December
5 Stars to Recursion by Blake Crouch
Description
MEMORY MAKES REALITY. That's what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning, as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. That's what neuroscientist Helena Smith believes. It's why she's dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent. As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face to face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it. But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them? At once a relentless page-turner and an intricate science-fiction puzzle box about time, identity, and memory, Recursion is a thriller as only Blake Crouch could imagine it—and his most ambitious, mind-boggling, irresistible work to date.
Review
As a book to end this year, I was thoroughly and undeniably gripped. It’s not new, but it’s certainly impactful. The idea itself is just so well-executed that I couldn’t help but be enthralled from early on, and the neuroscience, imagery and tilt toward noir all gelled to form a blend at once intricate and alluring.
5 Stars to We Care For You by Paul Kitcatt
Description
Margaret Woodruff is slowly dying in a care home. When her son is presented with the chance of exceptional care in her final months, he finds the offer hard to resist.Winifred is assigned to Margaret’s care. She’s a a new kind of carer that’s capable, committed and completely tireless – because she’s a synthetic human being.Under Winifred’s care Margaret’s health improves beyond everyone’s expectations, and Winifred begins to learn from Margaret what it means to be alive. After all, she has a lifetime of experience to pass on – and in a world where youth is the ultimate prize, perhaps it takes a robot to recognise the value of old age.But how will Winifred use what she learns from Margaret – and what does she truly want from her?
Review
This gripped me. The whole idea had a bit of a postmodern feel to it, and the insidious developments were well-paced. A fascinating take on the future of synthetic people and more importantly, of course, a look at the offerings that the aged can no longer supply.
5 Stars to Golgotha by Guy Portman
Description
You can’t keep a good sociopath down. Dyson Devereux is languishing in prison awaiting trial for murder. Languishing wouldn’t be so bad were it not for the irksome inmates, crowded conditions and distinct lack of haute cuisine. Only Alegra, his sometime paramour and frequent visitor, shares his desire to see him released. The problem is, she wants Dyson freed so they can start a new life together. But all Dyson desires is to get back home to his treasured mementos. As judgement day draws ever closer, can Dyson keep up appearances long enough to win his freedom? And at what cost? For hell hath no fury like a sociopath scorned. Golgotha is a funny, fast-paced crime comedy novel, boasting a sardonic and sinister sociopath at its helm. “Deeply dark and irresistibly funny. If you like dark humour, you’ll love watching Dyson unravel” — Sandra Seymour, Author “Sociopathic comedy at its best” — Adam Riley, Comedian “A potent blend of black comedy and crime” — Reviewer If you like dark humour and crime you'll love Golgotha. “A potent blend of black comedy and crime” — Reviewer Ever wondered what goes on in the mind of a sociopath? Meet Dyson Devereux, Britain’s answer to Patrick Bateman. As well as being a very British satire, this darkly humorous crime novel will appeal to fans of psychological and serial killer fiction. 'A devilishly wry read' - Goodreads Reviewer 'Tauted as the British Psycho as in the alternative to Mr. Bateman and the comparison works. Very similar moral deprivation as the action driver. Glib, twisted, darkly humorous.' - Goodreads Reviewer
Review
A typical, yet fitting end to our beloved evildoer. I’m not sure how else the story could have ended, but I have enjoyed the whole trilogy enormously.
3 Stars to THE PLANCK VARIABLE by Benjamin Ache
Description
Benjamin Ache’s The Planck Variable comes as a fast-paced adventure, integrating speculative science into a futuristic world where mankind struggles to industrialize the inner Solar System while preserving life as we know it back on Earth. The year is 2096. The world is in short supply of clean water. Large nuclear-powered spaceships attempt to transport water mined from asteroids back to Earth, but frequently meet their demise as faulty Fusion Driven Rockets cause runaway reactions resulting in catastrophic explosions. Tension flares between those who want to stay the course and those who want to find a new solution. Into this conflict unexpectedly plunges Planck, a lifer destined to remain in the blue-collar shantytowns of Newark’s Ironbound District. Pressured by his father to follow in his footsteps as a lowly garbage miner, Planck longs to escape the poverty of his neighborhood and do something truly inspiring. But when Planck tries to endear himself to a renowned physics professor for a job, he finds himself at the center of an inter-solar conspiracy. From towering skyscrapers in Central Park to the particle accelerators circling the surface of the moon, from precarious mining on asteroids to the darkened corridors of an industrialized Martian city, The Planck Variable takes us into the next century with elaborate settings as Planck and an unlikely band of champions determine the fate of a new technological era. The Planck Variable is the type of hard-hitting escapade through the solar system that anyone who has a passion for fiction based on science can appreciate.
Review
Despite being enjoyable, there was something linguistically which didn't quite seem to hit home here, I never really felt very emotionally-invested. sadly, therefore, this just comes out as another teen saves the world from corporate greed story without much to distinguish it from the pile of others on the market.
4 Stars to Starsight (Skyward, #2) by Brandon Sanderson
Description
All her life, Spensa has dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she's a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing. Spensa is sure there's more to the story. And she's sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars--and it was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie. But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself--and she'll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.
Review
Yea, this was just really good, all the way through. I was glad to pick it up and join the world of these downtrodden but rebellious people once again. Sanderson’s writing flows, as always, and this was another exciting instalment with far more of a cliff-hanger ending than the opener to the series. I do hope Sanderson’s got plans for more after this! But knowing him, he’s got it well in-hand.
November
4 Stars to If All Else Fails (The Five Pillar Series) by Theresa Mae
Description
Facing life choices while growing up is hard enough. Doing it all while figuring out if God exists—well, that’s just Ruby’s luck. Eighteen-year-old Ruby Saunders is no typical high school senior. After years of struggling with her single mom to keep food on the table, their nomad lifestyle has worn her tiny family thin. When her mom finds a solid job, stability roots them in the suburbs of an Ohio town, where she lands her first real boyfriend, Shawn Turner. Ruby is determined to graduate with honors, even if she has to visit a Mosque to do it… In an effort of maintain a perfect GPA, Ruby pairs with a pretty Muslim girl named Layla Guirguis for a world religion project. Though her classmate wears a scarf over her hair and comes from a different background, Ruby quickly learns they have a lot in common. The more they hang out, the more Ruby learns about Islam, and the more her Agnostic views are put to the test. And as as her friendship with Layla grows, Ruby learns something that promises to break her heart. When love and logic collide, faith is the only defining factor… Between study sessions and dealing with her over-protective mother, Ruby’s dating life takes a turn for the serious. After six months of swooning over Shawn’s charming smile, her 'true love waits' ring begins to feel more like a rusty piece of scrap metal than the sweet sixteen gift her mother gave her. Still, she’s determined not to make the same mistakes her mom did—if only it were that easy.
Review
Profoundly and lavishly addictive, I found myself sucked for an hour into a strangely familiar world of high school seniors as depicted through a universe of books and films but with a rather clever twist. Whilst an overprotective mom is nothing new, nor is a daughter with the instincts to rebel anything to write home about, Ruby and Layla’s project strikes sparks. Ruby’s confidence in her own religious views is masterfully explored with gentility and juxtaposed with Layla’s beliefs to produce a work at once teen-aged drama and religious authority. I’d be interested to read the reviews of this from people of different faiths, and certainly it’s an entry worthy of talking about when the big questions of faith and belief come along.
