New Book Alert: Glitches and Stitches (Death Violation 01) by Nicole Givens Kurtz; Police Procedural Mystery Set in The Future Focuses on Gay Heroes, AI Dependency, and Genetic Engineering

 

New Book Alert: Glitches and Stitches (Death Violation 01) by Nicole Givens Kurtz; Police Procedural Mystery Set in The Future Focuses on Gay Heroes, AI Dependency, and Genetic Engineering

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: If Science Fiction/Mysteries have shown us anything, it's that the future will be just as violent and destructive as the present. Except that there will be crimes involving AI, advanced technology, genetic engineering, cloning, and possibly aliens and interstellar travel (at least the fictional version anyway). The crossover genre shows that the human race will be just as temperamental, avaricious, lustful, rage filled, and violent as ever. They will just have new technology with which to use their schemes.

That's the premise behind Nicole Givens Kurtz's Death Violation and its first book, Glitches and Stitches. As Kurtz did with her previous book, Kill Three Birds, she puts a conventional murder mystery in an unusual setting. Kill Three Birds took place in a world of anthropomorphic birds. Glitches and Stitches is instead set in the future in which technology and AI threaten to overpower the human element.

Inspector Regulators, Fawn Granger and Briscoe "BB" Baker are called in to investigate the death of Dr. Leonard Cho, scientist at the Association of Genetically Engineered Humans. The duo find themselves smack dab in the middle of a case involving illicit genetic engineering and technological dependency. They also have to struggle with their own conflicts to keep this search going.

Kurtz does a good job of creating a suspenseful police procedural mystery and surrounding it with a futuristic science fiction setting. It's not as imaginative a setting as say Eternity in Russ Colchamiro's Angela Hardwicke series but it still has some fascinating touches to remind the Reader that "Yes, this is the future." 

One of the clever things that Kurtz zeroes in on but some SF writers overlook is the use of language and slang terms. In this setting, people aren't "murdered." They had a "death violation." It could be a sign of political correctness or just a change in police terminology. Perhaps, even an intentional reference to how current controversies towards the police force will reconstruct how they behave in the future. It's just one of those things that a masterful speculative fiction author like Kurtz acknowledges.

Another sample of Kurtz's attention to detail is the apparent change in social structure. Neither Fawn nor BB are interested in each other because they are both gay. BB is in a committed relationship in which his husband is worried about his dangerous job.

Fawn has massive PTSD and is considering relocating to the Southwest, but this case and a new relationship with an EMT restores her desire for justice and search for love.

Currently, the LGBT community are faced with various controversies such as their rights being scaled back by many bigoted Republicans, Evangelicals, and Conservatives. Because the present is so awful, it is nice in Kurtz's futuristic world that not much is made of Fawn and BB's sexualities.

In the future of Glitches and Stitches, when future generations can be created in ways besides procreation, Conservatives can't even use that excuse to prohibit rights. So, Fawn and BB are seen like any other hard-working cop that is faced with a dangerous job with little time for a social life though they try.

Of course in a science fiction world, many themes that come across are the overabundance of technology and whether we are in danger of losing our humanity. Glitches and Stitches is no exception.

Fawn and BB investigate some genetic engineering that could change humans and for the worse. It's a scary thought to imagine that someone else could change another's DNA or genetic code without their knowledge or consent (or if they give consent without being told all of the options and pros and cons towards such actions so they can make real informed choices).

This book also discusses how AI is used as an option for even the most basic of needs like sexual pleasure. In fact there are hints that there is an android prostitute ring in which horny AI lovers can satisfy their carnal pleasures without human contact. It says something that even the most basic needs like sex need a technological instead of human interaction in Glitches and Stitches. In this book, humans have even lost the opportunity to become close together physically. 

It's not a perfect futuristic world that Kurtz writes in her book. But like all murder mysteries, there will always be people like Fawn and BB who care about justice, fairness, protecting the innocent, and caring for those around them.  

New Book Alert: Merchants of Knowledge and Magic (The Pentagonal Dominion) by Erika McCorkle; Unique World Building Is The Highlight of This Odd Unforgettable Epic Fantasy

 

New Book Alert: Merchants of Knowledge and Magic (The Pentagonal Dominion) by Erika McCorkle; Unique World Building Is The Highlight of This Odd Unforgettable Epic Fantasy 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Of the various worlds in Epic Fantasy that I visited this year (and there were many), among the most evocative, unique, and intriguing is The Pentagonal Dominion in Erika McCorkle's Merchants of Knowledge and Magic.

It is the strangest, most bizarre, most fantastic world that I have come across in some time.

The plot, or rather plots, are mostly slight. They involve a pair of merchants hired by various people throughout the book to find someone or retrieve something for some greater purpose. The missions aren't fully connected and they don't really seem to add up to anything important, at least not in this volume anyway.

 The book's structure is in loose anthology form as each mission is introduced separately and equal time is given for the characters to resolve that mission. Then that assignment usually leads them head (or heads) first into the next assignment or adventure.

Instead, Merchants of Knowledge and Magic's strongest virtues are in character, setting, and world building. In fact the main purpose of the various missions is to introduce the Readers to this strange new world. Since it is a world that captures the imagination and is impossible to forget,  I would say "Mission Accomplished."

 Every character and setting seems to come from someone's weirdest fever dreams or nightmares. Boy, is it ever a crazy oddball fever dream that we stumbled into.

The two Merchants in question are Calinthe Erytrichos and Zakuro "Pom" Rathmusen, the eponymous Merchants of Knowledge and Magic respectively. They are a very fascinating pair. 

Calinthe is half-Ulese and half-Odonata, species that many believe can't reproduce until they meet her. She has green skin, wings, and is intersex (though prefers she/her pronouns). Calinthe is a Mind volkhv which means that she can obtain knowledge. She often interrogates suspects with a game of Eight Questions in which they have to tell the truth (though they aren't above using certain points of view or telling half-truths to cover up information). 

 Zakuro has four arms, dark skin, and is  a Godblood, which means that she is descended from gods. She is practiced in various magical abilities such as making herself invisible or shape shifting. She was isolated by her abusive mother and had barely encountered non-deities until she met and fell in love with Calinthe.

The two travel together to do various assignments as Calinthe obtains information while Zakuro serves as a bodyguard and protector using her magic to help or hide them if things go badly. They earn money by trading magic and knowledge as currency.

Already this book stands out from many other Epic Fantasies and Science Fiction because of the lack of humanoid characters. Many times authors insert characters who are human in appearance as though their imaginations couldn't conceive of a world where humans, or species resembling humans, don't exist. With neither of her two leads being human, McCorkle stretches the imagination by looking through the perspectives and lifestyles of different creatures and species that are different from those who are reading it.

Calinthe and Zakuro aren't the only unique characters that this book encounters. We first encounter the duo as they walk into a bar which has a Kraken bartender and a Werewolf suspect that they have to interview. (Sounds like a bad joke from another dimension). Things go awry when the Kraken gets stabbed by the nervous Wolf.

One of the characters that they meet in the bar is Paivi Valkoinen, who may be a spy or a deserter from the powerful Aloutian military. One of Paivi's unique traits is that her belly is hollow and can be used to store objects which are chilled or warmed by her body temperature. So yes she is in fact a walking cooler (which excites Zakuro since they can have an ongoing supply of ale). 

That's nothing however. Calinthe's father is so large that her mother and sometimes she can travel inside his abdomen. (Take from that what you will).

Many of the settings are also unique. People can travel from dimension to dimension and gravity is different on each one. A person who is considered thin in one place can be weighed down by the gravity in another one.

One of those places is Ophidia, a misandrist society in which women are considered superior and men, intersex, neuter, and non-binary species are looked down upon. Calinthe hates the place and has to hide her intersex qualities whenever they visit (including a newly growing appendage which is synonymous with a penis). 

Their arrival attracts two sisters, The Ryuugas: Requiem, a white skinned purple haired biped-bibranch and  Sayuri,a reptilian Orochijan, with thin vertical pupils and a forked tongue. Oh yeah and they travel with horses who can change their shapes into bipedal forms. The Ryuugas  want to leave Ophidia even though they are members of the ruling class because it's a "f$#@d up country that treats men like mud and sludge." So they tag along with and befriend Calinthe and Zakuro.

The strangeness in character and setting is only augmented by the Pentagonal Dominion's pantheon of demons and gods. While most Earth pantheons acknowledge their deities' offbeat qualities (like Zeus' womanizing, Loki's tricks, or The Morrigan's association with death), the gods in these worlds come right out and admit their infallibility with their titles. They are rich with names like Lord Selfishness and the Lord of Ignorance. 

