The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera (2021) Levine Querido

Something has altered the flight of Halley’s Comet and this time it is going to impact Earth.  On this premise, several countries, including the U.S., have developed extra large rockets that can take humanity to other solar systems.  Most of the passengers will sleep during the entire trip.  Some will stay awake for generations to watch over their quiet charges.  The story is told from the point of view of a teenage girl whose parents are professors and her little brother.  But the real conflict is a group of people who think our history is what went wrong with humanity.  And they become in charge of the society running the ship.

Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan (2002) Victor Gollancz Ltd

A science fiction/murder mystery/thriller that takes place in the far future.  Mankind has gone out to other worlds, which have their own wars, the U.N. is in charge on Earth.  And people can be re-sleeved into other bodies, with their ‘stack’ containing all their memories installed into the new body.  Drugs and cyber entities have taken advances as well.  So, when a ‘meth’ (short for Methuselah – a person who has lived hundreds of years) hires a highly trained envoy out of storage (prison) to prove he did not commit suicide, interviewing the envoy in his backed-up copy, things get complicated.  To top it off, the detective who grabs him and personally delivers him to the meth was in love with the mad whose sleeve (body) the envoy is wearing.  Sex, drugs and too many chiefs in this mixed metaphor of a tale.

Ask the Parrot by Richard Stark (2006) Mysterious Press

In which Parker, the professional thief, narrowly escapes the cops.  Which makes the money his crew stole worthless.  As he escapes, he runs into a hunter, who is more interested in partnering with Parker to get revenge on a racetrack.  Parker needs clean money.  So, they set it up.  But there are problems along the way and things never go the way they’re supposed to go.

Donald E. Westlake (the writer behind the pseudonym) said the name was inspired by Richard Widmark's performance in the film Kiss of Death (1947). "part of the character's fascination and danger is his unpredictability. He's fast and mean, and that's what I wanted the writing to be: crisp and lean, no fat, trimmed down ... stark." -Richard Stark (March 1, 1999). "Richard Stark: Introduced by Donald E. Westlake". Payback. Grand Central Publishing. pp. vii–x. ISBN 978-0-446-67464-5.

Bank Shot by Donald Westlake (1972) Simon & Schuster

A Dortmunder caper where the crew steals the bank.  A local bank is rebuilding their headquarters and has put a mobile office across the street in an empty lot to service their customers.  The wheels and axles have been removed and the temporary building set on blocks.  Once a week they get the payroll and have extra guards.  The question is how the gang can steal the bank and then leisurely break into the vault.  Of course, nothing goes right for the gang, or for the police.  Hilarity and irony take the day.

Unexpected Stories by Octavia Butler (2014) Open Road Media.

Two very well written science fiction stories.  The first, “A Necessary Being” about a face on another world, one tribe coming to its end, the other fearful that they are at their end.  Communication is supplemented by a chameleon-like ability to display color, limited by the person’s caste.  The other story, “Childfinder” is about attempted protection of pre-psi children.  Both are satisfying.

This was published posthumously.  "Childfinder" was originally sold to Harlan Ellison for his Last Dangerous Visions project but that was not published before Ellison died in 2018.  There is an existing project to publish three volumes of Last Dangerous Vision in 2024 by Blackstone Publishers.

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo (2009) Candlewick

DiCamillo is a wonderful writer.  There is a distinct plot, there is a full cast of characters who are important to the story and who you come to care about, including the elephant, a dog, an orphan, a boy, a policeman and his wife, even an old soldier and a beggar, and of course, a magician.  Every promise in the book is fulfilled, even those you do not realize are promises until they are fulfilled.

The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike (1984) Knopf

Updike is a two-time Pulitzer winner and was awarded other prizes as well.  This book was made into a movie (which I have not yet seen).  But I am critical of the book for multiple reasons.  First is the apparent lack of plot.  The story wanders through the life of three ‘witches’ who believe they have power primarily because their husbands left them for other women.  They are not written as a woman would write them, but as a man might fantasize about them; promiscuous, coupling with adulterous men.   The book is written from their points of view.  But the women are neither powerful, nor very believable as anything other than wandering lost souls.  This is not to say that Updike produced a poorly written book.  His mastery of the language appears on every page.  It is just that the constant digression through every character’s self-doubt holds no more interest for me than so-called unscripted television shows.

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip

Ms. McKillip weaves a tale of wizardry, love and revenge with magical creatures, wizards and a witch.

A wizard establishes his home on the mountain of Eld.  He has a son.  His son has a daughter.  She has a talent for calling special beasts.  Beasts she can talk to with her mind; a Boar who likes to ask riddles, a Lyon who is fierce, a black Swan, a Cat, and a falcon who protects her.  She is tasked with raising a boy, the sone of a king, brought to her by the king’s enemy.  She comes to love the boy, and the man who brought him.  The king, wants her, or rather her power.  To try to entrap her, he makes the mistake of using a wizard.  This enrages her, and she calls another creature to crush the wizard.  Then she calls the man who brought the boy to her and marries him.  To plot with his older brother to overthrow the king.