5 Stars to The Fowl Twins (The Fowl Twins, #1) by Eoin Colfer
Description
Criminal genius runs in the family... Myles and Beckett are eleven-year-old twins, but the two boys are wildly different. Beckett is blonde, messy and sulks whenever he has to wear clothes. Myles is fanatically neat, he has an IQ of 170, and he wears a fresh suit every day like his older brother, Artemis Fowl. Perhaps you have heard of the Fowl family and their adventures? This Fowl adventure is filled with the most unusual of individuals: an immortal duke, a miniature troll, a nunterrogator and a Police Specialist that's 42% elf. And of course, the Fowl twins - one a certified genius with a criminal leaning, and the other possessing an unusual talent that has not been fully explored... yet! Here begins the second documented cycle of Fowl Adventures. The first in a breath-taking new series from global superstar Eoin Colfer. Set in the multi-million bestselling world of ARTEMIS FOWL.
Review
I was thirteen years old when I first read Artemis, and my daughter was a year old over a decade later when the final book in the series appeared. It’s a part of my childhood I’ll remember fondly, and yet as the series progressed I did have the sense that both the writing, and narration of the audiobooks, was slipping somewhat. Whether this is because I began to creep over the age line and drift out of their target audience, I don’t know. I finished the series with reverence and enjoyment, nonetheless. Fast forward a further 7 years, and we see this exciting continuation of the series appear on the scene. Colfer’s back. From the audible sample Parker is too, although I haven’t the time for the audiobook right now. But I’ll get there, because it’s brilliant to see a new generation take up the mantle. The jokes were spot-on, the humour seemed as sharp as it ever had. And whether it’s absence making the heart grow fonder, or just the fact that fresh blood and new ideas have made a difference, I was delighted all-the-way through and can’t wait for my daughter to be old enough to enjoy these in her turn.
5 Stars to Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
Description
Introducing a fresh, exciting Chinese-American voice, an inspiring debut about an immigrant girl forced to choose between two worlds and two futures. When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she quickly begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl during the day, Chinatown sweatshop worker in the evenings. Disguising the more difficult truths of her life like the staggering degree of her poverty, the weight of her family’s future resting on her shoulders, or her secret love for a factory boy who shares none of her talent or ambition. Kimberly learns to constantly translate not just her language but herself back and forth between the worlds she straddles. Through Kimberly’s story, author Jean Kwok, who also emigrated from Hong Kong as a young girl, brings to the page the lives of countless immigrants who are caught between the pressure to succeed in America, their duty to their family, and their own personal desires, exposing a world that we rarely hear about. Written in an indelible voice that dramatizes the tensions of an immigrant girl growing up between two cultures, surrounded by a language and world only half understood, Girl in Translation is an unforgettable and classic novel of an American immigrant--a moving tale of hardship and triumph, heartbreak and love, and all that gets lost in translation.
Review
I really enjoyed this. Seeing a powerful, intelligent girl coming into her own in a new country is a potent story, but add in the language barrier, her living conditions and potent chains of family to escape from makes for gripping reading.
4 Stars to In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1) by Tana French
Description
As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children. He is gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours. Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a 12-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox (his partner and closest friend) find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past. A gorgeously written novel that marks the debut of an astonishing new voice in psychological suspense.
Review
I got pulled into reading this because of the TV series, and ironically, it almost took me as long to catch up with the book as it would have to watch the episodes I’d missed, as it’s not short. Ryan is a rather wordy, literate sort of a cop, and the imagery he invokes was both powerful and captivating. I wasn’t sure about the prologue, for although it was beautiful, it didn’t do much for the story. Still, as the investigation starts to unfold and more of your typical police procedural comes into play, the interpersonal relationships in the force, not to mention Ryan’s own history, propelled this to a level a cut above your traditional whodoneit.
4 Stars to Sacrifice of Angels (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Dominion War, #4) by Diane Carey
Description
Based on "Call to Arms" written by Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe "A Time to Stand" written by Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler "Sons and Daughters" written by Bradley Thompson & David Weddle "Rocks and Shoals" written by Ronald D. Moore "Behind the Lines" written by Rene Echevarria "Favor the Bold" written by Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler "Sacrifice of Angels" written by Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler
Review
And that’s our people all back where they’re supposed to be, the world continues on its proper course once again. More brilliant adaptation of the teleplays, and for someone who’s never been able to see the episodes, it’s good to get a little more written depth to things.
4 Stars to Melissa by Alex Gino
Description
When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl. George thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part . . . because she's a boy. With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte -- but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.
Review
Surely one of the hardest things to do in a story aimed at young people showcasing gender fluidity is to get them to see things from the protagonists point of view. I don't know how well this would have worked had I read it to my daughter, but she is a little younger than the target audience yet. For me, it was interesting on several levels, and a brave emotionally-rich story to boot.
4 Stars to Merlin Redux (The Enchanter General, #3) by Dave Duncan
Description
Sir Durwin must overcome a cloak-and-dagger plot to usurp the king in the final novel of the Enchanter General, a historical fantasy trilogy set in twelfth century England. King Henry is dead; Richard the Lionheart now rules England. The new king does not believe in magic, and is interested only in a crusade to recapture Jerusalem. But his crusade soon stalls, and while he is away, his brother, John, and his supposed ally, Philip of France, are conspiring to steal his kingdom. Richard’s mother, Queen Eleanor, sends Sir Durwin, Enchanter General of England, out to Palestine, where he must convince the skeptical king that a loyal magician can be a valuable aide. Meanwhile, King Philip has turned all of Europe into a trap for Richard. The moment the Lionheart sets foot there, he will be arrested and imprisoned for life. It is up to Durwin, aided by his old friend William Legier, to see Richard safely home again and to save the kingdom from falling into the hands of the sadistic and treacherous Prince John . . .
Review
For Dave Duncan's last ever solo-penned work, I didn't take to this with the level of enjoyment I was expecting. Obviously ironfoot does have to grow up, and the politics, magic and historical information are all handled deftly ... and yet I missed the adventures of his youth, the comparative simplicity of his earlier exploits without court intrigue and the seeming inevitability of prophecy. I am sure I will come back to the series as a whole one day and find this a fitting end, however.
5 Stars to Tunnel Through the Stars (Star Trek: The Dominion War, #3) by John Vornholt
Description
From the Gamma Quadrant they came, hordes of merciless Jem'Hadar soldiers commanded by the shape-changing Founders, who seek to conquer both the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon™ Empire. Now that the Dominion has joined forces with the Cardassians, and claimed "Deep Space Nine™ " as their prize, Starfleet is running out of time. As a secret military project nears completion, the destiny of the entire Alpha Quadrant depends on the courage of a few. In the Federation's time of greatest peril, as the "Starship Enterprise™ " readies itself for battle, Captain Jean-Luc Picard leads a desperate mission of espionage deep into the heart of the hostile Cardassian Empire. Unless they can prevent the Dominion from creating an artificial wormhole, hordes of fresh Jem'Hadar warriors and Changelings will pour into the Alpha Quadrant, dooming the Federation to unconditional surrender. But there may be a traitor along on the mission and Picard finds he cannot trust even his closest allies.
Review
A Brilliant continuation, our heroes facing very long odds, and the set of chapters with the changeling were tense and exciting. Just the sort of adventure you pick up these books for.
4 Stars to The Tattooist of Auschwitz (The Tattooist of Auschwitz, #1) by Heather Morris
Description
In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners. Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive. One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her. A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.
