'Dawn' by Octavia Butler

 Dawn (Xenogenesis #1), Octavia Butler (3.5)

I enjoyed this book as something very different, which is hard to do in Sci-fi while not breaking the laws of physics. A woman wakes up to find out humans have managed to ruin the earth and annihilate almost everyone. She is on an apparent spacecraft where unseen, presumable benevolent aliens have saved her. As she learns more, the aliens are ‘traders’ and she tries to find out what they want in return for her safety. Most of the book is a page turner as we -along with the main character- are introduced to the aliens and learn more about them and what her future entails. My main disappointment is with the last 25%. The author shows some inconsistencies in character treatment (don’t rape a woman, but you can a man?) and some parts just seem purposefully suggestive, which was distracting. I do plan to read the other two books in the series and hope there are more unique ideas and less salaciousness.

'Fire in the Canyon' by Daniel Gumbiner

 Fire in the Canyon, Daniel Gumbiner (2.5)

While this book spoke to me as a person in California familiar with the scare of wildfires, the writing was a bit off for me to fully enjoy it. I liked the descriptions of the animals and farm life of a small grape grower in the foothills. I love that area and life. I was distracted by details that didn’t seem necessary and brought me out of the story. Words should be intentional or not included – I often thought ‘why is he telling me this?’ and expected things to happen that didn’t. Many of these side stories go nowhere.  I also found inconsistencies such as the main character mentions several times that he can’t afford to take his wife out to dinner but eats lunch out all the time.  The descriptions of living in an area of drought that is threatened by fire are good and realistic, though maybe not something most of us need to read. The writing is not good enough for me to recommend this to those who have not experienced it. 

'The Honourable Schoolboy' by John Le Carre

 The Honourable Schoolboy, John Le Carre (4)

This book begins with George Smiley and his crew in the dog-house after it’s been discovered that the famous Soviet agent, Karla (yes, love that), had a high placed mole in their midst. As most Smiley stories, it’s more about the suspense than action and difficult to follow due to British spy jargon and an extremely complicated story. Information comes to Smiley’s group that there is a Chinese mole in Hong Kong working with the Soviets. Obviously written pre-reintegration with China, Hong Kong is still a British colony and China and USSR are not ‘friends’. Smiley cautiously investigates hoping that a discovery would thwart Karla and bring glory back to the group. While I enjoyed the detail, this is not a spy novel for everyone. Major plot points can come across as an aside, so one must pay close attention. Also, for such a long book, it oddly ended very abruptly.  I believe this book is lesser known as it is a bit less approachable.