I’ve been woefully behind in my science fiction journey. Most of my writing time has been dedicated to writing reviews for blackshipbooks.com. I’d love if you checked them out. I did make a little progress and there are a couple of things I’d like to talk about. So let’s get started with Dragonquest, the follow-up to Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight. I adored Dragonflight, but Dragonquest has really solidified my Pern-fan status.
The story opens seven years after the closing of Dragonflight. The falling Threads from the Red Star are still a threat, but the bigger threat is an unwillingness to adapt to new circumstances. The story is focused more of F’Lar’s brother F’Nor and his brown dragon Canth. I was a little disappointed at first to move away from F’Lar and Lessa, but F’Nor is a great character in his own right. He falls in love with Brekke, a Weyrwoman to the south, and is willing to destroy centuries of customs to be with her. Their journey of love and loss is captivating and a highlight of the book.
Again, the story has a lot to offer for fans of fantasy and science fiction alike. The book is more cohesive than Dragonflight and the writing has improved. Having previously established the universe, McCaffrey’s beginning chapters aren’t weighed down by exposition. This is an important improvement over the first entry in the series. The story does slow down a little too much from time to time, but overall it’s a great story with solid writing. Plus there are telepathic dragons that fight what is essentially an invading extraterrestrial force. What more could you ask for?
I don’t want to spend too much time discussing it, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed the new Maze Runner movie. To be fair, I haven’t read the book and had pretty low expectations going in, but I admired the structure of the movie. Being thrust into the middle of the situation with no explanation works well in books, but sometimes that doesn’t translate well to film. Thankfully it works here. While there were a few moments a little too reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Divergent, overall it’s a solid film. I was especially thankful that there wasn’t any forced romance in the story. It’s focused on the action and the discovery of the world and this is the strength of the film.
Comics fans, there are some really amazing new science fiction books on the market, especially from Image Comics. Copperhead is a space western that reminds me a lot of Firefly. There’s not much higher praise that I can give it. Jay Faerber and Scott Godlewski have a really great book and I can’t wait to see where it goes. Roche Limit by Michael Moreci and Vic Malhotra, two rising stars, is a slick book about a planet full of criminals owned by an eccentric, billionaire visionary. It’s incredibly well-written and the art is beautiful. These are two books you should not miss.
Anyway, if you want to talk about the Masterharper of Pern CD or talk about how Image Comics is absolutely killing it these days, feel free to message me or tweet me @left4turtle.
Agustin Guerrero 