Page TUrners
A Sci-Fi+ Book Club
Books we've read and reviewed...
December
2024
2024
Imago
By Octavia Butler
December 2024
Since a nuclear war decimated the human population, the remaining humans began to rebuild their future by interbreeding with an alien race -- the Oankali -- who saved them from near-certain extinction. The Oankalis' greatest skill lies in the species' ability to constantly adapt and evolve, a process that is guided by their third sex, the ooloi, who are able to read and mutate genetic code.
Now, for the first time in the humans' relationship with the Oankali, a human mother has given birth to an ooloi child: Jodahs. Throughout his childhood, Jodahs seemed to be a male human-alien hybrid. But when he reaches adolescence, Jodahs develops the ooloi abilities to shapeshift, manipulate DNA, cure and create disease, and more. Frightened and isolated, Jodahs must either come to terms with this new identity, learn to control new powers, and unite what's left of humankind -- or become the biggest threat to their survival.
Our Review
Seeds everywhere. It who controls the
tentacles of production controls the world. Unless nobody wants you, then you die. It’s the literary version of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not like us.” We can do this easy way or we can do this the hard way.
August
2024
2024
Adulthood rites
by Octavia Butler
by Octavia Butler
Nuclear war had nearly destroyed mankind when the Oankali came to the rescue, saving humanity—but at a price. The Oankali survive by mixing their DNA with that of other species, and now on Earth they have permitted no child to be born without an Oankali parent. The first true hybrid is a boy named Akin—son of Lilith Iyapo— and to the naked eye he looks human, for now. He is born with extraordinary sensory powers, understanding speech at birth, speaking in sentences at two months old, and soon developing the ability to see at the molecular level. More powerful than any human or Oankali, he will be the architect of both races’ intergalactic future. But before he can carry this new species into the stars, Akin must decide which unlucky souls will stay behind.
At once a coming-of-age story, science fiction adventure, and philosophical exploration, Butler’s ambitious and breathtaking novel ultimately raises the question of what it means to be human.
Our Review
Humans suck. Tongues sting. Tentacles probe. When you rub black and white, you get dichotomy (singing in my Barney voice). To be human, or not to be human?
June
2024
2024
DAWN
by Octavia Butler
by Octavia Butler
Lilith lyapo awoke from a centuries-long sleep to find herself aboard the vast spaceship of the Oankali. Creatures covered in writhing tentacles, the Oankali had saved every surviving human from a dying, ruined Earth. They healed the planet, cured cancer, increased strength, and were now ready to help Lilith lead her people back to Earth—but for a price.
Our Review
It just feels like what we would consider gentle violence. Low key it felt like she was empathizing with them, so I was like "stockholm". Bitch if you don't chop that thing up because I'm like 'why she helping him." Don't forget: "keep your tentacles to yourself." Can't miss the allegory of what Europeans did to slaves and the indigenous of the Americas and their descendants. A blunt and creative read that leaves you on a cliffhanger wanting more. It's just like a science experiment - any science experiment - to me.
april
2024
2024
Gideon the Ninth
by Tamsyn Muir
by Tamsyn Muir
Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.
Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service.
Our Review
I don’t know why y’all don’t like the book - the rest of y’all have bad taste. A sexy protagonist usually means there will be sexy; however there was no sexy, and I was sad. I love necromancers, sci fi, and lesbians, but it just wasn’t working put together. While I wanted to give it a try, and heard great reviews from friends, I have to be honest, I judged a book by its cover - I tried to see if I could get through a chapter at least, but couldn’t. Smile and throw up the middle finger - it’s ok.
february
2024
2024
The Book of Phoenix
by Nnedi Okorafor
by Nnedi Okorafor
February 2024
A fiery spirit dances from the pages of the Great Book. She brings the aroma of scorched sand and ozone. She has a story to tell....
The Book of Phoenix is a unique work of magical futurism. A prequel to the highly acclaimed, World Fantasy Award-winning novel, Who Fears Death, it features the rise of another of Nnedi Okorafor's powerful, memorable, superhuman women.
Our Review
Shine bright. Plant a seed or blow it up — sometimes you have to do both. Fuck it, let it all burn! 🔥 Come on baby, light my fire! Occasionally a SciFi novel hits too close for comfort, but tough reads like this are important because they help to remind us of the ugly unvarnished truths of this world and its analogues. If you were wondering how to reinvent yourself after the world explodes, the Book of Phoenix will show you.
January 2024
The Stars Change
by Mary Anne Mohanraj
by Mary Anne Mohanraj
January 2024
The Stars Change: an erotic science fiction novel-in-stories. On a South Asian-settled university planet, tensions are rising, and as they reach the brink of interstellar war, life (and sex) continues. Humans, aliens, and modified humans gather at the University of All Worlds in search of knowledge... and self-knowledge... but the first bomb has fallen and the fate of this multicultural, multispecies mecca is in question. Some people will seek solace in physical contact, some will look for spiritual answers, while others will find their strength in community, family, and love. Some will rush home to make love to their wife. Or wives. Or husbands. Or indeterminate gender human and/or alien partners. Others will be forced to decide where they stand -- what is worth fighting for, or maybe even worth dying for. In The Stars Change, author Mary Anne Mohanraj presents a multi-layered, thought-provoking, and far-reaching work on sexuality and the connections between people--whether male or female, human or alien.
Our Review
Three words: "Taut, hungry nipples." My God…👊✋. "Her hands still sticky wet." Fab Freddie and the five orgasmic fingers. An incredible journey of when different groups of people "come" together.
Nov+DEC
2024
2024
The Obelisk Gate
The Stone Sky
by N.K. Jemisin
The Stone Sky
by N.K. Jemisin
November + December 2023
Books two and three of the series that folks have been talking about for years.
We loved the first book, so now we're reading the second and third!
Wearing our finger-obelisks :D
Our Review
If you have the power to change the world, fuck it up! Cause if you don’t, somebody else surely will. It’s the story of Sisyphus, if Sisyphus learned something every time the boulder rolled back down the hill - until one day it didn’t. Classic story of when you tap into your own self-awareness and power.
OCTOBER
2024
2024
The Fifth Season
by N.K. Jemisin
by N.K. Jemisin
October 2023
This is the way the world ends...for the last time.
It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.
This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the Earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.
Wearing our finger-obelisks :D
Our Review
"This book is a reminder of how beautifully scifi can capture the deep social and political dynamics that we experience in our lives, but safely, at a cathartic distance.
This book is all that you can sess...in this lifetime and the next whether blowing up the world or just the status quo
Get ready for a book of firsts; it was an exciting and thrilling mental, physical, and apocalyptic roller coaster ride.
Never be afraid to change who you are as you go through the seasons of life!
September
2024
2024
PET
by Akwaeke Emezi
by Akwaeke Emezi
September 2023
We rebooted with something fun and easy (technically it's YA), but still something timely and fresh!
There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question--How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?
A riveting and timely young adult debut novel that asks difficult questions about what choices you can make when the society around you is in denial.
Foods featured in the book:
Buljol, Pot Bake, and Dodo
Our Review
"If you didn’t know how to hunt for monsters before, you will know after reading this book.
The book taught me to look for the unseen, because things are not always as they appear, to be curious, and to be unafraid.
Pet is a gorgeous and haunting look at what it takes to manifest justice; one must first be willing to acknowledge and disrupt injustice.
Because if you didn’t already know, it’s gonna be the kids that save us."