Book Review: 42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams by Douglas Adams. Ed. by Kevin Jon Davies

Cover of the book 42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams by Douglas Adams. Ed. by Kevin Jon Davies — *42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams*
by Douglas Adams. Ed. by Kevin Jon Davies
Unbound, 2023

This review was first published by Booklist on September 22, 2023.

Douglas Adams was one of the most original thinkers and writers of the last half century. Editor Davies was granted permission to access Adams’ archive of personal papers, and here he presents various letters, notes, scripts, and project ideas, with occasional glimpses into Adams’ interior life, written in the man’s own hand. This isn’t a biography but an overview of the collection, presenting high quality scans of dozens of documents. Much of this material is transcribed for easier reading and informational captions provide context. Also included are letters to Adams written by some of those who knew him best while he was alive. The book’s greatest value is the insight it provides on the ways Adams’ ideas developed over time, from their initial genesis to eventual use on the page, the themes and concepts that ran through so much of his work. Davies’ highlights will make readers yearn to dive deeper and see more of the treasures lying within this archival collection. This is for committed fans of Adams but it likely won’t appeal to casual readers.

Book Review: Grace in All Simplicity: Beauty, Truth, and Wonders on the Path to the Higgs Boson and New Laws of Nature by Chris Quigg and Robert N. Cahn

Cover of the book Grace in All Simplicity: Beauty, Truth, and Wonders on the Path to the Higgs Boson and New Laws of Nature by Chris Quigg and Robert N. Cahn — *Grace in All Simplicity: Beauty, Truth, and Wonders on the Path to the Higgs Boson and New Laws of Nature*
by Chris Quigg and Robert N. Cahn
Pegasus, 2023

This review was first published by Booklist on September 1, 2023.

Grace in All Simplicity traces the development of our current, standard model of physics from the earliest days of atomic theory to the development of particle physics to challenges of dark matter and energy. Cahn and Quigg highlight the many people who contributed to this history, alongside the technology that made it possible and the experiments that revolutionized our understanding of the universe. This isn’t a chronological account. By bouncing around the time line, they highlight the connectedness of the underlying concepts and the ways experiment and theory interact over time. There’s equal attention paid to theory, experiment, and technology. All are necessary to build our best scientific understandings. Theory requires experiment, technology enables new experiments, and experiments deliver results which require new theory. It’s all connected. While there’s no math, the content is very dense, chock-full of concepts and names of people and particles. Because this isn’t a chronological account, the dates can get muddled, but the payoff is a wonderful and engaging dive into the last century of revolutionary physics.

Book Review: Gundog by Gary Whitta

Cover of the book Gundog by Gary Whitta — *Gundog*
by Gary Whitta
Inkshares, 2023

This review was first published by Booklist in August 2023.

Whitta, best known as the screenwriter of The Book of Eli and developing the story for Rogue One, gives us his take on a mecha story. The Mek, an advanced machine civilization, came to Earth seeking natural resources, and war broke out between them and humanity. Humanity lost, and the Mek enslaved them. Now, a young woman named Dakota learns of a last hope that could liberate mankind. To do so, she must escape her slave camp and learn more about her family’s past. While there’s nothing much original in this tale, Whitta clearly has a blast telling it, and his joy in storytelling will win readers over. He’s a practiced craftsman and delivers a satisfying yarn. The greatest strength of the story is its pacing: a propulsive, frenetic adventure with well-staged action pieces that readers will inhale. Whitta originally developed this story as an episodic podcast which had some success. Fans have been eager for a novelization, and it’s a good entry point for new readers as well.

Book Review: A Second Chance for Yesterday by R. A. Sinn

Cover of the book A Second Chance for Yesterday by R. A. Sinn — *A Second Chance for Yesterday*
by R. A. Sinn
Solaris, 2023

This review was first published by Booklist in July 2023.

In the near future, Qbito, a San Francisco tech start-up, launches SavePoint, quantum technology that allows users to skip back in time five seconds, giving people the ability to undo social faux pas and damaging, hurtful behaviors. Now, SavePoint 2.0 promises to revolutionize the world yet again with a massive upgrade. But when head programmer Nev finalizes the code for it, something goes horribly wrong, and she starts living her life backwards, waking up each day one day earlier. She must figure out what went awry and fix it before the same fate befalls more than 150 million users. It’s a fascinating premise, and Nev is a compelling character. The mechanics of how she interacts with the forward-time world provide tension and propulsion for the plot. Mixed in are criticisms of fundamentalist religion, critiques of tech culture, and send-ups of “tech bros” and income-focused careerists. But Sinn goes deeper, exploring how the past and future are inextricably interconnected, the ways our actions reverberate in other people’s lives, purpose, and responsibility, ultimately leading to compassion, forgiveness, and sacrifice.

Book Review: The Secret Lives of Numbers: A Hidden History of Mathematics by Kate Kitagawa and Timothy Revell

Cover of the book The Secret Lives of Numbers: A Hidden History of Mathematics by Kate Kitagawa and Timothy Revell — *The Secret Lives of Numbers: A Hidden History of Mathematics*
by Kate Kitagawa and Timothy Revell
Morrow, 2023

This review was first published by Booklist in July 2023.

**STARRED REVIEW** The history of math is typically taught from an exclusively Greco-Eurocentric perspective as a parade of great men. This significantly distorts reality. Mathematics has been invented in one form or another by every culture on Earth, and the exclusion of women and people of color from traditional narratives is particularly glaring. Kitagawa and Revell do an excellent job of broadening our view to the far more vibrant, collaborative, diverse, and interesting history. Different cultures developed the same ideas at different times, and there is no one inventor of any given idea. The foundations of calculus were discovered by mathematicians in India centuries before Newton or Leibniz were even born, for example, and binary notation has roots in the traditional hexagrams of the Chinese Book of Changes. The mathematics of different cultures were driven by different needs and values, and some of our biggest mathematical revolutions were fueled when these different traditions encountered and altered each other. Math, like all human endeavors, has been subject to politics, religious and cultural influences, and struggles for power and wealth. Mathematics is the most powerful tool humans ever invented, and this book is a welcome corrective to our understanding of how it came to be.

Book Review: Out There: The Science behind Sci-Fi Film and TV by Ariel Waldman

Cover of the book Out There: The Science behind Sci-Fi Film and TV by Ariel Waldman — *Out There: The Science behind Sci-Fi Film and TV*
by Ariel Waldman
Running Press, 2023

This review was first published by Booklist on June 1, 2023.

Waldman, host of the space- and pop- culture-focused show Offworld, offers a delightful collection of conversations about the role of popular sf films and television in shaping our vision of space and what the future may hold. She presents conversations she’s had with NASA astronauts, physicists, astronomers, engineers, SETI researchers, and other analysts on subjects such as spaceship and spacesuit design, how we might deal with loneliness and communicate with aliens, black holes, artificial gravity, matter transporters, clones, cyborgs and artificial intelligence, the skills modern and future astronauts will need to have, and more. Luminaries such as Frank Drake (creator of the famed Drake Equation), Mythbuster’s Adam Savage, and speculative fiction author Annalee Newitz (to name but a few of the most well-known) detail their perspectives on how sf has and continues to influence how we relate to science and popular expectations for human beings’ future in space. Most importantly, this work illustrates the importance of imagination in the pursuit of science. It’s a concise and rewarding book.

Book Review: The Ghosts of Trappist by K. B. Wagers

Cover of the book The Ghosts of Trappist by K. B. Wagers — *The Ghosts of Trappist*
by K. B. Wagers
Harper Voyager, 2023

This review was first published by Booklist on May 15, 2023.

