Dare Mighty Things

Dare Mighty Things by Heather Kaczynski     377 pages

From Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Gupta’s entire life has been leading up to this—the opportunity to travel to space. But to secure a spot on this classified mission, she must first compete against the best and brightest people on the planet. People who are as determined as she to win a place on a journey to the farthest reaches of the universe. 

Cassie is ready for the toll that the competition will take; the rigorous mental and physical tests designed to push her to the brink of her endurance. But nothing could have prepared her for the bonds she would form with the very people she hopes to beat. Or that with each passing day it would be more and more difficult to ignore the feeling that the true objective of the mission is being kept from her.

As the days until the launch tick down and the stakes rise higher than ever before, only one thing is clear to Cassie: she’ll never back down . . . even if it costs her everything.

My review:

This book was interesting because it's a futuristic setting, which I don't come across very often. Humanity is capable of genetically modifying humans before their bore (designer babies) and has landed a man on Mars. Though the NASA still suffers insufficient funds and there's still a general lack of space exploration - until this competition, which Cass luckily get's nominated for.

I enjoyed Cass's narrative - she is hard working, determined, and yet still relatable. She struggles with homesickness, with feeling too nerdy at times and at others not ne
rdy enough, and difficulties with making friends. I liked seeing her progression through this book as she comes to understand her fellow competitors better and, even further, relates to them and befriends them.

The plot is pretty steady, hardly dragging and once the mission begins, Kaczynski really kicks it into high gear. The sci-fi is pretty soft, so I think most readers will be able to enjoy the book even if they aren't big sci-fi fans. The book follows a pretty clear trajectory that, while predictable, is still intriguing and doesn't give away everything at once. While I knew certain outcomes early on, I was still pleasantly surprised but other little twists. Though it ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger (this book is a duology), it still manages to wrap itself up so that it doesn't rely too heavily on what comes in another installment of the series.

I am definitely going to read the follow up book and I would highly recommend it to space-buffs and YA readers alike. There is some minor romance, but it's not the central plot (it barely factors in the book) and much more emphasis is placed on Cass and her growth. It's very much a woman-power book and I appreciated that.

The Long Cosmos

The Long Cosmos by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter, 377 pages

“The thrilling conclusion to the internationally bestselling Long Earth series explores the greatest question of all: What is the meaning of life? 2070-71. Nearly six decades after Step Day, a new society continues to evolve in the Long Earth. Now, a message has been received: "Join us." The Next--the hyper-intelligent post-humans--realize that the missive contains instructions for kick-starting the development of an immense artificial intelligence known as The Machine. But to build this computer the size of an Earth continent, they must obtain help from the more populous and still industrious worlds of mankind. Meanwhile, on a trek in the High Meggers, Joshua Valienté, now nearing seventy, is saved from death when a troll band discovers him. Living among the trolls as he recovers, Joshua develops a deeper understanding of this collective-intelligence species and its society. He discovers that some older trolls, with capacious memories, act as communal libraries, and live on a very strange Long Earth world, in caverns under the root systems of trees as tall as mountains. Valienté also learns something much more profound . . . about life and its purpose in the Long Earth: We cultivate the cosmos to maximize the opportunities for life and joy in this universe, and to prepare for new universes to come.” I have not read the other books in this series and it really wasn’t much of a drawback.  I was able to pick up what was happening pretty quickly.  I enjoyed this book enough that I want to read the others in the series and would recommend it to fans of science fiction and fantasy.

Shadows in Flight

Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card, 237 pages

So this book by Card finishes up the Shadows series and the life of Bean. For those that have not read any of the books yet, go read them like I have told you before! But if you are still going to ignore me, Bean is another super smart, though somewhat altered child that attended battle school with Ender. In fact if Ender had started to falter, Bean would have been the one to continue the war with the Formics. When we left off in this series Bean had just taken himself and three of his children into space. The idea was to stay at near light speed travel until a cure could be developed for their genetic condition. But those plans get sidetracked when they happen upon another starship, one that belongs to a previously thought dead enemy.

Shadows in Flight is somewhat humorous, especially seeing the childhood squabbles of super geniuses, but also quite sad. It is rare to come across a series of books where you can see a person grow up. Sure it is easy to find books that quickly jump through a person’s life, but do three hundred pages really tell their story? Even less common are well written series that you slowly watch the characters grow. Rarer still are these same types of series that follow that person through their entire life. Watching a character that we have seen grow up throughout the books, especially in the detail oriented style that Card uses, leaves an emotional imprint on the reader. To then see that character you know and love on their deathbed really hits home.

I know I say this a lot, but I enjoyed reading this series. But this book leaves a lot of questions unanswered, especially what happens after this. If you are one of those readers that need everything tied up in a nice pretty bow at the end, then skip over this series. But if you like reading science fiction, and liked Ender’s Game, then this book and this series should be on your list.

Seveneves

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, 867 pages

I’m betting that a lot of people will read this book and most will probably like it.  I found that some parts of it were a little slow but overall, it wasn’t bad.  The basic story is an end of the world scenario that comes from the moon breaking apart.  There are several parts to this story that focus on different people at different times but it’s basically about how the world can ensure that the human race will survive.  Some are sent into space, some go underground, and some go underwater.  The story is focused on the group in space but by the end, the other two groups also factor in.  It’s an interesting idea and a good story but I would have expected more action than I got.

Manxome Foe

Manxome Foe by John Ringo, 341 pages

Manxome Foe continues the Looking Glass series with the A.S.S. (Allied Space Ship) Vorpal Blade still looking for the Grik. Along the way they meet new allies, a shadowy unaligned entity, and have lots of in depth scientific discussions that seem to get more and more above my head.

As I have emphasized with the previous books in this series this science fiction book actually gives you the science behind why things work. It doesn't just tell you a spaceship can fly, or that it has energy shields but goes into a long discussion on how they work and the semi believable science that supports it.

For that reason I really like this series. The fact that everything is somewhat supported by a possibility makes it more believable and more engaging, though the explosions and heavy doses of action help too.

Vorpal Blade

Vorpal Blade by John Ringo, 400 pages

This is the second book in the Looking Glass series. Vorpal Blade is a science fiction novel in every sense of the word. Where most books gloss over the science details that allow things to theoretically happen Ringo goes into, at times, agonizing detail. Not only does he explain how the spaceship is flying, but also all the little things that science geeks/lovers would ask.

While I enjoyed this detail, and could understand most of it, it might be too much for some. If you don't care how the space ship is flying, and just want them to get to the action, you probable don't want to read a couple pages worth of scientific explanations and this book is not for you.

That being said I think this is one of the most theoretically possible science fiction books involving aliens and space travel that I have ever read.