Review
Occasionally, the students at work bring up books that sound so compelling that I am forced to come down from my tower of light fantasy and science fiction reads for a diet of something a little more substantive. This was ... harrowing. Heather's done a superb job of blending the very worst Humanity has to offer with the stubbornness and tenacity our species is known for; in burying kindness and what we all like to call "Humanity" within the depravity of an era of cruelty we all like to hope is behind us. However you slice it though, this is a book to bring a tear to your eye and to serve as a reminder never to forget the atrocities that were committed in the name of racial purity.
4 Stars to Call to Arms (Star Trek: The Dominion War, #2) by Diane Carey
Description
Based on "Call to Arms" written by Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe "A Time to Stand" written by Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler "Sons and Daughters" written by Bradley Thompson & David Weddle "Rocks and Shoals" written by Ronald D. Moore "Behind the Lines" written by Rene Echevarria "Favor the Bold" written by Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler "Sacrifice of Angels" written by Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler
Review
It was really good to see some episodes taken to the page in this one. I particularly liked the focus on Martok, who even though he was an important character on the series, didn't figure as heavily in the episodes here as he is portrayed on the page. yet this is managed without changing the story very much at all, which is impressive from a writing point of view and gives us a bit of background and continuity whilst reading. It's a shame the end of this book arc won't end the war!
4 Stars to Behind Enemy Lines (Star Trek: The Dominion War, #1) by John Vornholt
Description
Patroling the Cardassian border and bracing for an imminent joint Dominion-Cardassian offensive, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-E are reunited with Ro Laren. Original.
Review
Depressingly, I am so old that I can admit to having read this in its year of initial publication. Long before I Goodreads’d of course, so here we are again. I watched the DS9 season 5 finale Call to Arms and the 7th-season TNG episode lower-decks before rereading this, just to put myself back into the world a little. It was nice to have an outing with Captain Picard again, and interesting to pick up on some of those minor TNG characters and see them in new lights. Whilst I think I prefer the DS9 side of this short miniseries, this book gains a 4 star rating for being a brilliant jumping-off point to the Dominion War, even if it doesn’t give us much of the politics and backstory that we get from watching the build-up on television. I really did have to stretch credulity at a few points and swallow a little unusual behavior for characters who are so theoretically now established given we’re on the Enterprise E, but all-in-all, an exciting opener.
3 Stars to The Future Is Ours: 29 Tales of the Fantastic by Edward D. Hoch
Description
Edward D. Hoch was and is the undisputed master of the mystery short story. His total output of published short fiction hovers just under 1,000 stories. Hoch (pronounced "Hoke") is best remembered for his fair-play and impossible crime short stories, particularly the series featuring Dr. Sam Hawthorne, a small-town physician who unraveled seemingly impossible "problems" in 1920s New England. His other popular series characters included British Intelligence codebreaker Jeffrey Rand and thief-for-hire Nick Velvet. While a vast majority of Ed Hoch's stories were mysteries, he enjoyed horror and science fiction. Of his nine-hundred-plus output, he wrote several handfuls of horror and scifi stories that appeared in various magazines and anthologies. It could be argued that his first published story, "Village of the Dead" (which appeared in the December 1955 issue of the pulp magazine Famous Detective Stories), is as much horror as it is a mystery. In that story, the mass suicide of an entire village is investigated by Simon Ark, a mysterious -- possibly two-thousand year old -- Coptic Priest. Here, then, are 29 tales of the future, the fantastic, and the improbable by a master of the craft: Edward D. Hoch, writer extraordinaire!
Review
Some of Hoch's short stories were pretty interesting, but the opening of the book and the introduction about the author dragged on. A worthy collector for fans, but not a very accessible work for those new to him.
September
5 Stars to The Defense (Eddie Flynn, #1) by Steve Cavanagh
Description
The truth has no place in a courtroom. The truth doesn't matter in a trial. The only thing that matters is what the prosecution can prove. Eddie Flynn used to be a con artist. Then he became a lawyer. Turned out the two weren't that different. It's been over a year since Eddie vowed never to set foot in a courtroom again. But now he doesn't have a choice. Olek Volchek, the infamous head of the Russian mafia in New York, has strapped a bomb to Eddie's back and kidnapped his ten-year-old daughter Amy. Eddie only has 48 hours to defend Volchek in an impossible murder trial - and win - if wants to save his daughter. Under the scrutiny of the media and the FBI, Eddie must use his razor-sharp wit and every con-artist trick in the book to defend his 'client' and ensure Amy's safety. With the timer on his back ticking away, can Eddie convince the jury of the impossible? Lose this case and he loses everything.
Review
Bloody brilliant. Flynn is clearly the Mitch Rapp of lawyers and I love books which compress things; there was no bed time between events, it was nonstop action right from the start. Of course you have to read these as thrillers as much as legal battles, but that's fine if it's what you were expecting. And I'd never have twigged Cavanagh's heritage,, to me it sounded 100% authentic American.
July
3 Stars to Dark Lightning (Thunder and Lightning, #4) by John Varley
Description
Known for �superior science fiction” (The Philadelphia Inquirer), author John Varley returns to his Thunder and Lightning series with a novel of how one man’s volatile genius could alter a starship’s epic plunge into a future where human survival is just a theory… On a voyage to New Earth, the starship Rolling Thunder is powered by an energy no one understands, except for its eccentric inventor Jubal Broussard. Like many of the ship’s inhabitants, Jubal rests in a state of suspended animation for years at a time, asleep yet never aging. The moments when Jubal emerges from suspended animation are usually a cause for celebration for his family, including his twin daughters—Cassie and Polly—and their uncle who is captain of the Rolling Thunder. But this time, Jubal makes a shocking announcement… The ship must stop, or everyone will die. These words from the mission’s founder, the man responsible for the very existence of the Rolling Thunder, will send shock waves throughout the starship—and divide its passengers into those who believe and those who doubt. And it will be up to Cassie and Polly to stop a mutiny, discover the truth, and usher the ship into a new age of exploration…
Review
I'm not sure quite how much the twin motif added to the story, the two being so similar it was oftentimes difficult to recall who was whom. Still, an exciting extrapolation and as sedate a sendoff as we might want for our intrepid ark-crew.
3 Stars to Rolling Thunder (Thunder and Lightning, #3) by John Varley
Description
A third generation Martian, Lieutenant Patricia Kelly Elizabeth Strickland--also known as Podkayne--joins the Music, Arts, and Drama Division of the Martian Navy and is sent to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, as an entertainer, but she soon discovers that hidden dangers lurk everywhere, in the conclusion of a trilogy that began with Red Lightning and Red Thunder.
Review
Again we drop through the generations, and this is another solid, interesting yarn. Obviously, there's only so much variation on a theme you can get, so the introduction of the Europan critters is an interesting twist to keep things alive. And nice to see so many Heinlein references squozed into that last chapter. Beautiful.
4 Stars to Red Lightning (Thunder and Lightning, #2) by John Varley
Description
“A cosmic coming-of-age novel… enthralling everyman heroics.”—Paul Di Filippo, SciFi.com “Mars sucks.” And if anyone’s allowed to say it, Ray Garcia-Strickland is, since his father was one of the first men to set foot there. Ray’s father is now the manager of the Red Thunder, one of the swankiest hotels on overdeveloped Mars. And Ray has seen his share of gravity-dependent Earthies. Which doesn’t stop him from fearing the worst when Earth is struck by an unknown object, causing a massive tsunami. Living high on his father’s glory was okay, but now Ray must literally come down to Earth—and help solve one of its greatest mysteries…
Review
We all know that often, sequels don't work as well as the original. here ... that just doesn't hold. Varley's taken the idea behind the first story, forwarded us on to the next generation, and thrown complex, relevant and timely issues into a pot and bubbled them all up into a fantastic, readable adventure. I'm still a little disappointed at how long these teens take to open up to their feelings, but perhaps the more cautious nature is warranted in such a dangerous time. The ending paves the way neatly for any future works (of which I think there are at least two, so that should keep me happy).
4 Stars to Red Thunder (Thunder and Lightning, #1) by John Varley
Description
Seven suburban misfits are constructing a spaceship out of old tanker cars. The plan is to beat the Chinese to Mars--in under four days at three million miles an hour. It would be history in the making if it didn't sound so insane.
Review
Sold to me as an homage to the heinlein juveniles, I was dead keen to get into this. There are a lot of nods to RAH - especially names, but the style and milieu also fit into the groove (although there are differences). Chapters 13 and 28 sang out to me, and the whole story is full of the exciting and drive you'd expect from something from Heinlein in his prime, with perhaps an older, somewhat modernised layer of late-teenhood to peer through. To sum, an exciting adventure.
3 Stars to Antimatter (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #8) by John Vornholt
Description
The Bajoran shipyard is assigned to build an engine for a new starship, a project which could be instrumental in revitalizing the planet's war-ravished economy. As Commander Sisko awaits the arrival of a tanker containing the antimatter that will power the starship, a band of hijackers captures the extremely valuable cargo and escapes through the wormhole. When the hijacking spurs a political debate, Major Kira struggles to mediate the dispute between the opposing factions. Meanwhile, Sisko makes a desperate move to retrieve the antimatter. With the stability of the Bajoran economy at stake, Sisko, Dax, and Odo infiltrate the hijackers, a move that could have deadly consequences for them and the planet Bajor.
Review
Perhaps a slightly incoherent yet oddly gripping DS9 adventure. Apart from a wonderful sentence - "Would they think he was enemy or foe?" Which is just fantastic to read aloud and then go WHAT?!" There were no serious crimes against English. I particularly like how people's future careers are totally misjudged, it being quite an early novel, and I found it clever the way they took the players away from the station to give us a bit more planetary action, even though the station itself is a great place and works well in many other books, the plot handled that being apart quite nicely here. Not an especially memorable story but, like a typical episode of the series, fun to get through.
3 Stars to The Math Kids: The Prime-Time Burglars by David Cole
Description
Join The Math Kids, a group of young detectives, as they take on their first challenging case in The Prime-Time Burglars! When valuable items start disappearing from their town, the kids must use their math skills and deductive reasoning to crack the case. In this exciting adventure, readers will be captivated as The Math Kids, Jordan, Justin and Stephanie, follow the clues, unraveling a mystery that will keep them guessing until the very end. Perfect for kids who love solving puzzles and mysteries, this book is a thrilling and educational read that will inspire young readers to use their math skills in real-life situations. With its engaging storyline and relatable characters, The Prime-Time Burglars is a must-read for any aspiring young detectives out there. The Prime-Time Burglars in the first in a children's mystery book series featuring the Math Kids. Have you read them all?
Review
Fun for a younger audience. Good to read aloud but you do need the visualisations to support the messages.
5 Stars to The First Time Lauren Pailing Died by Alyson Rudd
Description
Lauren Pailing is born in the sixties, and a child of the seventies. She is thirteen years old the first time she dies. Lauren Pailing is a teenager in the eighties, becomes a Londoner in the nineties. And each time she dies, new lives begin for the people who loved her – while Lauren enters a brand new life, too. But in each of Lauren’s lives, a man called Peter Stanning disappears. And, in each of her lives, Lauren sets out to find him. And so it is that every ending is also a beginning. And so it is that, with each new beginning, Peter Stanning inches closer to finally being found…
Review
"She had kissed a photograph of her niece just the once and it had made her maudlin, uneasy and embarrassed. The role of the dead was unclear, especially when it was a child that had died. " This was a mesmeric, unsettlingly haunting novel. Despite being of a Post-Lauren generation, I was swept rather convincingly into her life. The jarring break after the end of the first part tilted expectation, and seeing the tapestry laid out before us throughout the rest of the book was humbling and brilliant. So much culture and reality densely packed into a story at once evocative and troubling. Very much worth your time to read.
5 Stars to One Past Midnight by Jessica Shirvington
Description
Sabine isn't like anyone else. For as long as she can remember, she's had two lives. Every twenty-four hours she "shifts," living each day twice. In one life, Sabine has everything: popular friends, perfect grades, expensive clothes, and the guy everyone wants. In the other, Sabine's family struggles financially, and her friends are considered rebels. But then she meets Ethan. He's gorgeous and challenging, and he makes her feel like she's never felt before. All Sabine really wants is the chance to live only one life. But when this finally becomes possible, is she willing to risk everything - including losing the one person who might actually believe her - to make it happen?
Review
I very much enjoyed this. Sabine's immediately recognisable as someone with baggage and problems, and her parents reactions to things are so stereotypically wrong that you can't help but carry on reading to find out what happens next. The ending? yes, I think that was about as perfect as it could have been after the penultimate act. Well-written from a female perspective and a different and interesting twist on the unique teen theme, I escaped for a few hours into a world not necessarily better or happier than my own at all, but certainly more puzzling and handled very readably indeed.
3 Stars to The Henry Experiment by Sophie Radice
Description
When maternal Anna finds a barefoot boy on Hampstead Heath, she escorts him home. Expecting gratitude, she is met instead with hostility from his father, an expert on parenting who believes that boys aged seven must be separated from their mothers and toughened up. Anna watches over odd, clever, unhappy Henry and strikes up a secret friendship with him. Henry becomes the pawn in an escalating and scary game as Anna and Henderson prowl around each other. As the tension mounts, and Henry’s trials become more daunting and dangerous, the adults’ own carefully re-constructed lives begin to unravel. The Henry Experiment raises questions about parenting and about the responsibility adults have for other people’s children. Where is the line between protection and interference?
Review
I came across this as a radio drama. Some of the comments on the blog posts were amusing, and the idea itself was interesting, but as a story the plot suffered from perhaps a little too much realism.
4 Stars to Last Man Out (Poor Man's Fight, #5) by Elliott Kay
Description
THE DEADLIEST UNPAID INTERN IN THE GALAXY Some people struggle to get to college. Tanner Malone had to fight through an interstellar war. Far from home, under a cloud of scandal and propaganda, hunted by assassins and haunted by trauma, Tanner is finally enrolled in a top university. He didn’t plan for an archaeological expedition on the far side of human space. He didn’t want more corporate mercenaries or space pirates in his life, either. Yet ancient alien secrets don’t come without cost. If his classmates want to survive the summer, their infamous intern is the only chance they’ve got.
Review
This whole series just carries on brilliantly, and poor tanner has to deal with students this time round. Well. Students, and people trying to blow him up, and crazy aliens. And all the stress of everything that he's already been through, which quite understandably is enough to send him a little paranoid and worried. Kay's writing never loses pace, and I look forward to these whenever I hear they are coming out.
2 Stars to The Red Planet by Charles Chilton
Description
The RED PLANET is the story of the famous radio serial JOURNEY INTO SPACE which held an audience of millions entranced through twenty exciting weeks.
Review
it worked much, much better on the radio, of course. As a story, even the radio version was implausible,but at least it was fun. rendered into somewhat plodding prose, this was more a narrative form of what had already been broadcast, without much added.