The past comes back to haunt the present in more ways than one in the third installment of Wagers’ NeoG series (after Hold Fast through the Fire, 2021). Missing ships mysteriously reappear and wreak destruction in the Trappist system. D’Arcy struggles with the aftermath of the sabotage of Jupiter Station, while both he and Sapphi deal with the return of important people from their pasts who they thought were long left behind. Max struggles to break free from her family, with surprising results. Doge exhibits surprising behavior, while Jenks falls deeper into unexpected domestic bliss, and the crew of Zuma’s Ghost dominate in their fifth Boarding Games. Behind it all is a mysterious being with a strange connection to Sapphi. Wagers juggles a lot of plot threads in this outing, mostly with great success, and offers a clever exploration of identity, community, healing, and what it means to be alive. Wagers continues to impress with deeply drawn characters and their focus on the power of supportive relationships. Fans of the NeoG will certainly find more of what they love in this outing.

Book Review: Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks–A Cool History of a Hot Commodity by Amy Brady

Cover of the book Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks--A Cool History of a Hot Commodity by Amy Brady — *Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks–A Cool History of a Hot Commodity*
by Amy Brady
Putnam, 2023

This review was first published by Booklist on May 1, 2023.

Ice is everywhere. We put it in our drinks, use it to numb pain and injuries, and have machines in our kitchen that make it on demand. Given its ubiquity, it’s remarkable how little attention we’ve paid to its history. Environmental historian Brady is on a mission to fill this gap. Ice has played a central role in the evolution of culture, economics, and technology from the sixteenth century on. It revolutionized how we live: what we eat and drink, the sports we play, and how we treat illness. Ice, along with the rise of car culture, led to the invention of convenience stores. Ice even helped elect one the United States’ most popular presidents. But our obsessive pursuit of cold via refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioners is also a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and a driver of global warming. Ironically, the growing role of human-made ice in our lives has caused the crucial loss of ice on earth. Brady’s history of ice focuses a fascinating lens on how our modern world came to be.

Book Review: Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini

Cover of the book Fractal Noise by Christopher Paolini — *Fractal Noise*
by Christopher Paolini
Tor, 2023

This review was first published by Booklist on April 15, 2023.

Fleeing from personal tragedy, xenobiologist Alex Crichton is assigned to a corporate exploration ship scouting a new star system for potentially habitable planets when the team discovers an anomaly: a gigantic, perfectly circular hole in a planet that emits a regular signal encoding the Mandelbrot set. Despite his misgivings, and spurred by the memory of who he lost, Alex volunteers to be on the landing crew sent down to explore the planet’s surface. What follows is a torturous journey of mounting tension, danger, and uncertainty. It’s a pressure cooker that gradually wears away at the characters’ psyches. Things get dark. This is a deep character portrait, enhanced by the mystery and disconcerting nature of the setting. Layered on top is a meditation on grief and faith. It’s a heady mix of ingredients. The central mystery is never solved, and the ending is left unresolved, but it finishes with a welcome note of hope. Fractal Noise is very different in length and tone from its predecessor (To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, 2020), and it shows Paolini’s range as a storyteller.

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Since leaving his YA fantasy series behind, Paolini’s SF star has shone more brightly with every new release.

Book Review: Life Beyond Us ed. by Julie Nováková and others

Cover of the book Life Beyond Us ed. by Julie Nováková and others — *Life Beyond Us*
ed. by Julie Nováková and others
Laksa Media, 2023

This review was first published by Booklist on April 1, 2023.

**STARRED REVIEW** This anthology from the European Astrobiology Institute explores the possibilities of nonhuman life in the cosmos. Each of the 27 short stories is paired with a nonfiction essay examining the concepts explored in the story. These works are written by a diverse group of accomplished authors and scientists from across the world. In them, we meet intelligent aliens on moons and planets, from deserts and forests to worlds in water and ice to interstellar dust and black holes; beings made up of space-time itself, and even nonhuman intelligent life here on Earth. The essays cover a broad range of topics, including what we know about the possible chemistry of nonhuman biology, planetary and stellar formation, semiotics and the anticipated challenges of communication with nonhuman beings, and the ethics of such interactions. It’s incredibly comprehensive. Each story is short enough to be easily digestible, and the essays are similarly focused, but they don’t lack any depth of information. Taken altogether, this is a deep dive into the subject. Pairing fiction stories with nonfiction essays illustrates the deep connections between sf and science, particularly the necessity of imagination and creativity in scientific work. This spectacular collection is a deeply rewarding work.