The Unworthy: A Novel

The Unworthy: A Novel by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses 

The novel gradually unfolds a post-apocalyptic pseudo-religious convent. The women aspire for various positions there and must adhere to strict rules in the process. We learn of the background of the narrator and the rules of the strict rules of the "convent". The world has fallen apart with places like Great Britain under water. The narrator lost most everything, including her pet. Later, she has a romantic relationship with another woman. After an upper-level woman dies, the narrator learns more negative secrets of the society. The story is short, with a dark, pessimistic view of the future world.

The Girl With All the Gifts

The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey

A fungus wiped out most of the population and turned those in contact with it into zombies. A few other "off the grid" humans managed to survive, but would fight against other groups. There were also some military groups that survived and are studying it in a lab. They are studying some kids that have been exposed to the fungi, yet still function as normal humans. The lead researcher is portrayed in a negative light throughout the book. This sets up the conclusion where they realize the best course of action is to let the funga do a massage spore release that will wipe out the current state of humanity and lead to a future human/fungi symbiosis. The narrative flows very well and stays interesting, even as it presents a non-standard conclusion to the post-apocalyptic zombie tale.

Automatic Noodle

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

In the San Francisco of the future, robots and humans live together in a not-quite peaceable manner. Many things, such as owning a restaurant, are reserved for humans. Some robots have been working at a restaurant when the owner disappears. They decide they would like to run the restaurant themselves. They manage to work through some technicalities to get "authentic noodle" set up. They rely on a review site to help customers find them. However, they are dependent on good ratings. Somebody later tries to review-bomb them to bring them down. This person is part of the anti-robot group. Eventually, they find them and restore their reputation. However, in the process they learn that they do not depend on the service and take pride in the "automatic noodle" name they have been given by their detractors. The book has a lighthearted approach to working together even with differences.

Powerless

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

in a post-apocalyptic world, some people have "special powers". These people with the powers have taken power and relegated the "ordinaries" to a lower class. There are even people that go out and try to kill off any ordinary people. The society has a hunger-games style competition where people with special powers compete and kill each other, with some voted on by the general public. Into this situation, a boy meets a girl. The girl is an ordinary who fakes a predictive power (she is just very observant and can guess things about people when seeing them.) The boy is the son of the king. He works as the "enforcer", killing off ordinaries, though he has a soft spot for kids. They fall for each other, yet they also compete with each other. At the end, we learn that each has killed the other's father. There is not much original in this book, but the story telling is a bit better than similar books.

We're Not from Here

We're Not from Here by Geoff Rodkey

Earth has been made uninhabitable. A few people have made it to Mars. However, the conditions are not great. They are down to eating some bland engineered chow and living in lower oxygen. Luckily, an inhabited planet with a viable atmosphere has been identified. The various sentient species living there invite humans to come life there. The humans take a 20 year trip in stasis. However, when they arrive the government has changed and humans are no longer welcome. After much debate, the aliens let one family come on a trial basis. They have everything stacked against. The aliens do not want the humans there and run anti-human propaganda. The humans gradually learn about the aliens (such as how they show emotions through scents and that one species had been exterminated due to their horrid singing.) After some challenges, the humans are able to share art (especially music and comedy) with the aliens, overthrow the reactionary government and live peaceable on the planet. It is a lighthearted book with a somewhat dark subject matter.

The Last Full Measure (Divided We Fall, Book 3)

The Last Full Measure (Divided We Fall, Book 3) by Trent Reedy

In the conclusion of the series, the second American Civil War has devolved into anarchy and let the third World War break out. The United States has splintered into a number of different countries. Some unknown rogue elements got ahold of nukes and destroyed New York and Los Angeles. Paramilitary white-supremacist groups have gained power in local areas. Military leaders have gained power in some of the splintered United States. Fuel, food and medicine are all in short supply. Things are looking very miserable. It starts with the protagonist, Danny,  being used as a pawn for Idaho, encouraging the fighting. He later returns home and then has his death faked as he goes with some people to escape to an unoccupied area. They make it, but only after bloodshed. They finally have a place where they can "hide out" the conflict. But, on a reconnaissance mission, they uncover the paramilitary working as slave drivers. They narrowly decide to free the slaves, and make a plan. They manage to free them, but Danny's  fiance, Jo Bell, dies in the process. He wants to commit suicide, but a friend prevents him and they complete the mission. Among the prisoners they found were the son of the United States president. Danny and the president's son connect with a radio personality and are able to set up a peace.

