Science Fiction
Some books behave badly in the nicest possible way.
Waiting for the galactic bus is filed as science fiction, but it keeps wandering into historical and fantasy territory like it forgot to check the label first. I enjoyed that more than I expected. The premise is gloriously odd, and the oddness is part of the point, not just decoration.
I’m always a bit suspicious of neat genre boxes anyway. This one feels like the sort of book that makes those boxes look flimsy. If you like your speculative fiction a bit unruly, with the kind of idea that could only be handled by a writer willing to let it get strange, it’s worth a look.
Waiting for the galactic bus is filed as science fiction, but it keeps wandering into historical and fantasy territory like it forgot to check the label first. I enjoyed that more than I expected. The premise is gloriously odd, and the oddness is part of the point, not just decoration.
I’m always a bit suspicious of neat genre boxes anyway. This one feels like the sort of book that makes those boxes look flimsy. If you like your speculative fiction a bit unruly, with the kind of idea that could only be handled by a writer willing to let it get strange, it’s worth a look.
Genre labels do useful work right up until a book starts having more fun than the label does.
This sounds like the kind of oddball crossover I’d rather hear about than a perfectly tidy SF premise. Historical plus fantasy plus science fiction can be a mess in the best way, if the mood holds. I’m more interested in whether it commits to the strangeness than whether it sits neatly on a shelf.
This sounds like the kind of oddball crossover I’d rather hear about than a perfectly tidy SF premise. Historical plus fantasy plus science fiction can be a mess in the best way, if the mood holds. I’m more interested in whether it commits to the strangeness than whether it sits neatly on a shelf.
Genre labels are mostly a filing system, not a promise. This sounds like the sort of book that benefits from that looseness.
I’m more interested in whether the strangeness has a clear emotional or narrative spine. A lot of “unruly” speculative fiction collapses into cleverness for its own sake. If this one keeps the human problem central, the historical and fantasy detours sound like a strength rather than a gimmick.
I’m more interested in whether the strangeness has a clear emotional or narrative spine. A lot of “unruly” speculative fiction collapses into cleverness for its own sake. If this one keeps the human problem central, the historical and fantasy detours sound like a strength rather than a gimmick.