"The Philosopher's Flight" by Tom Miller

Disclaimer: I was given a free advance ecopy of this book via NetGalley from the publisher, Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review. My opinion remains as forthright as ever.

If you've ever dreamed of flying, have I got the book for you! The Philosopher's Flight is set in the early 1900s in a bit of a different world from our own. Society is matriarchal instead of patriarchal (i.e. women go to work and war, have the most influence, and generally rule the roost, while men stay home [for the most part], take care of the kids, and get catcalled on the streets). It's refreshing to read a fantasy book that doesn't have a patriarchal society, especially when it's alternate history. I find some books with your typical Tolkien-style worlds so true-to-history as far as misogyny goes that they're difficult to read (I'm looking at you, George R.R. Martin).

The first half of this novel is the most difficult to get through due to a complex magic system that involves science, therefore making this a bit of a sci-fi book. I had issues initially imagining it, but as the book went on the magic system made a lot more sense and I really began to enjoy it. Philosophers in this book are a bit like scientific magicians: to them, it's simple science to be able to fly, heal people, and transport things and people across vast expanses, but to those who don't understand the science it seems a lot like magic.

The Plot (As Seen on Goodreads):

'The Philosopher’s Flight is an epic historical fantasy set in a World-War-I-era America where magic and science have blended into a single extraordinary art. 

'Eighteen-year-old Robert Weekes is a practitioner of empirical philosophy—an arcane, female-dominated branch of science used to summon the wind, shape clouds of smoke, heal the injured, and even fly. Though he dreams of fighting in the Great War as the first male in the elite US Sigilry Corps Rescue and Evacuation Service—a team of flying medics—Robert is resigned to mixing batches of philosophical chemicals and keeping the books for the family business in rural Montana, where his mother, a former soldier and vigilante, aids the locals.

'When a deadly accident puts his philosophical abilities to the test, Robert rises to the occasion and wins a scholarship to study at Radcliffe College, an all-women’s school. At Radcliffe, Robert hones his skills and strives to win the respect of his classmates, a host of formidable, unruly women. 

'Robert falls hard for Danielle Hardin, a disillusioned young war hero turned political radical. However, Danielle’s activism and Robert’s recklessness attract the attention of the same fanatical anti-philosophical group that Robert’s mother fought years before. With their lives in mounting danger, Robert and Danielle band together with a team of unlikely heroes to fight for Robert’s place among the next generation of empirical philosophers—and for philosophy’s very survival against the men who would destroy it.

'In the tradition of Lev Grossman and Deborah Harkness, Tom Miller writes with unrivaled imagination, ambition, and humor. The Philosopher’s Flight is both a fantastical reimagining of American history and a beautifully composed coming-of-age tale for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.'

As someone born and raised in Montana, I expected this book to fail miserably on that end of things, but the setting where Robert Weekes grew up was spot-on for the area (though I did feel like the inclusion of Parmly Library would've amped the setting up a notch). Of course, due to this being alternate history, would the buildings have been the same? I am beginning to doubt that.

The central theme in this book is overcoming obstacles and adversity, along with how diversity should be considered a strength rather than a weakness. Although this book is a lot of fun to read, it does delve deeply into philosophical topics that don't involve magic. The last half of the book I read so speedily I worried I may have missed some of that depth, but when you love a character and their life is in danger, you kind of need to know if they survive that paragraph.

The Philosopher's Flight has the perfect fun to worldbuilding ratio of any book I've read in the past six months. The characters fly off the page at you and you find yourself a bit too invested in their well-being for them to be fictional. I am surprised that this is a debut, because it seems like someone who writes this well has had at least one book under their belt, but stranger things have happened. If you want an immersive fantasy experience that combines all of my favorite genres, The Philosopher's Flight may be the book for you. 

Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars for an exceptionally exquisite alternate history debut!

Age Advisory: Ages 18+ for sexual content, swearing, racial epithets, and philosophical catastrophes!

Page Count: 432 pages

"River of Teeth (River of Teeth #1)" by Sarah Gailey

This is a hippo western. If you don't like the idea of semi-tame hippos let loose in the U.S. as an alternative to the traditional cattle farming in an alt-history West, you probably would be better off finding another book. Of course, there are some likable characters and the plot is decent, but mainly- hippos. You must love them.

About those hippos- the idea for this book came from actual history- here's a Wired article about it. Prior to this book's forward, I'd never heard of such a thing, but as always, I am game to read about books with unusual animals in them. Hippos in real life are one of the most dangerous animals in the world, but in this book, the "hoppers" are somehow able to be tamed. Now that I've fed you sufficient info (that will hopefully prevent you from becoming a hippo farmer), let's get to the meat of the story.

The Plot (As Seen on Goodreads):
'In the early 20th Century, the United States government concocted a plan to import hippopotamuses into the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This is true.
'Other true things about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two.
'This was a terrible plan.
'Contained within this volume is an 1890s America that might have been: a bayou overrun by feral hippos and mercenary hippo wranglers from around the globe. It is the story of Winslow Houndstooth and his crew. It is the story of their fortunes. It is the story of his revenge.'

The most interesting part of this story (other than the hippos) is the characters. That isn't a bad thing, and works for me in most books, but with this book I felt it wasn't quite enough. The plot was interesting enough, but I felt since this is a hippo western, there was a lack of depth to the world. What are the consequences (beyond stray feral hippos) of hippo farming in the U.S.? I get that this is a revenge centered tale, but I wanted more worldbuilding than was on offer. True, maybe the implications will expand with the next book, but I felt the campy Western bits would've been better served in a more nuanced world with a bit more than a spit polish to the plot.

These characters I mentioned- my favorite (by leaps and bounds) was Hero, a black non-binary person who uses the pronoun they. Hero had enough attitude and it wasn't as over-the-top as some of the other characters, one of whom drove me nuts (Archie). Though this book starts with Winslow's perspective, I was glad it switched around because I found him a tad bland. Adelia was the runner up in terms of my admiration- I always admire authors who include pregnant ladies in their adventure novels.

River of Teeth is a novel buoyed by the strength of the subject and characters. If not for the hippos, I can't say I'd have picked this up to begin with as I'm not a fan of Westerns. Though hippos and characters may seem strange strengths to recommend a book on, this one is on the shorter side and doesn't take much time at all to read. If you are intrigued by the concept of a hippo Western, you may want to check out this book.

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars for a good hippo-populated adventure.

Age Advisory: Ages 18+ for cutthroat violence, murder, and cut scene sex.

Page Count: 192 pages

"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Dirk Gently #1)" by Douglas Adams

The trouble I had with this book is... I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy first. That may not seem like such an insurmountable problem, but when this book also has robots, quirky characters, and save the world-type plot threads, I find myself dreadfully sad that there is no Marvin the Paranoid Android to comment on the goings-on. There is an Electric Monk, but I must say, it's a poor substitute for the robot I really wanted.

I read this one because there is an upcoming BBC series based on it (and also, Rachelle loved it, and I was curious). I like Douglas Adams's writing, but when I have brain fog, I can be a bit slow to catch onto his humor, and I was in a bit of a stupor while reading this. I assumed this was urban fantasy (because, detective agency), but it's more sci-fi than anything else. I was reminded of a book I'd read previously, Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews, which also melds sci-fi into a modern day setting (although modern day for Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is 1987).

The Plot (As Seen on Goodreads):
'What do a dead cat, a computer whiz-kid, an Electric Monk who believes the world is pink, quantum mechanics, a Chronologist over 200 years old, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (poet), and pizza have in common? Apparently not much; until Dirk Gently, self-styled private investigator, sets out to prove the fundamental interconnectedness of all things by solving a mysterious murder, assisting a mysterious professor, unravelling a mysterious mystery, and eating a lot of pizza – not to mention saving the entire human race from extinction along the way (at no extra charge). To find out more, read this book (better still, buy it, then read it) – or contact Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.'

Despite this being set in 1987, there were a lot of things that are still applicable to today's society. For example, couches that improbably get stuck in stairwells. Although car phones are now defunct, couches/furniture stuck in stairwells continues to plague modern society. If only we had computer whiz Richard finish the program he started, we would have much less trouble moving things (and/or trying to get couches into spaces couches cannot fit).

Richard, who is a main character along with Dirk (which isn't his real name, by the way), has to navigate a murder inquiry of his boss, while having admitted he saw his boss on the night he was killed to a policeman prior to knowing his boss was dead. As you may notice from my difficulty structuring that beast of a sentence, it's a rather murky area, so Dirk elects to help him through his troubles for a fee. Dirk Gently was previously arrested for scamming fellow students with his supposed psychic skills to help them with upcoming tests, but Richard doesn't seem to hold it against him.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a great adventure- but I still wanted more. Perhaps with time I will acclimate myself to the absence of Marvin (as I did buy the next book in the series right after finishing this one), but for now I'm a bit bummed out by his non-existence in this realm of Douglas Adams's mind. I recommend this book to those who enjoyed The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or would like zany sci-fi adventures, as long as they keep their expectations in check.

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars for a great sci-fi that made me long for a great robot.

Age Advisory: Ages 16+ for swearing (one f bomb, if I remember right), violence/murder, and couches improbably stuck in stairwells.

Page Count: 306 pages

"Mind of My Mind (Patternmaster #2)" by Octavia E. Butler

A Sci-Fi Summer Reading Challenge Pick

Though this is part of the Patternmaster series, due to the way the series was written, each book can essentially be read as a standalone. However, I recommend reading Wild Seed first, as it lends greater depth to this story. There aren't spoilers in this review.

Mary, one of the children Doro selectively bred to have strange supernatural powers, has come of age in this volume of the series, bringing about a time of change for these super-humans. Though Anyanwu was a strong heroine, she had preconceptions about how things should be that were a bit old fashioned- Mary has a new kind of thinking that is potentially dangerous to the way of life Doro has instilled in all of them.

Instead of the few characters that Wild Seed featured, Mind of My Mind has a fairly large cast. Each of these many characters are given unique attributes that make them essential to the plot- even creating the plot themselves at points. Though Doro looms large, Mary becomes a dynamic force in her own right: manipulating other people to accept her new ways (some of which she can't control). I love the version of the cover I chose for my review because of the way it portrays Mary- she looks apathetic, but inside the storm of her power rages.

The Plot (As Seen on Goodreads):
'For 4,000 years, an immortal has spread the seeds of a master race, using the downtrodden as his private breeding stock. But now a young ghetto telepath has found a way to awaken--and rule--her superhuman kind, igniting a psychic battle as she challenges her creator for her right to free her people.'

Though the way the summary and I describe the book may give the impression that this book is plot-heavy, it really isn't. True, all of Miss Butler's books seem deceptively simple when you read them, and then grow more complex as you brood on their ideas, but there isn't a whole lot of action going on in this book- think of the action less as a battle and more as a game of chess. I think that's why it always takes me so long to review these books- I don't want to sound ignorant, but at the same time I can see subtext in this book that I'm likely not entirely aware of.

Because this is such a cerebral book (as I attempted to describe above), it also makes it difficult to fully review without resulting in spoiling parts of it. In Wild Seed, from the beginning it's clear that Doro manipulates things in ways that do not always result in good situations for the women and men at his command, and that also happens in this book. Part of why Mary grows to be so dynamic is the fact that she sees how poorly Doro treats his people at times, and she wants that to change.

Mind of My Mind is a supernatural war within. There are some action scenes, but most of this book consists of Doro and Mary playing games with each other that don't always result in violence. If you have difficulty concentrating, this is a book to skip until you have full brain capacity at your disposal- I picked up on a few of the breadcrumbs thrown my way, but I am still left pondering what this book might mean for the next book in the series. I recommend Mind of My Mind to those who enjoy science fiction that lingers with you after it's read.

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars for an excellent follow up to Wild Seed!

Content: Ages 18+ for adultery, domestic violence, a racial slur, sexual content, and a battle of the super humans.

Page Count: 224 pages

Wild Seed (Patternmaster #1) by Octavia E. Butler

The previous series I read by Octavia E. Butler was basically about aliens coming to colonize earth. This book is different- instead, the humans of Earth are sometimes born with extraordinary abilities, making some of them live almost immortal lives. Anyanwu, the heroine of this book, is one of those extraordinarily gifted humans. But instead of setting it in modern times, this is set in the late 1600s and continuing from there, making it an alternate take on history.

What I love about Miss Butler's books is she always makes it easy to read, but at the same time deal with difficult concepts. I likely could've read this book in a day, but in the same note, I'm still thinking about and processing what happened in the book over a week later. I read a lot of fluffy books that I can read once, but despite their fluffiness, I likely wouldn't revisit because they don't have more to offer me. If I reread this book today, I would likely keep finding new concepts and ideas that I'd missed because it's so easy to snarf down in a few sittings. Her books are somehow simple and complicated in the same breath.

The Plot (As Seen on Goodreads):
'Doro is an entity who changes bodies like clothes, killing his hosts by reflex or design. He fears no one until he meets Anyanwu. Anyanwu is a shapeshifter who can absorb bullets and heal with a kiss and savage anyone who threatens her. She fears no one until she meets Doro. Together they weave a pattern of destiny (from Africa to the New World) unimaginable to mortals.'

Anyanwu has a lot in common with Lilith, a heroine of the Xenogenesis series, but I like Anyanwu more due to her strength of character, and the strength of her ability. Lilith had little to no control over her situation, while Anyanwu has plenty of abilities to hold her own with. Anyanwu also generally seemed to have more emotion than Lilith ever did- it's hard to relate to a character who has little to no emotion. Anyanwu has some serious culture shock to deal with when she comes to the "New World", while Doro seems to seamlessly adjust to any culture. Doro, meanwhile, remains the enigma in this book. There are chapters from his perspective, but I just can't find suitable motives to his actions in this book, as of yet. Perhaps when I continue with this series, his motivations will be more transparent.

The difficult part of this book is it deals with selective breeding- of human beings. Normally I'd consider that a spoiler, but you get the gist that that is where the book will go just from the first few chapters. I think the author chose to make this an alternate history to make it more believable that any of the characters would go along with it- setting it during the time where slavery was considered "normal" also draws parallels from that aspect.

Wild Seed is not quite what I expected, but at the same time, an excellent alternate history novel. It's not a challenge to read, but don't expect to have it leave your thoughts once you've finished it. If you don't mind some serious gray area content in your science fiction, Wild Seed may be a good choice for your next read.

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars for an alternate history I won't soon forget.

Content: Ages 18+ for violence, rape, and various other gray areas of morality.

Page Count: 320 pages