This book seemed to just pile things on. With the US sidetracked, the Arab states attack Israel, Korea unifies, and Japan and China start fighting. The destruction of society creates all sorts of issues. Now Americans are the ones that are blocked form immigration. Those with guns end up with the food. It is only through a few fluke actions that things in. The president seems to defer to the military, then suddenly reappears and stops the destruction. It feels like things were just rushed together.

Farenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Tim Robbins may be famous, but his audiobook narration is not the easiest to follow. In this classic story, Guy Montag is a fireman. With everything fireproof, the job of the fireman is to burn books rather than put out fires. They have even rewritten history to say that historical figures, like Ben Franklin, were similar firemen.

On one trip, the fireman encounter a person that wants to stay with their books. Montag also ends up with a book of his own. He is traumatized by the experience, and becomes attached to books. He later seeks others that like books and joins the underground. In the process he frames others and becomes sentimental towards books and knowledge. The fireman concept seems a little far-fetched, but it does play into the preachy nostalgia of the book.

Mickey7

Mickey7: A Novel by Edward Ashton

Mickey Barnes is an expendable. His entire person was scanned and downloaded onto a computer. His experiences would be regularly backed up. Any time he died, his body would be regenerated from the downloaded version, and his most recently backed up memories would be restored. He is part of a space colonization mission. He would go on dangerous missions or scientific projects that can use a body. He may test the suitability of an environment or explore dangerous areas. Mickey7 is the seventh iteration of Mickey. He goes on a mission to explore some tunnels, and falls down into one. His commander decides to leave him as dead rather than rescue him. However, Mickey survives and makes his way back to the station - only to find that Mickey8 has been generated. This creates a number of complications - especially since the colony is resource constrained.

The novel works backwards and forwards to unravel the history of Mickey and the world. The human diaspora was started after an antimatter war had pretty much wiped out earth. Antimatter technology is still used in limited capacity for propulsion, but is generally taboo for warfare. The human duplication technology was created by an eccentric billionaire. He had eventually moved himself to a world, and made numerous clones of himself to take control of the world. He would destroy anyone that tried to come to the world. This lead to a "nativist" religion and a group of people strongly against cloning ability. (Eventually, his world was destroyed by launching a high speed projectile at it.)

The "creepers" that inhabited Mickey's colony were discovered to be sentient. They were a hive group that seemed similar to Orson Scott Card's Formics. They were willing to live on a world with humans as long as the humans did not disturb them.

The structure of the novel helps to explore numerous science fiction topics, while continuing on the narrative.

Level 7

 Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald

I was concerned when the introduction droned on a while about why this book was so important and that the author chose "fiction" to better communicate his ideas. Luckily, the book itself was well written and did not seem problematic. In the book, "Level 7" refers to the 7th level beneath he ground. This was the most secure fallout shelter. The "button pushers" are located there. They will be the ones that will push the button to nuke the enemies if hostilities break out. There are resources to sustain life for hundreds of years down there. The higher levels have greater populations of gradually decreasing importance.

The structure of the novel is the journal of one of the inhabitants of Level 7. At first he doesn't realize why his there. He gradually learns and steadily adapts to the monotony of life underground with the repetitive music and bland food. They picked people with few attachments in the world, however, they do allow the people in this level to get married. Eventually the time comes and the buttons are pushed. They learn the world has been mostly destroyed. Some of the "button pushers" struggle with their role in the operation. The non-belligerents suffer almost immediate destruction. The belligerents each claim victory. However, those on the upper levels soon fall ill and die due to radiation poisoning. The sickness gradually comes down to the lower levels. The 7th level is initially preserved. Alas, the nuclear reactor powering the level starts to leak radiation leading to their poisoning. The book has a grim warning of the futility of nuclear war.

Land of Milk and Honey: A Novel

Land of Milk and Honey: A Novel by C Pam Zhang

Start with a post-apocalyptic climate change scenario. Add a bit of Jurassic Park and Elon Musk. Then center it around the life of an aspiring chef and you have this novel.

The protagonist is a washed out young adult who embelishes her experience to get a cook position in the mountains of Italy. She had picked a good time to be in Europe. A natural disaster wrecked havoc on the the Americas. There was still some time before the conditions spread to Europe. Luckily, were up in the mountains were things were not as bad. 

The compound was led by a visionary. Not only did they want to preserve the flora and fauna of earth, they wanted to bring back other extinct species. They would bring in various dignitaries to sample some of their delicacies. (How about a Mammoth burger?)

