#11) Engines of Oblivion by Karen Osborne – Osborne’s second offering in her series, The Memory War, took some time to draw me in, but ultimately succeeded in telling a complicated story about the ongoing saga of first contact that turns to interstellar war, and the women who change the course of history. Engines of Oblivion picks up with Natalie Chan, a supporting character form the first installment of the series, Architects of Memory, who frankly, took a while to emerge back into my brain even after having read the previous novel only a year or so ago. The main characters from Architects do return, and their presence is felt throughout, but this is really Natalie’s story, and her evolving relationship with the Master Node of the mysterious Vai. The challenge with Osborne’s novels is that her plots are so dense, and convoluted, that I often don’t really know what’s going on. Ultimately, the characters are real enough, and the story engaging enough that it almost doesn’t matter that I’m missing the larger story she is trying to tell, but part of me is frustrated by that as well.
#10) Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – This sweet story is, at its heart, a story about family lost and family reunited. 70-year-old Tova lives alone with the 30-year-old grief of her son’s death, ruled as a suicide. Her husband has also recently passed away, and Tova lives her solitary life in the the small tow of Sowell Bay, WA among the company of the KnitWits, friends who she enjoys, but more accurately tolerates. When Cameron, a young lost man comes to town searching for his father in a desperate attempt to get his life on track, the two invariably collide and find they have more in common than they could ever imagine. What makers Remarkably Bright Creatures stand out from its someone pedestrian, albeit well-constructed central story, is the only real joy in Tova’s life — her job cleaning at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, and the unusual relationship she develops with Marcellus, the Giant Pacific Octopus who is a resident there. How Marcellus affects the trajectories of both Tova and Cameron’s lives adds a unique twist to Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel.