Greetings from, you know, space

Hello! I am Junior Varsity AKA Jason. I like reading a lot and watching a lot, so I will probably be posting primarily about books and about movies and about books made into movies and movies made into books made into video games made into…

You get the idea. Anyway, I thought I’d start things off with this nice little short story I discovered a week ago called “The Frozen Sky” by Jeff Carlson. Thank God for my Kindle and random Amazon shopping for allowing me to stumble across this little gem.

The action is set on Europa, a frozen moon orbiting Jupiter. This is in the future, when humans have achieved the ability for casual space travel. Anyway, the humans are drilling for resources in the ice (aren’t the humans always after something? They always paint us unflatteringly…if that’s a word…*shrug*) Anyway, a science probe thingy spots some weird symbols and suddenly everyone panics because *GASP* there’s an indigenous LIFE FORM! The main heroine comes in and through flashbacks, tells how most of her science team died in an accident, and why she goes on the run from the Europeans (Bahaha, I just giggled a little) They’re not actually called Europeans. That would be silly. They are referred to only as “the amphibians” which is a rather unscientific view, in my opinion. I mean, technically the creatures would have to fit into their own category of typing, but I guess I’m just being picky. They seem kind of like amphibians, and see through echolocation.

This story brought to life a compelling tale of First Contact with clear, concise writing, while at the same time balancing some nice science fiction elements. The main heroine (Connie) wears a mechanical suit which does some amazing things, and the medical science referred to is very intriguing. Carlson does a very good job of conveying what his future technology does without stopping and spelling it out for you. And it doesn’t detract from the action in any way, if anything, Carlson has captured a snapshot here of a very intriguing universe which I would love to hear more about. The writing isn’t overly scientific or highbrow. This is a delicious little sci-fi thriller.

So, if you like sci-fi, and you like action, I definitely recommend this pick.

Again, I’ll be posting mostly on Saturdays about awesome books and movies. Including this Saturday, so stay tuned! If you’re reading this, we’re glad you’re along for the ride.

-JV