4 Stars to Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 (Star Trek 365) by Paula M. Block
Description
With the launch of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gene Roddenberry somehow managed to recapture lightning in a bottle. This new incarnation of Star Trek was an instant hit, and its popularity inspired four films and three spin-off television series. To commemorate the show’s 25th anniversary, Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 provides a fresh, accessible overview of the entire series, including an authorized guide to all 178 episodes. Featuring rarely seen and now-classic photography and illustrations, this visual celebration of the voyages of Captain Picard, his crew, and the Enterprise-D offers a loving look back at the Emmy and Hugo Award–winning series.
Review
A great set of notes and reflections on what is, of course, one of the most powerful and compelling television series of its era. With more of a focus on the writers and technical production in the real world than the details of universe continuity, I found myself enjoying every word. A handy book, not quite for reference, but for reflection from the crew. shame about the photos.
June
5 Stars to Three Laws Lethal by David Walton
Description
Featured on Wall Street Journal's list of the Best Science Fiction of 2019 The place, New York City; the time, the very near future. The streets of Gotham are swarming with self-driving cars, which are now a reality, and the competition between two entrepreneurs for this cutthroat futuristic business grows increasingly fierce. But when the escalating technological warfare produces superintelligent AI computers that use data to decide who should live and die, the results are explosive . . . and deadly. It is left to young Naomi Sumner, inventor of the virtual world in which the AIs train, to recognize that the supercomputers are developing goals of their own—goals for which they are willing to kill. But can she stop these inhuman machines before it is too late? More importantly, will she stop them? Three Laws Lethal takes the reader on a wild ride in a world that is still imaginary . . . for now . . .
Review
Oh, now, yes. Walton's done it again. This is perhaps one of the most perfect examples of this type of literature in its class. Eminently readable and with characters that virtually leap off the page, I was hooked, humbled and fizzing with enthusiasm all-the-way through. Naomi is so brilliantly-drawn, a few parallels with some of the students I work with struck deep and meaningful chords. Tyler's naivety is also rather touching, and of course, the climactic, heroic act that ends the danger toward the end of the book is perfectly foreshadowed and produced with awesome poise and balance. Walton pulls the emotional strings hard, too. Such a harmonious, picturesque view of drive and determination at the start of chapter 6 is brutally and traumatically shattered in just a few short chapters. Things spiral fast, and I'm not ashamed to say that I paused at the end of the eighteenth chapter to allow myself a moment of horror. Even though the blurb warned me, even though I knew it was a story, and even though I was aware to some degree already of the things going on - that didn't stop the reality hitting me over the head. Ouch! More spine-tingling in chapters 25, 30 and naturally 33 bring the action, if not the thinking, to an end. And just like the other books this genius has produced, the topics revolve and circulate long after the final page has been turned. The science-fiction references were glorious, and almost every different element (from obfuscated source code to the court case) felt spot-on and real. Walton references several giants of the field (heinlein, Asimov, Sawyer). he's up there with them, certainly in terms of readability and enjoyment. Longevity will have to wait a while, but I've already reread him and am quite sure that I won't be alone in doing so.
May
5 Stars to The Ethical Swordsman (The King's Blades, #11) by Dave Duncan
Description
Niall's father taught him about honour, about the value of a man keeping his word. And this is a tenet by which Niall has lived his life, even while training to be a Blade. Now, however, King Ambrose is dead, and his daughter, Malinda, wears the Chivian Crown, and even as Niall is made Prime of the Blades, he's been put under dire oath to the Queen, made a spy, and about to face a challenge to everything he had been taught about honour and the privilege of being a Queen's Blade. In this the last of the King's Blades series, Dave Duncan takes his readers on a high adventure and what will be remembered as a deeply satisfying conclusion.
Review
This is the end. There will be no more Blades books! (Thank you for liking them so much.) That’s what it says in the Afterword. This book was supposed to be published in February 2020. After Dave’s death in October 2018, the publisher made an excellent choice to move things up and to give us loyal fans the opportunity to say goodbye, and read the last of the Blades stories. It’s a great yarn. Very redolent of the Monster war novellas in tone, but with a final look at those characters we’ve come to love throughout the series on one last epic mission, the Ethical Swordsman is set just after the death of Ambrose as depicted in The Gilded Chain. There’s a fantastic bit of swordsmanship in chapter 14, which was great, and that final look at ironhall from shelter Rock was hugely poignant, not so much in the story (because most blades can’t wait to leave) but more from knowing that yes, this really was it. I didn’t fully appreciate the genius of The Gilded chain. It wasn’t until I’d come back to it afresh after reading the rest that I really began to see the marvels for what they are – these stories of heroism, political intrigue, bravery and loyalty are some of the finest. I am very proud to own all 5 named “Tales”, the 3 “chronicles” and the Monster War omnibus. I very much look forward to the audiobooks, so others can enjoy them with the same level of enthusiasm I have bestowed over the years. I don’t know whether the publisher is correct in her assessment that this was Dave Duncan’s favourite world. But I do know that he came back to only one other after he’d “finished” in it, and that both of those worlds are richer for the additions he made. The first blades story is over 2 decades old,, and yet they’re all still just timeless, magical escapes. I can only hope that, for the next 20 years of my life, they continue to be so.
5 Stars to The Unspeakable Unknown by Eliot Sappingfield
Description
Nikola Kross has battled aliens and won. But her father, who was kidnapped by evil extraterrestrials, is still missing, and now it's up to Nikola and her friends to find and rescue him before it's too late. He could be anywhere in the known universe, and they have little to go on except a desperate secret communication--"Kindly rescue me at your earliest convenience"--and an unhelpful clue that he's in a secure facility somewhere deep underground. But the extraterrestrials are still determined to capture Nikola. And if she gets abducted, she won't have to wonder where her father is . . . because she'll already be there. In this funny and exciting sequel, Nikola and her friends discover new and unexpected allies and come face-to-face with a strange and mysterious enemy, one so powerful and so dangerous, they dare not speak his name.
Review
So I really enjoyed the first of these, and this follow-up is just as good. No risk of Sappingfield running out of juice, the science and the technology are just brilliant, and I eagerly await the next adventure.
5 Stars to Seven Second Delay Easton, Tom by Tom Easton
Description
Mila has 7 seconds. 7 seconds to fight. 7 seconds to escape. Seeking a new life on the futuristic Isles, Mila’s time runs out – she’s captured by Agents, who implant her with a phone that broadcasts her every move. Now she’s on the run, hounded by an elite fighting force who is convinced she poses a dangerous threat to society. Her only advantage: a seven second delay. It’s a race against time.
Review
Wow. the frenetic, headlong "spied-upon" theme of Jen Cole's Play or Die joins the gritty, divisive divisions of Claire McFall's Bombmaker and pushes them into an explosively clever, pulse-pounding young-adult story. Seven seconds isn't much time, and yet we are shown time and again how it's just enough for one girl to thumb her nose at her oppressors. Themes of trust, loyalty and greed are explored well, and the politics coming through toward the end serve to highlight the fact that black and white solutions aren't always possible, no matter how much we may have technically won. This is a fun, fast tale with meaning and teeth. Not to be missed.
April
5 Stars to Delta-v (Delta-v, #1) by Daniel Suarez
Description
When itinerant cave diver James Tighe receives an invitation to billionaire Nathan Joyce's private island, he thinks it must be a mistake. But Tighe's unique skill set makes him a prime candidate for Joyce's high-risk venture to mine a near-earth asteroid--with the goal of kick-starting an entire off-world economy. The potential rewards and personal risks are staggering, but the competition is fierce and the stakes couldn't be higher. Isolated and pushed beyond their breaking points, Tighe and his fellow twenty-first century adventurers--ex-soldiers, former astronauts, BASE jumpers, and mountain climbers--must rely on each other to survive not only the dangers of a multi-year expedition but the harsh realities of business in space. They're determined to transform humanity from an Earth-bound species to a space-faring one--or die trying.
