Summer Sci Fi and Fantasy Reading List; Movie Mini Review

Credit: Pixabay.com

I apologise for missing last week. I was really behind on things due to some insomnia I was having and so didn't get to post anything until now. Tuesday will be the Summer Solstice and so the first official day of summer! So, in case you’re up in the air on what to read during those upcoming scorching days when you don’t want to go out, I have my summer sci fi and fantasy reading list for you. I also have a movie mini review of “Jurassic World: Dominion” which I saw last weekend! (Fortunately, with that insomnia from that previous night, I didn’t fall asleep on it.) So, read on! 

Summer Sci Fi and Fantasy Reading List

The Club Dumas, by Arturo Perez-Reverte: An international bestseller from Spain, this novel is about book collector Lucas Corso who examines a fragment of the original manuscript of Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers". This leads him to a scheme involving devil worship, the occult, several people who suspiciously resemble characters from Dumas’s novel, and the path of a killer.   

The Black Phone, by Joe Hill: Originally published as "20th Century Ghosts", this short story collection of horror and the weird includes the title story in which its movie adaptation is due for release at the end of the month. I've read these stories before and would like to read them again just for the title story. The title story is about a teenage boy who is abducted and locked in a cellar. While imprisoned there, he receives phone calls from the ghosts of victims who the kidnapper had killed. Another good story in this collection, among others, is "20th Century Ghost" which is about a movie theatre that's haunted both by a spirit and nostalgia. Watch out for a Book-To-Movie review of "The Black Phone" short story in the near future.  

The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu: A Hugo Award winner by one of China's most popular science fiction authors. Set in China's Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and '70s, the military tries to contact aliens by sending signals into space. Aliens receive the signals but are not very friendly to the call. Yes, they plan to invade the earth! In response, the people of Earth form groups that will either help the extraterrestrial visitors take control of a world seen as evil or battle them off.  

Revenger, Alastair Reynolds: In this novel of treasure hunting and space pirates, Adrana and Fura Ness put their powers of Bone Reading to use as new crewmembers of a ship. This is one I want to read particularly because I like both space opera and pirates (sea or space).  

Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Jack Finney: Originally published as "The Body Snatchers" in the mid-20th century, this story is about a quiet town whose citizens' bodies and minds are taken over by alien life forms. This novel has been adapted to film at least three times, so look out for a Book-To-Movie review of this one as well.  

Rosewater, Tade Thompson: First book of the Wormwood Trilogy, this Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning novel, set in Nigeria, features government agent Kaaro who investigates an alien biodome that seems to be connected to some mysterious killings.  

Contact, Carl Sagan: An international bestseller about a team of scientists who attempt to track down an alien signal believed to come from beyond Earth's solar system. This is one that I've wanted to read for a while because I've seen the 1997 movie starring Jodie Foster which was made really good. Be on the lookout for a Book-To-Movie review of this one too. 

The Graveyard Apartment, Mariko Koike: A psychological horror novel, originally published in Japan, about a family who move into an apartment building that’s next door to a cemetery. As strange and dreadful events occur, the other tenants move out and the family find themselves alone in the building with a menacing presence hiding in the cellar. I'd like to read this one soon because the horror that I've read has mostly been that from the western hemisphere and so I'd like to experience more of the genre from other cultures’ perspectives. 

So, those are the books on my summer sci fi and fantasy reading list. I hope to read all of them, or at least begin them, before the summer is out. However, I probably won't get around to all of these books. But I can't say I don't know what to read and hopefully you can’t either!

Credit: Pixabay

Movie Mini Review: 'Jurassic World: Dominion'

"Jurassic World: Dominion", the final installment of the Jurassic World trilogy, is dependent on the action more than are the previous three films. The scientific premise from Michael Crichton's novel that the first “Jurassic Park” movie was based on holds up this movie as it does all the other ones: the bioengineering of prehistoric creatures. However, the scientific details are more subordinated.  But if you like fun, entertainment science fiction films as opposed to hard core ones (personally, I can go either way) this one won't disappoint. 

The story is basically the same as in the other movies, only in this one it seems to be more a mad science experiment on the producers’ parts to see if humans can live harmoniously with dinosaurs. This “experiment” is manifested in the events that begin with Owen Grady (played by Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) of the previous two films who go to Europe to take back their ward, Maisie, a teenage clone who has been abducted by the corporate lab, Biosyn. Eventually they meet up with Drs. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) of the original “Jurassic Park” film who are on a mission to steal a sample of giant locusts, bred by the head of Biosyn, in order to resolve a swarm attack crisis. In the process of these people's missions, the dinosaurs held captive at the lab get loose and begin attacking everyone. 

The movie is definitely full of terror and suspense, as well as special effects sufficient enough to make the audience feel as if they’re personally experiencing the events. At least if it’s seen on the big screen, that is, which is the best way to see any giant monster flick. Some of the best cinematography were the close shots of the monsters' jaws as they approached their human prey. And, perhaps best of all, practical dinosaur effects were used rather than just CGI ones. So, if you want a fun summer sci fi movie to watch, I definitely recommend "Jurassic World: Dominion".

Next weekend is the fourth weekend of the month when we normally have our Book-To-Movie review. However, and I apologise for this, there won’t be one this month. I don’t have any stories that are adapted to film that I’ve read for this month because I’ve been busy revising stories for my upcoming book, “Bad Apps”, and I’m still trying to put together the next “Night Creatures’ Call” newsletter (in which, if you haven’t done so yet, you can subscribe to for free here). I’ll read one of the works mentioned in the summer sci fi and fantasy reading list above so I can have a Book-To-Movie for you next month.  However, I do plan to have for next post a review of a movie that is at least connected to concepts of a famous horror author. So be here then!

Do you have a summer sci fi and/or fantasy reading list you’d like to share? If so, feel free to put it in the box below! Have you seen, or do you plan on seeing “Jurassic World: Dominion”? 

Until next time . . .