a Sci-fi fan, but, as with the author's other book (I'm Waiting for You and Other Stories), I really enjoyed these stories. I guess it is impossible to write sci-fi without writing about philosophy and a commentary on life in general.

All of these stories were great. In fact, it is probably better to list the stories I enjoyed somewhat less than to list my favorites, but this is only because they were all very good.

'A Brief Reflection on Breasts' was too short to say much to me.
'Between Zero and One' was a bit too odd for me, which makes me think I didn't understand it.

All the other stories were excellent. Scripter was just fun to read. 'An Evolutionary Myth' is more Myth than anything, reminiscent of ancient Chinese/Korean mythology. 'Last of the Wolves' was disturbing, but very interesting. 'Stars Shine in the Earth's Sky' had a very interesting premise, and the two 'On the origin of species' stories were superb.


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Review: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think I enjoyed this book more than the first one. The story was fun, smart and there were some great a-ha moments. 

Having said that, some things irked me. (SPOILERS AHEAD PROBABLY). First all, the plethora of "Good times books" seemed a tad Deus ex machina-like. To have 1 or 2 people receive it seemed fine, but when the number started increasing exponentially it seemed gratuitous. In fact, a book just seemed really circuitous. Why not just communicate with them? And how Carl's brother was controlling friggin everything at the end (how did Carl not think of this? Even I was thinking Peter or some ally of his might be controlling it). 

Also, the random limitations of power that Carl and his brother had seemed arbitrary. 

Then again, these are always my issues with sci-fi novels. The rules can be made up and they feel made up to me. So Sci-fi aficionados might not feel that at all. 

Some other points that irked me: 

The finance people are unquestionably evil. As per. 

What happened to "Fish"? Did I miss that? 

Robin seemed sort of dismissed at the end.

How is Carl adding his own chapters if he's dead in the end?

Ok, now this is just a list of faults, but I think I'm listing them mainly because I really enjoyed the rest, and these may just be points I didn't really get (I seriously read one sci-fi book every few years). 

4.5 stars. 

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