Rocket Fuel (McGovern, Lough)

Rocket Fuel: Some of the Best of Tor.com Non-Fiction , Bridget McGovern and Chris Lough, ed. (2018)

Even though I'm on the mailing list for Tor.com, probably since the first time I downloaded a copy of 1632 or something else, I rarely check out their website unless I see links to specific articles posted elsewhere on social media. One such link brought me to this ebook.

I didn't know what to expect from the title. Well, that's not exactly true. I know what I expected: non-fiction with a name like "rocket fuel" meant that this should've been a lot of stuff about space and planets and stuff like that. That's not what it was. That's not to say what I got was bad, just unexpected.

Even though this is a work of non-fiction, many of the essays deal with fiction, from the perspective of fandom, or just deep analysis of some facet of the work. I enjoyed some more than others, and some I might've enjoyed more had they been about half the size. Seriously, most of the stuff I read on the site is short by comparison to the pieces included in this book. Again, not a problem, but when I realized just how much was being written about Galadriel, I took a break, moved on, planning to get back to it.

Additionally, two back to back essays about Robert Jordan were interesting, but I haven't read anything of his. No, haven't started Wheel of Time, and I've had friends who have warned me away from it -- even as they are drawn into it.

The most interesting piece, at least for quirkiness, has to do with the anatomy and diet of centaurs, taking a scientific look at a fantasy staple, and pondering just how it gets enough nutrition to survive. Digestion problems abound.

A couple of essays started off too well about things I hadn't read, causing me to stop, lest the books or stories be spoiled. Not that I know if I'll read those any time soon.

On the social justice warrior front, there are important notes from affected folks, but overall, stuff I'd heard or read before and I found myself moving on before getting halfway through many of the entries after the first couple.

I guess I was skipping ahead looking for ice volcanoes of Neptune or realistic flying cars for Mars. Or just notes on rocket fuel.

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