Lord Williford, the Lord of Ignorance, is a particularly memorable deity in that he acts less like a god and more like the lovable storytelling drunk at the bar. He uses Welsh slang terms like "ditty" for little and "tidy" for nice. He also uses profanity and is more interested in carnal pleasures and being sarcastic than in being a positive vessel for his mortal followers. He is hilarious and fits right in with the rest of the Pentagonal Dominions' weirdness. 

Despite or maybe because of the strange world building embedded in Merchants of Knowledge and Magic, the book surprisingly has a lot of emotions and heart.

In one chapter while they are in Ophidia, Zakuro and Paivi try to end slavery by killing slavers and slaves much to Calinthe's chagrin. The decisions that the three are faced with are ethical ones in which the characters debate whether they should put their personal experiences and safety over the greater good and whether using violence to prevent injustice causes more problems than helps.

Zakuro and Calinthe also show strong love and devotion towards each other particularly when they encounter their families. After a heartbreaking conversation with her abusive mother, Zakuro is cut off, feeling like she doesn't have a family. Calinthe takes her on a detour from their current assignment to visit Calinthe's loving parents so Zakuro could feel loved and accepted and they could adopt her as a second daughter.

In one of the most traumatic sections, Calinthe is forced into slavery for several chapters. Her narration reveals the pain and anguish, particularly when she goes from referring to her masters by name to the title of "Master" in her narration. She goes from a free spirited, independent, intelligent, intersex Merchant of Knowledge with lovers and friends to a passive, dependent, traumatized victim who isn't sure if she ever had anyone love her. It is a striking heart wrenching transformation that suggests that it will take some time in the next volume for her to recover, if she ever does.

Merchants of Knowledge and Magic is a masterful novel of world building which offers unique characters and settings that are strange but also believable. Because of that, this is one of the Best Books of 2022.

New Book Alert: Vorodin's Lair (Book Two of the Warminster Saga) by J.V. Hilliard; All Quested Up But Too Many Places to Go

 New Book Alert: Vorodin's Lair (Book Two of the Warminster Saga) by J.V. Hilliard; All Quested Up But Too Many Places to Go 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: The Last Keeper was a memorable first volume in the Warminster Saga in that it depicted a dark fantasy world becoming darker. A wizard sold his soul to demons for knowledge and wealth and became a monster. Daemus Alaric, a Keeper of knowledge, has prophetic dreams about the potential end of the world. Addilyn Elspeth, a noblewoman also has dreams of tetrine, a herd of black unicorns that herald impending doom. They team up with various characters like Sir Ritter, a half-elf knight, Prince Montgomery, a seafaring Prince, and a team of outlaws including Faux, who had a grudge against many of the royal family, to fight this Apocalypse. Meanwhile many characters, like Addilyn's father get killed, seemingly good character's evil intentions are revealed, and war is afoot. It's a great introduction.

Unfortunately, the follow up, Vorodin's Lair is not nearly as compelling. There is a lot of meandering with characters going places and not getting much accomplished.

Princess Addilyn, Daemus, Ritter and the others are recruited to seek safety in the land of Abacus and request assistance from the Athabasica, a post and important leader. Meanwhile, Prince Montgomery takes part in a massacre of a Naval battle. We are also introduced to various characters and subplots that become hard to keep up with after a while. 

There are some interesting moments, unfortunately they are few and far in between. Zamiel, one of the antagonists, has a very terrifying opening when he bonds and controls the tetrine.

We also see the further dissolution of society. The Keepers, the group Daemus was once a proud member of, use corruption and intimidating means to claim new leadership. Prince Montgomery's father is another of the long list of snobbish parents who reject their children in this series.

In this book one of the most intriguing characters is the Athabasica. She is worth the build up and shows to be a wise leader and poet. She is one of those types of characters who dispenses guidance and advice through cryptic means, leading the characters to figure things out for themselves. In the ensemble cast, she is the lone stand out.

Unfortunately, Vorodin's Lair has plenty of problems that outweigh its virtues. Vorodin's Lair suffers through what I call "Second Book Syndrome." The first book introduces us to the setting, characters, and plots that carry over in the series. The third (if it's the final book) usually has the climactic battle, the resolution of the quest, and the point where the protagonists meet their eventual fates and destinies. 