Review
Another book impossible to put down, from the very first page to the last. Every chapter built explosively upon the previous, every scene felt alive and real, and even the balance of the book felt right - the halfway mark in the text providing a great juncture point to the whole narrative. the deaths hurt, the triumphs mattered, and the ethics will resound long after the final thump of the closing book cover. Almost certainly, as with several of Suarez's other novels, this is one to reread some day.
4 Stars to Machines like Me by Ian McEwan
Description
Britain has lost the Falklands war, Margaret Thatcher battles Tony Benn for power and Alan Turing achieves a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. In a world not quite like this one, two lovers will be tested beyond their understanding. Machines Like Me occurs in an alternative 1980s London. Charlie, drifting through life and dodging full-time employment, is in love with Miranda, a bright student who lives with a terrible secret. When Charlie comes into money, he buys Adam, one of the first batch of synthetic humans. With Miranda’s assistance, he co-designs Adam’s personality. This near-perfect human is beautiful, strong and clever – a love triangle soon forms. These three beings will confront a profound moral dilemma. Ian McEwan’s subversive and entertaining new novel poses fundamental questions: what makes us human? Our outward deeds or our inner lives? Could a machine understand the human heart? This provocative and thrilling tale warns of the power to invent things beyond our control.
Review
What an evocative work. So different and distant from me, yet some of the overtones stick. To be despised by a man you admire. To have your life torn apart by truth and forthright honesty. To harm, to forgive, and yet to be trapped in a seemingly perpetual state of being damaging to oneself ... all these things rise from the pages here, shining brilliantly and brightly through the lens of a Britain and a technology we've yet to master. Or perhaps it's just that I finished reading this novel before sunrise, tossed around emotionally without the surcease of sleep to cloak and protect my thoughts. However deep you care to go, there's something in here to catch the eye and stir the senses. A moving, intrusive novel, with a gentle, almost uncharacteristically diffident feel to its messages with a seemingly disproportionately potent ability to hold me captive and induce disturbing levels of cogitation.
5 Stars to The Passengers (Dark Future, #2) by John Marrs
Description
Eight self-drive cars set on a collision course. Who lives, who dies? You decide. When someone hacks into the systems of eight self-drive cars, their passengers are set on a fatal collision course. The passengers are: a TV star, a pregnant young woman, a disabled war hero, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife - and parents of two - who are travelling in separate vehicles and a suicidal man. Now the public have to judge who should survive but are the passengers all that they first seem?
Review
The latest Marrs is breathtakingly addictive. Despite myself, I literally could not stop reading. I was on holiday, so I didn't have anything pressing to do, but every chapter and every revelation felt brilliantly-executed. A high number of proofing errors really annoyed me, but given the price, that's not a complaint I feel should influence the book too much - and I blame publishers, as a rule, anyway. The story line, characters and writing generally was top drawer. Highly recommended.
5 Stars to Beauty Sleep by Kathryn Evans
Description
Who am I? What am I? When am I? Laura can't remember who she is. But the rest of the world knows. Because Laura is famous - a dying girl who was frozen until she could be cured. A real-life Sleeping Beauty. But what happens when you wake up one day and the world has moved on forty years? Could you build a new life - while solving the mystery of what happened to the old one? A darkly twisted thriller plunging a pre-tech girl into a futuristic world.
Review
Wow. I was hooked on this, and as the character's converge the excitement keeps building. A clever, well-paced novel with more of a satisfying ending than kathryn's debut. I even completely missed the big reveal at the end, which in retrospect you'd have to be even blinder than I am to do. Fantastic book, though. Very much enjoyed.
2 Stars to Battle Royale Online: A LitRPG Adventure by Victor Deckard
Description
It is 2053 and Earth is overpopulated. People desperately struggle for existence. Human life is extremely cheap nowadays. As a way to deal with the dire effects and problems of the overpopulation, Battle Royale Online has been invented. It is a virtual reality video game where up to one thousand players kill one another off until there is only one survivor in the game. The gaming pods players use to connect to the game are unofficially called players’ coffins. There is a good reason for if one gets killed in the game, his or her pod gets deactivated, which results in the player’s death in real life. The sole winner of the game gets a huge amount of prize money. Jason, a twenty-two-year-old guy, would never have decided to play Battle Royale Online had his mom not gotten in a car crash, which caused a brain tumor. She is in a comatose state and needs immediate surgical intervention. Jason doesn’t have enough money to pay for the surgery. Therefore, he decides to play Battle Royale Online. Jennifer, his girlfriend, tries to reason with him. She tries to persuade him not to play the game because the odds of being the last player standing in this game are extremely slim. She also warns him that there may be cheaters and hackers in the game. Yet her pleas fall on deaf ears. Later on, Jason finds out that Jennifer is going to play the game as well. Jason freaks out over her decision because there is no way they both can win the game. Even if they against all the odds defeat the other players, cheaters, and hackers, and make it to the final stage of the game, it won’t let them both leave the game alive. Jason has no idea what Jennifer was thinking when she decided to play the game as well. How the heck are they both going to win the game if there can be only one survivor?
Review
The English, never a source of grammatical happiness in this genre, was positively bastardised for this one. And the gratuitous and dissatisfying sex was just a complete turn-off, too. Errors in a few stats screens, bountiful repetition of data, complete lack of imagination for picking names and plot holes all over the place - especially during the ending of the game with the cheats - do not make for a well-put-together story.
3 Stars to Lost and Found (Taken Trilogy #1) by Alan Dean Foster
Description
Not so long ago Marcus Walker was just another young commodities trader in Chicago, working hard and playing harder. But that’s all in the past, part of a life half forgotten—a reality that vanished when he was attacked while camping and tossed aboard a starship bound for deep space. Desperately, Walker searches for explanations, only to realize he’s trapped in a horrifying nightmare that is all too real. Instead of being a rich hotshot at the top of the food chain, Walker discovers he’s just another amusing novelty, part of a cargo of “cute” aliens from primitive planets—destined to be sold as pets to highly advanced populations in “civilized” regions of the galaxy. Even if he weren’t constantly watched by his captors, Walker has few options. After all, there is no escape from a speeding starship. Another man might resign himself to the inevitable and hope to be sold to a kindly owner, but not Walker. This former college football star has plenty of American ingenuity and no intention of admitting defeat, now or ever. In fact, he’s only just begun to fight.
Review
not blown away by this first instalment. An old idea handled with good verbal gymnastics, let down by perhaps not going overly far nor doing it in anything of an exciting fashion.
4 Stars to The Watch Below by James White
Description
Book by James White
Review
Clever and interesting right to the last. Very good.
5 Stars to One Word Kill (Impossible Times, #1) by Mark Lawrence
Description
In January 1986, fifteen-year-old boy-genius Nick Hayes discovers he’s dying. And it isn’t even the strangest thing to happen to him that week. Nick and his Dungeons & Dragons-playing friends are used to living in their imaginations. But when a new girl, Mia, joins the group and reality becomes weirder than the fantasy world they visit in their weekly games, none of them are prepared for what comes next. A strange—yet curiously familiar—man is following Nick, with abilities that just shouldn’t exist. And this man bears a cryptic message: Mia’s in grave danger, though she doesn’t know it yet. She needs Nick’s help—now. He finds himself in a race against time to unravel an impossible mystery and save the girl. And all that stands in his way is a probably terminal disease, a knife-wielding maniac and the laws of physics. Challenge accepted.