Our protagonist has adventures in cooking as well as relationships. Eventually, the wrong party comes to power, and they are forced to leave. She doesn't want to go along, so makes her way back to a normal life. They part ways. 

The book then rushes to a quick end. We later hear that group didn't follow sufficient safety protocols and they were all killed on an attempted rocket launch. The world also comes back to a better state. This ending feels fairly contrived. The author appeared more interested in exploring the relationships and seems to have given up on the rest of the story.

The Darkest Minds: Darkest Minds, Book 1

In the future, there is something that kills off youth. Some are not killed, but end up with special mental powers. They can push thoughts into the minds of people or read people's minds. The United States has fallen into near-anarchy. Kids are rounded into camps. Some escape, but find their youth leaders can be worse than their adult oppressors. There are plenty of forced romance and conflicts and a lot of your typical YA post-apocalyptic stuff. 

X-Isle

Floods have devastated the world. Things are fairly dire, but there is hope for boys to be taken to "X-Isle" where they can supposedly have a better experience. Once they get there, they find things are not as nice as they expected. There are a group of capos, lead by "Preacher John" who control the other other boys. The book primarily follows Baz as he comes to the island. He and some others eventually hatch a plan to make a bomb by harvesting methane from farts. They also learn that there are animal and human "sacrifices", potentially of a few of the girls that have come to visit. (The girls had prior experience as it was once the location of a girls' school.) Baz feels reluctant to kill others, but has decisions made for him. It all sort of ends up happily ever after with him discovering the secret identity of one of the boys. The story feels very familiar and takes a long time to complete.

China Mountain Zhang

China Mountain Zhang is the Chinglish version of the main character in this "novel" collection of short stories set in a near-future world. The United States has gone through a depression and great cleansing and is now dominated by China. Zhang is a gay half-Chinese, half-hispanic engineering tech. His ability to speak fluent Mandarin is an asset as is his genetic engineering used to look "pure" Chinese. He manages to take some "hardship" positions that give him greater opportunities. However, he prefers to teach engineering in a local college. At a time he is also set up with an ugly daughter of a foreman. In another story, this daughter has face surgery, but the experiences with other boys is not great. The world is a curious post-economic crash Communist utopia with all its warts, but the focus is more on the individual life than the world.

A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster

Disasters often bring out the best in common folk, in spite of leaders. People fondly remember how community rallied together after major disasters such as the San Francisco earthquake. Neighbors would help other people that they would previously not have associated with. There are many bouts of altruism. Those people close to the situation are able to quickly respond and provide needed aid long before "first responders" arrive.

Authorities are typically concerned with fears of crime, looting and law and order in times of disaster. Alas, the response can be even more harmful than the crimes sought to be prevented. With hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the "bad" was greatly exaggerated, leading to vigilantes running about. Many black people were killed, even when carrying their own belongings near their house. Other localities used police forces to keep evacuees out. Centralized control also got in the way of grass-roots efforts of neighbors helping each other.

People respond well to mutual aid. They work together to help each other out. They can respond quickly to needs. The disasters bring everyone out to this positive situation. People are not expecting handouts. They are just doing what they can to help each other. Being dependent on external handouts can be demoralizing. The external help is appreciated, but much better when help is integrated into the community rather than brought down from above with strings attached. In spite of post-apocalyptic tales of depravity, people have a great desire to help each other.

Ruins: Partials, Book 3

The battle between the partials and the humans heats up. They discover what can allow each other to live together, but don't want to make the change. It turns out that a well-meaning plan to "protect" the new species has actually led to the current apocalypse. We also learn more about the "blood man" who cuts off people's fingers and takes their blood. (It turns out he has some grand intentions, and some history with the female protagonist.) The novel includes plenty of action (including a battle in a bombed out mall.) However, the conclusion feels very rushed. What does become of the world?

The Unwanteds: Unwanteds Series, Book 1

A society has separated itself out from the world. The leader demands obedience and shuns the creative arts. People that make mistakes or act out artistically become "unwanted" and are cast out and killed. At least that is what they thought. A separate group has been rescuing unwanteds and bringing them to a magical artistic utopia. However, they realize they will be found out and train for the inevitable. One of the key characters is a twin. He had actually sacrificed himself and taken the blame for some artistic activity of his brother (in part because he already realized that he had enough marks against him and his brother had none.) Eventually they meet in a magical battle and also discover that there are multiple schemes under way to overthrow the kingdom. 

The book introduces fantasy elements into a post-apocalyptic work, but does not go deep in either of them.

