The Rains

Creek's Cause is a boring small town with farms, a close knit community, and not a lot to do. Most kids are resigned to a life as a farmer or dream to leave for bigger and better things. Chance and his big brother Patrick spend their days at school, helping out on the farm, or raising dogs. One day, a meteor crashes into a field of corn. The corn suddenly grows rapidly, much higher than usual, then suddenly dies. A local farmer feels ill afterwards, but thinks nothing of it until his abdomen is grotesquely distended. After he releases all the spores that formed inside him from the highest part of town, all of the adults are now mindless creatures set on capturing the unaffected children. Chance and Patrick feel it's up to them to try to get help before it spreads beyond controlling.

The Rains is part zombie apocalypse part alien invasion. The two work together rather well and I found the overall concepts just a bit different from the usual. The zombies here are all lumped into three categories: spore producers, mappers, and chasers. All of the zombies have holes through their eyes, clear out the back of their heads covered with a membrane of both sides. This made for some very creepy descriptions of lighting through the holes and the uncanniness of seeing every day people with this chilling detail. The spore producers go to the highest point of the city with their huge distended bellies and release their spores until they are truly dead. Mappers are always male. They keep their heads tilted to the ground and record every bit of terrain, then transmit it to whoever powers them. Chasers are always female. They chase down children, restrain them with whatever's available, and carries them off. All of them are unaffected by pain, even serious injuries, and have no sense of their former selves. They act as drones with no mind of their own. Hurwitz made zombies just a bit different, but no less chilling. Zombies now work together for one goal and it's frightening.

Although I enjoy the merging of two genres to make something cool and new, I didn't completely love the story. Many times, it felt like a teenage boy's fantasy fulfilled with way too many coincidences. Chance is a likeable enough character, but things seem to go his way too easily. I don't like deus ex machina solutions at the best of times, but a pack of dogs shows up to help him at the exact right moment, only to abandon him later. Also, a key character turns 18, which is the moment the spores turn people into drones (which I have a problem with), but Chance figures out a way to momentarily save him which didn't make sense at all. It's later revealed that this characters somehow conveniently has an immunity to the spores with no other explanation. It's complete bullshit and Hurwitz doesn't even bother to explain. There's also a creepy kind of flirtation/romance between Chance and his brother's girlfriend which felt pretty creepy. It felt like she was only created to have romantic attachments without really having a character of her own.

The Rains is a unique premise, but the convenient developments cheapened the story along with the unnatural wish fulfillment aspects. The writing was fine and I was interested in the story, but it got to be a chore after some unbelievable revelations. I most likely won't be reading the next one, but it's a good effort. I respected that he didn't dumb down or sanitize any of the danger the young people were in.

My rating: 3/5 fishmuffins

10 Cloverfield Lane

Michelle flees her home in New Orleans after a fight with her boyfriend. Late at night in a rural area, the radio reports about blackouts in major cities. Distracted by that and a call from her boyfriend, she doesn't see the truck that hurtles into her car, leaving her unconscious. She wakes up in an underground bunker in what looks like a jail cell. The man who claims to have saved her is Howard. He also claims that the world is uninhabitable and they can never leave the bunker. She's resistant at first, but then meets another survivor named Emmett. An escape attempt leaves her believing Howard after what she saw through the window, but is Howard really as benevolent as he says?

I didn't enjoy the original Cloverfield because it focused on the most privileged and boring characters who I couldn't bring myself to care about. This film is completely different and solves that problem nicely. The bunker setting is incredibly claustrophobic and the bulk of the film is completely dependent on the performances of the two main characters: Michelle and Howard. Michelle's first urge is to run when something goes wrong whether it's a fight with her boyfriend or an apparent apocalypse. Of course she distrusts Howard as he locked her up in a cell and won't let her near any entrances. She proves to be incredibly resourceful and uses her skills as a designer and a seamstress in ways I didn't expect. Never completely trusting Howard, she tries to utilize safeguards and always looks for ways of escape. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is one of the best final girls in the last few years because she balanced using her skills and being capable with feeling fear and grief.