Review
** Disclosure: I got this through Amazon First Reads, with no connection to the publisher per se (Other than 47 North being an Amazon thing, of course).** Wow. This was hugely enjoyable, and despite being heavy on tropes (a "mysteriously familiar stranger"? Really?) I couldn't put it down. it captured well much of the teenage condition, made excellent use of its period detail and generally lived up to its synopsis - something few books can do. Very much looking forward to number 2.
March
5 Stars to Kill Switch (Kill Chain #2) by William Hertling
Description
Igloo and Angie are the co-founders of a new social network, Tapestry, based on the principles of privacy and data ownership. Two years later, with Tapestry poised to become the world’s largest social network, their rapid growth puts them under government scrutiny. Tapestry’s privacy and security is so effective that it impedes the government’s ability to monitor routine communications. Fearing Tapestry will spread to encompass the whole of the Internet, threatening America’s surveillance abilities around the globe, the government swoops in to stop Angie and company -- by any means possible. Under the constant threat of exposure -- of Angie’s criminal past, of Igloo’s secret life in the underground kink scene, and of their actions to subvert a FISA court order -- they must hatch a plan to ensure the success of Tapestry no matter what pressures the government brings to bear. Not knowing whom to trust, or if they can even trust each other, Igloo and Angie must risk everything in the ultimate battle for control of the Internet.
Review
I wasn't sure just how I'd feel about the kink and the BDSM stuff, but I actually found it fascinating and interesting, more than repulsive. The tech, of course, is the point of the book, and hertling doesn't disappoint. It's a feel-good, power to the people story, yet with enough grey areas and backdoors that you can't ever forget the power of government surveillance. and I loved the Openssl thing.
3 Stars to Ganymede by Jason Taylor
Description
2088 The Great Unrest nearly purged mankind from the world Genetic engineering improved those who survived One milestone remains out of reach Mankind must pursue human cloning or fade away In the aftermath of the Great Unrest, humanity created a world where artificial intelligence permeates every facet of life. Manipulation of the human genome has been perfected, spurring a global arms race to produce the first human clone. When Jill finds the key to unlock this secret, the Ganymede Project shatters everything she thought was real. After confronting the unintended consequences of her discovery, Jill is cast into a bewildering maze of intrigue and deceit. The unexpected results of her research plunges the world into chaos, forcing her to face a future where humans may lose all that remains of their humanity. Haunted by her creations, she will do whatever it takes to contain the turmoil that she has unleashed. As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, Jill uncovers a shocking truth that threatens to destroy everything she has ever loved.
Review
Despite the idea here being pretty interesting, the huge world shift toward the end sort of broke things for me. The idea of solvable encryption in DNA should've been a bit of a clue in retrospect. And then there was a "hahaha". So that knocked a star off right there.
4 Stars to Galaxy Quest: A Novel by Terry Bisson
Description
Twenty years after the end of the "Galaxy Quest" television series, the cast members are mistaken for real space explorers by a group of aliens, and are whisked off into outer space to save them from obliteration
Review
An absolutely fantastic film, this seemed to be a very good write-up. As a big Trek person, I could not fail to appreciate the genius here.
5 Stars to No Way (Frank Kitteridge #2) by S.J. Morden
Description
In the sequel to the terrifying science fiction thriller, One Way, returning home from Mars may mean striking a deal with the very people who abandoned him.They were sent to build a utopia, but all they found on Mars was death.Frank Kitteridge has been abandoned. But XO, the greedy -- and ultimately murderous -- corporate architects of humanity's first Mars base made a costly mistake when they left him they left him alive. Using his skills and his wits, he's going to find a way back home even if it kills him.Little does he know that Mars isn't completely empty. Just over the mountain, there's another XO base where things are going terribly, catastrophically wrong. And when the survivors of that mission find Frank, they're going to want to take even the little he has away from him.If there's anything in Frank's favor, it's he's always been prepared to go to the extremes to get the job done. That's how he ended up on Mars in the first place. It just might be his ticket back.For more from S. J. Morden, check Way
Review
I'd wanted to read this sequel for the whole of February, and indeed having re-read One Way as a build-up the excitement and tension were both at breaking point. And then we get more people, after Frank's loneliness at the start of the book, and woe, things start to happen. "Lucy reminded him a little of Alice: competent, direct, emotionless, honest. Just a lot less murdery. He could certainly work with her." Morden doesn't let the pressure off for a moment, and even drops homages to other works (Mark's potatoes from the Martian get a mention). The hits for Frank just keep on coming, and I really was enthralled from cover to cover. Particularly when Frank turns up with the badge to find the rug whipped out from under him by XO, I really wondered how things could possibly spin out, and yet things just kept ramping up, in a delightfully tense, compellingly gripping work. So, yes. a truly satisfying end to the story started in One Way, and a brilliantly-executed follow-on in its own right. Profoundly satisfying. They'd make an epic couple of movies.
2 Stars to Galactic Startup (Galactic Startup, #1) by Brian Whiting
Description
Alex and his three friends drop out of college after discovering a revolutionary way to travel into space using a small amount of energy. Their world-changing technology is sought by the government, and they are forced to go into hiding while they perfect it. Their adventures into orbit and beyond become a global sensation. As they navigate fame, family and those who are determined to stop them, little do they know that their little startup could have galactic consequences once they discover a derelict spaceship.
Review
The writing was quite hard to break into, things happen without any evident rhyme or reason, emotional outbursts appear out of nowhere. If the editing picked up I may think about seeing what happens next, but it'd take some pushing.
February
5 Stars to The Tin Whistle (The Lattice Trilogy #3) by Erik Hanberg
Description
How do you fight a war when the enemy knows your every thought? Byron Shaw is in the fight of his life. His family are hostages, orbiting the Earth in a spaceship that could be destroyed any minute. His enemies are preparing for a final assault. And his allies are powerless help him. So begins the gripping final chapter in The Lattice Trilogy. With the Lattice restored, the improved network is all the more wonderful and all the more terrible for it. With it, Shaw can give his body over to another to control, clone a 900-year old saint, or dip into a raw feed of the Lattice’s immense knowledge. But should he? Trapped between his two worst enemies—Taveena Parr and the surviving raiders on one side and Zella Galway and the cartel of corporations on the other—Shaw must blaze his own path if he wants to save his family. The ensuing battle will take the world once more to the brink of global disaster, and in the end, only Shaw will decide the fate of the Lattice.
Review
Brilliantly done, a series ender with as many twists and changes as the rest of the stories, utterly true to form, and with such a gripping style of writing,the whole series is just so readable and exciting, all the way through.
5 Stars to The Iron Harvest (The Lattice Trilogy #2) by Erik Hanberg
Description
Hiding is easy. Staying alive is the problem. Byron Shaw is the focus of a worldwide manhunt. Everywhere he turns he finds more danger. Everyone who helps him risks their own life. With the global communication network that bound society destroyed, Shaw must fight his away across two continents if he ever wants to see his wife again. Unfortunately for him, he must navigate between those who are trying to rebuild the Lattice and those who are willing to kill to stop that from happening. Shaw must choose sides, and the future of world will rest with his decision.
Review
So I read The Lead Cloak years ago, and forgot to follow up. how can I do that? What madness overcame me? This is a fantastic series. Hanberg takes the concept of the lattice and smashes the world open with it, and then repeats the process by taking it away. Shaw is a hugely conflicted protagonist, and I really want to know how the series is going to end. So for certain this time, I'm picking up the next one.