If done right, the second book can lead to some interesting character development and some intriguing side quests that strengthen or weaken the bonds that the protagonists share.

If done wrong, it's just an excuse to pad out 300 pages into extensively long sections that fill plots and characters that are unnecessary. Vorodin's Lair is the latter.

In every other chapter, the Reader is introduced to a character that either is new to the book or is a holdover from the previous book that it takes a struggle to remember. Daemus, Addilyn et al are detained not by important plot points leading to self discoveries. Instead they are held back by mere contrivances. 

It's one of those books where you could flip through the pages wondering "What did I miss?" Then you realize the answer is, "Not much."

Oddly enough, one of the biggest weaknesses in Vorodin's Lair is one of the best parts of The Last Keeper. Because The Last Keeper started out in a dark somber horror tone and continued to stay that way, there really is nowhere for Vorodin's Lair to go but darker yet. The tone falls into the "Too Bleak, Stopped Caring" territory somewhere around the tenth or so chapter. The series tries to top itself with bleakness to the point that it becomes boring. 

Even the characters become boring because the bleakness dictates that they can never actually win or achieve any sort of victory. The somberness takes away their agency or ability to take action to change their circumstances. After a while, it becomes hard to give a damn about anything that the characters do.

If there is to be a third volume of The Warminster Saga, let's hope it's better than Vorodin's Lair. This one features characters that are ready to quest but nowhere to go. Book Three can't get any worse.

New Book Alert: The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Math Girls (The Adventures of Ruby Pi Book 2): Teen Heroines Use Geometry, Algebra, and Other Mathematics to Solve Colossal Problems; Ruby and Her Genius Colleagues Return in Five More Intelligent, Exciting, Educational, and Clever Stories

 

New Book Alert: The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Math Girls (The Adventures of Ruby Pi Book 2): Teen Heroines Use Geometry, Algebra, and Other Mathematics to Solve Colossal Problems; Ruby and Her Genius Colleagues Return in Five More Intelligent, Exciting, Educational, and Clever Stories

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I will admit that I am a Literary Genius but a Math Dunce.

I excelled in English Writing and Literature classes and even tutored other students. I earned my BA in English from University of Missouri-St. Louis and Masters in Library Science from Indiana University-Indianapolis. I have turned my talents in Writing and Literature into a loved (and hopefully one day lucrative) career as a Book Reviewer and Editor.

However, Math was a different story. Math and Science were my worst subjects in school. I liked logic puzzles and code breaking because they involved analysis and deductive reasoning but those were the only Math problems that I actually liked.

 I barely passed my undergraduate degree by taking Computer courses for Science credit and Contemporary Math (Math for everyday use like shopping and business AKA "Math for Dummies/English Majors") for Math. If it wasn't for those courses, I would either still be trying to get my BA or have long given up in frustration.

The reason that I am mentioning my terrible history with Math is to emphasize on how well Tom Durwood's The Adventures of Ruby Pi Series works. It works the same way many good educational PBS series do. It explains a subject that many Readers may have (and still might) have a hard time understanding and makes it clear and exciting to follow.

The second book, The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Math Girls is more of the same. Excellent stories featuring intelligent young women using their mathematical skills in diverse ways to help the society around them.

Just like in the Geometry Girls, the book is separated into five stories. They are:

"Ruby Pi and The Case of the Shy Mathematician"

The eponymous protagonist/super genius is back. This time Rupa is called by Inspector Daniel Summerscale to solve the murder of mathematician, Anaan Warinda.

This case is a personal one for Rupa. Warinda was a mentor to the young woman and even encountered her as a child, giving her the nickname of Ruby Pi.

As with her previous experience, Rupa uses a mathematical procedure to solve Warinda's murder. This time she uses "Bayes's Rule" which states, "The probability of arriving at a true theorem improves upon the processing of new data." Some Mathematical theories are created as means to solve problems, not just with numbers.

Rupa is able to gather data to find a solution, especially in solving Warinda's complex coded notebooks. She finds herself involved in a much larger case involving the tense relationship between the English and Indian governments. She also earns respect and admiration from Inspector Summerscale and the Mathematical Society. It is definitely a period of ascension towards Rupa's character and status.

"Blue Moon Over Mogollons"

While Bayes's Rule may be new to some Readers, many are probably familiar with the concept of card counting and how highly intelligent gamblers use it to cheat the system and sometimes try to beat the house.

