‘The Memory Index’ is Julian R. Vaca’s new young adult novel. Photo: Amazon
Julian R. Vaca has been a creative writer for over a decade. He is a staff writer on PBS’s Reconnecting Roots, a nationally broadcast show that drew in millions of viewers over its first two seasons. He is also the co-writer of Pencil Test, a feature-length documentary with Disney animation legend Tom Bancroft as executive producer. In his new speculative Young Adult science fiction novel “The Memory Index,” the world treats memories like currency, so dreams can be a complicated business. Perfect for fans of Neal Stephenson and Philip K. Dick. (Amazon, 2022)
“The Memory Index” – In an alternative 1987, a disease ravages human memories. There is no cure, only artificial recall. The lucky ones—the recollectors—need the treatment only once a day. Freya Izquierdo is not one of those. The high school senior is a “degen” who needs artificial recall several times a day. Plagued by blinding half-memories that take her to her knees, she is desperate to remember everything that will help her investigate her father’s violent death. When her sleuthing almost lands her in jail, a shadowy school dean selects her to attend his Foxtail Academy, where five hundred students will trial a new tech said to make artificial recall obsolete. She is the only degen on campus. Why was she chosen? Freya is nothing like the other students, not even her new friends Ollie, Chase, and the alluring Fletcher Cohen. Definitely not at all like the students who start to vanish, one by one. And nothing like the mysterious Dean Mendelsohn, who has a bunker deep in the woods behind the school. Nothing can prepare Freya and her friends for the truth of what that bunker holds and what kind of memories she will have to access to in order to survive
‘The Lost Apothecary’ by Sarah Penner is a new historical fiction novel and is set for release on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Photo: amazon
Looking for a new book to read this month? The following is a list of noteworthy March releases according to Goodreads. (amazon, 2021)
Mystery & Thriller: ‘Every Last Fear’ by Alex Finlay. Release date: March 2, 2021 In one of the year’s most anticipated debut psychological thrillers, a family made infamous by a true crime documentary is found dead, leaving their surviving son to uncover the truth about their final days. After a late night of partying, NYU student Matt Pine returns to his dorm room to devastating news: nearly his entire family―his mom, his dad, his little brother and sister―have been found dead from an apparent gas leak while vacationing in Mexico. The local police claim it was an accident, but the FBI and State Department seem far less certain―and they will not tell Matt why. When Matt returns to his small hometown to bury his parents and siblings, he is faced with a hostile community, a frenzied media, and memories he had hoped to leave behind forever. Told through multiple points-of-view and alternating between past and present, Alex Finlay’s ‘Every Last Fear’ is not only a page-turning thriller, but also a poignant story about a family managing heartbreak and tragedy and living through a fame they never wanted.
Science Fiction: ‘Machinehood’ by S.B.Divya. Release date: March 2, 2021 From the Hugo Award nominee S.B. Divya, Zero Dark Thirty meets The Social Network in this science fiction thriller about artificial intelligence, sentience, and labor rights in a near future dominated by the gig economy. Welga Ramirez, executive bodyguard and ex-special forces, is about to retire early when her client is killed in front of her. The year is 2095 and people do not usually die from violence. Humanity is entirely dependent on pills that not only help them stay alive but allow them to compete with artificial intelligence in an increasingly competitive gig economy. Daily doses protect against designer diseases, flow enhances focus, zips and buffs enhance physical strength and speed, and juvers speed the healing process. All that changes when Welga’s client is killed by The Machinehood, a new and mysterious terrorist group that has simultaneously attacked several major pill funders. The Machinehood operatives seem to be part human, part machine, something the world has never seen. They issue an ultimatum: stop all pill production in one week. Global panic ensues as pill production slows and many become ill. Thousands destroy their bots in fear of a strong AI takeover. Who are the Machinehood and what do they really want?
