Black Moon by Kenneth Calhoun

Black Moon 

  How long can a person survive without sleep?  Studies show that lack of sleep reduces cognitive function, affects memory, and can cause hallucinations.   In normal circumstances, the individual will simply give in to sleep eventually.  

Fatal Familial Insominia, however, results in death.

The rare human genetic disorder Fatal Familial Insomnia causes extended sleeplessness and is fatal after about six to 30 months, according to Scientific American magazine. However, it says the condition is misnamed because death results from multiple organ failure rather than sleep deprivation.

Black Moon posits an unusual plague that results in sleeplessness, an insomnia that affects the planet.   One area might experience the problem, while other areas continue to dismiss the possibility...but ultimately,  more than 99% of the world's population loses the ability to sleep.

For some reason, a very few individuals appear to be immune.  Matt Biggs is one of these, and he does everything he can to save his wife as she slides into dementia.  When she runs away, Matt sets out on a journey to find her, but the world of sleepless people is a dangerous one.  In their delirium, the sleepless who find a sleeper will murder without thought or mercy, and Matt must locate safe places to sleep if he wants to remain alive.

But there are other stories as well included as well:  Chase, Felicia, and Lila.  

A strange but fascinating novel.  

Read in September; review scheduled for February.

NetGalley/Crown Publishing/Hogarth

Dystopian.  March 4, 2014.  Print version:  288 pages. 

www:wonder by Robert J. Sawyer

www: wonder is the final installation in this trilogy about Caitlin Decter, Webmind, and the spontaneous emergence of a consciousness or artificial intelligence.

The U.S. government continues to seek a way to shut down Webmind, but Webmind has his own friends and allies who do their best to prevent this from happening.  

Although I enjoyed this installment, I wasn't as pleased as I was with the first two in the series, www:wake and www:watch.  Some of Caitlin's  choices seem out of character (as presented in the first two volumes) and more for the purpose of getting across some of Sawyer'spersonal opinions.  The usually logical and immensely intelligent Caitlin becomes more of a dodgy teenager more suitable for an entirely different kind of novel.  Sawyer has some issues he wants to discuss, and Caitlin becomes more a tool for bringing those issues to the forefront and less an genuinely evolving, maturing adolescent.

Another part that bothered me was the "Other."  There are some serious and frightening implications here that seem to be brought up and dismissed without consequence.

Nevertheless, although it is difficult to discuss this novel without spoilers, the third and final volume wraps up series pretty effectively.  The trilogy contains a mixture of genuine science and speculative science, real people and fictional characters, and presents quite a few ethical and philosophical dilemmas.  It is at times thought-provoking and at times didactic.

Good science fiction takes scientific advances and imagines what might be a next step and/ or how the advances will affect both individuals and society.  The www series certainly does this.

I do recommend the trilogy in its entirety, despite having a favorite volume.  Aside from the story line, the history of the web and its creators and the sidelines on autism and on primate intelligence and communication are fascinating.

Fiction.    Futuristic/ Science Fiction/ Ya.  2011.  352 pages.

www.watch by Robert J. Sawyer

www:watch follows www:wake, which I recently reviewed.


Tiny review of Wake:  Caitlin Decter, a sixteen-year-old blind girl, receives an implant that gives her sight in one eye, and also, inexplicably, enables her to see the world wide web.  She senses something else in the web, a consciousness; at the same time, this emerging consciousness finds a connection with Caitlin.  Caitlin, learning to accommodate herself to a sighted world (for example, she must learn the alphabet and to read visually, rather than using Braille), begins first inadvertently, and then deliberately, nurturing the consciousness that she calls Webmind.


The emerging consciousness of Webmind comes to the attention of the U.S. government, and understandably, the powers that be are concerned about a consciousness that can handle the information that Webmind can--for many reasons.


In a technological world, Webmind can access just about anything.  His opponents feel that if a consciousness that expands exponentially is allowed to continue, it will become smarter than any human.  The President and his security advisers realize the potential for terrorism and corruption and fear the possibility that Webmind could enslave mankind.


The decision is made to shut Webmind down before this possibility can occur.  However, terminating Webmind proves difficult, and the first attempt fails.  Webmind and Caitlin (and his other friends) must come up with a defense before the next attempt manages to succeed.


Although this trilogy is for a YA audience, the study of human nature, the information about mathematics, physics, language, and cyber technology is abundant and engrossing.


This is not a trilogy than should be read out of order.  The emergence of Webmind in www.wake, the characters, and initial plot lines are necessary for www:watch to be appropriately enjoyed.



I'm definitely a fan of this series.


---sidenote---
In Sawyer's 1999 novel Flash Forward, he predicted the naming of this year's Nobel Laureate.  Not terribly surprising, I guess, since he is so knowledgeable about  the world of physics, but interesting.  Here is a link to his recent blog post.


Other reviews:  Bookish, The Guilded Earlobe, Rhapsody in Books,


Fiction.  Science Fiction/Futuristic/YA.  2010.  368 pages.

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

When She Woke was an ARC from Algonquin Books.

