Reviews by Category: Science Fiction

Tom Holland plays Peter Parker in John Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming. After fighting with the Avengers and acquiring a new high-tech suit from Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Peter must return back to normal life. Living with his aunt May (Marisa Tomei), Peter must keep his identity a secret while trying to prove himself to be more than a friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man by facing his most threatening villain yet, the Vulture (Michael Keaton).

Tobey Maguire plays Peter Parker (Spider-Man) in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, made in 2004. In the second installment of this franchise, Peter is torn on whether he should continue the mantle of Spider-Man, or put down the mask and pursue his love for Mary Jane (Kristen Dunst).His conflicts with his idol-turned villain, Dr. Otto Octavios (Alfred Molina), leaves him lost and makes him realize the struggle of living a double life.

Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker (Spider-Man) in Mark Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man, made in 2012. In this reboot, after getting bitten by a genetically modied spider, Peter Parker builds a relationship with his father’s former colleague, Dr. Curt Conners (Rhys Ifans), and helps him with a project. This would have dire consequences as Peter learns what it means to truly be Spider-Man.

This book is about a girl who loses her memory and becomes engaged to her father's enemy. However, she does not remember loving him. Doctors tell Aria that she has lost her memory. Therefore, Aria goes looking for answers, and meets a boy named Hunter. Can she find the answers as to why she lost her memory?

Matt Damon plays Mark Watney in Ridley Scott’s science fiction film, The Martian, made in 2015. Mark is abandoned on Mars after a big storm comes through the crew’s camp. His fellow astronauts including Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) and Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan), escape Mars safely, but leave him behind after coming to the conclusion that he had died due to debris. Mark makes contact with the crew and with NASA back on Earth and communicates with them to try and get him off the barren planet.

The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout is a fast-paced sci-fi novel with a lot of mystery. One night, Evie Dasher is trapped at a Luxen club during a government raid. There, she meets Luc, the arrogant teenage club owner. As Evie gets caught up in Luc’s world, her whole world turns upside down. This book was fantastic! I really liked Evie as a character; she felt relatable. The mystery of Evie’s past and its relation to the present was the best part of the story, but the tension between Luc and Evie was very entertaining.

Spoiler Alert! Read the book Illuminae prior to reading the review.

Ender’s Game follows a brilliant 6-year-old kid named Andrew “Ender” Wiggin. Set in the future, humans are fighting a war with an alien race called “buggers”. The humans win the war, but are fearful of another attack, and so they train gifted children in a satellite called the “Battle School” to become future commanders against the buggers. Ender is born as a third child in a world where only two children are allowed due to the giftedness of his siblings, Peter a sociopath and Valentine, a caring sister.

Rebecca Hanover’s sci-fi thriller, The Similars, is the first book in a duology of the same name. In this novel, six clones, the Similars, were made of six socially elite students. The Similars arrive at the exclusive Darkwood Academy, and Emma, a student at Darkwood, doesn’t know who to trust as her friends keep disappearing. To save everyone at Darkwood, especially the Similars, Emma and her friends must push back against the hidden motives that plague the school. This book was fantastic!

Steelheart takes a realistic look into a world of superpowers. Unlike most traditional stories of superheroes who are role-models that use their powers for good, these superheroes are corrupt, evil dictators who have transformed Earth into an authoritarian wasteland. Called Epics, they were created by a comet which flew over the Earth a few years prior to the story.