In Wild West, Silver City, Casey uses her talent for card counting to help her mother succeed in card games (even if Ma doesn't always listen). However, their latest caper involves some dangerous desperados and new weaponry.

In this story, we see how Casey is able to use her talents to help her family. However, we also see how this makes her an outsider towards them. Because of her advanced intelligence, Casey is able to see and long for a life outside of the saloons, gambling houses, and shoot outs. Casey's mother however lives only for her current pleasures like gambling and drinking. While Math is important to the story,"Blue Moon Over Mogollons" is mostly a family story about what happens when families have different incompatible views about what they want out of life.

"Pen's Black Swan"

As we learned from the previous volume, societies need economic and statistical forecasters to predict the financial turns that could occur. Just like with the weather, it would be good to listen and prepare ourselves.

This story is set in 1992 when Penelope West predicts that the stock market will undergo a black swan, an unpredictable and unforeseen event typically with extreme consequences. This is also the time when markets coalesced to force the British government to exit the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by removing its currency from the government.

Of the five stories, this is probably the least interesting. It covers similar ground to "Yan Li and the Numerators" and "Shawnee and The Visitor" in which a fictional person presents a real prediction but is shot down by reality. However, it does give some credence by people accepting Pen's views in the end. This and similar stories prove that we should never be too proud or arrogant to not listen to warnings. Sometimes, it's best to over prepare and be calm when something doesn't happen than to not prepare and be in the middle of the explosion wondering what we could have done differently.

"Jayani's Big Gamble"

Similar to "Blue Moon Over Mogollons" this is a family story disguised as a math lesson. Third Aunt who raised and trained her apprentice chef, Jayani, is ill. Jayani must raise money for her medical care but how? She uses her baking skills and knowledge of volume to make pottery and rent out kilns.

Jayani is a clever woman who is able to take charge during troubled times. She helps her aunt showing a strong familial love. She also is able to become a success achieving fame and wealth for her talents. She and her aunt are the opposite of Casey and her mother in that they show deep loyalty and encouragement.

"Sasha With the Red Hair"

We come to one of my favorite Mathematical puzzles, code breaking in probably my favorite story in this volume. It is similar in content to the previous volume's "Simone and the Mean Girls" involving an intelligent woman trying to solve a code while dealing with a vain and arrogant rival. Only this time, the rival is her sister.

 Uly won the  Vavilov for Mathematical achievement and she and her family are going to Moscow for the honor. Unfortunately, her sister Sasha ("with the red hair" the narrative says), gets the attention with her beauty and claiming credit for the achievement. 

While in Moscow, Uly stumbles upon a secret Mayan codex and Sasha gets herself in trouble with the NKVD.

This story is a reminder of the old fairy tales in which a good hard working sibling triumphs over the bad tempered lazy sibling. Uly is a reminder of many who have been overlooked by peers, leaders, friends, and even family members because of better looking, louder, and more talented siblings. It can be hard to deal with when one's talents are so often overlooked. However, in this instance both sisters get exactly what they deserve in a clever roundabout way which finally rewards Uly's intelligence. While Sasha brings about her own comeuppance.

Weekly Reader: The Descendants (The Descendants Series Book One)by Destiny Hawkins; Intriguing Concept in YA Science Fiction About Finding One's Own Personal Power in a World Full of Energy Abilities

 

Weekly Reader: The Descendants (The Descendants Series Book One)by Destiny Hawkins; Intriguing Concept in YA Science Fiction About Finding One's Own Personal Power in a World Full of Energy Abilities 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Many Science Fiction dystopian novels have characters being separated by some arbitrary type, as an analogy on how modern society separates people from larger categories like race and social class to minor sets like IQ's or personality types. Whether it's by brain type like in Brave New World, social and personality factions like in Divergent, or assigned careers like in The Giver. 

In each one, there is a character (or characters) that doesn't fit into these assorted categories and questions the system that does this. 

The themes often are that people are people. They are flexible, learning, adaptive, complex, messy, and can't always be put into a box. Human nature by its own definition is changeable and often resists such placement. A person who prefers to be introverted in private may be extroverted in their jobs. A person with a high IQ may not have a lot of common sense or street smarts. 

While sometimes exploring such concepts may be interesting, that's a poor way of viewing the society at large.

