Short Book Reviews: A Steamy Vampire Werewolf Mystery

 Blood of the Pack (Dark Ink Tattoo Book One), by Cassie Alexander (Caskara Press)

My introduction to the works of Cassie Alexander was the “Nightshifted” series (in which a nurse discovers a new career path in a secret hospital ward for supernatural patients). I loved how she handled nonhuman characters, great dramatic tension, and smooth prose. So I picked up this first book in a new series without knowing much about it beyond the lots-of-queer sex content warnings. I found many of the elements I’d previously enjoyed, including characterization and great action sequences. The sex scenes were better done than usual for “high heat” stories. There was a nice balance in tension between a satisfying landing level for the first novel in a series on the one hand, and enough of a cliff-hanger so the reader will be left hungry for the next. My personal quibble, and other readers may feel quite differently, was that the sex scenes took up a disproportionate amount of space for what they contributed to the plot. I think this has to do with what different readers look for. If it’s a (in this case) action-mystery with sex scenes that enhance that plot, or if it’s very juicy sex scenes that make sense in terms of character and motivation. As I said, the scenes are very well done, great examples of how to write literate, well-paced intimate encounters. I especially liked the depiction of consent, the mutuality of pleasure, and the care of the partners for one another.

And of course, if that sex comes with vampire and werewolves, oh my, so much the better.

Reprint: Preventing Another Pandemic

 From the NY Times Opinion newsletter:

The Covid-19 pandemic exploited a narrow gap in humanity’s outbreak prevention barriers. As the world now knows, SARS-CoV-2 spreads through the air via respiratory transmission. Spread can occur even before people develop symptoms. Our modern, mostly indoor lifestyles constructed the optimal environment for a fast-moving respiratory pandemic. Clean water, clean hands, clean food and clean surfaces did not stop the virus from hitching a ride on airplanes or spreading at packed concerts, bars and restaurants.

As in the past, we need to develop technologies that will fundamentally change our environment. In the United States, all modern buildings are built with fire prevention in mind, despite the last city-burning fire occurring over a generation ago. We provide piped water and sewer systems, electricity to boil water and refrigerate food, and window screens to stop pests. The goal today should be to take respiratory pandemics entirely off the table.

This starts with cleaning the air. The most ambitious version of clean indoor air technology would be capable of rapidly suppressing transmission for even the most contagious pathogens, like measles, at a cost affordable enough to install in all the places people gather and cross paths. Accomplishing this will require innovation beyond better ventilation and ways to filter air. ‌This could include light bulbs that also emit germ-killing wavelengths that are still safe for humans. With this type of innovation, society can reduce transmission and maybe even make the common cold a relic. The Biden administration has declared improving ventilation a priority, but simply upgrading out-of-date filtration systems to the current standard probably won’t be enough to prevent pandemics.

Researchers have made ‌progress toward‌‌ other advanced pandemic-fighting capabilities. It is now possible to take any type of sample from a possibly infected person and sequence the genome of every microorganism in that sample ‌‌ — bacteria, viruses, fungi and all. All pathogens have genomic material, and sequencing allows us to read that material. This method, metagenomic sequencing, functions as a universal pathogen detector. It is beginning to be used to monitor patients for known pathogens, as well as bugs we have never seen before.

Vaccines are, of course, a mainstay of prevention, and even these have seen incredible improvements with the advent of mRNA vaccines. Work is ongoing to deliver pandemic vaccines within 100 days. Efforts toward‌‌ making vaccines effective against entire groups of viruses, such as all coronaviruses, are underway. But for modern vaccines to truly prevent rapid respiratory pandemics, they must be deployed widely and quickly and, when possible, in advance.

The U.S. government‌‌ is investing in microneedle vaccine patches and nasal spray vaccines that can be self-administered. These could be quickly mailed to every household, eliminating the need for clinic- and pharmacy-based administration by trained health care workers. Scientists think that skin patches and nasal vaccines may be able to elicit mucosal immunity, something current injectable vaccines don’t do very well. Mucosal immunity prevents viruses that land on our mucus membranes — in the nose, mouth and lungs — from causing an infection entirely.