Hannah Payne is a chrome; chroming is the punishment for all sorts of crimes in Hannah's world.  A method has been devised to color the skin of those who have been found guilty of crimes ranging from theft to murder, with different colors assigned to each transgression

Hannah's crime is abortion,  considered murder in this dystopian world, and to make matters worse, Hannah will reveal neither the father of the child nor the doctor who performed the abortion.  Hannah is chromed red and, because of her refusal to reveal the father and the doctor, given a longer sentence. When released back into the world, Hannah (as are all other chromes) is a pariah, easily recognized and vulnerable.

Connections to the Scarlet Letter?  Definitely, down to the initials of the protagonist and of the fundamentalist minister who fathered child.

The premise is fascinating, and the novel has its high points.  Ultimately, however, the novel does not live up to its promise, and the conclusion feels unnatural and incomplete.

I would still recommend the novel because it offers some interesting concepts and raises some questions.  It isn't as if I didn't enjoy it, because I did, but I  feel as if the most interesting portions didn't receive enough time and attention.

I have to agree with Kailana, there are some things that didn't work for me, but still...a worthwhile read.

Other Reviews/ opinions:  Bookfoolery and Babble, Kailana

Fiction.  Dystopian/Speculative Fiction.  2011.  352 pages.

World Made by Hand

Kunstler, James Howard. World Made by Hand.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I enjoy post-apocalyptic novels and imagining how civilized society would cope with the loss of the technology we take for granted. Forget about computers, telephones, television, and our instant communication and entertainment luxuries and think about water and electricity. Neither of these would be automatically available with the turn of a tap or flip of the switch.

Kunstler imagines a world that has learned to cope (as best it can) with the loss of technology in the aftermath of several rather vague disasters including bombings, loss of access to oil, financial and governmental collapse, and a deadly flu pandemic (oddly enough, called the Mexican Flu).

The small town of Union Grove in upstate New York is one of the isolated communities trying to function after having lost most of their conveniences and a high per centage of their population. The protagonist, Robert Earle seems pretty well-adjusted to the state of things, although even he misses the occasional cold beer.

When a group called the New Faith order arrives in town, Robert and Union Grove must begin further adjustments. Here is where the novel becomes unpredictable (in several ways). Brother Jobe, the leader of the New Faith group, throws several wrenches into the town's ways of thinking and doing things. In spite of his namesake, the original Job, Brother Jobe doesn't seem to be suffering any more, and actually, considerably less, than any other survivor.

In addition to the fact that the New Faith people add an unpredictable factor into the events, there is an unpredictable aspect or atmosphere in the feel of the novel. Initially, Brother Jobe's arrival feels ominous, adding a sense of dread. Then there is an almost comical feel to the presence of the group and its members. At times, the group seems perfectly normal. This ominous/normal emotional charge moves back and forth about the kind of changes the group represents for the citizens of Union Grove.

Although I was a little nitpicky about some of the post-apocalyptic details, the first of the book was pretty interesting. However, toward the end, things got downright weird. Some supernatural stuff kind of crept in without ever being explained. It was as if Kunstler was going somewhere with several strange events, and then decided to leave them hanging.

Many of the characters, especially the women, had little development, and the novel's direction never seemed quite clear to me. Quite a few events, characters, and situations were introduced without attempt at resolution:

-why the emphasis on the young woman accompanying Brother Jobe when he arrived in town, to have her appear only once more and without emphasis?
-why did Brother Jobe feel Bullock was a dangerous man?
-why was Bullock's industry so questionable? (he seemed the one most capable of building a future, but the author appears to frown on him)
-both Bullock and Brother Jobe are leaders, does the author favor Brother Jobe?
-what the heck with the bee hive analogy?--boy, was that left hanging!
-and the prophecy?
-why was the treatment of Loren so brutal and of Robert so mild?
-what about the mystery of Brother Jobe and the jail cell?
-Bridget and Jane Ann?

There was never a point that I wanted to put the book down, but there was never a point that I didn't have questions. None of them were answered.

I'm glad I read the book because it has provided several days of pondering, not only about what was going on in the novel, but about the adjustments society would have to make to survive if society's infrastructure collapsed. Not just the physical difficulties of food and water and basic survival, but in social organization, how would isolated societies function?

In many ways, this was a pretty positive look at the future, at least in comparison to The Road, Alas, Babylon, Lucifer's Hammer, and I, Legend.

I could have sworn I read something about this novel on one of the blogs I visit frequently, but I couldn't find it.

Do you have a favorite post-apocalytic novel?

Other Reviews: Where There's a Will..., Reading Is My Superpower, Sublime Oblivion, Fizzy Thoughts, The Indextrious Reader

Fiction. Futuristic/Post-Apocalypse. 2008. 317 pages.

The Road

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. In a post apocalyptic world, a father and son struggle for survival. McCarthy provides a frightening look at a world gone grey, sterile, and deadly. Survival becomes the by-word. Throughout the horrors of this new world, the father's gentle care of his son touches the core of existence. It reminds me of the existentialist view in many ways... If man's own existence defines him, then this father, in his love for his son, is creating a positive existence in the midst of circumstances that are echoes of hell. He is "one of the good guys." A moving book. Do read it; it doesn't take long.

Fiction. Futuristic. 2006. 241 pages.