Howard, on the other hand, is very capable, eerily prepared for such an event, and unstable. He isn't afraid to do what he thinks is for the greater good even if it's incredibly monstrous. He simply won't see it that way. Conflict and tension revolve around him. The first part of the film's suspense is due to if he's telling the truth about the outside world being uninhabitable. When it's revealed he is, that settles down, but his emotional outbursts triggered by just about anything keep that tension going. John Goodman is frightening in this role. He could be fairly even keeled one moment and then lash out the next. The second part of the film is focused on getting to know him more and discovering if the others are in danger by being in such close quarters to him. His action near the end of the film needs to be seen to be believed.

10 Cloverfield Lane is a suspenseful film that has excellent performances and masterfully built suspense. It's clear the Cloverfield stamp was added later since this film has virtually nothing in common with the original movie. This film is unique in that it takes place during an apocalypse situation and then extends past it. What are survivors to do? How will they live in this much different world? Without going into any detail, I loved the ending. It was completely unexpected and well done. The effects looked amazing. I would love to see a sequel.

My rating: 8/10 fishmuffins

The Taking

Kyra Agnew is on top of the world. Her future is bright. She has a wonderful boyfriend, a loyal best friend, and a loving family. She excels at softball and will surely get a sports scholarship to college. On the way home from a game, she argues with her father and gets out of the car to walk home in a huff. The last thing she remembers is a flash of light before waking up laying in the parking lot of a gas station. Five years have passed and Kyra has no memory of where she was. Her whole life has changed. Her parents split up. Her mother remarried and had a child. Her father is a drunken mess obsessed with alien abductions. Her boyfriend moved on to be with her best friend. Alone and adrift in a world she no longer recognizes, Kyra's only comfort is Tyler, her ex-boyfriend's little brother, who supports her every step of the way. Together, they try to figure out what really happened to her.

The Taking has a concept that is quite popular this year. I haven't seen any of these shows, so the concept is fresh and interesting to me. I felt a lot of sympathy of Kyra because her world was turned upside down. Sure, her initial appearance where she acted kind of bratty and annoying wasn't a great impression, but that's how teenagers act. They're impulsive and don't look at the long term. When she returns, she copes with the situation as best as she can. The relationship with Tyler started really fast and was really based on nothing. It's another case of instalove, but it was at least sweet. Tyler is a little too perfect though. Characters have to have some flaws and he's like a teenage girl's ultimate fantasy. The romance also took precedence over the more important issue of where she was for five whole years. It takes a while for anything real to happen because of the focus on romance.

The concept that Kyra hadn't aged in 5 years was intriguing. Her new abilities were interesting, but it seemed very Mary Sue-ish that she had the most special powers of all the returned. I wish more information could have been found out about the process and the aliens, who weren't in the story at all. Why would aliens want to do this to us? What's the purpose of the experimentation? The ending was too convenient and really took me out of the story. I'm not interested in continuing the series.

My rating: 3/5 fishmuffins

Ender's Game

Ender Wiggin lives in a future vision of Earth with population bug-like aliens that are trying to wipe out the human race and population restrictions. Two children is the usual limit, but Ender's parents were allowed one more by the government because his sister and brother showed military promise, but had flaws that proved them to be ineligible for service. Ender was teased and bullied at school because of his status as a third child. He severely injured the main bully and was recruited into military training. Ender is only 6 years old. At Battle School, he is isolated and forced to push himself to his limits. He makes some friends and earns a lot of respect, but because he accelerates through the program, some of the other recruits resent him. It eventually gets to a point where those resentful students reach a breaking point and pose a danger to Ender. Can Ender rely on the teachers of the school to protect him or is this just another test? If he survives, can he go on to save the world from these aliens and at what cost to Ender?

