Jean Karl (1927–2000)

Exciting and thought-provoking, at least to a young teen in the time this was written. Much smarter than Heinlein or even Asimov juveniles. The newer golden cover is much more appropriate than the purple that I read, but even a bad cover didn't spoil this creative speculative SF. The stories are linked, and since the earlier stories take place in the near future, they're more accessible, more immediately interesting. The far future does get a little weird, and so the later stories are more show more about how it gets weird, and a little less about the individual characters... but the characters are, nonetheless, all more developed than cardboard icons.

I would have been the right age for it when it was new. And I would have given it five stars then. I'm tempted to keep it now for a reread later. I will try to find more by the author. show less

My favorite part is the conceit that it’s “Stories of a Future Past.” These stories are meant to be historical fiction, written from the point of view of a far-future galactic utopia. There are “Notes on Sources” at the end, little write-ups of what is known about each time period, given the surviving records or lack thereof. Nothing says “hope” like the idea that happy, fulfilled humans are telling the story of an apocalypse from far in the future. “It’s going to be rough show more for a while, guys, but it all gets better. We promise.” (Full review at http://www.parenthetical.net/2010/04/25/the-turning-place-by-jean-e-karl-1976/) show less

Unlike most of the other reviewers, I did not know this book when I was young. I'm a older adult now, with thousands of SF books read, and I still enjoyed this very much. It is written to appeal to youth/ tweens, but it has some surprisingly interesting What Ifs and if I were young (less jaded) I absolutely would have gotten a full-on Sense of Wonder from it.

If you do read it, be patient. At first things seem off... but it includes a mystery and revelation, and by the end it all works show more together.

Thanks to another reviewer, I have learned about and will have to try hunt down the companion books by the author.

There's not a whole lot of good SF for children. Tons of fantasy, and some notable dystopias, and some Heinlein that is fairly unreadable nowadays, and Monica Hughes, and this Listopia that I just now discovered: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/105715.Children_s_Science_Fiction_of_the_198...

Please comment below (and add to the Listopia if the book is from the 1980s) any titles you remember! show less

If you need more 80s post-apocalyptic YA in your life (and who doesn’t?), give this a go. I can’t imagine a much more complete devastation than the Clordian Sweep, but the charmingly resilient heroines will make you feel hopeful, even though the only animals left in the world are the bees, rabbits, and chickens whose eggs were frozen in the bunker. And probably some cockroaches. (Full review at http://www.parenthetical.net/2009/01/06/strange-tomorrow-by-jean-karl/)