Neil Gaiman, Trigger Warning. *** Fans of Neil Gaiman will enjoy this collection of short stories and poems. Neil Gaiman, like his wife Amanda Palmer, is a talented writer who is just no good at poetry (he is talented at writing fiction, she at writing music). But the other stuff is delightful. There’s a Shadow Moon story in here that fans of American Gods will enjoy.
Ernest Cline, Ready Player One. **** This and the next two books from this month are set in a dystopian future and each tells a story from a different perspective. This is a story of escapism.
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale. **** A fantastic story of what can go wrong. What happens when the very existence of patriarchy is dependent on women. This is a story of survival.
Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower. **** Building a religion. I think that religion building happens in times of crisis. The texts we now know as the bible came from periods of change and distress. Other religious and philosophical texts do as well. A person or group has lost their foothold in what is comfortable and needs to find or create something that can provide grounding. This is a story about finding freedom in change. I think.