Studying one's race and culture may drive a person to look into their own family history and where they came from. When someone takes a personality quiz, they could find favorite interests or a career in which they shine. But what is problematic is when people use those types to maintain superiority rather than equality. When they use those categories as an excuse to isolate and segregate people as a means to maintain that superiority.

That is the main theme that can be found in Destiny Hawkins' YA Dystopian Science Fiction novel, The Descendants. It is set in an alternate future in which people have different abilities in which they can control energy. They are called Lighters and are in charge of the Lighter Nation. 

The Lighters are then put into three categories: Brighter (possessing incredible speed and strength), Elem (the ability to control earth, air, fire, and water), and Dim (create darkness). They are then separated into subcategories depending on the color that the Lighter emits like soma for dark blue, vex for turquoise blue, and kali for white. They then operate on different levels depending on the brightness of their light. As if to make the point less subtle, the narrator even remarks that it's a terrible way to separate people by color and by shades of that color (get it?). 

Then there are the Nulls, people who cannot bring light forward at all. Rayah Bardeau, the narrator and protagonist,  is one such Null. Nulls are treated horribly. If they can't demonstrate Lighter powers by the time they finish school, then they have to become slaves.

 Major Artemis St. James, Rayah's former owner, is licking his lips in anticipation for that moment. While Rayah is at the Academy, her mother has taken her place as a slave but it is clear that he intends to use Rayah for more than chores.

Nulls are subjected to pain tests and other students are allowed to bully them. There are many intense scenes where Rayah is bullied by Artemis and the Lighter students. She isn't a slave by name, but it is apparent that most people in Lighter Nation do not treat her as a human being with equal rights.

What is particularly fascinating about the scenario that Hawkins writes is that The Descendants is almost the exact opposite of the scenario of X Men. Whereas the Marvel franchise depicts the people with powerful abilities as the outsiders, The Descendants portrays the ones without abilities as "The Others." Either way, they make the same point: that somehow bigoted people will find someone different to scapegoat, to look down upon, to isolate, to hate, to threaten, to hurt, and sometimes to kill just for who they are.

Some of the most interesting passages are when Rayah is in the Wild Lands, an area outside her homeland in which the citizens are forbidden to go. Of course, Rayah does and encounters people who live outside of Lighter rules and regulations. Her romance with Soren, one of the people from the Wild Lands, is a typical one for this genre though they are likable characters.

 Soren is particularly helpful in that he sees Rayah as a person not a Null. She also sees Soren as a person and not a wildling. They see beyond the programming that society has given them into the soul inside.

What the Wild Lands chapters do is give Rayah chances to reveal her own power. During her academy studies, she has shown a strong talent for hand to hand combat. She is able to use that to defend her new friends when they are threatened. She also discovers new abilities that were never dead, just dormant.

Without spoilers, on the one hand this revelation plays into the problems in Rayah's society by revealing that she fits in after all. However, on the other hand, that could also be the point. The Lighter Nation citizens may believe that they need someone to look down on to the point that they will deprive someone of their innate abilities to make it happen. They would rather have a class of slaves than admit that everyone could be treated as an equal.

The Descendants has a lot to say about how we separate people into various types and categories and sometimes use them to look down upon others. It also shows how we can use our personal power to stand against that categorization and be seen as individuals.

New Book Alert: The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Geometry Girls: Teen Heroines in History Use Geometry, Algebra, and Other Mathematics to Solve Colossal Problems by Tom Durwood; Intelligent YA Series That Encourages Girls to Study STEM Subjects

 

New Book Alert: The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Geometry Girls: Teen Heroines in History Use Geometry, Algebra, and Other Mathematics to Solve Colossal Problems by Tom Durwood; Intelligent YA Series That Encourages Girls to Study STEM Subjects

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: What Tom Durwood's previous series, The Illustrated Colonials was to History, his current series The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Geometry Girls is to Mathematics. It takes a certain subject and creates a brilliant series with memorable characters that make a fascinating learning guide.

The book involves five girls from different eras using their expertise in engineering, code breaking, architecture, statistical analysis, and economics to solve problems around them. These stories show the different ways mathematics plays into our lives sometimes without us knowing. If Readers (like me) have trouble with math, the concepts and theories are easily explained and the characters are proactive enough to make the book interesting.