Ender's Game is a classic science fiction novel that introduced an interesting, nuanced dystopia with unique characters. Most of the main characters in the novel are children. This makes the dystopia all the more compelling and chilling that children's lives are experimented with and sometimes discarded for a greater good. Ender is in a horrible situation from the start. He is purposefully targeted, isolated, and made to defend himself at six years old. As the novel progressed and Ender grew up, I would imagine him as an eighteen year old because of his mature thought processes and the way he progressed in the Battle School, even though he wasn't even a teenager yet. Each chapter starts with military officials discussing and sometimes arguing about his situation. They assess his progress and seem to have affection and compassion for him, but they continue to push him to be the greatest that they can make him, even at the expense of his sense of humor or his ability to make friends and be happy. Ender is a great character and I really felt for him throughout the book, especially in the shocking last chapter. Ender's siblings are almost as compelling as he is, but in different ways. Peter is older and a sociopathic meglomaniac, while his sister is sweet, but still very intelligent and manipulative. All three of these exceptional children effect the world in profound ways, whether it be good or bad.

The alien species that fight against the humans are another interesting aspect of the novel. Nothing much is known about them until the last half of the novel. These aliens were eventually seen as sympathetic. Heinlein used a similar race of aliens, but used their insect-like look and way of life as a way to distance them from the reader and make it practically impossible for us to relate to them. In Ender's Game, the conflict between human and alien came to be mostly because of an inability to communicate rather than an irrational hatred. It was nice to see a look at the other's way of life instead of just assuming they are evil.

I absolutely love this novel. The language is fairly simplistic, so people of all ages, whether they typically enjoy science fiction or not, can enjoy it. It has something for everyone: fight scenes, political intrigue, aliens, plus it still packs an emotional punch. I consider this required reading for anyone who remotely considers themselves a fan of science fiction.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins

The Host

Creatures called “souls” have infiltrated and taken over the Earth. People go through their daily routines as normal, but they are completely different from who they were before the invasion. The world is now a utopia. No one is hungry or sick. People only die of old age and war has been eliminated. This new world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Souls are very small silver beings that attach to a host’s brain and take over the body, leaving the human imprisoned in his or her own mind. Wanderer is a special “soul.” She’s been on almost every planet her people have colonized and hasn’t found a world she really cares about. She’s implanted into Melanie, a girl who tried to kill herself to escape. Melanie isn’t silent like she’s supposed to be and fights with Wanderer, who still has control over her body. After a few months of an unsatisfying life, Wanderer decides to go to a Healer to fix her problem with Melanie. She ends up following directions to find Melanie’s boyfriend and brother because she has developed a love for them through Melanie’s memories. Will she find them or will she just die in the wilderness? Will she lead other “souls” right to them and end up ruining their lives?

This is Stephenie Meyer’s first foray into the science fiction and adult fiction genres, published in between the third and fourth books in the Twilight series. I am really impressed and I really enjoyed the novel. I like Twilight, but I look back on it and see that it needs editing to make the plot seem more integrated as opposed to an afterthought. The writing in The Host is much better and shows that Meyer has grown and evolved as a writer. The narrative is very character driven and the writing really sucks the reader in. I was completely into the story on page one. It starts from the point of view of the souls. Through their eyes, humans seem incredibly destructive and violent, making their reasoning for taking us over seem logical. This aspect of the novel was one of the most chilling. The whole idea of being inside of your body and seeing someone else walk around and communicate through it is also disturbing. It’s a cruel form of torture. Another thing that was disturbing was the amount of violence. I am not squeamish at all, but the violence inflicted upon Wanderer by humans really bothered. It was very close to domestic violence and made me cringe to read it.

I like the romantic story that occurs in this dystopic world. It involves four people in only three bodies. One person loves Wanderer and the other loves Melanie. The confusing feelings and the growing and evolving relationship between Wanderer and Melanie is compelling and interesting to read. They start out completely hating each other, but evolve into close friends. The characters are flawed, but detailed and realistic. They are what really make the story interesting and engaging. The plot doesn’t move very quickly, but I’m so taken with the characters that it doesn’t faze me at all.

Meyer describes her novel as for people who don’t like science fiction, but I completely disagree. I also feel it is disingenuous to the science fiction community. I think fans of science fiction would enjoy The Host too. I think everyone could find something they like in the novel, whether it’s action, adventure, romance, or science fiction.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins