Reading Archive: 2018
December
4 Stars to Trapped Outside (Metal Boxes #2) by Alan Black
Description
The sequel to #1 best selling science fiction novel Metal Boxes. Blackmon Perry Stone hasn't gotten over his fear of being outside and he still hasn't settled into life in the Empire's Navy. After months of legal wrangling over his last assignment, he has been given a new assignment. He was looking forward to getting an new posting on a spaceship or a station. The problem is that his new job is on a planet. Worse, once there, the base is overrun by the enemy aliens and now Stone is trapped outside on a hostile planet, injured, and hunted by aliens bent of killing him.
Review
Another one of my strange desires to re-read, so I started the first Metal Boxes, only to find there were a load more. I can't argue that it's top-drawer military science fiction; there are a few typos, a few oddities. But it's damned fun. Happy Holidays without a doubt.
5 Stars to Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Description
It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune--and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them. For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig. And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle. Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt--among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape. A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?
Review
"It suddenly occurred to me just how absurd this scene was: a guy wearing a suit of armor, standing next to an undead king, both hunched over the controls of a classic arcade game." This is a truly spectacular work: for a debut novel the writing is first rate and the entire premise astounding. The year 2044 sees Humanity escaping the reality of increased energy depletion and environmental damage in a virtual world. One of the creators of this virtual world eventually dies and, rather than being conventional about his will, leaves everything hidden in his creation, secreted and hidden away behind clues, quests and games. Of course, everyone wants to win, and so begins a mass study of this guy's likes, tastes and era of upbringing. "At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed." The story follows one such Gunter (an "egg hunter"), and chronicles his progress through searching for the coveted goal. The real world crumbling around him, our hero escapes, like everyone else, into the very real but totally artificial world of the OASIS. "When I reached the bar, I ordered a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster from the female Klingon bartender and downed half of it." Because the world is virtual, everything you can think of is included: it's a crossover of every book, movie, music, meme and trope you can think of, and because of this the book was sold to me as an uber geeks paradise. Of course, there's a lot in there that appeals to my inner geek, but seeing beyond that, it's also a superb story, a compelling world with a stellar protagonist and it even packs a bit of a moral punch, too. "They pooled their resources and purchased two very expensive, very powerful antimatter bombs on eBay." It's a classic Good versus evil, corporate-slamming romp, with warnings of monopoly and corporate greed intertwined with heartening messages of tolerance and respect for choice and acceptance. Above all that, there's the story, and it's an epic: a fantastic quest, with our hero from as low a background as you can think of, masterfully trying to rise above the odds (and doing it in an impressive geeky way, of course). I struggled to put the book down, and would truly recommend it for any science fiction, fantasy, or fan of the eighties.
November
4 Stars to Lucky Break by Rob Stevens
Description
Leon’s twin, Lenny, had the best imagination in the world. He could do a back flip from a standing start and tell rude jokes nonstop for hours. But a year ago Lenny died, and Leon's family hasn't been the same since. When a new boy, Arnold, starts at Leon's school, he has no idea what to Arnold doesn’t understand jokes, sarcasm is lost on him and he can be completely blunt. Leon has never met anyone like Arnold before, and an unlikely friendship blossoms. Before long things start to get seriously bonkers, and the two boys are breaking windows, accidentally holding up a bank and getting arrested after a disagreement with a baguette. But amidst all this madness, can Awkward Arnold actually help Leon to sort his life out?
Review
This was actually very heartwarming, and I found myself turning the pages with great enjoyment. Worth a read if you like this sort of thing!
5 Stars to Skyward (Skyward, #1) by Brandon Sanderson
Description
Defeated, crushed, and driven almost to extinction, the remnants of the human race are trapped on a planet that is constantly attacked by mysterious alien starfighters. Spensa, a teenage girl living among them, longs to be a pilot. When she discovers the wreckage of an ancient ship, she realizes this dream might be possible—assuming she can repair the ship, navigate flight school, and (perhaps most importantly) persuade the strange machine to help her. Because this ship, uniquely, appears to have a soul.
Review
Wow, this was really good. I felt a bit like I was reading an Ernist Cline at points. Although it's a difficult one to put yourself into, I still found myself cheering along and very much enjoying it. Finished late into the night and very much looking forward to more.
3 Stars to Her Last Move by John Marrs
Description
He hides in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment. Each kill is calculated, planned and executed like clockwork. Struggling to balance her personal and professional life, young DS Becca Vincent has landed the biggest case of her career — and she knows that it will make or break her. But how can she identify one face in a sea of thousands? With the help of Police Super Recogniser Joe Russell, she strives to catch a glimpse of the elusive murderer, but he’s watching her every move. Time is not on their side. The body count is rising, and the attacks are striking closer and closer to home. Can Becca and Joe uncover the connection between the murders before the killer strikes the last name from his list?
Review
Marginally captivating, although I'm afraid I wasn't held spellbound. The only real interesting and different thing here was the facial recognition side of things, and even that was repeated shallowly rather than explored or used in much of a meaningful way.
2 Stars to Little Computer People by Galen Surlak-Ramsey
Description
This is an alternate cover edition for B01MS9E18K Gabe Erikson has created the world’s first sentient program. Calling her Pi, he loves her like a daughter. He delights in her intelligence and curiosity, and he sees her as the most beautiful thing since 256-color graphics. Pi, however, only relates to the binary world. Through bad luck and bad logic, she concludes Gabe is a hostile program and decides to erase him. Pi begins hacking the Web, trying to find his location. By the time Gabe realizes what she’s doing and unplugs her modem, she’s already attracted the attention of the FBI. Sure, Gabe could hand Pi over to the Feds to avoid prison and get a huge payday, but he refuses give up his only daughter, no matter how ornery she is. He’s convinced the sweet program he created is still there, trapped under a mountain of rotten code, and he’ll risk everything to bring her back.
Review
Well, I had intended to enjoy this. LCP on my C64 was a joy, and the synopsis sounded good. unfortunately, that's where it ended. Credibility and even possibility were violated to very little comic effect. I can honestly say that I should have given up after the first few chapters.
October
5 Stars to The Zanna Function by Daniel Wheatley
Description
When fourteen-year-old Zanna Mayfield gets an acceptance letter from St. Pommeroy’s School for Gifted Children, she jumps at the chance to put her considerable intellect to good use. But nothing can prepare her for the first day, when she discovers that she is a Scientist —one able to see and bend the basic functions of the universe like velocity, gravity, and chemical reactions to her own purposes. As Zanna struggles to make friends and learn how to use her abilities at her new school, her troubles multiply when a mysterious stranger begins stalking her, dead set on keeping Zanna out of St. Pommeroy’s. If Zanna has any hope of finishing her first year, she’ll need to master every function she can get her mind around—including the one that defines Zanna herself.
Review
I was submersed in this lovably-gripping title. I can't quite put my finger on why, everything just seemed to coalesce into a teen book for the ages. If not the next Harry Potter, only because that's because we only have something like that once every so often. My daughter and I will plough through this with abandon in a few years, that much I know for sure.
4 Stars to The Best of Isaac Asimov by Isaac Asimov
Description
Doubleday, 1974, hardcover. First published in Britain the previous year. STORIES: Marooned Off Vesta (1939); Nightfall (1941); The C-Chute (1951); The Martian Way (1952); The Deep (1952); The Fun They Had (1951); The Last Question (1956); The Dead Past (1956); The Dying Night (1956); Anniversary (1959); The Billiard Ball (1967); Mirror Image (1972).
Review
A very enjoyable collection. Plenty of material not new to me, but I hadn't come across the Billiard Ball before, which I really enjoyed, and this time The Deep resonated. Of course the Last Question and Nightfall are seminal, and ending on Mirror Image was a refreshing reminder.
5 Stars to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (The Carls, #1) by Hank Green
Description
The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship--like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor--April and her friend Andy make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world--everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires--and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight. Now April has to deal with the pressure on her relationships, her identity, and her safety that this new position brings, all while being on the front lines of the quest to find out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us. Compulsively entertaining and powerfully relevant, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing grapples with big themes, including how the social internet is changing fame, rhetoric, and radicalization; how our culture deals with fear and uncertainty; and how vilification and adoration spring from the same dehumanization that follows a life in the public eye"--
Review
Wow. This was a bit of a headrush of a work, and no mistake. April's at once delightfully typical of a rather vague yet strangely realistically defined young woman swept up in the trappings of today's society, yet also this rather cantankerous, hard-to-like ... brat? is that a fair word? She's got great parents, living her dream, a relationship but tonnes of insecurity and just bulls, headstrong, through things in the hopes they turn out to be OK. It's odd. very odd. And yet it works, wholeheartedly - you come away with an indescribably complicated melange that leaves you at once spellbound, enlightened and a little disappointed, all at he same time. Unfortunately, the sort of novel I can't really quantify. I didn't want to put it down, though.
3 Stars to Split Infinity (Apprentice Adept, #1) by Piers Anthony
Description
On the technological, decadent world of Proton, someone was trying to destroy Stile, serf and master Gamesman. His only escape lay in Phaze, a world totally ruled by magic. Soon he learned that his alternate self had already been murdered, and that he was next. On Proton, his fate depended on winning the great Games. On Phaze, he must master magic to survive. And if he used any magic at all, his friends were determined to kill him at once!
Review
Magic and technology? Not a new concept, but melded in an intriguingly different way. To begin with, you don’t even know the magic’s coming up, and then it all falls into place quite happy. I’ve never been one to link horses and music either, so that was rather different. Not sure how I feel about it, but Anthony’s usually worth a go.
3 Stars to Blue Adept (Apprentice Adept, #2) by Piers Anthony
Description
In this brilliant continuation of the epic adventure that began in Split Infinity, Piers Anthony again proves himself a master of both fantasy and science fiction For Stile, life was a matter of shuttling madly between two worlds, with the problems growing greater on each. On the science world of Proton, he was a serf, trying to prove his right to exist by competing in the Great Games. On Phaze, where only magic worked, he was the Blue Adept, trying to master the powers of sorcery. And on both worlds, someone was trying to assassinate him. Aside from winning increasingly difficult contests with no time to prepare, all he had to do was win the love of the Lady Blue, fight a dragon, discover the ultimate weapon—and, of course, seek the paranoid Adept or the all-powerful Citizen who was trying to kill him! And now, just when things were growing impossible, he had to fight a mortal duel with the unicorn Herd Leader, against whom his magic powers were useless!
Review
It’s interesting to see stile becoming two people almost, and books that blend science and magic don’t often do so in this way. Not a series to leap and shout about but with solid, steady messages going forward.
2 Stars to October the First Is Too Late by Fred Hoyle
Description
Professor Hoyle's time travel science fiction adventure is a modern relative of The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Solar beams plays havoc with terrestrial time: England is in the '60's, but WWI is still raging in western Europe, Greece is in the golden age of Pericles, while the United States is some thousands of years in the future; and Russia and Asia are reduced to a glass-like plain, fused by the burnt-out sun of a far distant future. The central themes are time and the meaning of consciousness. The heroes are a pianist-composer and his scientist friend. The dramatic highpoint of the book is a magnificent, almost idyllic section on the life and music of the future, in which one can almost hear the compositions of two rivals as they compete in improvisations.
Review
I thought the ending was a proper cop-out on this one, I felt as if the work totally lost its way. A shame, as it was quite poetic in places.
3 Stars to Juxtaposition (Apprentice Adept, #3) by Piers Anthony
Description
In this brilliantly satisfying conclusion to the epic adventure begun in Split Infinity and continued in Blue Adept, Piers Anthony again proves himself a consummate master of both science fiction and fantasy. Stile had problems--two whole worlds of problems, in fact. On Proton, a world of future science, his murder was averted only by the help of a lovely robot, who sent him through an invisible "curtain" to Phaze, an alternate world ruled by magic. There he found he was the double of the sorcerer, the Blue Adept, who had been mysteriously murdered. And the assassin was after Stile! To survive, Stile had to master magic, fight a dragon, win the friendship of a lady unicorn, locate his enemy among the paranoid Adepts, and return out of Phaze to win the Great Games on Proton. After that, he was ready to face the real problems! The infallible Oracle was suddenly involved in the conspiracy against him. The two worlds were out of balance and heading for disaster. Stile was somehow supposed to take over the job of saving them or go down to total destruction with all he loved, he had to act and act quickly--with no idea of what he was supposed to do.
Review
This concluded a storyline nicely. It’s been a bit of a weird run in the world, but good to add some new Anthony to my list.
2 Stars to The Rasner Effect (The Rasner Effect #1) by Mark Rosendorf
Description
Rick Rasner escaped death in a New York City bridge explosion - but he couldn't escape becoming an unwitting participant in a top secret military experiment. Seven years later, while working at an institution for troubled children, Rick finds himself the target of a group of mercenaries called The Duke Organization. When they meet, the life of Rick Rasner, and the lives of the Duke Organization, will change forever...but not as much as that of fifteen year old, Clara Blue. Pulled into a world of violence, can Clara escape, or will she choose to stay?
Review
Some interesting ideas psychologically, but somewhat poorly explored. There was an immaturity to the writing, not to mention a psychopathic streak running through every character, that was a little off-putting for me.
4 Stars to First Frontier (Star Trek: The Original Series #75) by Diane Carey
Description
Testing a new shielding device, Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise become enmeshed in a battle between the Klingons and the Romulans, and a journey to Earth reveals that they have been transported into an alternate timeline. Original.
Review
Ok, so the Guardian is far too overused. Agreed. But… it’s Star trek and Dinosaurs! How cool! I am not saying there was anything overspecial – a lot of emotional background from Kirk, some interesting pulls about Spock’s hybrid nature, and of course, the Enterprise gets blown up, which is always fun. Yet something compelled me to carry on, and when I was done, I found myself having come out of it not just happy that it was a Trek story, but quite enthused. So yes glad I picked it up, it falls nicely into a TOS spot.
5 Stars to Trial by Treason (The Enchanter General, #2) by Dave Duncan
Description
A burgeoning Saxon enchanter confronts a demonic plot against the king in the sequel to Ironfoot, a historical fantasy series set in twelfth century England. King Henry, campaigning in France, receives a muddled warning of a treasonous conspiracy in Lincoln Castle, his great fortress in the center of England. His enchanters report that the letter contains both truth and lies, but cannot determine which is which. Putting little stock in the warning, he sends an eager young knight to lead a troop of men and investigate, and since the letter includes hints of magic, Henry orders him to enlist the help of Durwin, the young Saxon whose education he has been financing these last two years. Durwin takes an assistant and accompanies the troop to Lincoln, but quickly finds his blossoming abilities as a sage are not warmly received. Upon reaching town, it only takes a couple of hours for Durwin to realize that they are up against a vast Satanic conspiracy?and his companions may have already fallen into a deadly trap!
Review
I really got into this: I’d been looking forward to reading it for ages and circumstances conspired to me having to wait a week or so from release date. I wondered how it would go when our intrepid sage and his cantor started going their separate ways, but it turned out to work out very well indeed. The chapters hurl you from one pulse-pounding action to another and end in delightful spots, particularly the seventeenth, nineteenth, twenty-sixth and its successor. The adventure keeps you on your toes throughout and, immediately after reading Ironfoot for catch-up, was a true delight start to finish.
September
3 Stars to Asimov's Mysteries by Isaac Asimov
Description
Thirteen short science-fiction mysteries by the acclaimed science writer are presented together with commentary
Review
I'd read some of these before and enjoyed some of them anew. it's always nice to come back to some familiar characters.
4 Stars to Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds (Legion, #1-3) by Brandon Sanderson
Description
A story in three life-shattering acts. Includes the never-before-published Legion: Lies of the Beholder. Stephen Leeds is perfectly sane. It’s his hallucinations who are mad. A genius of unrivaled aptitude, Stephen can learn any new skill, vocation, or art in a matter of hours. However, to contain all of this, his mind creates hallucinatory people—Stephen calls them aspects—to hold and manifest the information. Wherever he goes, he is joined by a team of imaginary experts to give advice, interpretation, and explanation. He uses them to solve problems. . .for a price. His brain is getting a little crowded and the aspects have a tendency of taking on lives of their own. When a company hires him to recover stolen property—a camera that can allegedly take pictures of the past—Stephen finds himself in an adventure crossing oceans and fighting terrorists. What he discovers may upend the foundation of three major world religions—and, perhaps, give him a vital clue into the true nature of his aspects. Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds includes the novellas Legion and Legion: Skin Deep, published together for the first time, as well as a brand-new, shocking finale to Stephen Leeds' story, Lies of the Beholder.
Review
By far I enjoyed the middle of the three here best, but it was good to put a cap on this series. Sanderson rarely disappoints and this is no exception.
4 Stars to The Citadel by A.J. Cronin
Description
«Цитадель» — возможно, самая известная книга Кронина, это замечательный злободневный роман-притча о жизненном пути человека от его становления и развития до разложения и упадка личности под гнетом суровой реальности. Эндрю Мэнсон приезжает на первую в своей жизни практику с благородной целью: помочь как можно большему количеству людей. Он искренне хочет стать одним из тех, кто сможет по-настоящему прославить медицину. Все начинается с малого, но Эндрю не отступает перед трудностями: в захолустном городке молодой человек числится помощником доктора, но на самом деле он сам — доктор. Такова жизнь и Эндрю принимает вызов! Мало-помалу, меняя одну больницу за другой, Эндрю делает головокружительную карьеру. Однако за взлетами в один момент становится трудно обрести самого себя. Успешный доктор теперь гораздо реже задается глобальными вопросами о том, как изменить медицинскую систему.
Review
Terrifying for both its depiction of medical practice Pre-NHS, as well as the way in which men treated their wives, this started out as a whimsical read and descended into a rather depressing yarn. Cautionary though, and I did enjoy the period detail.
4 Stars to Spellslinger (Spellslinger, #1) by Sebastien de Castell
Description
There are three things that earn you a man’s name among the Jan’Tep. The first is to demonstrate the strength to defend your family. The second is to prove you can perform the high magic that defines our people. The third is simply to reach the age of sixteen. I was a few weeks shy of my birthday when I learned that I wouldn’t be doing any of those things. Magic is a con game. Kellen is moments away from facing his first mage's duel and the start of four trials that will make him a spellcaster. There's just one problem: his magic is gone. As his sixteenth birthday approaches, Kellen falls back on his cunning in a bid to avoid total disgrace. But when a daring stranger arrives in town, she challenges Kellen to take a different path. Ferius Parfax is one of the mysterious Argosi - a traveller who lives by her wits and the three decks of cards she carries. She's difficult and unpredictable, but she may be Kellen's only hope...
Review
No real surprises in this, clearly aimed at a young adult audience. yet the writing was solid and captivating, the characterisation strong, and the world intriguing. I'll read more.
4 Stars to The Voice of Cepheus by K.P. Appleby
Description
Earth's scientists had long searched the heavens for a sign that humanity was not alone. for decades the hunt had been fruitless - until a young graduate student recognized a surprising pattern to seemingly random signals from the direction of the constellation Cepheus. What was more, the signals carried a message - the first communication from an alien race, providing a wealth of knowledge for more advanced than human science.
Review
Incredibly, for its time, it read like a much earlier work, almost with a nineteenth century flavour. I can't quite get behind the idea of a galaxy-spanning mentally-controlled Internet, but it was an enjoyable yarn and I really enjoyed it.
5 Stars to Infinity Squad 2 by Shuvom Ghose
Description
It's a rough universe out there. To escape a murderous alien planet and even more murderous chain of command, Second Lieutenant Jonah Forrest had to fake his own death, by actually killing himself and his men. With grenades. (It wasn't his best plan ever.) But now a cloned, resurrected, and promoted First Lieutenant Forrest must deal with an even tougher peacekeeping. Because the aliens in charge of the gates between stars, the Benefactors, don't want their wormholes used to commit interstellar genocide. Well, not the bad kind of genocide. And the only weapon the Benefactors want their peacekeepers toting is the occasional authority to use harsh words. Will Lieutenant Forrest be able to keep his finger off the trigger long enough to learn that true strength comes from the size of his character, not his caliber? Will this team of rebels be forced to finally respect the laws of intergalactic society instead of breaking them? And will Infinity Squad be able to keep the body count low enough to keep their jobs, stop totalitarian societies and pacifist alien mobsters from starting an interplanetary war, and prevent the universe's ultimate weapon from falling into the wrong alien paws?No. No they will not.
Review
It was 3 years and 4 months ago when I read the first of these books. I had no idea there was another. But what an other! How cool! I know, it's old-hat, splitting the viewpoint and all that. But it so worked! And chapter 22? Wowzers. What a stunt to pull, with rip-roaring enjoyably military sci-fi results. Obviously, you have to have read the first, and even more obviously, you have to enjoy this type of work. But if you do, you will.
August
5 Stars to The Rules of Seeing by Joe Heap
Description
Nova can do many things. She can speak five languages. She can always find a silver lining. And as an interpreter for the Metropolitan Police, she can tell when someone is lying just from the sound of their voice.
Review
‘I don’t really use vending machines … but I like this plan!’ We’ve been here before on my bookshelf, of course. Books depicting blind people invariably cause controversy. The thing that I found, starting this, was the way in which other senses – smell, touch etc – are woven in everywhere, not just in Nova’s scenes. Kate is also startlingly aware of them, and I think that speaks volumes as to the way in which the story is going to progress. ‘You don’t owe me anything.’ Nova pauses, then asks, ‘Are you okay? You’ve changed colour.’ I was disarmed by nova’s gregariousness. Even early on we see a free spirit, but as the story develops, her irrepressible free-natured wildness really shines through. Obviously it does Kate good, but it does us good too. To see a blind person, even one gaining vision as someone who can be that free and spontaneous, and generally that happy with life, I think we could all do with some more of that in our lives. I found myself cheering nova on all the way. Her rules, to me as a blind person who has never seen, are at once fascinating and intriguing yet bafflingly hard to picture. Her struggles with the realities of sight really shine through, and I don’t recall fiction that I’ve read tackling this before. The idea that you can perform a little operation to physically “fix” someone’s ability to see, yes. But the ongoing consequences of that explored here are captivating. We’ve seen something similar in Robert J. Sawyer’s WWW trilogy, but there, the protagonist had technology capturing images for her. Seeing it all biologically was a very different path. I didn’t have many moments where I wanted to shout at Joe for getting it totally wrong as a blind person: the one that leaps at me now, trying to think of one, is the assumption that Nova would have to dictate a text message to her phone because she couldn’t see it, despite being a lifelong blind person of an age where the technology had clearly been imbedded early on. I laughed at the message she did dictate, misspellings and all – that one was spot on. But when it’s used as a reason for her not to send a message later in the story, that was a little annoying, if very trivial. The relationships in the story, the love, the passion, the way in which the characters really take control, that was good. You have these two women, both at crossroads in their lives with very different hurdles to overcome, and quite different in personality to boot. To see them both grow is really quite something. So, yes, a very satisfying, heartfelt book. A book with a real message and a followable, strong message. A book with a lot to offer, a book that stands up to prejudice, and I dare say, a book that will do the blind community very little harm. Already, the tuttings and the “another one about us? Really?” Are dripping from the social network feeds and kicking about the mailing lists. It’s silly of me to say that blindness doesn’t come into it, because of course it does. But the thing is, for Nova, learning to see is not a journey taken in isolation. She grows, not just in strength of vision, but of personality. Not just in what she can read, but in how she can perceive. She figures out what it is she wants, likes, needs, enjoys. Who she can trust. And none of that depends on her eyes at all. So, yes. On the surface, it’s another one of those books about a blind person needing more in their life and that being eyesight. But it’s more, too. So to all my blind readers who are boycotting it simply because it crosses an artistic boundary into your world, I would just say that you’re missing a fabulous, warm and charming story. A story of love, for life and for other people both. A story of persistence and progress, a story of determination and growth and of learning to live life and of the things that matter. And to me, that matters a lot. I enjoyed it very much.
4 Stars to Vox by Christina Dalcher
Description
Set in an America where half the population has been silenced, VOX is the harrowing, unforgettable story of what one woman will do to protect herself and her daughter. On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed to speak more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial—this can't happen here. Not in America. Not to her. This is just the beginning. Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard. But this is not the end. For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice.
Review
Wow, this was pretty cool. In a grim, terrible sort of a way - I wouldn't want to live in a world like this. But how thought-provoking, all of it: the kids, the clever women, the expanding bible belt twisted into something terrifying. Not a story easily forgotten...
4 Stars to Off the Main Sequence: The Other Science Fiction Stories of Robert A. Heinlein by Robert A. Heinlein
Description
Stories include... Successful Operation Let There Be Light -And He Built a Crooked House- Beyond Doubt They Solution Unsatisfactory Universe Elsewhen Common Sense By His Bootstraps Lost Legacy My Object All Sublime Goldfish Bowl Pied Piper Free Men On the Slopes of Vesuvius Columbus Was a Dope Jerry Was a Man Water is for Washing Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon Gulf Destination Moon The Year of the Jackpot Project Nightmare Sky Lift Tenderfoot in Space -All You Zombies-. Here are smart, savvy tales of space adventure, time travel, weird science, mysterious phenomena, apocalypse and dystopia, tales that reflect the concerns of their day, yet eerily foreshadow our own. There's Successful Operation, a Twilight Zone-ish gem in which a dictator gets his just desserts...Let There Be Light, about two inventors who triumph over political corruption...and On the Slopes of Vesuvius, in which a Bomb-fearing barkeep sees his worst fears realized. -And He Built A Crooked House- tells of an architect whose innovative home design leads straight into a funhouse fourth dimension. Solution Unsatisfactory gives us a chilling alternate end to WWII, while -All You Zombies- paints a time-twisty picture of the ultimate causality paradox. All these and more, including three previously uncollected stories, Beyond Doubt, My Object All Sublime and Pied Piper, display Heinlein's creative genius to full extent.
Review
Obviously, heinlein is just amazing. I've always, always loved Gulf. All you Zombies hit me a good one, as did Destination Moon and both the scout stories. Even By His Bootstraps, even though I'd recently re-read it in another collection, yet held my attention. I've also reread The Puppet Masters and Time For the Stars during my holiday, so a real good mix of new arrangements and old favourites. But this collection is great, some of the stranger stuff really makes one ponder.
3 Stars to Web Site Story by Robert Rankin
Description
They wrote it off as a scare story. The Millennium Bug, the non-event of the twentieth century. But they were wrong, because the Bug was real. Is real. It's a computer virus and it's about to make the deadly species crossover from machine to mankind. The Black Death was spread by rats. But this plague will be spread by a mouse. The computer mouse. And do you know how many different kinds of computer viruses there are? And just what they do? And just what they might do to you if you become infected? No? Then read this book and learn the terrible truth. Or perhaps you'd rather take a holiady in Brentfordland? Formerly known as Brentford, this Thamesside Shrangri-La is now London's first-ever suburban theme park and holiday village. A world of excitment, relaxation and fabulous fun, waiting for you. To find out more, log on the Brentfordland web site. Just give your computer mouse a wiggle. Go on. What harm can it do?
Review
With enough charm to keep me enjoying it but not much else, this made me chuckle a little in spots, but didn't really work on any other level. Fun, whimsical and weird.
5 Stars to The God Peak (The God Wave Trilogy, #2) by Patrick Hemstreet
Description
The thrilling speculative techno-science epic begun in Patrick Hemstreet's The God Wave continues in this explosive adventure in which a team of neuroscientists must face the consequences of playing God when the superhumans they’ve created threaten to annihilate humanity. They started with the best intentions . . . Chuck Brenton had a simple idea: if brain waves can make the needles on an EEG machine move, why couldn’t they be trained to move other things? He and mathematician Matt Streegman developed an astonishing program that enabled a group of highly select individuals—test subjects they called the Alphas—to use their brains to manipulate both physical and digital objects. Their goal was to increase man’s potential and make the world safer. But when their secret program was discovered, the military stepped in to take control—and unwittingly began a battle that could spell the end of humankind. A trio of renegade Alphas have used their enhanced powers to take the world hostage. Though they say they want world peace, the rebels seem willing to sacrifice countless innocent lives to achieve their goals. Horrified by what he has unleashed, Chuck is determined to stop the monsters he’s created, no matter the risks. Coming out of hiding, he and his team must wield their own burgeoning abilities to defeat the increasingly unstable superhuman terrorists. Yet not everyone believes what the Alphas are doing is wrong. A cadre of supporters sees them as the next phase in human evolution and is eager to watch them burn down society on their way to transcendence. . . .
Review
A superb continuation, with escalation aplenty to keep things fresh. Just have to wait nearly a year before the end of the trilogy now!!!
2 Stars to News From the Squares by Robert Llewellyn
Description
In Robert Llewellyn’s eagerly-awaited sequel to News From Gardenia, Gavin Meckler is trying to get back to the present, but something is amiss. He soon realises he has travelled sideways through time to another possible future, as unlike Gardenia as our own era. Arriving in a teeming megacity, Gavin discovers a highly technologically developed society in a vast urban landscape constructed around a seemingly endless series of squares dense with lush vegetation and trees. Much of what Gavin sees is recognisable. But there is one important difference. Here, women make up the majority of the global population and run the majority of institutions, including the vast and mysterious Institute of Mental Health where Gavin is required to live...
Review
I found this rather self indulgent and not a little silly, to be frank. There was no cleverness; and indeed I didn't really feel that there was anything offered in this story we haven't seen done better in film and TV in terms of a matriarchal society.
3 Stars to The Battle (Play to Live, #5) by D. Rus
Description
The Russian cluster. The ground shakes as the enemy approaches. The angered gods frown as they look down from the sky. Intelligence agencies are locked in a brutal fight. Hundreds of thousands of sentient beings happily slaughter each other. This is no longer a game quest, nor a petty fight between clans over some land rich in resources. This is war! A war of civilizations, religions, and all the dimensions of the world. The earth weeps in pain. The astral beings turn away in horror. Burning castle towers collapse to the ground. Stones melt in the heat. The enemy is coming. Refugees flood the Valley. Alliance members are joining forces. Max is not just a clan leader anymore. He is the Chief, the head of the resistance. And you have no choice but to fight; you are the hope of the children and the thousands of innocents. They have entrusted you with their lives.
Review
More of the same, really, although is it my imagination or did Max's way of speaking change? We seem short of a few uses of the word "of". Nothing overly new happening, just another God, bla bla, sort of par for the course? Although the war is heating up and might change things up some?
5 Stars to Three Fae Monte (Rise of Magic Book 4) by Stefon Mears
Description
- Six decades after magic overthrew technology. Donal Cuthbert, master wizard in training at the finest thaumaturgic university in California. Edik Barshai, small-time wizard and helioship captain, running charter flights on the moon. Enter Nicholas Mason, legendary wizard. Mason sends Donal and Edik to forbidden Ganymede, where a magical discovery could change the galaxy. But Donal discovers something bigger before he even leaves Earth... Three Fae Monte, an exciting tale of adventure and intrigue at high space, with deals and betrayals, faeries and wizards, and space battles between magic-driven ships. The fourth novel in the Rise of Magic series from Stefon Mears, author of The Telepath Trilogy and the Ars Portlandia series.
Review
Another gripping instalment, and even if it's sad that some of the old crew are no longer telling us their stories, we're seeing more exciting parts of the mystical forces that make up this intriguing world.
4 Stars to Lunar Alchemy (Rise of Magic) by Stefon Mears
Description
- Six decades after magic overthrew technology. Earth's moon, the first place humans settled away from Earth. Where a handful of great families live above the law. Edik Barshai, small time wizard and helioship charter pilot on the brink of ruin. Carl Jones, master duelist caught in the machinations of great families. Together Barshai and Jones discover a creature that may change the face of modern magic -- and may just solve both their problems. If they survive. "Lunar Alchemy," a tale of adventure and politics on the moon, with duels, wizards, and magic-driven ships. The third novel in the "Rise of Magic" series from Stefon Mears, author of "The Telepath Trilogy."
Review
I rather enjoyed this one, too. Shorter than the others, but showing us a few characters we've only met in passing and expanding things onto the moon in an interesting direction. Of course, we needed another pilot, and we've got a cracker
5 Stars to Sleight of Mind (Rise of Magic Book 2) by Stefon Mears
Description
- Six decades after magic overthrew technology. Venus. Recently settled. As wild and untamed as the space between there and Earth. John Jacobs, the last helioship captain old enough to remember technology, risks his fading health for the opportunity to command the first commercial flight to Venus. Journeyman wizard Donal Cuthbert braves that flight to chase down a forming interplanetary shadow government. But powerful forces move against them, and survival will press Donal to fight a duel he can only lose. Sleight of Mind, a tale of adventure and espionage in high space, with dueling wizards and magic-driven ships. The second novel in the Rise of Magic series from Stefon Mears, author of The Telepath Trilogy.
Review
Well now, despite not being overly different to the first in formula, I somehow really got into this one. Magician's Choice was part of a Story Bundle because of a surprise twist or unexpected plot direction: if anything, that's magnified here, and although a lot of the story was predictable, it was well-written, with an almost glorious inevitability. The style of writing lends itself tremendously well to this sort of story and I'm keen to see where the series goes next.
4 Stars to Magician's Choice by Stefon Mears
Description
“In the future of Magician's Choice, magic has displaced science, but magic takes as much rigor to operate as technology ever did. Stefon Mears weaves an entertaining space opera out of tuning forks, duels, and dragon familiars. The result is an impressive debut novel.” – Bruce Holland Rogers, Author of The Keyhole Opera
Review
I always claim that the steampunk/magotechnic stuff isn't my scene... But this was pretty engaging. I found myself enjoying it, and I want to read more by this author now.
3 Stars to Clique by Simon Hawke
Description
Ross Cleary was the playboy ad man who could sell anybody anything, even themselves. He was a young, high energy, creative genius at the top of his game, working for a company who could give people the perfect image … for a price. The Aura was the ultimate fantasy, a holographic mask that could give anyone any image or appearance they desired. It was the hottest high-tech fashion accessory on the planet, an account executive’s dream, something everybody wanted, the electronic device that everybody had to have, and Ross Cleary was the in-house driving force behind it … until one night, a chance encounter shattered his complacency and showed him a new way. And when the man who sold everyone illusions lost his own, he finally found the answer …a new way for people to become everything they’ve ever wanted, a way that he could show them, through the movement known as … Clique.
Review
Bit of a weird ending, did I miss something? not perhaps one of Hawke's finest...
July
3 Stars to Splinters In Time (The Time Bubble #4) by Jason Ayres
Description
It's bad enough getting lost in time. But when you don't even know if you're in the right universe, you're really in trouble. When his ex-girlfriend, Lauren, starts having recurring nightmares about a strange alternate reality, Josh becomes interested in proving the existence of other universes. Finding a focal point in the past from which thousands of new universes seem to stem, he travels back in time to find out how they were created. Unfortunately he ends up causing the very event that he went back to investigate. Cast adrift in the multiverse, he no longer has any control over where and when he will end up. With each jump sending him further and further back in time, he finds himself lurching from one reality to another, some similar to his own, others drastically different. He has but one hope - to find an alter ego in another universe to help him find his way home. But in worlds ravaged by wars and diseases, it becomes a battle just to stay alive. This story is the fourth part of an epic series exploring the time travel genre in original and innovative ways. The novels follow the main characters from youth to middle age as they jump forwards, backwards, and sideways into alternate worlds. Want to know more about the author? You can find him jasonayres.co.uk facebook.com/TheTimeBubble/ Twitter @TheTimeBubble ============================================================================= What readers are saying about Splinters in Time... Superb series seems to get better the longer it goes - Ozzie2920 on Amazon UK. Really enjoyable addition to the series. If you like time travel books this is as good as it gets. And more to come hopefully. -itjustmyopinion on Amazon UK. I've read all of these books and I think it's remarkable how Jason tied it all together. The way he manages to write them all as stand alone books and for together in this way is pure genius. Thanks Jason for writing such amazing books that have fed one of my obsessions - time travel. - Shazzy on Amazon UK. Another great time bubble story. Love the interlinking nature of the novels. -Ian B Cormack on Amazon UK Excellent addition to one of the best time travel series I have ever read, and I have read dozens. - ilvwdw on Amazon USA
Review
Well, another interesting one, although the focus does seemed to have narrowed to a single character more than in previous titles. I rather enjoyed it, although having a future version of yourself turn up and tell you you'll get through everything that's about to happen does dissipate the tension somewhat. It can't end here of course, I'm assuming Ayre can tie things up in another book or two soon.
4 Stars to Man Out Of Time (The Time Bubble #3) by Jason Ayres
Description
What would you do if you found yourself cast 22 years into the future? Into a world where your home is no longer your home and you’ve been declared legally dead? This is the situation that Daniel Fisher finds himself in at the beginning of this novel, the latest release in The Time Bubble series. Stranded in the future, in a place where his outdated currency is worthless, things go from bad to worse for Dan very quickly. Before long he finds himself incarcerated in a secure psychiatric unit, his hopes of ever returning to the past looking bleak. Elsewhere, Josh has unlocked the secrets of the time bubbles, and can now freely travel in time. He returns to the scene of past encounters, as well as travelling to the future to join Peter on his adventures through time. But has he been careful enough to prevent others from discovering his secrets? This book concludes The Time Bubble trilogy, tying up all of the loose ends from the first two books, as well as linking in to the spin-off novel, My Tomorrow Your Yesterday.
Review
Enjoyable as I'd come to expect, even if redemptive stories aren't always quite my thing, this was neat and tidy. I'd question some of the time travel logic, but then almost all time travel stories leave you with some sort of paradox somewhere along the line.s
4 Stars to Global Cooling (The Time Bubble #2) by Jason Ayres
Description
This is an alternative cover edition. In 2029, Earth is facing a major climate catastrophe. An asteroid strike blankets the globe in dust and ash, blocking out the sunlight. Soon temperatures begin to fall. As weather conditions worsen, the residents of a small market town in Southern England must make a decision – flee south or wait for the worst to pass. Choosing to stay, D.I. Hannah Benson soon has more to worry about than keeping law and order. With power supplies failing and food scarce, survival itself is at stake as those with darker motives seek to take advantage of the situation. At Gatwick airport, Charlie Adams and his heavily pregnant wife, Kaylee, discover that all planes are grounded. Desperate to escape to mainland Europe, they travel to the coast to find a way to cross the Channel. Meanwhile, time-travel expert Josh Gardner may have found another way out. He and his partner, Alice, head for Cornwall to investigate the possible existence of a new Time Bubble, but their travel plans are also disrupted by the deepening winter. Global Cooling is the second part of a trilogy which began with The Time Bubble. Set a decade after the main events of the first book, this story picks up the lives of the main characters as they reach their late twenties. The trilogy concludes with the final volume, Man Out Of Time. Also available is the spin-off novel, My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday.
Review
Well, this was pretty exciting! Not perhaps to the level it could've been if all of the secrets hadn't been given away in the first book, but there were some interesting deaths, and there's a final title to tidy up the last set of loose ends, which now of course I have to consume.
5 Stars to The Time Bubble (The Time Bubble Series) by Jason Ayres
Description
The story begins with the discovery of the very first Time Bubble beneath a railway line, kicking off a life-changing series of adventures. At first, it's just a bit of fun, jumping a few seconds into the future. Soon things take a more serious turn as the leaps in time increase in duration. When a teenage girl goes missing, and the police become involved, suspicion falls on her boyfriend. How can he explain where she is? Will anyone believe him? The Time Bubble is the first part of a hugely popular series (over 100,000 copies sold) exploring the time travel genre in original and innovative ways. The novels follow the main characters from youth to middle age as they jump forwards, backwards, and sideways into alternate worlds. "This book has everything you'd expect from a rollicking good read - adventure, mystery, science fiction and even romance. If you are looking for the proverbial 'page turner' then this is for you.”
Review
What makes me give 5 stars to a book? Because on the surface, this is another amateur effort at a time travel story, with all the attendant grammatical hiccups that plague self-published authors. And yet it's more, because despite giving average ratings to other works by Ayres, this somehow got under my skin and kept me compelled. So yes, it could do with a proofread (not as badly as some, by a long way). yes, it's been done before. yes, it's all tied up and neatly finished, so who can say where the sequel will have to go? But yet, all that aside, I didn't want to put it down. I enjoyed it cover to cover, so even if it's not classic literature or written in glowing prose, it was good enough for me to say it's a job well done and a story well told.
3 Stars to Midlife Crisis (Second Chances #1) by Jason Ayres
Description
If you were offered the chance to live six days of your life over again, which would you choose? Richard Kent is feeling well and truly fed-up. As he approaches middle-age, his waistline is expanding, his career options are dwindling, and everything from pop music to television seems like it was so much better in his youth. If that wasn't depressing enough, his wife nags him, his kids ignore him and his boss thinks he's a dinosaur. He's just about ready to give up but then a truly remarkable encounter with his younger self changes everything. A trip back to 1984 in the body of his seven-year-old self is just the beginning of an amazing adventure revisiting key moments from his own life. These include an unfulfilled teenage crush and revenge on his evil boss armed only with a large, rubber Brontosaurus. This is an updated cover edition.
Review
Well, according to Goodreads, I wrote Ayres was an author to read more of in July 2015. I'd clearly forgotten that though, and even reading the description of the book of his I'd already read didn't trigger a memory, although I did think that'd be the next of his I read. This one was pretty good, not with any sort of earthshattering brilliance but a solid, dependable sort of story. It was quite clear how things were going to go from early in, but sometimes, being able to switch off with a reliable read is a rewarding thing indeed.
4 Stars to External Threat (Reality Benders, #2) by Michael Atamanov
Description
The countdown timer continues to tick, but Earth is still not ready to repel an invasion from space. Gnat is on his voyage with the Shiamiru, all the while trying to find backup for humanity among the great spacefaring races. After all, based on what he’s already seen, he knows not to count on the good sense of his own kind. Even facing an external threat, the people of our Earth cannot see past their internal squabbles and come together to fight as one. Gnat does not expect gratitude from his leaders for taking such matters into his own hands, but when have laws and rules ever stopped our intrepid hero before?!
Review
So did this lack a little of the excitement of book 1? Yes, of course. Was it just as weird, wonderful and slightly odd? Absolutely! The genre isn't for everyone - litrpg feels guiltier than OD on fanfiction. But I'm still enjoying this series and pleased that book 3 is on the way!
4 Stars to The Future Will Be BS-Free by Will McIntosh
Description
In this terrifyingly timely tale for fans of The Eye of Minds, a teen and his group of friends find themselves on the run after using a genius lie-detector contraption to expose their corrupt government. In a Putin-esque near-future America, the gifted and talented high school has just been eliminated, and Sam and his friends have been using their unexpected free time to work on a tiny, undetectable, utterly reliable lie detector. They're all in it for the money--except Theo, their visionary. For Theo, it's about creating a better world. A BS-free world, where no one can lie, and the honest will thrive. Just when they finish the prototype and turn down an offer to sell their brainchild to a huge corporation, Theo is found dead. Greedy companies, corrupt privatized police, and even the president herself will stop at nothing to steal the Truth App. Sam sets his sights on exposing all lies and holding everyone accountable. But he and his friends quickly realize the costs of a BS-free world: the lives of loved ones, and political and economic stability. They now face a difficult question: Is the world capable of operating without lies, or are lies what hold it together? Praise for Will McIntosh's Burning Midnight: "In an impressive YA debut, adult SF author McIntosh spins an action-packed adventure....An engaging cast and thought-provoking premise help fuel this thriller." --Publishers Weekly "With a fascinating premise and likable, underdog protagonists, this is a winner." --Booklist "An exciting, fast-paced adventure from start to finish." --The Horn Book Magazine "An adventure fantasy thriller . . . with an unpredictable twist." --TheGuardian.com
Review
I was looking forward to this, and it was just as good as I'd hoped. I got a Cory Doctorow, e c myers feel from it, and enjoyed it all the way through.
5 Stars to Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers, #3) by Becky Chambers
Description
Centuries after the last humans left Earth, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, a place many are from but few outsiders have seen. Humanity has finally been accepted into the galactic community, but while this has opened doors for many, those who have not yet left for alien cities fear that their carefully cultivated way of life is under threat. Tessa chose to stay home when her brother Ashby left for the stars, but has to question that decision when her position in the Fleet is threatened. Kip, a reluctant young apprentice, itches for change but doesn't know where to find it. Sawyer, a lost and lonely newcomer, is just looking for a place to belong. When a disaster rocks this already fragile community, those Exodans who still call the Fleet their home can no longer avoid the inescapable question: What is the purpose of a ship that has reached its destination?
Review
"The guilt lingered, even so. Ghosts were imaginary, but hauntings were real." Well, I didn't cry at this one, even though at the funeral I wanted to. It's amazing to me how Chambers just keeps piling people on people, building up history and widening the scope of her universe in each novel. "Make sure people remember that a closed system is a closed system even when you can’t see the edges." By the halfway point, I was totally hooked - being a little uncertain from the start made the joy all the sweeter, watching the records of these Spaceborn Few unfold. Morality stories, inter-species exchanges, appreciating what you have and who you are, moving on, letting go, getting old, growing up. It's all here, skillfully blended to provide a vivid, harmonious glimpse into a galaxy of possibilities and variety. Very much worth buying if the other two appealed in the slightest, and to be re-read one day as a whole trilogy, until more comes to engage, excite and contemplate in years to come. I hope!
4 Stars to Nothing Left to Lose (John Cleaver, #6) by Dan Wells
Description
Review
Well, I can't say that I didn't enjoy the last book. it tied up a lot of detail, and had a very "full-circle" feeling to it. A very pleasing way to end the series, I've enjoyed some more than others but liked them all.
3 Stars to Over Your Dead Body (John Cleaver, #5) by Dan Wells
Description
John and Brooke are on their own, hitchhiking from town to town as they hunt the last of the Withered through the midwest— but the Withered are hunting them back, and the FBI is close behind. With each new town, each new truck stop, each new highway, they get closer to a vicious killer who defies every principle of profiling and prediction John knows how to use, and meanwhile Brooke’s fractured psyche teeters on the edge of oblivion, overwhelmed by the hundreds of thousands of dead personalities sharing her mind. She flips in and out of lucidity, manifesting new names and thoughts and memories every day, until at last the one personality pops up that John never expected and has no idea how to deal with. The last of Nobody’s victims, trapped forever in the body of his last remaining friend.
Review
Things are dragging on a little, and I must say that the end of this one didn't hit me over the head like the others in the series. I'm hoping the final book has some spectacular moves to close things up.
3 Stars to The Devil's Only Friend (John Cleaver, #4) by Dan Wells
Description
John Wayne Cleaver hunts demons: they've killed his neighbors, his family, and the girl he loves, but in the end he's always won. Now he works for a secret government kill team, using his gift to hunt and kill as many monsters as he can... ...but the monsters have noticed, and the quiet game of cat and mouse is about to erupt into a full scale supernatural war. John doesn't want the life he's stuck with. He doesn't want the FBI bossing him around, he doesn't want his only friend imprisoned in a mental ward, and he doesn't want to face the terrifying cannibal who calls himself The Hunter. John doesn't want to kill people. But as the song says, you can't always get what you want. John has learned that the hard way; his clothes have the stains to prove it. When John again faces evil, he'll know what he has to do. The Devil's Only Friend is the first book in a brand-new John Wayne Cleaver trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Dan Wells.
Review
Well, I now see the reason for the split. John's life has certainly spiralled off into a different direction, and even though he's still doing what he does best, this one didn't have much of the innocence (if that's remotely appropriate for this set of stories) as the first trilogy. I still enjoyed the story, and as always, the end twist was clever.
5 Stars to I Don't Want to Kill You (John Cleaver, #3) by Dan Wells
Description
John Cleaver has called a demon—literally called it, on the phone, and challenged it to a fight. He’s faced two of the monsters already, barely escaping with his life, and now he’s done running; he’s taking the fight to them. But as he wades through his town’s darkest secrets, searching for any sign of who the demon might be, one thing becomes all too clear: in a game of cat and mouse with a supernatural killer, the human is always the mouse. In I Am Not a Serial Killer we watched a budding sociopath break every rule he had to save his town from evil. In Mr. Monster we held our breath as he fought madly with himself, struggling to stay in control. Now John Cleaver has mastered his twisted talents and embraced his role as a killer of killers. I Don’t Want to Kill You brings his story to a thundering climax of suspicion, mayhem, and death. It’s time to punish the guilty. And in a town full of secrets, everyone is guilty of something.
Review
Woow. If I thought the final line of the second book was good, the entire last chapter of this one was ... well. it was brilliant. Far too unlikely, given the history, but if you let yourself believe, boy are you sucked in. Now for some reason, Wikipedia's bibliography lists the next set of stories as a separate trilogy. Certainly, there's room for plenty to change beyond this point. So let's tuck in!
4 Stars to Mr. Monster (John Cleaver, #2) by Dan Wells
Description
In I Am Not a Serial Killer, John Wayne Cleaver saved his town from a murderer even more appalling than the serial killers he obsessively studies. But it turns out even demons have friends, and the disappearance of one has brought another to Clayton County. Soon there are new victims for John to work on at the mortuary and a new mystery to solve. But John has tasted death, and the dark nature he used as a weapon---the terrifying persona he calls “Mr. Monster”---might now be using him. No one in Clayton is safe unless John can vanquish two nightmarish adversaries: the unknown demon he must hunt and the inner demon he can never escape. In this sequel to his brilliant debut, Dan Wells ups the ante with a thriller that is just as gripping and even more intense. He apologizes in advance for the nightmares.
Review
"What’s the right answer? I thought. When do you help the good guys, and when do you stop the bad guys? I don’t know what to do." How has it been nearly 8 years since I read the first book in this series? Michael's discovery originally, I think, but I really enjoyed the first one. This was just as good, and that final line! How can anyone not want book 3 straight after this? what a super folllow-on.
4 Stars to The Silicon Man by Charles Platt
Description
The Silicon Man has been endorsed by William Gibson as "A plausible, well-crafted narrative exploring cyberspace in a wholly new and very refreshing way". What is the price of immortality? On the track of high-tech black-market weapons, FBI Agent James Bayley has stumbled on a top-secret project called LifeScan. A renegade team of government scientist, sponsored by an aging billionaire, has found a way to store the human mind inside a computer. Those scanned will be immortals, freed from the weaknesses of human flesh, virtual gods in a universe of their own creation. But godhood has a terrible price. To gain immortality, you must be willing to die.
Review
A very good work for its time, totally gripped me and I was quite desperate to finish. Very much enjoyed.
June
2 Stars to Beyond Broadhall (The '86 Fix #2) by Keith A. Pearson
Description
The concluding installment of the acclaimed time-travel novel. To read the first installment, search for 'The '86 Fix' on Amazon. After his miraculous weekend in 1986, Craig Pelling returned to a future he could never have envisaged. Even by his own hapless standards, his plans have spectacularly backfired. Everything he tried to fix is now broken, and a bleak, lonely existence is all Craig has to look forward to. Does he face that future, or does he try to seek answers? Either way, an emotional rollercoaster ride beckons. Can Craig can find closure before it ends? Or does fate have a few more twists in store for him, beyond Broadhall?
Review
Is it really so hard to proofread a book? If you don't understand the use of a word, then don't use it. You're selling something immutable, that will have your name attached to it for years to come. "unchartered teritory", not to be confused with "uncharted", "It would be amiss of me" - "remiss", "but that only exasperates the problem" exacerbates. and those are just the 3 that I remember, having finished the book 5 days ago. These things really detract from a story, because it's almost like someone speaking to the audience in a movie, or just chatting to you in the middle of a song. The flow is broken, and for the sake of a read through by someone with a smattering of common sense you could sell a much better product. The story itself was quite predictable, especially the ending, which of course is typical in this sort of genre. I wasn't particularly overwhelmed by any of the plot twists or devices, so unfortunately I think this is one that I'll have enjoyed but forgotten about, rather than something to stir the blood and come back to time and again.
3 Stars to The '86 Fix (The '86 Fix #1) by Keith A. Pearson
Description
Imagine if you could travel back in time to when you were sixteen. Imagine if you could spend one weekend reliving your past — would you change anything? Everything wrong with Craig Pelling’s life can be traced back to 1986 and the moment he popped in to a newsagent for a can of Coke. Now in his mid-forties, he lives in a loveless marriage and earns a living in a dead-end job managing an electrical store. He could have been so much more, achieved so much more. But as bitter as Craig feels about his mundane existence, fate hasn't finished with him yet. A series of unfortunate events pushes the hapless Craig to breaking point as his life crumbles around him. All looks lost until he's thrown a lifeline — the miraculous lifeline of a brief trip back to 1986, to relive one weekend as his sixteen year-old self. Will he be able to fix his mundane life? Is it as simple as just reverting one decision he made over thirty years ago? Craig is about to find out.
Review
Pearson's clearly trying to tap into a winning formula with this excitingly-described book. It'd be nice if he didn't confuse monotone and monochrome, and the novel's opening, discussing Craig's hyperacusis, really should have had something to do with any of the rest of the book. That aside, it was quite exciting, certainly interesting to look back on parts of a life already lived. I hope the sequel answers a few more questions, as the author's note at the end of this one does promise "a definitive ending"
3 Stars to The Boy Who Could Draw Tomorrow by Quinn Sinclair
Description
No content provided.
Review
Not very much to say about this, it started off relatively OK but ended very oddly indeed. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, so I can't say I'm truly disappointed - but the story didn't really make me want to read on.
2 Stars to Last Day by Bryan Smith
Description
The last day of the world starts out like any ordinary day. Everything seems normal. Then news breaks of an imminent killer asteroid strike and everything changes forever. With the human race facing sudden extinction, the world descends into chaos. Now that no one has anything to lose, hidden horrors are unearthed and brought to the light. Serial killers and other predators no longer have to hide, indulging their dark appetites without fear of reprisal. The seemingly meek reveal inner monsters and go on killing sprees. The world is engulfed in carnage and blood flows freely in the streets. A few seek to rise above the madness and find a way to do the impossible--survive the end of the world.
Review
Not my typical read, and an overreliance on the word malefic annoyed me some. Of course the whole work is quite heavy on the violence and sexual depravity, which kinda goes without saying.
5 Stars to Do Not Resuscitate: The Monkey Parade by Nicholas Ponticello
Description
Jim Frost thinks that when you’re dead, you’re dead. Gone. Finished. Kaput. But on the eve of his seventy-third birthday, his daughter suggests he have his brain downloaded to a microchip for safekeeping, and Jim is forced to consider what it really means to die—and what it might mean to live forever. Recipient of the 2015 Green Book Festival honorable mention in fiction and semi-finalist in the 2015 Kindle Book Awards, Do Not Resuscitate is the firsthand account of Jim Frost, an aging misanthropist who witnessed the rise and fall of the United States as a world power, the digitalization of the planet, the advent of the water wars, and the near collapse of the global economy. Yet he remains impervious to it all. Concerned more with his plasma TV, high-speed Internet, and continual supply of hash, twentysomething Jim takes an under-the-table job off Craigslist delivering mysterious red coolers to strangers in cafés in an effort to pay the bills. But when Jim’s enigmatic employer asks him to fly to North Korea for a delivery, Jim starts to wonder what he’s gotten himself into.
Review
I read this in one sitting and utterly loved it. Arguably not much happens, but I felt touched. Somehow it felt that I was really in someone's life, and that's a precious thing. Very pleased that something offering so much enjoyment could be my 1,500th book on Goodreads.
4 Stars to Adrift by Rob Boffard
Description
In the far reaches of space, a group of tourists board a small vessel for what will be the trip of a lifetime - in more ways than one... They are embarking on a tour around Sigma Station - a remote mining facility and luxury hotel with stunning views of the Horsehead Nebula. During the course of the trip, a mysterious ship with devastating advanced technology attacks the Station. Their pilot's quick evasive action means that the tour group escape with their lives - but as the dust settles, they realize they may be the only survivors . . . Adrift in outer space, out of contact with civilization, and on a vastly under-equipped ship, these passengers are out of their depth. Their chances of getting home are close to none, and with the threat of another attack looming they must act soon - or risk perishing in the endless void of space.
Review
This was very exciting, particularly when the point of view moves between people. Deliciously tense and with a great atmosphere around it, it did feel a shade too long in spots. Despite that, I really enjoyed the whole thing and would enjoy reading more of this author.
5 Stars to Seeker by Douglas E. Richards
Description
A breathtaking near-future thriller. From the New York Times bestselling author whose books have sold almost three million copies.A small alien spacecraft with extraordinary secrets. And a mad scramble to get to it first.When an interstellar probe lands in the heart of the Amazon Jungle, powerful nations around the world will stop at nothing to retrieve it. Because the unoccupied alien craft is sure to contain revolutionary technology. Technology that will allow the country that controls it to dominate the globe.With the probe hidden within the densest rainforest on Earth, traditional military power is useless. So the US chooses to send in a single operative, a man who's been enhanced to the limits of current technology. He'll be greatly outnumbered, and with so much on the line, not even the closest of allies can be trusted.But the true stakes are higher than anyone could possibly know. Because all is not what it seems.And the alien spacecraft has plans of its own . . .Seeker is a fast-paced, roller-coaster ride of a thriller. One that explores actual human enhancements being worked on today, along with mind-blowing concepts that readers will be pondering long after they've read the last page."Richards is an extraordinary writer," (Dean Koontz) who can "keep you turning the pages all night long." (Douglas Preston)"Richards is a worthy successor to Michael Crichton." (SF Book dot com)For a list of all novels by Douglas E. Richards, please scroll down to the "About the Author" section below.
Review
Wow. I really enjoyed this. obviously I saw that everything was not quite what it seemed with Ella early on, but I didn't quite pin down the exactitude. Also I got chasing after a few red herrings, which was fun. Richards has expanded even more - The Israelis have featured in previous works, whereas those before have been largely American and W.O.T. Islamist extremist, so it was nice to see this widening in scope here. Full of his typical style, twists and technologies, I was hooked after the first 5% of the work and by the halfway point, literally would have stayed awake come what may to finish. Bravo.
2 Stars to Gerald's Game by Stephen King
Description
v uedinennom dome na beregu lesnogo ozera v shtate mjen razygralas tragedija molodaja zhenschina poterjala muzha i ostalas odna prikovannaja k krovati no ee odinochestvo bylo nedolgim vse strahi kotorye ona kogdalibo ispytyvala v zhizni vernulis v odnochase i zapolonili uedinennyj dom mgnovenno prevrativshijsja v zloveschuju kameru pytok
Review
Not really my style, although I can't complain about the style of the writing. The whole inside the mind feel was actually very interesting and I enjoyed her multitude of inner voices, but the work isn't one I'd have chosen to read off my own bat.
May
4 Stars to Neither Here nor There by Mackey Chandler
Description
This is a stand alone story unrelated to any of my other books or shorts. So many scientific discoveries have been serendipity rather than a goal to which someone worked as a logical progression. Instead, it was a spill or a misplaced item. An ingredient measured out in error or from the wrong bottle. Often, a mistake over which someone was bright enough or curious enough to “Oops, but that’s interesting, isn’t it?” Uranium ore left next to photo plates, adhesive that wasn’t as permanent as hoped for, but still usefully tacky, or foreign growths in a Petri dish acting strangely… A major revelation could be a blessing indeed, or if it was big enough to be a life changing development, one might have a tiger by the tail. Wouldn’t that be interesting?
Review
I actually really got into this. It had that slightly fanfic feel about it, but also reminded me a little of EFR's Wasp, which is a great book. Just how much of a pain one man can make of himself with a technological advantage explored well here. Some odd outliers - dudes and a very draconian future USA, but an intriguing story.
3 Stars to Tortoise Reform by Piers Anthony
Description
Rowan is a very lonely ten-year-old girl. Her parents sent her to stay with her aunt and uncle, and she feels rejected by everyone around her. She tends to get into accidental mischief, which causes Rowan's relatives to keep threatening to send her to boarding school. In another dimension, Gopher is a burrowing tortoise. In Gopher's world animals are intelligent and communicate telepathically, while all humans are "dull" and only used as beasts of burden. Gopher and four other friends live together as burrow mates. For their burrow to be officially recognized by the Elders they must find one more for their group. The problem is they are all too young and no one wants to join them to help protect the burrow. One day, while digging a new tunnel, Gopher falls through a sinkhole and discovers a whole new realm. There Gopher meets Rowan and discovers to his horror that in this new world humans can talk, and while they don't know how to use telepathy yet, the fact that they communicate shocks Gopher. What a catastrophe it would be if humans suddenly became intelligent! Becoming friends, Rowan learns to communicate telepathically and vows to help Gopher find his way back home. But her task just got a lot more complicated when Gopher is captured by a tortoise hunter and Rowan discovers that construction will soon begin over the sinkhole leading to Gopher's world. The race is on to rescue Gopher, stop the construction, and get him back home again before someone discovers Gopher's secret.
Review
Vintage piers? Maybe. Odd, one of his whims and that hsows. It's also bloody hard to explain intraspecies telepathy to a seven-year-old.
4 Stars to The Speed of Sound (Speed of Sound Thriller, #1) by Eric Bernt
Description
In this propulsive thriller, one of the most ingenious young men in the world has also become the most dangerous…or has he? Harmony House is more than a “special place for special people.” It’s a think tank where high-functioning autistic savants harness their unique abilities for the benefit of society. Resident Eddie Parks’s contribution is nothing less than an “echo box” that can re-create never-recorded sounds using acoustic archeology. All Eddie wants is to hear his late mother’s voice. But what he’s created is inadvertently posing a threat to national security. To Harmony House’s shadowy government backers and radical extremists, the echo box is the ultimate intelligence asset―an end to the very concept of secrecy. Now for Eddie and the compassionate Dr. Skylar Drummond, the true nature of the institution is becoming chillingly clear. As ruthless competing enemies close in on Eddie and his miraculous machine, Skylar risks all to take him on the run. Because once that prize is won, Eddie Parks will no longer be considered a “special person” but a dangerous redundancy. An inconvenient echo that must be silenced.
Review
I was going to give this a 3 for it's very overdone depiction of a duo of bland powerful organisations locked in conflict over the head of the mundanes - old, old hat. And that prologue. really! But Eddie sold it; his portrayal throughout alongside his drive and energy really worked. SO I'm keen to follow up with Eddie and find out what happens next, and if future works can find something a little more original than the all-seeing high-powered nebulous superpower off the government books, all-the-better. That sort of thing still sells movies (and yes, I could see screenwriting here), but I think the discerning reader wants a little more nowadays.
4 Stars to Bring Her Back by Jeff Strand
Description
Frank knows that he's creepy. There's nothing he can do about it. His creepiness--along with the fact that his father once killed eleven people in an office shooting—has kept him from ever having a girlfriend. When he finally works up the nerve to ask Abigail out on a date, after buying flowers from her every day for the past three months, he's sure she'll say no. Maybe she'll even recoil or spit in his face. But she accepts his invitation. He's sure it must be a cruel prank. It's not. These two kind-hearted but weird souls have found each other, and Frank thinks his life is about to change for the better. But this is not a love story. This is a tale of revenge and madness. From the author of PRESSURE, BLISTER, and SICK HOUSE comes Jeff Strand's darkest novel yet. "BRING HER BACK is like a Jack Ketchum novel packed with dark humor." – Michael McBride, author of SUBHUMAN
Review
Another typical Strand offering, not leaping off the page with excitement but very readable, if occasionally one can't quite put a finger on why.
3 Stars to The Robert Silverberg Science Fiction Megapack by Robert Silverberg
Description
Robert Silverberg needs little introduction to anyone at all familiar with the history of the science fiction field. Fan. Author. Editor. Creative force. He has been an integral part of the field for longer than most of his readers have been alive. Earlier this year, he kindly agreed to put together a MEGAPACK(r) of his short stories, so here, then, is a selection of early works by one of the all-time greats. Included ALAREE BIRDS OF A FEATHER BLAZE OF GLORY DELIVERY GUARANTEED THE DESSICATOR THE HAPPY UNFORTUNATE THE HUNTED HEROES THE IRON STAR THE ISOLATIONISTS THE LONELY ONE THE MAN WHO CAME BACK NEUTRAL PLANET OZYMANDIAS THE PAIN PEDDLERS THE PLEASURE OF THEIR COMPANY POINT OF FOCUS POSTMARK GANYMEDE PRIME COMMANDMENT THE SONGS OF SUMMER SPACEROGUE THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN THE WOMAN YOU WANTED VALLEY BEYOND TIME WE KNOW WHO WE ARE If you enjoy this ebook, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see more of the 300+ volumes in this series, covering adventure, historical fiction, mysteries, westerns, ghost stories, science fiction -- and much, much more![Version 1.3]
Review
Silverberg's an author I've come across often, but not in much depth, so having a good go at this was most enjoyable. Some of the stories were quite good, but I think most of them really suffer for being short stories; you feel that were you able to read more you might get further. I often have that feeling about shorts, so not a critique of Silverberg himself.
5 Stars to Buying Time by Eric Brown
Description
A bold new time-warping direction for a leading light in science fiction. In January 2017, something very strange happens to screenwriter Ed Richie. He wakes up one morning to find that he has been shunted back in time nine months and is now inhabiting the body of his younger self... Worse is to come: the following day he jumps three years, to 2013, with all his memories of the intervening years intact. What is happening to him? Is he going mad? And where will his involuntary time-travel end? Meanwhile, in 2030, journalist Ella Croft is investigating the life of screenwriter and celebrated novelist Ed Richie, who mysteriously vanished in 2025. She interviews friends, acquaintances, and old lovers - and what she discovers will change not only Ed Richie's life, but her own... Buying Time is a time-travel novel like no other. No man is rich enough to buy back his past - unless that man is Ed Richie... From multiple award winning author Eric Brown.
Review
Given the sheer quantity of alcohol these chaps get through, I'm surprised Ed doesn't send himself catapulting off into history four days a week. But it's great to see beer, football and TV soap operas right in there alongside quantum mechanics and shrewd, extrapolated political realities which are bitterly hard to swallow. I haven't read much of Brown before, but this is a work of art. Seminally English at times, the homeliness of the scenes in the pub are juxtaposed brilliantly both with Ed's journey and the disunited kingdom of over a decade hence. The sheer overwhelming pressure of the fifteenth chapter, when we finally see exactly what happened in June 1983, sets us on track for an explosively quiet, reverent low-key ending which leaves one feeling at once enthused for the future and yet languorously torpid with the sense of an ending - the feeling of a story brought to a close with such solemnity and due diligence.
3 Stars to Methuselah's Children by Robert A. Heinlein
Description
After the fall of the American Ayatollahs as foretold in Stranger in a Strange Land and chronicled in Revolt in 2100, the United States of America at last fulfills the promise inherent in its first Revolution: for the first time in human history there is a nation with Liberty and Justice for All. No one may seize or harm the person or property of another, or invade his privacy, or force him to do his bidding. Americans are fiercely proud of their re-won liberties and the blood it cost them: nothing could make them forswear those truths they hold self-evident. Nothing except the promise of immortality...
Review
I have a vague memory of reading this before my Goodreads days, and of course that's quite possible. Heinlein has been on one bookshelf or another for longer than I care to recall, and very deservedly so. This one didn't strike many chords although it was good to see some familiar faces.
3 Stars to Cautionary Tales by Piers Anthony
Description
From fantasy and SF master Piers Anthony, a collection of controversial stories and essays that fearlessly push the boundaries and then shamelessly step over them Readers, beware: The stories, essays, reflections, opinions, and wildly imaginative flights of fancy contained herein may shock, rattle, delight, and surprise you. Piers Anthony—multiple New York Times–bestselling author, much-beloved creator of the popular Xanth universe, and one of the most unabashedly original writers currently operating in the science fiction and fantasy arena—now offers up a one-of-a-kind collection of his most fearless writings, for the pleasure of those unafraid to enter where angels fear to tread. Tackling unusual subjects and challenging social and religious mores, Anthony refuses to be restrained as he explores the strange and the taboo. From the May–December romance of a damaged Romeo and his shockingly young Juliet (though she is no younger than Shakespeare’s) to a woman’s valiant struggle against a grossly aberrant sexual demon, these cautionary tales are not for the faint of heart. They can be troubling, startling, and disturbing, but they are never dull. And readers, be further warned: In the uniquely inventive mind of Piers Anthony, absolutely nothing is sacred—not childhood, marriage, love, religion, sex . . . not even Xanth.
Review
full of that typical Anthony flavour, for some of the stories here I was glad of the warning.
5 Stars to Connect by Julian Gough
Description
'A work of genius' Donal Ryan Nevada; the near future; a family in crisis Biologist and single mother Naomi is worried about the impact her ground-breaking research might have on the world. And of the impact the world might have on her painfully awkward, home-schooled, ever-growing teenage son, Colt. Colt is so brilliant he can code virtual realities our world hasn’t even thought of yet; and so socially inept that he struggles to order takeaway pizza. When Colt secretly sends his mother’s breakthrough research paper to a biotech conference in New York, and the conference is closed down, Naomi’s worst fears come true. Colt’s father crashes back into their lives, backed by the secretive security organisation he heads. The US government wants Naomi’s research . . . and Colt. Colt will soon have to leave the comfort of his virtual reality world, and face the challenge of discovering who he really is. And Naomi will have to decide how far she will go to protect her child. Would she kill a man? Would she destroy the world? From one of the most original voices in Irish writing, Connect by Julian Gough is a thrillingly smart novel of ideas that explores what connection – both human and otherwise – might be in a digital age. It is a story of mothers and sons, but also about you, your phone, and the future.
Review
"‘I’d like to invite you to dinner,’ he says. She laughs. Slides her thumbs into her pockets, rocks back and forth on her heels. ‘You’re sure you’re not busy? It’s kind of the end of the world right now.’" Wow. I really and totally felt 100% engaged with this book, and even though Colt's headspace is very different to that of any of the people that have gone before him in this kind of novel, you can feel enough that it's not a problem. it adds piquancy, and the progression of the story is almost unquantifiably riveting - despite the leaning toward a future we can't quite see, there's enough grounding that you can still assuredly relate. It's one of these books where a description doesn't quite do it justice so I'll stop here. But I was totally in it; coming up for air felt strange and alien.
2 Stars to Recursion (Recursion Event Saga #1) by Brian J. Walton
Description
TIME TRAVEL IS REAL And more dangerous than ever... The Interlopers are after me, my route home is compromised, half my team is missing, and someone is trying to destroy the past. Paris, 1951 - Molly Gardner is an agent for the ISD, a secret government agency policing the time tunnels. The ISD protects the world from Interlopers, illegal travelers who exploit the tunnels for their own needs. Molly has always believed the ISD had ultimate control of the tunnels. But she's wrong. On a routine mission, Molly arrives to find her team scattered and her station burning, destroyed by a Recursion Event. New revelations send Molly on a desperate flight across Europe, pursued by a mysterious Interloper named Phaedrus. Determined to learn the truth, and haunted by a tragedy from her past, Molly must choose between answers and the safety of the few remaining members of her team. But safety may be a lost cause, and discovering the truth will change everything Molly thought she knew about her past, present, and future. Escape through time. Read Recursion Book One of the Recursion Event Saga and begin fighting the Interlopers today... or yesterday. What others are saying about Recursion. "A suspense thriller that starts mid-action and doesn't stop." - Author David Khalaf "Mind-bending... backed up with excellent writing." - Author Philip Harris
Review
Potential, but missing ends of words and whole words in places let this down.
3 Stars to The Garden by Melissa Scott
Description
Desperately in need of vital nutritional supplies, the crew of the USS Voyager must risk dealing with an enigmatic race known as the Kirse, legendary for the bountiful crops of their world – and for their secretive ways. Despite Neelix's warnings, Captain Janeway leads an away team to the Kirse homeworld. But when the hostile Andirrim attack the Kirse, Janeway finds herself caught in a deadly situation. Forced to fight alongside the Kirse, Janeway and her crew can only hope that their strange, new allies are not more dangerous than their common foe.
Review
A novel concept and not a badly-written one, unlike some of the others in the numbered voyager annals
3 Stars to Odd Exam by Piers Anthony
Description
Odd Exam is a novella from Piers Anthony about an unusual college entrance examination. Entrance exams are taken in the form of a multi-player online game in a semi-virtual reality, with portals to other worlds and alien monsters. For those who qualify, board and tuition will be free; can this be serious?
Review
Typical, almost vintage Piers. Too short to really go far, and without any of the real engagement felt by some novels.
3 Stars to Lethal Practice (Dr. Earl Garnet, #1) by Peter Clement
Description
St. Paul's Hospital. Buffalo, New York. Scandal rocks the medical community when someone murders the chief administrator, plunging a long thin cardiac needle into his heart with deadly precision. Top ER physician Earl Garnet is one of the few doctors who knows how to insert a cardiac needle. Now a suspect, Garnet races to uncover the truth, even as he becomes embroiled in a conspiracy far bigger and more sinister than he could ever imagine--a secret that could blow apart the very medical establishment Garnet has sworn to serve.
Review
Some medical books are just written with a viewpoint so far outside my own experience, there's no bridge. This felt like one of those, I couldn't get into Garnet's head very well. So enjoyable enough as a story, but nothing particularly impressive for me.
April
2 Stars to The Creation of Amy by Jason Rockwell
Description
In the tumultuous near future, a scientist working for a government research facility had his life upended while he was at work perfecting cybernetic limbs for amputee veterans. After deep emotional pain and law enforcement being of no help, Doctor Robert Morse avoids ending his life by simply keeping himself busy with creating the first lifelike independently functioning android, Amy, named after the daughter he would have had with his wife. Local New York City criminals learn of this new machine and steal it to grow their drug empire. The scientist, along with his friend Doctor Michael Phillips’ programming experience, build a second android to go after the first. Will Robert get revenge for his wife and child’s murder? Will he find and punish those responsible for Amy’s theft? What will the implications of this new technology on society be?
Review
Plenty of nonsensical, testosterone fueled scientific nonsense, lots of misplaced commas and a lack of empathy throughout made this hard to put up with. Certainly not worth nearly £3.00, I'd rather have paid to have my teeth cleaned.
4 Stars to The Caves of Steel (Robot, #1) by Isaac Asimov
Description
A millennium into the future two advancements have altered the course of human history: the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Isaac Asimov's Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together. Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions. But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to the Outer Worlds to help track down the killer. The relationship between Life and his Spacer superiors, who distrusted all Earthmen, was strained from the start. Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner: R. Daneel Olivaw. Worst of all was that the "R" stood for robot--and his positronic partner was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim!
Review
I've only ever read Asimov's robot short stories, many of which are very very good indeed. So this was interesting, to see the Earth through a different lens to some of those. I do recognise these characters of course, because there was a short story (about a few mathematicians if memory serves), and another which is too vague in the memory to recollect. This is very interesting for its time, and hopefully reading more of these will yield further background to some of the short stories and further fleshed-out detail.
2 Stars to Chrysalis (Star Trek: Voyager, #12) by David Niall Wilson
Description
When the sensors of the USS Voyager detect abundant plant life on an unexplored planet, Captain Janeway leads an away team in search of fresh food supplies. They find lavish gardens inhabited by an enigmatic alien race that holds the gardens sacred. The fragrent blossoms are beautiful, enticing – and far more dangerous than they appear. One by one, the away team begins to fall into deep comas from which they cannot be revived. Unwilling to spread the affliction to Voyager, the away team is trapped on the planet until a cure can be found, but their investigation is perceived as desecration by the devout worshipers of the gardens. Pursued by a fanatical mob, slowly succumbing to the insidious effect of the blossoms, Janeway faces either a violent death – or an endless sleep.
Review
Voyager novels, especially those going off the Bible, have had some grammar issues. But this, penned by an otherwise successful writer, seems disproportionately awful. I probably should have stopped to find specific issue, but it was just yucky.
4 Stars to Reset by Brian Andrews
Description
From the Wall Street Journal bestselling coauthor of the Tier One series comes a page-turning sci-fi thriller about the ultimate the human mind. Deep in the Afghan mountains, Sergeant Michael Pitcher discovers an object with powers that defy explanation. After interacting with it, he suffers a traumatic seizure and is flown home for evaluation. Cleared by the doctors, Michael goes home to his relieved wife, Josie. But he’s a changed man. The once-loving husband is now coldly withdrawn. After emptying the couple’s bank account, he disappears into the night. When a team of scientists connected to Sergeant Pitcher vanishes without a trace, CIA agent Dean Ninemeyer comes to him for insight—only to find that the recovering soldier has also disappeared. Dean and Josie must now join forces in a desperate race against time, searching for answers in an ever-twisting mystery. What they uncover is a chilling conspiracy that already has the fate of the world in its grip.
Review
This has been on my to-read list for a while, so I was happy to have it on day of release! it's an exciting, edge-of-the-seat military-style affair, where the end of the world is coming in style. Not very original in terms of characters or method, the final section of the work does manage to stray into some new and exciting territory. It's a very well done story with enough familiar tropes to promise excitement, delivered well.
5 Stars to Countdown (Reality Benders, #1) by Michael Atamanov
Description
At long last, an extraterrestrial civilization reached out and made the First Contact. However, no one on Earth took their communique for the genuine article. In a similar vein, very few people appreciated just how little time our new suzerains had promised to keep our planet safe. Regardless, the end of their message showed humankind how to access a mysterious game. The objective of this game is unclear. No one can say where its servers are located, and its inner workings are beyond comprehension. But the game slowly gained momentum, pulling in more and more players. Soon enough, it became impossible to ignore the fact that things that happened in the game had a direct impact on our reality. And not only ours... But as people figure out this mysterious game, the countdown timer ticks away. And no one can say exactly what will happen when Earth’s safety is no longer guaranteed.
Review
On balance, this really doesn't deserve 5 stars. But I couldn't put it down, I was totally engaged throughout. I always find something to chuckle at in translated works, not out of any sense of meanness, but simply because of the sheer diversity of the English language. I'm really hoping that the mental capabilities of our hero don't become a crutch in future works, and I'm also well aware that Litrpg series tend to go downhill and become worryingly and rapidly predictable. SO I don't honestly know how I'll feel on future ones. But this was a bit different to others I've read, and I enjoyed myself start to finish, in the same way I would an over-the-top action movie.
5 Stars to Gravity by Tess Gerritsen
Description
Emma Watson a research physician has been training for the mission of a lifetime: to study living organisms in the microgravity of space. But the true and lethal nature of the experiment has not been revealed to NASA and once aboard the space station things start to go wrong. A culture of single-celled Archaeons, gathered from the deep sea, begin to rapidly multiply and infect the crew - with deadly and agonising results. As her estranged husband and ground crew at NASA work against the clock to launch a rescue Emma stuggles to contain the lethal microbe. But with the contagion threatening Earth's population, there are those who would leave the astronauts stranded in orbit, quarantined aboard the station.
Review
Oh, yes. This was fab. I can really imagine this as a properly gripping Netflix Original with a great score and huge potential. In outline, the story isn't anything unique, but the way it all fits together, the rightness and coordination of each character and plot point and the sheer audacity of the novel's climax makes it a superb, un-putdownable thrill ride all the way through. Proper 5 star space fiction and no mistake
5 Stars to Assassin's Fate (The Fitz and the Fool, #3) by Robin Hobb
Description
More than twenty years ago, the first epic fantasy novel featuring FitzChivalry Farseer and his mysterious, often maddening friend the Fool struck like a bolt of brilliant lightning. Now New York Times bestselling author Robin Hobb brings to a momentous close the third trilogy featuring these beloved characters in a novel of unsurpassed artistry that is sure to endure as one of the great masterworks of the genre. Fitz’s young daughter, Bee, has been kidnapped by the Servants, a secret society whose members not only dream of possible futures but use their prophecies to add to their wealth and influence. Bee plays a crucial part in these dreams—but just what part remains uncertain. As Bee is dragged by her sadistic captors across half the world, Fitz and the Fool, believing her dead, embark on a mission of revenge that will take them to the distant island where the Servants reside—a place the Fool once called home and later called prison. It was a hell the Fool escaped, maimed and blinded, swearing never to return. For all his injuries, however, the Fool is not as helpless as he seems. He is a dreamer too, able to shape the future. And though Fitz is no longer the peerless assassin of his youth, he remains a man to be reckoned with—deadly with blades and poison, and adept in Farseer magic. And their goal is simple: to make sure not a single Servant survives their scourge.
Review
"A small pleasure can be a great comfort when one travels"… I started reading Fitz's story before I had my daughter, which feels like a lifetime ago. Those few days in the blazing weather when I devoured the first trilogy of stories are imprinted upon my mind as a happier, quieter, relaxing time. "So many things we have never spoken about. So many things that shame me less if I am the only one who knows them." The tension here is evident, and although it took me almost half the book to really sink in and be a part of the flow once again, it was very much worthwhile. Many, many scenes were just so on-point, so absorbing and unavoidably poignant that I can't decide if I wanted the book to be longer to enjoy the words or shorter to see what happened next. Chapter 19 was quite breathtaking, but the story as a whole had many highs. I don't think anyone would pick this up as n introduction to the characters, there's so much you already need to know, and even I, having read the other Fitz books but not the Liveship series, felt that there were many strands I was missing. The ending, too, was quite solemn, almost inevitably anticlimactic, and yet I can't take points away because the story overall was so ... nice? Nice isn't the right word. It was grim, in places, hardly nice. and entertaining seems too frivolous, and enjoyable too shallow and nondescript. I suppose the best way of putting it is that this book closed things off. Characters, story lines, plot points, they come to a gentle resting place here, and so the word I'm really looking for is satisfying.
3 Stars to The Tabernacle of Legion by Kevin Schillo
Description
In the midst of a golden era of space travel, an alien artifact is discovered in the asteroid belt. The artifact seems to defy fundamental laws of physics, and it is at least three billion years old. In an attempt to learn more about the artifact, NASA launches the most advanced spacecraft ever built, crewed by the most qualified men and women in the astronaut corps. But they are not alone in their endeavor. A being from the dawn of human history with a mysterious connection to the enigmatic aliens has been awakened and he will stop at nothing to reach the artifact and claim its power for himself. And what they discover will be greater than anything they could have imagined.
Review
A few jarring notes in the writing here serve to lose something of the thrill of the story. A lot of gratuitous swearing, especially out of the mouths of characters who are otherwise very well-spoken and almost Spock-like was somewhat irritating. We also had a few instances where something mentioned in dialogue had also appeared previously in the form of narrative, or vice-versa - such as the analogy of the wall, which appears in speech and narrative both but in unrelated contexts. Sisyphun was used far too often, and 21 uses of the word fucking is probably about 15 too many for a book this size, especially one where there are very few bad actors in Humanity and they're mostly depicted as the Roddenberry-style Eutopic society. So, all that aside, it was an engaging idea. We've had plenty of secret aliens in the fold stories here before on my review feed, but this was told with energy and verve, leaving plenty for future installments. Our characters are diverse in mind and body, and Shillo's shown he can pull a trick out of his hat toward the end of a story to keep the blood pumping to the very last page.
4 Stars to Sunset (Nightlord #1) by Garon Whited
Description
Sunset brought a hangover, a beautiful woman, and the thirst for... blood? Eric didn't ask to be a vampire. In fact, he didn't even believe in them. Then he meets a beautiful woman, wakes up with a hangover, and bites his tongue with his own fangs. Which pretty much settles the question. Now he's trying to hold down his day job while learning the rules of the Undead -- the most important being that bloodthirsty urges and predatory instincts are a real bitch. Upside; Eric has the beautiful Sasha to teach him the ropes, including the magic he'll need to survive. Downside; it turns out being a vampire is the least of his problems. When Sasha is killed, Eric is thrust into an alternate world in his quest to avenge her death. There he becomes a Nightlord, fights a dragon with the help of his magical steed, Bronze, and upchucks a sword named Firebrand. But things get really interesting when Eric finally finds Tobias, head of the Church of Light. Soon Eric finds himself at the center of an epic battle at the literal edge of the world in a fight to keep a terrible darkness at bay. "When you fall off the Edge of the World into hordes of demonic 'Things from the Outer Darkness,' you really start to wonder about your life choices." --Eric, part-time undead, expectant father, and short-term astronaut.
Review
As a rule, vampire stories are not my thing - the only ones, Dracula aside, that I could name with any certitude are Darren Shan and Edward Cullen. Although the narrative here isn't anything like the standard of Kvothe or even Fitz Farseer, it is still alluringly intriguing. I found myself thinking I really aught to find something a bit more diverting, yet still compelled to carry on and see what happened. There was something of James Galloway about the writing style, a sense that, even if the words are constructed coarsely, they may yet lead somewhere. So did I enjoy it? Yes. In spite of myself, I did. The ending was a bit of a disappointment, inasmuch as knowing there's more to read upfront renders the peril that less significant. There's also a serious problem with thermodynamics and a worrying trend for women to be rather badly treated should they take an interest in our vampiric hero. Nonetheless, even with my interest in vampire stories moribund, I enjoyed this and will, worryingly and guiltily, pick up the next one at some point.
3 Stars to Flight 39 by Phillip P. Peterson
Description
For a top-secret research project, airline pilot Christoph Wilder is recruited to fly an A380 equipped with a time machine. But on the maiden voyage, activists hijack the plane and force Christoph to take them back to 1939. Their goal: to kill Adolf Hitler! But the price to pay for averting the Second World War exceeds Christoph's worst nightmares. He has to decide whether to save the dictator's life in order to prevent the downfall of humanity in the present day.
Review
Meritorious enough in and of itself, seeing the world of time travel through a pilot's eyes, rather than a scientist, has nonetheless been done before of course. Still, it wasn't overlong, and I did find myself wanting to read to the last page.
5 Stars to One Way by S.J. Morden
Description
EIGHT ASTRONAUTS. ONE KILLER. NO WAY HOME. ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK meets Andy Weir's THE MARTIAN 'A rip-roaring thriller of a book that hits the ground running and doesn't stop until the final chapter' John Marrs, author of the bestselling/Radio 2 Book Club choice THE ONE 'S. J. Morden's Agatha-Christie-in-space thriller accelerates to warp speed and becomes an engrossing whodunnit' Financial Times There's a murderer amongst them, and everyone's a suspect . . . Frank Kittridge is serving life for murdering his son's drug dealer, so when he's offered a deal by Xenosystems Operations - the corporation that owns the prison - he takes it. He's been selected to help build the first permanent base on Mars. Unfortunately, his crewmates are just as guilty of their crimes as he is. As the convicts set to work on the frozen wastes of Mars, the accidents multiply. Until Frank begins to suspect they might not be accidents at all . . . 'A tense and claustrophobic murder-mystery-on-Mars' James Swallow, Sunday Times bestselling author of NOMAD 'ONE WAY is what would happen if the crime and sci-fi genres got together and had a baby. Deeply immersive, chilling and atmospheric. An utterly fabulous book!' Emma Kavanagh, bestselling author of FALLING and HIDDEN 'A cracking read. A compelling vision of the near future inhabited by well motivated characters. It's a thrilling tale that grabs you and whips along to the very last breathless page' Adam Hamdy, author of PENDULUM 'Twisty and gripping' Financial TimesAuthor BiographyDr S. J. Morden has won the Philip K. Dick Award and been a judge on the Arthur C. Clarke Award. He is a bona fide rocket scientist with degrees in Geology and Planetary Geophysics. ONE WAY is the perfect fusion of his incredible breadth of knowledge and ability to write award-winning, razor-sharp science fiction. - One Way By S.j. Morden (Paperback)
Review
“He was guessing that level was mainly for storage. It wasn’t supposed to be a hotel, but there was a damn sight more room than a prison. Which it both was, and wasn’t.” The concept of this book meant I was very much looking forward to it weeks before release. The opening chapter is so gripping, that you really can’t but help want to carry on. Frank’s a very interesting character – a prisoner, but not apologetically so, a thinker, but not to the detriment of him getting on with things, and a doer, but not unless he doesn’t see an alternative. Being inside his head for a few, glorious hours was … an intense experience. The sheer scale of the horrors to come are revealed to us gradually, and of course we can see where things are going long before poor Frank can. That did sadden me some; I had wanted to be totally in his story, and so although having the memos and diary entries running parallel did present a totally creeped-out and chilling counterpoint to the action, I think Morden’s skill as a vignetter needs a little polishing for it to sit entirely satisfyingly in my stomach. The atmosphere, especially on Mars, was great. The first half of the book was fabulous too, but you really get a feel for the setting without losing pace of the story when we jump cut to the red planet. I could almost hear Franks breathing inside his helmet as I read, and even though a lot of that comes from other books set on Mars and film adaptations, this was a very originally-told story with dexterity and Humanity both. Very much worth my time and money, I will read more of Morden any time.
5 Stars to All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai
Description
You know the future that people in the 1950s imagined we'd have? Well, it happened. In Tom Barren's 2016, humanity thrives in a techno-utopian paradise of flying cars, moving sidewalks, and moon bases, where avocados never go bad and punk rock never existed . . . because it wasn't necessary. Except Tom just can't seem to find his place in this dazzling, idealistic world, and that's before his life gets turned upside down. Utterly blindsided by an accident of fate, Tom makes a rash decision that drastically changes not only his own life but the very fabric of the universe itself. In a time-travel mishap, Tom finds himself stranded in our 2016, what we think of as the real world. For Tom, our normal reality seems like a dystopian wasteland. But when he discovers wonderfully unexpected versions of his family, his career, and—maybe, just maybe—his soul mate, Tom has a decision to make. Does he fix the flow of history, bringing his utopian universe back into existence, or does he try to forge a new life in our messy, unpredictable reality? Tom’s search for the answer takes him across countries, continents, and timelines in a quest to figure out, finally, who he really is and what his future—our future—is supposed to be.
Review
Wow. This is seriously starworthy, and no mistake. True, Tom feels younger than someone writing in his thirties, but then is that because depictions of people in that age bracket are somewhat hard to find in this sort of genre? The story itself is another one of those hard to pin down things, it’s remarkably gripping, and although I knew after only 4 minutes in I’d enjoy it, the reasons for that changed throughout. To start with, it was the compelling nature of the future he described, but then I got tangled up with the actual mechanics: of another but a different you, of the person you slept with being from the same parents but conceived differently, of piling time travel atop time travel and world on world. There’s no denying that this isn’t a book you can outline well without properly savouring it first, but I can’t even do that because it was just a joy to read. I owe a debt of gratitude to Chris for finding it.
4 Stars to The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Description
In this pulse-quickening novel, Alfred Bester imagines a future in which people "jaunte" a thousand miles with a single thought, where the rich barricade themselves in labyrinths and protect themselves with radioactive hitmen—and where an inarticulate outcast is the most valuable and dangerous man alive. The Stars My Destination is a classic of technological prophecy and timeless narrative enchantment by an acknowledged master of science fiction.
Review
The introduction was interesting, and of course this is a true classic of its era. I don't know how much I enjoyed this for the period as for the science, but I certainly did both.
3 Stars to The Lightning Stenography Device by M.F. Sullivan
Description
The first marketable thought to text device is released for public consumption in 2031. That same year, author Cassius Wagner will have a seizure. At least, that is what the novel says: the novel to which he awakens in fragments one morning after a late night of writing. This novel. Terrified to have a prophetic manuscript unfurling at his heels, his desperation to evade his fate prevents him from considering that his lover and editrix, Katherine Beauvoir, might be wrestling with a destiny of her own. Told in four psychedelic parts which peak with the fable of a sublingual Huntress as she fights to save her King, THE LIGHTNING STENOGRAPHY DEVICE blurs the speculative fiction and fantasy genres to explore the fabric of literature, and the boundaries of reality.
Review
Right up to Felicity I was very much enjoying myself. I clearly lack the cerebral capacity to appreciate the ending of this novel, unfortunately.
3 Stars to Out Of Time by James P. Hogan
Description
Joe Kopeksky consults with physicists, psychics, and priests in his desperate attempt to discover why time has gone awry all over New York City. By the author of The Proteus Operation.
Review
not much to say about this - nothing special, and too short to go faar. Light and fun with little substance.
4 Stars to Unit 731 by Craig Saunders
Description
Luke Benson is a troubled young man obsessed with the history of Imperial Japan's Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department, later known as “Unit 731,” a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development department that undertook lethal human experimentation. But is it a veil to mask his more sinister passions? Reggie and Luke's sole-surviving family members are about to find out. When bad memories surface and deeds long forgotten come to light, Luke's obsession will shake their family to its core. The family's only hope is to face the evil within themselves...only then might the good that men do shine from the darkness.
Review
Full of psychopaths, this was dark and yet compelling, too. I don't know as I can say I enjoyed it as much as some other horrors, but it certainly made me think about family, and love, and the way in which minds can be twisted.
5 Stars to Bandwidth (Analog #1) by Eliot Peper
Description
“A future we can all recognize—and one that we should all be genuinely afraid of.” —Ars Technica on Cumulus A rising star at a preeminent political lobbying firm, Dag Calhoun represents the world’s most powerful technology and energy executives. But when a close brush with death reveals that the influence he wields makes him a target, impossible cracks appear in his perfect, richly appointed life. Like everyone else, Dag relies on his digital feed for everything—a feed that is as personal as it is pervasive, and may not be as private as it seems. As he struggles to make sense of the dark forces closing in on him, he discovers that activists are hijacking the feed to manipulate markets and governments. Going public would destroy everything he’s worked so hard to build, but it’s not just Dag’s life on the line—a shadow war is coming, one that will secure humanity’s future or doom the planet to climate catastrophe. Ultimately, Dag must decide the price he’s willing to pay to change the world.
Review
I haven't read a Peper since last august, and if truth be known I haven't read a new book in over 3 weeks. I don't get reading drought very often, but it's frustrating when I do. I was encouraged to pick this up because it's not generally available yet, and so providing an early review may encourage people to buy it when it officially comes out at the beginning of May. Normally, when I read any sort of thriller or detective story, I'm not one to stop and think. Either I get a burst of adrenaline because my instincts were proved right and I saw something coming, or I'm convinced I'm a blind idiot who couldn't pin a murderer with gunpowder on his fingers. Rarely do I stop to consider, because I'm too selfish to want the story to unfold. In Bandwidth, though, I was almost prescient: when Dag hides his kayak, observes Kim at breakfast, asks for paper in Analog and when Emmanuel gets the jump on him at the market I was able to see, almost as if I had read it a long, long time ago, what was to come next. I had that thrill of being proved mentally correct time and time again, and that helped ensure a huge sense of satisfaction whilst reading. I read a little yesterday evening, paused to watch half an hour of something with the little one before putting her to bed, another chapter before I, too, retired. But I was awake, before 5 in the morning, the cold, pre-dawn light little comfort. I sat up in bed, gorging myself on this crazily addictive story - and it was there, the cold April air freezing my shoulders and upper body, that I read Chapter 33. I couldn't put it down after that; and the sun and birds were well up before I closed the book with a profound sense of "more, please!" Of course, we need more in both directions now, please, mr. Peper. We need to go forward, of course, we need to know the impact of what's happened here, but we also need to go back and see precisely how the feed came to be. What you've painted here is serious and heavy - also "very noir", of course - and I can almost guarantee I'll read it again before the year is out to get more shades of meaning, see the deeper nuances. But even having done that, I do think there's scope to go back, to fill in back story of the technology, the sociology and psychology of a recession-torn world falling into something like the feed. You have, as the poet says, miles to go before you sleep with this one, and I hope you can continue to flush out the world and fill in the detail in many such exquisite novels to come. I'll be pre-ordering anything as soon as it becomes available.
March
4 Stars to Need to Know by Karen Cleveland
Description
In pursuit of a Russian sleeper cell on American soil, a CIA analyst uncovers a dangerous secret that will test her loyalty to the agency—and to her family. What do you do when everything you trust might be a lie? Vivian Miller is a dedicated CIA counterintelligence analyst assigned to uncover the leaders of Russian sleeper cells in the United States. On track for a much-needed promotion, she’s developed a system for identifying Russian agents, seemingly normal people living in plain sight. After accessing the computer of a potential Russian operative, Vivian stumbles on a secret dossier of deep-cover agents within America’s borders. A few clicks later, everything that matters to her—her job, her husband, even her four children—are threatened. Vivian has vowed to defend her country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. But now she’s facing impossible choices. Torn between loyalty and betrayal, allegiance and treason, love and suspicion, who can she trust?
Review
You of course have to suspend your disbelief, almost to Mr. and Mrs. Smith levels, but this was actually quite exciting. it reminded me of a very watered-down version of the red sparrow books, for an audience who doesn't want the whole Russian Politics and backroom angles. Quite enjoyed, will read more.
4 Stars to The Perfect Generation by C.P. James
Description
Dr. Brent Geller’s family history of disease drives him to correct the human genetic code. His in-vitro treatment to prevent genetic disorders wins the $1 billion Merriweather Prize, and the Cure is born. The millions who receive the free treatment are called the Perfect Generation. But years later, Geller learns his outsized ambitions have come at a terrible price. America confronts a harsh new reality while its sons and daughters search for meaning—and answers. A beloved band plays its final encore. The First Daughter disappears. When the Perfect Generation’s oldest member draws Geller out of exile, he must finally face the hubris, secrets, and lies that changed our way of life forever. Alternate cover edition for ASIN B07B45F8JL
Review
Poignant and powerful, this is a very interesting story of medical intervention, unintended consequences and an almost too vivid portrayal of living life to the fullest.
3 Stars to Zero Limit by Jeremy K. Brown
Description
Artemis meets Gravity in this gripping, adrenaline-fueled ride. For war hero Caitlin Taggart, mining work on the Moon is dirty, low pay, and high risk. But no risk seems too extreme if it helps her return to Earth and the daughter she loves more than life itself. Offered a dangerous, long-shot chance to realize that dream, Caitlin will gamble with more than just her life. By leading a ragtag crew of miners on a perilous assignment to harvest an asteroid, Caitlin could earn a small fortune. More importantly, it would give her clearance to return to Earth. But when an unexpected disaster strikes the mission, Caitlin is plunged into a race to save not only herself, but every human being on Earth.
Review
An almost Artemisian "bitter moon" story with credible heroics and style. A few niggles, but enjoyable enough that if I saw something else I might give it a try.
2 Stars to Turing Test (AI Diaries #1) by E.M. Foner
Description
Imagine alien AI Observers have infiltrated Earth to evaluate humanity. Imagine the Observers are more human than we are. Mark Ai goes to work every day as a PC repairman, but fixing computers is just a cover job. Along with his mission managing the observation team, he's attempting to fill in as a parent for a teenage neighbor, provide a good home for a dog, and pick up a little money on the side. It's a juggling act that understandably leads to breaking a few rules, but things really start spinning out of control when competing aliens arrive.
Review
I found this neither particularly amusing or interesting, and I'm glad I didn't know Foner was responsible for Union station or I wouldn't even have picked this up because I'm just sick of seeing them on Amazon. Even without knowing about any of that this was fairly droll to me, so not anything to write home about.
2 Stars to Pending by Clint Gleason
Description
Trent doesn't know what year it is. They won't tell him. Questions will result in more time added to his work commitment. He's obedient, and an effective employee, but his frustration is unbearable. He feels different from everyone else, but in unique ways he can’t explain. Since socializing is discouraged, the only consistent way to express his feelings is through a journal. At least they allow him that. As he grows older he gets bolder and eventually learns secrets they don’t want him to know, ones that make him realize how valuable he is to them, how much power he possesses, and how afraid of him they truly are. * Available in SCAREPLANE AND OTHER CHILLING TALES OF TERROR!
Review
I came away deflated. Whether this was part of a larger corpus I don't know, but standing by itself it's hard to take it to heart.
4 Stars to Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
Description
Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. She tells police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil; her division is called the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons—"Bad Monkeys" for short. This confession earns Jane a trip to the jail's psychiatric wing, where a doctor attempts to determine whether she is lying, crazy—or playing a different game altogether. What follows is one of the most clever and gripping novels you'll ever read.
Review
Well, oddball superhero/covert op is a bit of a nontypical pastiche, but it works really well here. The back and forth interview-style technique is as well done here as anywhere else I've come across it, and the divide between normal Humanity and the theatre of operations here, whilst strong, is somehow not a stumbling block to a gritty, engaging and strangely compelling tale.
3 Stars to Fly Trap (Metal Maiden Book 3) by Piers Anthony
Description
The Metal Maiden Series is a wildly different kind of story that tells how Elasa, a humanoid robot who achieves consciousness, eventually saves the world from surpassing horror Elasa the robot’s friend Mona exchanges to the colony planet to occupy the body of a woman five months pregnant. Even so, she gets more than she bargained for, as she works with a precognitive lamb.
Review
I think I'm reading these a little out of order, but good to see the man's powers are still strong and potent.
5 Stars to The Unincorporated Future (Unincorporated Man, #4) by Dani Kollin
Description
Sandra O'Toole is the president of the Outer Alliance, which stretches from the asteroid belt to the Oort Cloud beyond Pluto. Resurrected following the death of Justin Cord, the unincorporated man, O'Toole has become a powerful political figure and a Machiavellian leader determined to win the Civil War against the inner planets at almost any cost. And the war has been going badly, in part because of the great General Trang, a fit opponent for the brilliant J. D. Black. Choices have to be made to abandon some of the moral principles upon which the revolution was founded. It is a time of great heroism and great betrayal, madness, sacrifice, and shocking military conflict. Nothing is predictable, even the behavior of artificial intelligences. There may be only one way out, but it is not surrender.
Review
Not an ending I was expecting, and a lot of death, distruction and sadness in this volume. But of course it works, and I am very pleased to have found more volumes in this most intriguing and different of seriess.
5 Stars to The Unincorporated Woman (Unincorporated Man, #3) by Dani Kollin
Description
There's a civil war in space and the unincorporated woman is enlisted! The epic continues. The award-winning saga of a revolutionary future takes a new turn. Justin Cord, the unincorporated man, is dead, betrayed, and his legacy of rebellion and individual freedom is in danger. General Black is the great hope of the military, but she cannot wage war from behind the President's desk. So there must be a new president, anointed by Black, to hold the desk job, and who better than the only woman resurrected from Justin Cord's past era, the scientist who created his resurrection device, the only born unincorporated woman. The perfect figurehead. Except that she has ideas of her own, and secrets of her own, and the talent to run the government her way. She is a force that no one anticipated, and no one can control. The first novel in this thought-provoking series, "The Unincorporated Man," won the 2009 Prometheus Award for best novel.
Review
Bit of a shame about Justin, but actually this was another brilliant continuation. The war is just written so well and the combat and tricks of the admirals so enjoyable throughout, any small shortcomings are overwhelmed by fun tactical situations.
February
5 Stars to The Unincorporated War (Unincorporated Man, #2) by Dani Kollin
Description
The Kollin brothers introduced their future world, and central character Justin Cord, in The Unincorporated Man. Justin created a revolution in that book, and is now exiled from Earth to the outer planets, where he is an heroic figure. The corporate society which is headquartered on Earth and rules Venus, Mars, and the Orbital colonies, wants to destroy Justin and reclaim hegemony over the rebellious outer planets. The first interplanetary civil war begins as the military fleet of Earth attacks. Filled with battles, betrayals, and triumphs, The Unincorporated War is a full-scale space opera that catapults the focus of the earlier novel up and out into the solar system. Justin remains both a logical and passionate fighter for the principles that motivate him, and remains the most dangerous man alive.
Review
Yessiree... Woooow. What an epic continuance. Of course I've just had to reread book 1 directly before this, because keeping up with what's happened with almost 5 years of other books in between is impossible. But what a breathtaking follow-on, with the end absolutely and undeniably un-put-downable, and the epilogues just pouring salt onto the wounds. If the first book is a little narrow in scope for your tastes, book 2 will cure you of that.
5 Stars to The World Awakening (Gateways to Alissia Book 3) by Dan Koboldt
Description
"The World Awakening is a great conclusion to what is a very readable and highly enjoyable series. Characters that are more than the sum of their parts, a world that has so much to offer, and a story that races along apace – the Gateways to Alissia books have it all." -- SFFworld Quinn Bradley has learned to use the magic of another world. And that world is in danger. Having decided to betray CASE Global, he can finally reveal his origins to the Enclave and warn them about the company’s imminent invasion. Even if it means alienating Jillaine…and allying with someone he’s always considered his adversary. But war makes for strange bedfellows, and uniting Alissians against such a powerful enemy will require ancient enmities—as well as more recent antagonisms—to be set aside. The future of their pristine world depends on it. As Quinn searches for a way to turn the tide, his former CASE Global squad-mates face difficult decisions of their own. For some, it’s a matter of what they’re willing to do to get home. For others, it’s deciding whether they want to go home at all. Continuing the exciting adventures from The Rogue Retrieval and The Island Deception, The World Awakening is the spellbinding conclusion to the Gateways to Alissia fantasy series from Dan Koboldt.
Review
A perfectly-ended series, Dan's managed to tidy everything up without losing any pacing. A cracking series from start to finish, with enough new to make it feel original and fresh. Highly recommended.
4 Stars to Level Up (One Up #1) by Craig Anderson
Description
Virtual is Reality. What would the world be like if video game rules suddenly applied? Marcus is about to find out. After a freak accident he finds himself stuck between a game and the real world. He’ll need to fight his way through football hooligans, carnies and the dreaded RNG to get to the final boss and save the world. Anything less means it’s game over for good. Along the way he’ll learn new skills, chase epic loot and most importantly of all, Level Up! If you love light LitRPG you’ll be sure to enjoy this humourous take on the genre. Grab your copy now!
Review
A humourous take on an honestly well overdone genre, this was light and refreshing and funny. Very much enjoyed!
3 Stars to The Unknown by Angel Wedge
Description
People have been dreaming of going to Mars since the invention of the first rocket. It's nearly a century since men walked on the moon, and humanity is finally ready for their next great adventure. But time, distance, and fuel constraints mean that this will be a one-way mission. As far as space exploration goes, we're putting all our eggs in one basket. The crew numbers hundreds, in the hope that there will be enough to stop the expedition succumbing to cabin fever, and every one of them is a world-class expert in some scientific discipline. But what kind of people would give up everything else in their lives, just to be the first to set foot on another world? And how will they react when they find out they weren't the first?
Review
An exciting Mars story, not a great deal of action to remember, but certainly an interesting enough idea to make a novella this size worth reading.
3 Stars to Nightfall by Isaac Asimov
Description
In 1941, Astounding Science Fiction magazine published a short story by a little-known writer named Isaac Asimov. The story was called "Nightfall", and many years later it has long been recognized as a classic, its author a legend. Now, the Grand Master of Science Fiction teams with Robert Silverberg, one of the field's top award-winning authors, to explore and expand an apocalyptic tale that is more spellbinding today than ever before -- Nightfall: The Novel. Imagine living on a planet with six suns that never experiences darkness. Imagine never having seen the stars. Then, one by one the suns start to set, gradually leading into darkness for the first time ever. Kalgash is a world on the edge of chaos, torn between the madness of religious fanaticism and the unyielding rationalism of scientists. Lurking beneath it all is a collective, instinctual fear of the Darkness. For Kalgash knows only the perpetual light of day; to its inhabitants, a gathering twilight portends unspeakable horror. And only a handful of people on the planet are prepared to face the truth, their six suns are setting all at once for the first time in over two thousand years, signaling the end of civilization as it explodes in the awesome splendor of Nightfall. Encompassing the psychology of disaster, the tenacity of the human spirit, and, ultimately, the regenerative power of hope, Nightfall is a tale rich in character and suspense that only the unique collaboration of Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg could create.
Review
An interesting theory here, but I preferred the short story version which actually got to the point a little quicker.
4 Stars to Identity Theft and Other Stories by Robert J. Sawyer
Description
Discover the dark secret of the only priest on Mars, revisit H.G. Wells's Morlocks, and learn what really happens when aliens beam us the Encyclopedia Galactica. Contents 9 • Intro (2008) essay 13 • Identity Theft • (2005) novella 79 • Come All Ye Faithful (2003) 95 • Immortality (2003) 105 • Shed Skin (2002) 127 • The Stanley Cup Caper (2003) 131 • On the Surface • [H. G. Wells' Time Machine Universe]• (2003) 143 • The Eagle Has Landed (2005) 151 • Mikeys (2004) 165 • The Good Doctor (1989) 167 • Ineluctable (2002) • novelette 205 • Kata Bindu (2004) 219 • Driving a Bargain (2002) 235 • Flashes (2006) 251 • Relativity (2003) 261 • Biding Time (2006) 279 • E-Mails from the Future (2008)
Review
Interesting, to read some of Sawyer's early short stories. His writing has certainly changed over the years, but this was a refreshing and exciting set of stories, even if I'd read some of them in other places.
3 Stars to Sick House by Jeff Strand
Description
It's a home invasion from beyond the grave in this novel of unrelenting terror from the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of PRESSURE, DWELLER, and WOLF HUNT. It doesn't seem like the perfect house, but screw it, it's good enough to rent for a year. Unfortunately for Boyd, Adeline, and their two young daughters, it's immediately clear that they chose the wrong place. The nightmare begins with violent coughs and headaches. Food starts to rot almost as soon as they take it inside. A pet tarantula goes missing. Some family members begin to exhibit creepy behavior. Then the ghosts arrive, and all Hell breaks loose...
Review
Lots of guts and blood and bones as you'd expect, still with that flavour of Humanity, you do come to care about Strand's characters. Not my favourite, but glad to see these novels continuing to appear.
3 Stars to Replicate: Beneath the Steel City: Book 2 by Ben Lovejoy
Description
In London 2184, the government monitors every move its citizens make, logs every action, notes every visit, supervises every communication, penalises the slightest transgression with all the warmth and sympathy of a hungry piranha. Computer tech David Lafferty has grown tired of living beneath the crushing weight of a billion petty rules, and decided it was time to create his own rules in an underground life beneath the steel city. Aided by Saira, a Self-propelled Artificially Intelligent Robot Assistant, and a small circuit board stolen from the government, his adventures continue in the second book in the Beneath the Steel City series. In book 2, he learns what his unknown adversary wants from to carry out a mission that is utterly impossible ...
Review
A touch more substantial and we get another scarily confident cleverhead too, although alcohol seems to be the order of the day. Quick, not bad reads these.
3 Stars to 2184: Beneath the Steel City: Book 1 by Ben Lovejoy
Description
In London 2184, the government monitors every move its citizens make, logs every action, notes every visit, supervises every communication, penalises the slightest transgression with all the warmth and sympathy of a hungry piranha. Computer tech David Lafferty has grown tired of living beneath the crushing weight of a billion petty rules, and decided it was time to create his own rules in an underground life beneath the steel city. Aided by Saira, a Self-propelled Artificially Intelligent Robot Assistant, and a small circuit board stolen from the government, all is going well until an unknown adversary appears to have learned his every secret …
Review
Good to see old slippery Jim's influence still ringing bells. Enjoyable enough for a light diversion, but I can't see that there was nearly enough to dig ones teeth into! Let's hope we get a full novel out of this some day.
3 Stars to Evan by Lindsey Tanner
Description
When a shapeshifting alien ambassador knocks on the door of the local embassy, it sparks the adventure of a lifetime. Alicia Derrick, astronomer and part-time linguist, is chosen to be the first to communicate with the alien. Only one it doesn't speak any known language. When Alicia learns that the alien's friends are headed their way, can she stop the invasion, or will it be the end of Earth?
Review
only one real clanger - during their time on the run they wait until they can't be heard, but they sign rather than talk. So that sort of makes no sense. Other than that, a reasonably average alien story.
4 Stars to No Medals for Secrets (Poor Man's Fight, #4) by Elliott Kay
Description
The Union of Humanity exists only because the aliens demanded it. After a hundred different treaties and countless broken promises, mankind’s powerful neighbors forced humanity into a common defense and a single diplomatic voice. Yet within the Union’s borders, the human race is as fractious as ever. When the star system of Archangel is invaded by the three greatest corporations in human space, the Union is powerless to intervene. Corporal Alicia Wong thrives on the front lines. She doesn’t like the war, but she likes the challenges and the clear-cut goals. She likes knowing who her friends and enemies are, too. Yet after uncovering evidence of alien contact in violation of Union laws, Alicia finds herself in a world of espionage and covert missions. Before it’s all over, her choices may change the course of Archangel’s war—and humanity’s future.
Review
You know how some authors throw out a 3 book series of 120 page books, then chuck in a "3.5" 30 page short story just to get you to cough up another fiver? Well. This feels a bit like that to start with, the volume is slimmer than its predecessors (each of the previous 3 actually increased in length). I wondered where it would go, toward the beginning, especially when our main man was laid low. I shouldn't have been concerned, though - kay has concocted a superb morality story and given us a view into something only lightly passed over earlier-on in the time line. I really got into it.
5 Stars to Dead Man's Debt (Poor Man's Fight, #3) by Elliott Kay
Description
“WE REQUIRE A DIFFERENT BATTLEFIELD.” Nobody expected the war to last three hours, let alone three years. The star system of Archangel holds the line against invading corporate fleets, but a quarter of its territory is already lost. The navy can’t hang on much longer. Faced with this grim truth, Archangel’s leaders shift their strategy to diplomacy and espionage. For both arenas, they call upon a reluctant weapon: a frontline grunt named Tanner Malone. These days, Tanner doesn’t aspire to win the war. He merely wants to survive it. Now he’ll be thrust into the center of events once again, pulled back and forth from covert missions to the media spotlight. Yet with every battle, he gets closer to the old enemy hidden in the shadows, and the ugly truth about the war that could unravel everything Archangel might hope to win.
Review
This just totally nailed it. Some things are really brought to a comfortable close, but of course there's more to come. I was up after midnight with this one, it was just so gripping. And having reread the first 2 so I followed straight on really bumped up the urgency of getting through this, I really just didn't want to put it down.u
January
2 Stars to A Glitch in the World by Alex Drozd
Description
Living on the colony world of Janus and faced with the pressures of college enrollment, Stuart Fergesson turns to his friend Dwayne for help in coping with his depression and anxiety. Dwayne's solution? Drugs. The hard kind. After the trip, Stuart finds the world no different than before, except for the feeling that something is wrong, a glitch in the world around him. While facing his new school life, a death in the family, and an overhaul in the political system of his home-world, Stuart discovers what the glitch really is. A strange blend of hard sci-fi and tomorrow's literary fiction, A Glitch in the World is an unsettling story filled with dark, philosophical undertones. It's a novel that readers of idea-driven science fiction will love. Librarian's note: See alternate cover edition of ASIN B077ZDXQCX here.
Review
I always thought the phrase was convenience store, rather than convenient store. But maybe I'm wrong, not a big issue. Not a very gripping story, perhaps interesting on a philosophical level but the threads were a little tenuous for my liking. Not badly written, but nor particularly well-told.
4 Stars to Martian Knightlife by James P. Hogan
Description
The Knight is a saint (with a twist)
Review
There are some Hogans that I'll read and read again, and some that are forgettable. This one falls in the middle; it's vintage Jim, without a doubt, but the lack of a coherent, single adventure lets it down some, although Knight is a brilliant character. a true shame there's no more of him to read about.
5 Stars to A Problematic Paradox by Eliot Sappingfield
Description
Nikola Kross has given up on living in harmony with classmates and exasperated teachers: she prefers dabbling in experimental chemistry to fitting in. But when her life is axially inverted by a gang of extraterrestrials who kidnap her dad and attempt to recruit her into their service, she discovers he's been keeping a world of secrets from her--including the school for geniuses where she's sent for refuge, a place where classes like Practical Quantum Mechanics are the norm and where students use wormholes to commute to class. For Nikola, the hard part isn't school, it's making friends, especially when the student body isn't (entirely) human. But the most puzzling paradox of all is Nikola herself, who has certain abilities that no one understands--abilities that put her whole school in greater danger than she could have imagined.
Review
"Warner started tapping out some rude commentary, and before long, the three of us were having a rather hilarious argument that sounded a lot like sitting inside a car during a hailstorm." From the synopsis of this, I asked if it could be the next Randoms, the fantastic first kids book by David Liss. Whilst falling into a different bracket, and perhaps having more strangeness and less of the contemporary tropes, this still really rocked. A bit younger, mentally, than some others in the class, but highly enjoyable all the way through. More, please!
4 Stars to The One by John Marrs
Description
How far would you go to find The One? A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner—the one you’re genetically made for. That’s the promise made by Match Your DNA. A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soul mate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love. Now five very different people have received the notification that they’ve been “Matched.” They’re each about to meet their one true love. But “happily ever after” isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Because even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking than others… A word-of-mouth hit in the United Kingdom, The One is a fascinating novel that shows how even the simplest discoveries can have complicated consequences.' to 'How far would you go to find The One? A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner—the one you’re genetically made for. That’s the promise made by Match Your DNA. A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soul mate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love. Now five very different people have received the notification that they’ve been “Matched.” They’re each about to meet their one true love. But “happily ever after” isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Because even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking than others… A word-of-mouth hit in the United Kingdom, The One is a fascinating novel that shows how even the simplest discoveries can have complicated consequences.'
Review
An intriguing idea, worked through a lot of angles and a large variety of people with different agendas, ideas and hopes. An exciting and very enjoyable story.
5 Stars to Every Day (Every Day, #1) by David Levithan
Description
Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone A wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.
Review
"After a while, you have to be at peace with the fact that you simply are". Wow. This was ... memorable. it evoked Matt Haig in it's sharp poignancy and vivid, unflinching Humanity and really struck a chord with me. Of course, there's an omnipresent theme of goodness underlying the whole work. The relationship between Amelia and Zara, Alexander's kindness, Vic's comfort "living in his own truth" and even seeing the good in Nathan, despite all the provocations he's had. All of these things serve to show the reader that if you are the sort of person happy as yourself, comfortable in who and what and how you are, you'll express that in the way you are too. A's a powerful, tragic, yet erect figure of morality, and this is undeniably a classic to resonate and make teens think long after they've finished the actual story.
5 Stars to Splatt.exe (Jack Splatt Book 1) by Leon Andrews
Description
Jack Daring commando. Legendary hero. And completely fictional... But try telling HIM that. First Commander Jack Splatt is a one-man army. He's fought entire campaigns against impossible odds with little more than a pack of chewing gum, his washboard abs, and a killer smile that makes women swoon. Unfortunately, he's only a video game character. Developer and slightly obsessed fanboy Barry Lang is trying to bring his '80s-era hero Jack to life -- literally -- through a new extreme-immersion augmented reality system. But when the Army comes knocking to seize his tech, he panics and activates the only not-yet-working build of the untested system. On himself. That's when Jack takes the wheel and starts doing what he does Taking out the bad guys. With Barry's body. While Barry's still in there. Barry's a far cry from a powerhouse of physical perfection, and Jack's not the sharpest tool in the shed. But somehow they have to work together to stay ahead of the police, the Army, and random people Jack keeps pissing off along the way... If only Barry could make Jack understand that in real life, you don't get any respawns.
Review
This isn't available in the UK Amazon store yet, but a friend recommended it and so I took a jaunt over to the US. I'm very glad I did, because embracing the cheese really does pay dividends in this exciting, cheesy, fast-paced, cheesy, clever, cheesy work. Sometimes switch-off fun is just what a body needs, and I really enjoyed this. Adventure number 2 will be something to look forward to!
4 Stars to The Siege by Peter David
Description
Death prowls the passageways of Deep Space Nine. When Deep Space Nine is forced to curtail entry to the wormhole due to increased graviton emissions, an air of biting tension settles over the station. But when this anxiety leads to the murder of an Edeman religious leader, Commander Benjamin Sisko and Security Chief Odo realize they face a larger problem. The missionary is only the first to die; soon Sisko and Odo have more lifeless bodies on their hands and a killer who strikes without motive. Then, both the Edemans and the Cardassians arrive threatening to destroy the station unless the murderer is given to them for retribution. Now in order to save Deep Space Nine and stop the killing, Odo must try to destroy a powerful assassin who is the only link to his mysterious past.
Review
Flying with David's usual irreverence, this was an exciting Odo story. Of course, there were a few issues, it being so early in the time line of DS9 (David explains that only 5 episodes had aired when this went to print). For all that, it's paced, exciting and with a lot of social dynamic.
3 Stars to Some Assembly Required by Michael Strelow
Description
Jake hears voices, always has. They've never been a problem as long as he kept them to himself. While on a writing assignment to cover an A.I. convention, Jake reads the paper of a Dr. Sewall. What he discovers is puzzling, incomprehensible, maybe even impossible. Jake visits Dr. S after the convention and finds his creation, Rex - which looks like a bowl of gray-green oatmeal - whose voice somehow mingles with voices Jake has heard all his life. So begins an affair of impossible science. The world becomes funny right on the edge of fearful, the cosmic goof at large, and growing larger...
Review
This book, whilst interestingly-written and very pointed, confused me. the vignettes were interesting and the concept, as a concept, quite cool, but the execution left me a tad befuddled.
3 Stars to The Perfect by Greg Juhn
Description
A relentlessly smart machine. One dumb human. The winner will define the future. If you love your artificial intelligence with a knack for sarcasm, read The Perfect!
Review
a rather intriguing idea, not new to the genre of course but deftly enough handled here in a postmodern, eerily peculiar environment. I can't admit to falling in love with this world and its characters, but I certainly enjoyed reading about them for a while.
4 Stars to The War with Grandpa by Robert Kimmel Smith
Description
Peter thinks the only way he can reclaim his room is by declaring war on his grandfather."Captures the anger and frustration that accompanies a child's inability to control his life."-- "School Library Journal." Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, William Allen White Award, Tennessee Children's Choice Book Award, Parents' Choice Award, An IRA-CBC Children's Choice, Mark Twain Award, Young Hoosier Award, South Carolina Children's Book Award, Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award, Georgia Children's Book Award.
Review
A delightful story, one I'll look forward to reading to my daughter when she's a bit older. It boasts an excellent message and memorable characters, I look forward to watching the upcoming adaptation. The only title I recognise from the flyleaf is How to Eat Fried Worms, another cracker of a book from years gone bye.
4 Stars to Time Frame (Split Second, #2) by Douglas E. Richards
Description
SPLIT SECOND was the 27th bestselling Kindle book of 2017—out of almost 6 million titles. Now, this blockbuster continues with TIME FRAME, a standalone sequel that will leave you breathless. A daring attempt to go back a split second in time to destroy Kim Jong-un. A discovery so consequential it dwarfs even time travel. And a treacherous enemy bent on revenge. Lee Cargill is the head of Q5, a secret organization that can send objects a split second back into the past. And while this seems utterly useless, it turns out to be the most powerful capability the world has ever known. Those who control it can transform civilization—or destroy it entirely. When Cargill sends Aaron Blake, his most formidable operative, on an unauthorized mission to destroy Kim Jong-un, all hell breaks loose. As Blake battles for his life, his chances of thwarting the North Korean tyrant plummet. But they’re about to get far worse. Because China has learned of Q5 technology, and they’ll stop at nothing to hunt Blake down . . . And all the while, a powerful enemy has reemerged. An enemy who seeks to use time travel technology to achieve a twisted, psychopathic vision that will leave millions dead—starting with Lee Cargill and the entire Q5 team. TIME FRAME is a roller-coaster ride of a thriller, one packed with fascinating concepts that readers will be contemplating long after they've read the last page.
Review
Fantastic way to continue the series, I really enjoyed it. A good opening set of chapters to refresh the mind as to what happened in book 1, and a brilliant continuation of the story with so much real world material, it's hard to believe it's all fiction. it did perhaps get a bit much, with everyone having multiple copies and it being a bit of a stretch to work out who was whom and with which other version of that other person's same self and whatnot, but all rollicking good fun really and spot on with Richards' usual tone and style.
4 Stars to Watchdog by Will McIntosh
Description
Thirteen-year-old twins Vick and Tara have built an incredible machine--a loyal robotic watchdog named Daisy. But, when local crime boss Ms. Alba schemes to add Daisy to her robot army, Vick and Tara must go to great lengths to protect their prized pet. Because Daisy is more than just any robot--she's their constant protector, and together the three make a great team. Vick and Tara are determined to stop the mob from tearing their little family apart. And they might just succeed! Sure, the evil Ms. Alba has more robot watchdogs, but none are as smart--or as faithful--as their Daisy. Plus, if things get too dangerous, Tara could always upgrade their pet. With her mechanical skills, she could make Daisy bigger, stronger, and a lot more intimidating!
Review
A little younger than the comfy YA zone I normally like to think I inhabit when I'm not being an adult, this nonetheless tells a good story, on a par with The Case of the Wilted Broccoli (Both Wills, incidentally).
3 Stars to Trinity's Child: A Novel by William Prochnau
Description
In the midst of a Third World War nuclear holocaust, a United States president battles his successor to preserve humanity, Russia is in turmoil, and a B-52 carrying nuclear warheads and an ill-assorted crew heads toward the U.S.S.R
Review
I feel as if I'm giving this a great disservice with only a 3 star rating, but somehow I found the tone ... impenetrable is too strong. But foggy, certainly. Even though it was a powerful work, the lens didn't quite seem tuned to me, I feel as if I missed a lot of nuance. Perhaps one to come back to on a rainy day. it's certainly not a happy, sunny book.
3 Stars to A Beginner's Guide to Invading Earth by Gerhard Gehrke
Description
What would you do if you found a dead alien on a lonely highway? Was it an accident, sabotage, or murder? And why is everyone blaming Jeff? The extraterrestrials aren't waiting for answers. They want revenge. And Jeff isn't ready for company. His only hope is an outcast mechanic from another world and a woman who might do anything to get off planet, including selling out her own kind. Jeff has to get to the bottom of why there are so many alien bodies piling up and who is really responsible. A science fiction adventure novel, A Beginner's Guide to Invading Earth tells the story of a reclusive ex-computer programmer who is the unwitting central figure of a plot to keep humanity from ever making first contact.
Review
Humour is very hard to get right for everyone, so there were parts of this that I just found ... well. Weird. But I did like the idea of a man traumatized by technology, actively trying to avoid it, and being swept up in the flood anyway. The writing was solid and interesting, just not 100% to my taste.
4 Stars to Day of Reckoning (The Experiment, #5) by Micah B. Edwards
Description
Once, Dan Everton was just your average night-shift drone trying to get through life with a minimum of fuss. Then he had superpowers thrust upon him, and found himself unwillingly dragged into the life of a superhero -- with all of the turmoil and fighting that implies. In the fifth and final book in The Experiment, Dan's finally finding himself toe-to-toe with the man who's been pulling his strings this entire time. But with the deck stacked against him, can Dan possibly triumph?
Review
Yes indeed, a worthy end to the fun-filled, and yet on the other hand strangely average saga. I guess that's because everything was quite played down and easy to follow. Very nice indeed, I look forward to more of Micah's work.
5 Stars to Everything Falls Apart (The Experiment #4) by Micah B. Edwards
Description
Dan Everton wants nothing more than to be a normal guy slacking his way through life. Unfortunately, he's been picked as the unwilling recipient of intermittently-occurring superpowers. As if that weren't bad enough, each time he gets a new power, a new nemesis appears with powers of their own. In the fourth book in The Experiment series, Dan's hot on the heels of the guy who inflicted these powers on him. He's determined to bring him down once and for all and restore normalcy to his life. But is the mysterious scientist behind this still playing Dan for a fool?
Review
Yea! A dramatic cliffhanger of an ending! Woow! I just hope the finale is good now, the previous books have so far not disappointed in the least.
4 Stars to Infectious Thinking (The Experiment #3) by Micah B. Edwards
Description
Dan Everton wanted nothing more than to slack off and coast through life in his dead-end, pays-the-bills job. Unfortunately for him, all that changed when he suddenly began manifesting strange superpowers, each one accompanied by a new nemesis bent on his destruction. Now, in the third installment in The Experiment, Dan faces his biggest threat yet. With enemies coming at him from all sides, Dan has to manage to keep his cool, keep his sanity and keep his job, all at the same time. Meanwhile, Dan has yet to figure out who's causing all of this to happen to him. Will he finally get a peek at who's controlling everything behind the scenes? Or will he succumb to this latest nemesis first?
Review
So we see a familiar face in a new position. Talking of faces, being able to grow someone else on top of your own skin is a bit freaky. I mean these aren't your usual superpowers, are they? These continue to impress with their quirky tone and interesting ideas.
4 Stars to Making Friends (The Experiment #2) by Micah B. Edwards
Description
In the first book, The Reluctant Superhero, Dan was a slacker security guard with superpowers forced upon him. Just as he was reluctantly coming to accept them, the whole thing came to a head and the powers vanished as quickly as they'd come. Now, freshly re-employed at a burger joint, Dan's getting his normal life back on track -- right up until new powers come crashing back in, and a new nemesis shows up to wreak havoc. Dan just wants to flip burgers and stay out of harm's way. Harm, however, has other plans for Dan. And Dan still doesn't even know how or why any of this is happening! Superpowers need to come with an instruction manual.
Review
A very clever title, given the villain's superpower. And who wouldn't want to be able to set things on fire with a thought? A fun follow-on from the first.
4 Stars to The Reluctant Superhero (The Experiment #1) by Micah B. Edwards
Description
Dan Everton's goal was to coast through life. His slacker security job paid the bills, and although nothing was ever going to get better, at least it wasn't going to get worse. Or so he thought. Suddenly, Dan's become the recipient of intermittently occurring superpowers, and things have gotten much worse. With each new power comes a new antagonist intent on destroying Dan, with no concern for any collateral damage that might occur. Some people are born to greatness. Some have greatness thrust upon them. And some are dragged into it, kicking and screaming the whole way. Life's rough out there for a superhero.
Review
Not a new idea, but refreshingly well-written by someone with a better than average grasp of the English language and a personable, chummy style of writing that automatically makes you want to turn the pages and read more. A delightful little adventure with many questions unanswered for future works.
3 Stars to TimeStorm by Steve Harrison
Description
In 1795 a convict ship leaves England for New South Wales in Australia. Nearing its destination, the vessel miraculously survives a savage storm and limps into Sydney Harbour, where the convicts rebel and escape. But it is now the 21st century... TimeStorm is a thrilling epic adventure story of revenge, survival and honour set in a strange new world of unfamiliar technology and equally unfathomable social norms. In the literary footsteps of Hornblower comes Lieutenant Christopher 'Kit' Blaney, an old-fashioned hero, a man of honour, duty and principle, dragged literally into the 21st century. A great fan of the grand seafaring adventure fiction of CS Forester, Patrick O'Brien and Alexander Kent, and modern action thriller writers such as Lee Child, Steve Harrison combines several genres in his debut novel. The book was inspired by a replica 18th century sailing ship on Sydney Harbour and a question from Steve's brother, Tony: "What if that was a real convict ship?" TimeStorm explores that question in a fast-paced story as a group of desperate men from the 1700s clash in 21st century Sydney.
Review
The synopsis was great, somehow the story didn't quite hit the bar. The nautical stuff seemed a little bit thin and the period language forced some, and there wasn't very much in the way of conflict between the eras. Not that it wasn't a good story, but I didn't get much adrenaline out of it.
4 Stars to 11/9 by Ben Lovejoy
Description
9/11 was the world’s worst terrorist atrocity. Julian Fox intends to change that fact. The planning will take months. The attack will take just two minutes. 9/11 had been four airliners, three buildings and 3,000 deaths. What Fox is planning will down 1300 airliners, devastate countless city centres and kill around half a million people. His method won’t require a single hijacker: just 23 lines of computer code. Sarah Green is an Aviation Risk Analyst in the Dept of Homeland Security. Her job is to out-think the terrorists: identify weaknesses in airline security arrangements, figure out how those weaknesses might be exploited and get protections in place before the terrorists get their chance. Neither knows the other exists, yet the two are locked into a race that only one of them can win.
Review
really enjoyed it all the way through, Lovejoy's already impressed me with his near-misses and this one certainly held true. I do find it a little sad that an author has to warn readers that he's not an American, why should we apologise for doing English properly? And there were a worrying number of "though" instead of "through". Apart from that and a bit of a maudlin ending, I found myself enraptured from the first page.
5 Stars to Sepultura by Guy Portman
Description
A sociopath’s work is never done. Dyson Devereux is a busy man, with a challenging new job in the council's Burials and Cemeteries department and a young son. Life should be fine. But amid the mindless minutiae of his workplace, Dyson is fast losing patience with his crass colleagues and their contemptible clothes. Something’s got to give, and it’s not going to be Dyson. Because unbeknown to those around him, beneath Dyson’s charming, Italian-delicacy-consuming veneer lurks something sinister. As his personal and professional lives threaten to spiral out of control, how long can Dyson keep his true nature under wraps? Sepultura is a hilarious black comedy exposing the banality of public-sector bureaucracy. “Hysterical. Takes dark humour to a whole new level” — Martin Allen, Author of Weed. “A satirical gem” — Adam Riley, Comedian “My kind of black comedy. You’ll either love Dyson, or love to hate him” — Sandra Seymour, Author of Breed: Slayer Sepultura is the second instalment in the Necropolis Trilogy - #1 Necropolis #2 Sepultura #3 Golgotha. Sepultura can be read as a standalone novel. ‘…a character you can’t help but like no matter how outrageous he is’ – avid reader (Top 500 Amazon Reviewer) ‘…a gravely amusing distraction from other run-of-the-mill narrators’ – Littlebooknesslane (Top 1000 Amazon Reviewer) If you like serial killer fiction and dark humorous crime you'll love Sepultura.
Review
No, no, no! it can't just end there! I've been looking forward to reading this since long before it came out on pre-order. Dyson is such a character that, even though you're not supposed to like him, you can't help it. I mean he's just impeccable. My only real regret is not being able to have my own opinion on the ties. I never quite saw the appeal of the chick-lit novel, but I am perhaps now more able to appreciate some of the nuances - who would, after all, refuse an attractive Italian cooing "Sei veramente in forma" over ones genitalia? Perhaps distressed housewives have the right of it after all. Truly comic, I chuckled in spots and squirmed in others. This book takes the macabre and makes it work. A superb addition to Portman's eclectic, wonderful corpus.
4 Stars to Dark State (Empire Games, #2) by Charles Stross
Description
Dark State is the second book in an exciting series in the same world as Charles Stross' Merchant Princes series, following Empire Games. In the near-future, the collision of two nuclear superpowers across timelines, one in the midst of a technological revolution and the other a hyper-police state, is imminent. In Commissioner Miriam Burgeson’s timeline, her top level agents run a high risk extraction of a major political player. Meanwhile, a sleeper cell activated in Rita's, the Commissioner's adopted daughter and newly-minted spy, timeline threatens to unravel everything.
Review
Obviously, there’s a lot more action to come in this series. I very much enjoyed the first of these books last year and this follow-up didn’t disappoint. It’s a very cleverly-plotted series without a doubt.
5 Stars to Rosie by Alan Titchmarsh
Description
Nick Robertson has become used to his grandmother Rosie's dotty behaviour. At 86, a widow now, she is determined that before life passes her by, she will live a little. Or, preferably, a lot.It wouldn't be so bad if Nick had nothing else to do, but with a job to find, two warring parents to cope with and a love life in terminal decline, he would prefer his grandmother to get on with things quietly. But, Rosie insists, there is no time like the present. Life is to be enjoyed to the full and to hell with the consequences. She'll help Nick find the soulmate he clearly lacks and he can help her make the most of her few remaining years. Alan Titchmarsh's sparkling new novel is a delicious blend of humour and romance, and a resounding affirmation that there is no such thing as the generation gap.
Review
An absolutely charming story, I was hooked. An incredibly memorable set of people, Victoria was delightful. I never newTitchmarsh did fiction.
4 Stars to The Sopaths by Piers Anthony
Description
Killing children is an ugly business, but the alternative is so much uglier. Abner Slate just watched his five-year-old daughter, Olive, kill his wife and son. Olive is a sopath. Born without souls, sopaths are children who will lie, cheat, rape, and murder to get what they want. There's one in every family these days, destroying America's heartland from within. After murdering his daughter in self-defense, Abner is taken in by a secret network of sopath victims called Pariah. Through Pariah, he meets other sopath victims who band together to form a temporary nuclear family. But the sopath threat is getting worse, and soon their quaint little neighborhood is overrun by murderous, drug-running children. Now, on a mission for Pariah, Abner and his makeshift family must travel across the country to a mysterious town that contains a secret powerful enough to stop the sopath crisis. Instead, they find the most seductive and ruthless sopath of all. Her name is Autopsy, and she would like to add Abner to her slave collection. The old morality is dead. Now the sopaths will stalk the earth.
Review
For some reason this was profoundly interesting, I really got into it and found the whole idea of it quite horrible and rather disturbing, which is of course the idea. Take away the big series, and I'm running out of Piers stuff to read, which will be a very unfortunate time.
1 Stars to The Schrödinger Enigma by Greg Krojac
Description
The icy waters of the Bering Sea hold many hidden secrets, but none as remarkable as what is given up one April morning when an Alaskan trawler finds something unusual caught in its nets. A helicopter is scrambled from nearby Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, with NASA scientist Dr Sitara Khan on board, who is shocked to discover that the object appears to be the Voyager One space probe, which is over 13 billion miles away travelling through interstellar space. How can this be? A week later, back in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, it becomes clear that the spacecraft brought with it not only the great mystery of its return home, but also something far more sinister that threatens the entire existence of mankind. Jason (a British ex-paratrooper), Enak (a friendly alien from the invading planet Argonorian 3), and an Amish family (the Millers) team up with Sitara, as they all struggle to survive in a world whose infrastructure and population has been left in tatters. The Schrödinger Enigma is a tale of perseverance in the face of seemingly unbeatable odds, and unlikely friendships being forged as people from various backgrounds, religions, and with differing personalities share a common goal – to survive against the vastly more technologically advanced Argon warriors, as they cleanse the planet ready for the arrival of their main invasion force.
Review
Well, this was a bit pathetic, really. Not to be blunt but ... Here's just a few reasons why. Spoilers coming. First, let's deal with Schrödinger. So many books have used his thought experiment that it's par for the course now and nothing special. here, it's used to try and explain how 1 thing can be in 2 places at once, even though the original experiment was referring to quantum states of being rather than physical locale. Of course, that's fine, except it crops up very early on in the story, is resolved (through dialogue, we're told not shown) and then there's an absolutely ridiculous link back to a real, physical cat at the end of the book, holding absolutely no relevance to anything that's gone before. It's a bit like Carl Rackman's book Voyager, not actually being about Voyager. This book is not about Schrödinger, Schrödinger's cat, or an actual enigma. But hey, it is about Voyager, more so than Voyager ever was, which is kind of cool. So what else: "Siroll had fought like a woman possessed, with just as much vigour as her male colleagues." Sexist, much? And what sort of name is Siroll? Thought they were a death metal band, but maybe it's a singer... The explanation for a tool that can both mend broken bones and blow up buildings is just, well. Probably one of the worst clangers ever to fall out of a scifi box of tricks. Oh, and of course, we meet the Miller family for the first time, who are amish, but Sitara has already decided to load up on female sanitary products for them without knowing who she was going to see . She's not your typical white Christian chick on paper, but despite throwing in a few prayer names, the only real discussion of her faith was how inconvenient it all was and that it should be suspended for the duration. And then there's the ending. The mysterious aliens we've heard so much about appear and put everything to rights, well, apart from the millions who were killed (the book does try to give us a number, but gives up a third of the way through). I cannot remember something I've wanted to finish less in recent memory.
5 Stars to Gnomon by Nick Harkaway
Description
From the widely acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World and Tigerman, comes a virtuosic new novel set in a near-future, high-tech surveillance state, that is equal parts dark comedy, gripping detective story, and mind-bending philosophical puzzle. In the world of Gnomon, citizens are constantly observed and democracy has reached a pinnacle of ‘transparency.’ Every action is seen, every word is recorded, and the System has access to its citizens’ thoughts and memories–all in the name of providing the safest society in history. When suspected dissident Diana Hunter dies in government custody, it marks the first time a citizen has been killed during an interrogation. The System doesn’t make mistakes, but something isn’t right about the circumstances surrounding Hunter’s death. Mielikki Neith, a trusted state inspector and a true believer in the System, is assigned to find out what went wrong. Immersing herself in neural recordings of the interrogation, what she finds isn’t Hunter but rather a panorama of characters within Hunter’s psyche: a lovelorn financier in Athens who has a mystical experience with a shark; a brilliant alchemist in ancient Carthage confronting the unexpected outcome of her invention; an expat Ethiopian painter in London designing a controversial new video game, and a sociopathic disembodied intelligence from the distant future. Embedded in the memories of these impossible lives lies a code which Neith must decipher to find out what Hunter is hiding. In the static between these stories, Neith begins to catch glimpses of the real Diana Hunter–and, alarmingly, of herself. The staggering consequences of what she finds will reverberate throughout the world. A dazzling, panoramic achievement, and Nick Harkaway’s most brilliant work to date, Gnomon is peerless and profound, captivating and irreverent, as it pierces through strata of reality and consciousness, and illuminates how to set a mind free. It is a truly accomplished novel from a mind possessing a matchless wit infused with a deep humanity.
Review
This was an epic work. I can't quite quantify what made it such a delight, because it wasn't a light, fun, relaxing sort of a book. If you missed something it mattered, and every page was seemingly more confusing than the last in some ways. The deep richness of the stories somehow kept me coming back though, and no matter how many times I wondered just where everything could possibly be going, I kept at it because I'd become intrigued. This is by no means a book for everyone, it's almost labyrinthine in its language and drawing of a future world. But it's been plaguing me for days, somehow got its claws into me, and I am a little freaked out by the whole concept but very glad I read it. Whaat a complicated, potent book.
3 Stars to The Prometheus Effect by David Fleming
Description
Deep in the Nevada desert… …lies a secret futuristic world. Would Jack’s technology save humankind? It started with Jack’s discovery, but he feared it was a power too great. All around the globe, energy reserves are dangerously low. Superpowers brace for battle over what remains. Should Jack share his energy solution? He thinks it’s too dangerous. The power potential is as important as Prometheus discovering fire and giving it to man. There must be a way to use what he knows, but he’s conflicted. Maybe the brilliant mind of Mykl can solve the puzzle? Mykl is five. Is the answer worth the cost? You’ll love this Dystopian Science Fiction, because the world building is brilliant, the technology is fascinating, and the story keeps you turning pages. And don’t be fooled… …this isn’t for kids. Get it now.
Review
A surprisingly vapid and confusing starter, it managed to get better, to the point where I was reading for enjoyment rather than just because I'd already invested so much time. Of course the whole ethos of the work is a little grating, and that combined with the flighty nature of the threads toward the beginning stopped it being a strong contender.
3 Stars to Outward Bound by James P. Hogan
Description
Fifteen-year-old Linc Marani is from the wrong side of twenty-second century L.A.'s tracks. Everyone he knows is addicted to dope, booze, and the violence that masquerades as bravado in life on the streets. When a chance at some cold hard cash is offered to him by a slick associate in a fancy Cadillac, Linc jumps at the bait, only to find himself sentenced to a juvenile labor camp when the heist goes sour. Labor camp, to Linc, means an aching, dawn-to-dusk bootcamp-style grind with no hope of escape or parole. He is about to give up and head out for a precisely regimented and miserable future when a mysterious psychologist offers him the chance of a lifetime. Can Linc overcome one of the worst neighborhoods on Earth by proving his worth on a mission beyond the stars? Outward Bound is the sixth book in the Jupiter series. Patterned after the inspiring coming-of-age novels that Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov used to write, the Jupiter series has laid claim to that same imaginative drive and skillful storytelling that has delighted generations of science fiction readers worldwide.
Review
A pleasure to find a Hogan I haven't read, they're a dying breed. This was interesting, he's not known for his coming of age stories. Whilst this worked, I do think it lacked something in tone of some of the other novels he's pushed out. I can't argue that I didn't enjoy it, but equally I don't think it's one I'd pick up again without compelling cause.
4 Stars to The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency, #1) by John Scalzi
Description
The first novel of a new space-opera sequence set in an all-new universe by the Hugo Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author of Redshirts and Old Man's War. Our universe is ruled by physics and faster than light travel is not possible -- until the discovery of The Flow, an extra-dimensional field we can access at certain points in space-time that transport us to other worlds, around other stars. Humanity flows away from Earth, into space, and in time forgets our home world and creates a new empire, the Interdependency, whose ethos requires that no one human outpost can survive without the others. It’s a hedge against interstellar war -- and a system of control for the rulers of the empire. The Flow is eternal -- but it is not static. Just as a river changes course, The Flow changes as well, cutting off worlds from the rest of humanity. When it’s discovered that The Flow is moving, possibly cutting off all human worlds from faster than light travel forever, three individuals -- a scientist, a starship captain and the Empress of the Interdependency -- are in a race against time to discover what, if anything, can be salvaged from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse.
Review
A great way to start a new year, I found myself enjoying the politics. Some of the profanity did seem a little gratuitous; there's a point where it sort of becomes a little hard to swallow. It doesn't feel like a very friendly universe, although I suppose that's the point. Book 2? yes, I'd love to see where all this goes.