The five stories are:

"Ruby Pi and the Case of the Old Carthusians"-The super genius of the pack is Rupashana Lal Pyradhakrishnan AKA Ruby Pi, the eponymous protagonist of this and the other books in the series. Ruby is a prodigy in various areas such as mathematics, engineering, botany, and various other fields. She shows high intelligence and observation skills to solve mysteries.

In this story, Rupa is put in charge of overseeing the reconstruction of the Charterhouse Cathedral. However, while watching the building and growing concerns about payroll, Rupa stumbles upon a bigger mystery that dates back to the Boer War revealing the cruel realities of war, prejudice, and a deadly pact.

This is one of the strongest stories in the book because it shows Rupa solving mysteries and how to solve engineering problems with reason and fact. However, she can't solve the problems of hatred and war that are found in the human heart. The only thing that she can do as an Indian woman is to prove the white Englishmen's assumptions about her wrong.

"Simone and the Mean Girls"

While war was a backdrop in the previous story, it is upfront in this one.

Set during WWII, Simone is a French volunteer nurse. She is working in the middle of a bombing raid with other nurses, most of whom aren't very friendly towards her. However, Simone is able to decipher a code that could turn the tide on the battle and possibly the war itself.

This story is suspenseful as Simone and the other nurses strive to keep working amidst bombing and terror. There is also a strong sense of character development as Simone is able to break through the other nurses' antagonistic feelings towards her by using her gifts and talents to aid them.

"Isoke and the Architect"

One of the underlying themes in this book is the women using their intelligence to break through barriers closed off to their gender, race, or country of origin. One of the ways that they do this is to cultivate alliances. No story is that more prominent than in "Isoke and the Architect."

Isoke, a woman from Benin, is highly skilled in geometry. When Isoke's geometric gifts allow her to save her queen, Nala, from an assassination attempt, the queen gifts her books of geometry and engineering. Isoke then designs buildings and weapons, overcoming flaws in original designs.

While this is another great story of a woman showing her brain power in a mathematical capacity, what is particularly notable is the relationship between Isoke and Queen Nala. Isoke has a lot of intelligence but very little opportunity to show it until Nala befriends and encourages her. Nala needed someone that can think differently and to build a legacy for her. 

Like all friendships, each woman filled a need in the other's life. Sometimes it is important for a genius to be recognized and patroned.

Also this story places this book in the same universe in Durwood's previous series, the Illustrated Colonials by showing a cameo from one of the latter books's characters. This part allows these young women's actions to be recognized on a wider global scale.

"Yan Li and the Numerators"

This story and the next one demonstrate that even in an alternate universe, certain things are fated to happen. They also show that sometimes genius isn't recognized in one's lifetime.

Yan Li, a Chinese woman is able to read the statistics of upcoming crops and analyze that the country is heading for a famine. Unfortunately, she has to contend with Mao Zedong's government and his stubborn insistence to not listen to a perfectly reasonable warning.

This story shows how leaders often become full of themselves to the point that they don't listen when someone points out the flaws in the system. Yan Li shows courage by standing by her prediction even to the point of being threatened.

"Shawnee and the Visitor"

This is another story where a great idea is trampled upon by the realities of history.

In 1968, Shawnee, an expert in finance, was approached by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She gives him an interesting proposal that could provide long term financial assistance for the poor by creating a banking system that specifically caters to African-Americans and impoverished people.

This idea impresses King, unfortunately he has to go to Memphis to give a speech and the next day have a rendezvous with destiny because of one James Earl Ray (and possibly others).

Like "Yan Li and the Numerators," this story shows the potential ideas of a better world becoming shattered by the reality of history. Though unlike Yan Li's case, it's not because of the personality of the leader but by the outside forces of racism and hatred resulting in death. 

Shawnee presents the opportunity for people like her to be financially independent, despite those outside forces that created stumbling block after stumbling block for her and her people. Unfortunately, they aren't done yet. 

The good news is that as long as there are courageous women like these, restrictions can't and won't last forever.

New Book Alert: Desire's End (The Desire Card Series Book Five) Predictable but Satisfying and Cathartic End

 

New Book Alert: Desire's End (The Desire Card Series Book Five) Predictable but Satisfying and Cathartic End 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: If you haven't yet, I insist that you read either my reviews or the books themselves: Immoral Origins, Prey No More, All Sins Fulfilled, and Vicious Ripples by Lee Matthew Goldberg before reading this review. This review contains MAJOR HEAVY DUTY SPOILERS!!!!