Fantasy: ‘The Bone Maker’ by Sarah Beth Durst. Release date: March 9, 2021 From award-winning author Sarah Beth Durst, a standalone epic fantasy set in a brand-new world of towering mountains and sparkling cities, in which a band of aging warriors have a second chance to defeat dark magic and avenge a haunting loss. Twenty-five years ago, five heroes risked their lives to defeat the bone maker Eklor—a corrupt magician who created an inhuman army using animal bones. But victory came at a tragic price. Only four of the heroes survived. Since then, Kreya, the group’s leader, has exiled herself to a remote tower and devoted herself to one purpose: resurrecting her dead husband. But such a task requires both a cache of human bones and a sacrifice—for each day he lives, she will live one less. She would rather live one year with her husband than a hundred without him but using human bones for magic is illegal in Vos. The dead are burned—as are any bone workers who violate the law. Yet Kreya knows where she can find the bones she needs: the battlefield where her husband and countless others lost their lives. But defying the laws of the land exposes a terrible possibility. Maybe the dead do not rest in peace after all.
Historical Fiction: ‘The Lost Apothecary’ by Sarah Penner. Release date: March 2, 2021 Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries. Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive. With crackling suspense, unforgettable characters and searing insight, ‘The Lost Apothecary’ is a subversive and intoxicating debut novel of secrets, vengeance and the remarkable ways women can save each other despite the barrier of time.
Snowpiercer the series premieres Sunday May 17 on TNT. Photo: google
Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette are French comic book creators who created the post-apocalyptic French graphic novel Le Transperceneige. It was first published in 1982 under the title Le Transperceneige and later retitled The Escape. An English translation was released in 2014 by Titan Comics, consisting of two volumes: Snowpiercer: The Escape and Snowpiercer: The Explorers. A third volume, Terminus, was released in 2016, followed by a prequel series in 2019. In the graphic novel, an attempt to stop global warming via climate engineering catastrophically backfires and creates a new ice age, the remaining humans now ride the Snowpiercer, a circumnavigational train. It was adapted into the 2013 South Korean-Czech science fiction movie Snowpiercer starring Chris Evans and Octavia Spencer, John Hurt and Ed Harris. Now it is an upcoming television drama series that will premiere on TNT on Sunday May 17 and stars Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connally.
In Snowpiercer, humanity rides in a 1,001 car train called Snowpiercer starting in 2014. By 2031 they have become segregated by class with the elite in the extravagant front cars while the poor are forced into squalid tail compartments by armed guards. In the movie, Curtis Everett is a member of the lower class tail section who leads a revolution against the elite of the front of the train. The series is a reboot of the film’s continuity. It questions class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival and has already been renewed for a second season.
Tales From the Loop is available on Amazon Prime. Photo: google
Simon Stålenhag is a Swedish artist, musician and designer specializing in retro-futuristic digital images focused on nostalgic Swedish countryside alternate history environments. Most of Stålenhag’s artwork was initially only available online but was later released for sale as prints. Since then, it has been turned into two narrative art books, “Tales From the Loop” in 2014 and “Things From the Flood” in 2016. Both focus on the construction of a supermassive particle accelerator called the Loop. The settings of his artwork have formed the basis for the Amazon television drama series Tales From the Loop. All eight episodes of the first season were released simultaneously April 3 on Amazon Prime Video.
Tales From the Loop science fiction drama television series based on Simon Stålenhag’s art book. It explores the mind bending adventures of the people who live above the Loop, a machine built to unlock and explore the mysteries of the universe. The machine is now making possible what was once considered science fiction. It stars Rebecca Hall as Loretta, Tyler Barnhardt as Danny Jansson and Daniel Zohlgadri as Jakob.
I have not read the book, but after watching the first two episodes, it is understandable why Amazon calls it “perfect for fans of E.T. and Stranger Things.” The series is set in the 80s and has that nostalgic look and feel that has recently become popular. With science fiction themes like time traveling, body swapping and robots, it appeals to fans of The Twilight Zone who appreciate mind-bending stories.
According to Amazon, “Tales From the Loop” is the first narrative artbook from acclaimed author and artist Simon Stålenhag about a fictionalized suburban town in the 1980s inhabited by fantastic machines and strange, imaginative beasts. In 1954, the Swedish government ordered the construction of the world’s largest particle accelerator. The facility was complete in 1969, located deep below the pastoral countryside of Mälaröarna. The local population called this marvel of technology The Loop. These are its strange tales. From the same author who wrote the imaginative artbook The Electric State, this “haunting,” (The Verge) “sophisticated sci-fi” (The Nerdist) follows the bizarre stories from otherworldly creatures and is a page-turner readers will not be able to put down.
SA Examiner 