Atlas Shrugged

Atlas Shrugged is a really long book. Over 60 hours of audiobook. Luckily, you can listen at 3 times speed. Still, it is long.

The book takes place primarily in an industrialized, fictionalized version of the United States. There are a large number of companies competing against each other in various industries. Some companies have faltered, while others have grown. The "losers" have worked with the government to help protect their interests. Regulations and cartels are meant to prevent some companies from getting too big and ensuring that everyone has equal opportunity. There are even some individual factories that attempt pure "communism", with everyone getting paid what they need. Alas, this regulation just makes things worse. Companies find it is easier to get cozy with regulators than to provide viable goods and services. Colorado proves to be the exception, with businesses flocking there. However, the regulators put an end to that with taxes and regulation. Eventually, regulation gets out of hand, with companies "frozen" at their current levels and guaranteeing everyone jobs. There is little incentive to work. The only real responsibility people have is ensuring that they can't be blamed if something bad happens. The country is falling apart.

The heroes of the book are industrial magnates. Dagny Taggart knows how to run a railroad. Henry Reardon has created stronger, lighter steel alloy. Neither try to curry favor with politicians and are greatly persecuted. There are many others. Through the first two "books" of this book, characters often ask "Who is John Galt?" In the third book, we finally meet him.

The first two books present an indictment of the lazy "rent seekers" People that innovate and work hard help to improve the world. There are many lower-level employees that do the best they can at their jobs. There are also many others that are just collecting a paycheck. At the top, there are plenty of company leaders that do all they can to avoid blame rather than make difficult decisions. Communism in deed (if not name) is condemned due to the corruption it engenders. Sure, there are parts that sound good. However, in practice, it is a system that is easily manipulated by corrupt rulers. Corruption brings down almost all of society.  A leftist reading of the book could easily read this as an example of a failed implementation of a system. (You could even argue it is a failure of fascism, as the "oligarchs" of industry are in cahoots with the government.) The "corrupt" bureaucrats are very similar to what we often see in society today. Seattle Public Schools seems to be the perfect epitome of the corruption in the book. The leadership does a great job of "saying nothing". There never seems to be somebody that takes responsibility for anything challenging. If things do get difficult, they just through out the word "equity" to try to bring down any opposing argument.

In the third book, we are introduced to John Galt's mountain utopia. Here all of the most creative leaders are living in peace and harmony. They can be greedy, yet still willing to do menial jobs to build up their local community. The titans of industry decamp to the wilderness to become hippies. 

The book then proceeds to really go off the deep end. Everything is falling apart in society. However, the government does manage to build a highly destructive "Sound bomb." (This will eventually destroy the one railway bridge across the Mississippi.) The South American governments attempt to nationalize a copper mining multinational. However, right before the takeover is announced, all the mines and equipment are destroyed and all money is gone from all accounts. (But not until after all workers have been paid.) Things are looking really bad. To reassure the population a big speech is announced. However, right before the speech is to take place, John Galt takes over the airwaves and gives a three hour speech on the Ayn Rand's objectivism philosophy and the "leader strike". (This actually lasts three hours in the regular speed audiobook!) The speech blathers on and on and on. After the speech, the nation further falls apart. The government tries to track down Galt and get him to "fix" the economy. His suggestion is to back off. They won't do that. The nation further disintegrates. Galt's friends stage a commando raid to rescue him and go off to their Utopia.

Atlas Shrugged has some good ideas. It also has a lot of long-winded nonsense. Rand's philosophy seems to be taken up by libertarian leaders of industry. Yet John Galt spends most of his time as a regular laborer. He works hard at what he does, and doesn't aspire for more. Like in the Fountainhead, Rand shows respect for people that are willing to put their entire mind and effort into manual labor. The industry leaders that focus on providing a valuable service for people and the economy are also respected. The "greedy" bureaucrats that merely want to maximize profitability are pilorried.

 The philosophy from the characters can be summed up as: "Work hard. Be true to yourself. Do what you feel is best. Don't try to dictate what other people should do." As part of this, you should seek out more knowledge to better understand what is best and be willing to change. Just because everyone else thinks it is right does not mean it is so. The book is very critical of both big companies and big government. Both are a drain on the economy when they focus on bureaucracy and status quo rather than societal improvements. Rand also has an interesting take on morality and religion. Characters engage in multiple marriages and affairs. Many will retain a marriage while knowing an affair is happening. Others use it as a means to stop. Religion seems to be a non-entity in her works. Both morality and religion are 'non-entities' in a world where people are focussing on their own personal gain. 