Ready? Then let's go.

Now we finally come to the end. The Desire Card and its depraved demonic leader, Jay Howell AKA Clark Gable come to a satisfactory completion.

This book is pure resolution, where all loose ends are tied, all things are revealed, and the characters meet their final destinies. All previous volumes have led to this moment and head towards the final successful pay off.

If you have grown to detest Howell as much as this Reader has, it's quite satisfying to see him brought down in a schadenfreude sort of way. On the run from his various enemies, he attempts to kidnap Gracie, his granddaughter and unsuccessfully rebuild his empire. This goes quickly awry and he is forced to hide out in the jungle.

In hiding, he encounters a female shaman who gleefully shows him the eventual ruin of his empire and his life.

Meanwhile, three other people are fast approaching, all familiar to the Readers: J.D. Storm, former assassin turned enemy, Monica Bonner, police detective who investigated Gracie's previous kidnapping and cannot stop her investigation against the Desire Card, and Helene Howell-Stockton, Jay's daughter, a philanthropist who has finally realized that her father is a monster who needs to be stopped. Even the shaman has her own pound of flesh to take from the corrupt CEO/Crime Boss.

It helps to take satisfaction in Howell's end by not making him sympathetic. He's a weasley bully who uses everyone around him in the beginning and is a weasley bully who uses everyone around him at the end. No part shows this more than the chapters between Howell and Gracie.

Gracie was an unwilling pawn in Vicious Ripples but during her captivity from J.D., she displayed some potential sociopathic tendencies that suggest that she was meant to become Jay's little heiress. 

In the previous book, she cold bloodedly shot another kidnapper.

In this book the young lady displays her worst qualities as almost a way of saying, "Look Grandpa Jay, look what I can do. See what a good little girl I am?" She manipulates girls to join her grandfather's prostiution ring and uses her ballet skills to create a dancing school front for the ring. Even when she is separated from Howell, she still inherits his evil tendencies by selling hard drugs to schoolmates.

Of all the things that Howell did in the five books, his manipulation of Gracie is the worst. He made the choice to take a life of crime as an adult, fully aware of the potential paths that lay before him. He chose the path of easy money, notoriety, and luxury.

Gracie is a child surrounded by adults who come to her grandfather like he's the Pied Piper of crooks. She has been groomed to become a criminal with no choice or chance to be normal. Now that she knows, she can't live in denial. Her innocence has been forever ruined by Howell's actions and choices. Her own agency and control for her future had long been taken away from her.

J.D., Monica, and Helene are as wounded as ever and are ready to end Howell's hold on them once and for all. The book covers a period of several years, so there are moments of hope and sadness. Helene loses some important people in her life, but finally becomes closer to her hippy boyfriend, Peter. She is trying to rebuild a new life and wants to cut her former life as a Howell and a Stockton. 

Helene was a philanthropist just to make her family look good. Since then, she became involved in philanthropy in earnest because she knows about loss and pain. She sees others sufferings. She has a chance to be a better person and she won't let her father take that from her.

J.D. and Monica also find a new life in a surprising place….with each other. It's a pairing that seems abrupt but considering that they have suffered tremendous loss and have a shared history (even if it was once as opposite sides of the law), the initial weirdness disappears. 

J.D.'s girlfriend, Annie was killed by Desire Card operatives, feeding his thirst for revenge. Now his vengeance is gone, he just floats along, finding a place of quiet and solitude.

While Monica's son died from an illness, her grief fuelled her search for Gracie and put her right into Howell's orbit.

She also resigned her police position and is trying to live a stress free life.

Monica meets J.D. trying to rebuild his life and the two hook up. Despite their burgeoning relationship, they can't put their past behind them until they face Howell one final time.

Another character with her own interesting backstory is the shaman. Her story is too enticing to reveal in this review but let's say the series finally comes full circle and if anyone has a major ax to grind against Howell, it's her. She uses intimidating physical threats and her supernatural abilities to show the literal and figurative monster that Howell is and why so many people would like to see the back of him. The shaman gives Howell his final comeuppance in a way that is long predicted but ultimately satisfying and cathartic.

Desire's End is the perfect ending to an exciting and suspenseful series. After all the twists, turns, duplicity, and betrayal, it's great to see this card get canceled on a high note.