Short Book Reviews: An Early Novel by a Master of Fantasy

 Signal To Noise, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Solaris)

I spent most of this book, a reprint of an early novel by Silvia Morena-Garcia, loathing the central character. The story bounces back and forth between “the past” (1988) and “the present” (2009), and the adventures of Meche (short for Mercedes, which she loathes) and her two best friends, Sebastián and Diana. The three were misfits in high school, each with their own family dramas and challenges. Mecha’s definitely the leader of the group, and she’s endlessly sarcastic, demanding, and miserly in her friendship. Her alcoholic father is a radio DJ and aspiring music historian, obsessed with vinyl records. Almost by accident, Meche discovers that by wishing hard enough while playing a specific record, she can make things happen. Soon she’s roped her friends into a magical circle, searching for especially potent songs and practicing increasingly dark acts of magic. In the present, she’s returned home for her father’s funeral, reliving the past as she packs up his papers and record collection.

I really wish Meche had been a more sympathetic character or that the turning point in her descent into magical violence had been more clear. I cared more about awkward, earnest Sebastián with his long-time, unspoken crush on Meche, and loyal Diana with her fussy dresses, Easy-Bake oven, and lupus diagnosis. Sebastián and Diana each had a moral compass but not enough courage to stand up to Meche. Even so, the story caught me up and kept me turning pages. This is an early work, and the author has matured greatly. I like her later characters a lot better, particularly those in Mexican Gothic, The Beautiful Ones, and Gods of Jade and Shadow.

[Brag] A Lovely Review of Jewels of Darkover

 Proud editor grin!

From Charles Gipson on Amazon:

I have been a huge fan of Marion Zimmer Bradley's books since I was a teeenager... and have read almost every book she had published. The Darkover series have always been special to me... and I have read them all multiple times.

There has been some controversy about "fan-fiction" and other authors that wanted to write stories in the Darkover world... and it was limited just a few authors initially. I have not read most of the anthologies (but I will be correcting that, as if they are anything like Jewels of Darkover... I will love them as much as Bradley's original works)

Jewels of Darkover has a lot of authors who contributed... and they must all be real Darkover fans, as the stories "fit" and expand the written lore of Darkover very well. Some of the stories explore themes that I do not remember from any of the original novels, or that were just hinted at, and make for wonderful reading. Very interesting stuff to say the least.

I will also be researching some of the authors who contributed... and seeing what else they have written, that I want to add to my book collection... this is always a great plus when I read anthologies that are put together nice

Short Book Reviews: A Smart Alien Murder Mystery

 Drunk on All Your Strange New Words, by Eddie Robson (Tordotcom)

 I loved this fresh and wonderful take on human-alien cultural clashes! This alien race, the Logi, are approximately humanoid in appearance and possess valuable technology. They’re fascinated by human culture, especially the arts and printed books. The catch is that they communicate telepathically through specially trained “Thought Language” translators. One such is our heroine, Lydia, from a poor British background. She loves her work, the only thing she’s ever been really good at, not to mention her generous salary and her sensitive, thoughtful boss, the Logi cultural attaché. All this makes it worth feeling drunk from translating between Thought Language and English. It all goes to hell when her boss is murdered and she’s the prime suspect. Both her freedom and her ability to solve the mystery depend on her remaining at the Embassy, and the Logi is charge has never liked her.

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words combines alien contact science fiction, a sympathetic heroine, weird maybe-supernatural stuff, and a highly complex mystery filled with surprises and reversals. I found Lydia, with all her insecurities, bravura, and gullibility, deeply sympathetic. I fell for the same deceptions and cheered her on as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. This is a smart science fictional mystery and a wonderful take on how even truly weird aliens and humans can find understanding and common ground. Best of all, a deeply flawed character prevails at the end.