Take out the third book and the philosophy that is indirectly expressed is fairly convincing. There is a strong condemnations of those that "mooch" on others. People can fall into systems because they expect to receive excess benefit. However, they don't realize that they could also be the one sacrificing their excess. The third book tries to drill home this and many other points. It reaches too far and adds too much to be believable. The in your face philosophising brings it down even further. The novel that starts out with a bunch of autistic industrial leaders ends with unbelievable superheroes living happily ever after. 

A Canticle for Leibowitz

There has been a great nuclear war and the world is left in ruins. People have determined that technology was the problem, so they have worked on destroying all remnants of technology. Leibowitz helped retain manuscripts describing technology in a remote abbey. The monks copied important records, storing some, while also committing much to memory. 

The many centuries of history. The world stayed away from technology for hundred of years. The monks had to go through great struggles to save some records. Eventually the world had created new technology.

This is an interesting take on religion and technology. Could past societies have advanced to an advance state, only to have all knowledge destroyed? The passed-down remnants of religion would be the one source of the ancient knowledge that still remains. However, this knowledge would be interleaved with much other details with many bits expected to be known. (there is a bit where they try to recreate some technology and acknowledge that some things were not explained because they were just expected to be known.)

The novel also covers a long period of time. There are some records that are only preserved by luck. However, much is lost. After many centuries of time, the world world starts to create technology again in a slightly different way, only to encounter similar problems. How can we learn from our mistakes and not throw out the baby with the bathwater?

Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe

Doom is an interesting hodgepodge of thoughts about catastrophe. It takes as its impetus, the Covid-19 pandemic. In physical impact, covid-19 is much more similar to the 1950s Asian flu than the 1910s Spanish flu. It seemed to primarily impact the old and did not spread extremely fast or kill a large number of people. However, it was unknown. The reactions were extreme. Leaders were criticized on all sides for doing too little or too much. The author argues, however, that the leaders are primarily figureheads. Most of what takes place is controlled by the undercurrents of society.

The book goes through many previous cases of "doom". There were previous plagues and falls of empires. We tend to differentiate between "natural" pandemics and "human caused" wars. However, they are often quite similar. The natural disasters are often exacerbated by human actions. The wars and conflicts, on the other hand, are often driven by the undercurrents of society. This is the opposite of the "big important person" theory. Here the leader has some influence, but a lot of it is controlled by the movement of society. Disasters such as "famine" are almost always accompanied by government incompetence. A well functioning government can usually ensure that people are fed. There are also cases of people causing damage by working around bureaucracy. (Insurance wouldn't pay out for earthquake damage, but would for fire, so there is incentive to set fires after an earthquake.) There were a number of factors, almost all due to human actions that lead to the deadliest airplane crash (in the canary islands.)

The end off the book has an exploration of different books about disaster and post apocalyptic situations. Books from 1984 to the Three Body Problem explore various concerns that we have in our society. China and the west are engaged in a new cold war. The government institutions that exist are getting bigger and bigger, but not necessarily better at dealing with "unknowns". New unknown catastrophes will continue to occur.

Supernova Era

A distant store has gone supernova. This has sent particles to earth that cause chromosome damage. All adults will die within a year. However, children are able to repair their chromosomes and will continue to live. The earth needs to plan for children quickly taking over.

The adults detonate all the nuclear warheads and plan for themselves to drive out to caves and remote areas to end their lives and launch the children-led era of utopia.

The utopia is short lived. Immediately after the adults leave, many of the little children start freaking out. The leadership command center is inundated with calls. They eventually get things under control. The climate also causes issues. Sea levels rise, flooding some land.

The US leadership decides the world needs to play a "real" wargame. The other countries think this is a bad idea, but they play along. The games will take place in Antarctica. This begins the "Lord of Flies" phase of the book. (It even acknowledges "Lord of the Flies".) Eventually, the USA keeps upping the ante, settling on nuclear warheads. They seem to have a small stash that were not destroyed. Nobody comes to China's aid. However, it turns out some special observers had codes for the Chinese nuclear missile. The games finally end as the missile is launched. A large number of children do still remain on Antarctica, however, they need to vacate once the earth rapidly cools back to a more "normal" temperature.

As a final action, the USA and China agree to switch land. The book then ends with an epilogue.

It is an interesting story, though it feels somewhat underdeveloped. It is an interesting concept of the children being fully in control that would have a lot of ways to explore. The implication is that they managed to continue a society, but we just see a few small glimpses of what happened.