Ms. Hen Reviews The Three-Body Problem

 

The Three-Body Problem

Cixin Liu

2006, 2014 

Tor Books

Translation from Chinese by Ken Liu

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel simply because she heard it was a good book. She wants to try to read more contemporary science fiction.

This novel is about a woman in China named Ye Wenjie who discovers a way to communicate with aliens. She learns from the aliens that they are coming to take over Earth, and she is relieved because she doesn't like humanity, and what it has done to the planet, and its people. A game is invented to show people what the planet the aliens that are taking over are like called The Three-Body Problem. 

This novel starts with the backdrop of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. During that time intellectuals and educated people in China were sent away or reprogrammed to be followers of communism. A lot was lost during this time in China. The characters live in fear of what the government would do if they retaliated. Some Westerners find out that Ye Wenji communicated with the alien planet, Trisolaris, and start a group that is preparing for their arrival.

Ms. Hen liked this book, but it is very heavy on the scientific descriptions. Ms. Hen is not quite adept at understanding science, she mostly likes science fiction for the ideas that the genre presents, and the possibilities. Even so, she enjoyed this book.

This novel is a realistic portrayal of what would happen if people on Earth communicated with aliens. Some people would be excited, and some afraid, and some would be in awe. A lot would not believe that people on Earth would have the ability to communicate with extra-terrestrials, and life would go on as normal.

The idea that Earth is not worth saving is presented in this novel. However the Trisolarans believe that Earth is a superior planet, and they want to take over for the stability of the climate. Ye Wenjie tells the aliens that they can come, essentially throwing Earth under the bus because she thinks Earth's time is done.

Is Earth worth saving? If you had the opportunity to tell aliens to come here, and take over, would you? Ms. Hen doesn't know if she would. Some positive things exist on Earth, but she's not sure if the negative outweighs them. Is life on Earth worth fighting for? We've never been faced with this question, but if we were, we would have to work to figure out the answer.

Ms. Hen reviews Hunting by Stars

 

Hunting by Stars

Cherie Dimaline

Amulet Books

2021

Ms. Hen decided to read this, because she read the first book, THE MARROW THIEVES, and she loved it. This is the type of book she adores: YA Dystopian fiction, but this is about Native Americans, so this has a unique twist.

The novel enters with Frenchie captured in a school, where the Recruiters take Natives to extract the marrow from their bones in order to steal their dreams, because dreams don't exist anymore for non-Natives. Frenchie meets his long lost brother Mitch, and Mitch tries to convince Frenchie to join their ranks kidnapping Native people, and ruining their lives. Frenchie does not want to do this, but he thinks it might be his only way out of the school, and back to his family.

Rose, Frenchie's girlfriend, and Derrick, a guy from the camp where they were staying, go after Frenchie, but become involved in a house full of vampires. Frenchie's adopted family, the people with whom he traveled in the woods, attempt to save Frenchie. 

Ms. Hen thinks this is a beautiful book. The writing is exquisite, and the tension is just enough. She thinks this book is better than the first one, because more happens, and more is at stake. Strong women characters fill these pages, and Ms. Hen admires them.

Ms. Hen understands that the author decided to write this sequel because she received so much feedback from fans of the book, that they wanted more from these characters and this world. Not a lot of YA books about Native Americans exist, and the readers of this book were so enthralled that they begged for more.

Ms. Hen understands why. This is an important novel, and it needs to be talked about. The world could be headed to where this novel exists, and that is a terrifying thing.

Ms. Hen reviews A Carnival of Snackery

 

A Carnival of Snackery

David Sedaris

Little, Brown and Company

2021

Ms. Hen found this book at a Little Free Library near where she lives, and since she had read other books by this author, she picked it up. 

She was daunted by reading 17 years of diaries, but she found the book a lot of fun, and it read rather quickly. His diaries are not all about him, mostly they're about the people he meets in the world.

One of the fascinating things that Ms. Hen found reading this, was that she was thinking of where she was in her life when the entry had been made. Current events are thrown in, and Ms. Hen remembers all of them.

Mr. Sedaris travels the entire world, and meets interesting people everywhere he goes. She wonders how he has the ability to have people tell them something interesting about themselves wherever he ends up. She thinks it might be because these people want to entertain him the way he entertains them. Ms. Hen decided that if she met him, she would go to a reading, and tell him that she writes a blog from the point of view of a hen purse. She hopes that would make him laugh.

Ms. Hen likes to laugh as well, and she finds quirky stories all around. Her favorite stories to write now are about people in the hospital where she works. Everyone who walks in the door is suffering, which Ms. Hen thinks makes for great conflict. Stories abound all over the world, and everyone has one, but capturing them is the beauty of the process of writing.