4 Stars to The Test by Sylvain Neuvel
Description
Britain, the not-too-distant future. Idir is sitting the British Citizenship Test. He wants his family to belong. Twenty-five questions to determine their fate. Twenty-five chances to impress. When the test takes an unexpected and tragic turn, Idir is handed the power of life and death. How do you value a life when all you have is multiple choice?
Review
Totally enjoyed start to finish, I just wish it had been longer. not this specifically; the story is well-paced as a novella, but the build-up for such a short work is almost disappointing. Well told, gripping, exciting. i want big books from Sylvain.
5 Stars to Veracity 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. What if you developed a technology that made it impossible for anyone to lie? About anything. Would this save humanity from itself? Or would it tear society apart? And just how far would power players around the globe go to stop it?Elias Gibson has invented a technology that will profoundly change the essence of human behavior. But will this lead to a glorious future, or to the collapse of civilization? Before Elias can answer this question, he finds himself battling for his very survival, and racing to uncover the identities and motives of the treacherous forces arrayed against him. As he fights to stay alive, he will be stunned by one extraordinary revelation after another.But the biggest surprise is yet to come . . .Veracity is a roller-coaster ride of a thriller. One that offers meticulously researched insights into both human nature and the future of the human race."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)Near Future Science Fiction Thrillers by Douglas E. RichardsWIRED (Wired 1)AMPED (Wired 2)MIND'S EYE (Nick Hall 1)BRAINWEB (Nick Hall 2)MIND WAR (Nick Hall 3)SPLIT SECOND(Split Second 1)TIME FRAME (Split Second 2)QUANTUM LENSGAME CHANGERINFINITY BORNSEEKERVERACITYORACLETHE ENIGMA CUBEKids Science Fiction Thrillers (9 and up, enjoyed by kids and adults alike) TRAPPED (Prometheus Project 1)CAPTURED (Prometheus Project 2)STRANDED (Prometheus Project 3)OUT OF THIS WORLDDEVIL'S SWORD
Review
Another fabulous story from Richards. I can't express the feeling when a book of his just pops into my life. Even though we can see how many things are going to go by knowing his style, there are always unique joys in every single one of his books. I of course missed the big reveal here, as I was supposed to, and found the whole thing a brilliant thriller start to finish, as Douglas is famous for. What a wonderful writer, let's hope he's got many, many more ideas.
January
5 Stars to Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen
Description
To save his daughter, he'll go anywhere—and any-when… Kin Stewart is an everyday family man: working in I.T., trying to keep the spark in his marriage, and struggling to connect with his teenage daughter, Miranda. But his current life is a far cry from his previous career as a time-traveling secret agent from 2142. Stranded in suburban San Francisco since the 1990s after a botched mission, Kin has kept his past hidden from everyone around him, despite the increasing blackouts and memory loss affecting his time-traveler's brain. Until one afternoon, his “rescue” team arrives—eighteen years too late. Their mission: return Kin to 2142 where he's only been gone weeks, not years, and where another family is waiting for him. A family he can’t remember. Torn between two lives, Kin is desperate for a way to stay connected to both. But when his best efforts threaten to destroy the agency and even history itself, his daughter’s very existence is at risk. It'll take one final trip across time to save Miranda—even if it means breaking all the rules of time travel in the process. A uniquely emotional genre-bending debut, Here and Now and Then captures the perfect balance of heart, playfulness, and imagination, offering an intimate glimpse into the crevices of a father’s heart, and its capacity to stretch across both space and time to protect the people that mean the most.
Review
Oh, yes. My word, what a story! The milieu! The Mise-en-scène! The pacing, characterisation, and father-daughter dynamic! I was literally hooked. Kin's major decision points (chapter's 4 and 18 especially) were electrifying, and the whole thing moves at such a breakneck speed that you can't but help be swept along in the tidal serge. The writing is clear, crisp and concise, but the feelings are no less muted. The rationale and time travel dynamic hold up well throughout, and although there's nothing overly unique in the idea, there is something profoundly, ineffably poignant about the story. I think this is my favourite book of the year so far.
3 Stars to The Last by Hanna Jameson
Description
For fans of high-concept thrillers such as Annihilation and The Girl with All the Gifts, this breathtaking dystopian psychological thriller follows an American academic stranded at a Swiss hotel as the world descends into nuclear war—along with twenty other survivors—who becomes obsessed with identifying a murderer in their midst after the body of a young girl is discovered in one of the hotel’s water tanks. Jon thought he had all the time in the world to respond to his wife’s text message: I miss you so much. I feel bad about how we left it. Love you. But as he’s waiting in the lobby of the L’Hotel Sixieme in Switzerland after an academic conference, still mulling over how to respond to his wife, he receives a string of horrifying push notifications. Washington, DC has been hit with a nuclear bomb, then New York, then London, and finally Berlin. That’s all he knows before news outlets and social media goes black—and before the clouds on the horizon turn orange. Now, two months later, there are twenty survivors holed up at the hotel, a place already tainted by its strange history of suicides and murders. Those who can’t bear to stay commit suicide or wander off into the woods. Jon and the others try to maintain some semblance of civilization. But when the water pressure disappears, and Jon and a crew of survivors investigate the hotel’s water tanks, they are shocked to discover the body of a young girl. As supplies dwindle and tensions rise, Jon becomes obsessed with investigating the death of the little girl as a way to cling to his own humanity. Yet the real question remains: can he afford to lose his mind in this hotel, or should he take his chances in the outside world? "Nuclear apocalypse meets murder mystery, with an amazing cast of characters. It's Stephen King meets Agatha Christie, in this fantastic and highly original novel” - Luca Vesta, author of Dead Gone “The questions Jameson poses—who will be with you at the end of the world, and what kind of person will you be?—are as haunting as the plot itself. This is a chilling and extraordinary book.” - Emily St. John Mandel, bestselling author of Station Eleven
Review
I can't admit to being as impressed as I'd hoped, given the reveal at the end. it was billed well, but perhaps a little too cerebral for me to fully integrate with. An interesting enough concept, but not really taken advantage of with our core characters in the way I was expecting.
5 Stars to Once Burned (Star Trek: The Captain's Table, #5) by Peter David
Description
There's a bar called "The Captain's Table," where those who have commanded mighty vessels of every shape and era can meet, relax, and share a friendly drink or two with others of their calling. Sometimes a brawl may break out but it's all in the family, more or less. Just remember, the first round of drinks is always paid for with a story...even in Thallonian space. Six years ago, long before he took command of the Starship Excalibur, a young Starfleet officer named Mackenzie Calhoun served as first officer aboard the U.S.S. Grissom. Then disaster struck, and Calhoun took the blame. A court-martial led to his own angry resignation from Starfleet...or so it appeared. At long last Captain Calhoun reveals the true story behind the greatest tragedy of his life.
Review
Oh, yes. This was super. Peter David’s always treated the Trek universe with his trademark irreverence, and Calhoun positively blazed here. The voice is naturally as authentic as it comes, and the whole story just works so well, it’s hard to stop for breath. Without doubt, the best entry of this saga.
3 Stars to Fire Ship (Star Trek: The Captain's Table, #4) by Diane Carey
Description
There's a bar called "The Captain's Table, " where those who have commanded mighty vessels of every shape and era can meet, relax, and share a friendly drink or two with others of their calling. Sometimes a brawl may break out but it's all in the family, more or less. Just remember, the first round of drinks is always paid for with a story...even in the Delta Quadrant. A sudden attack separates Captain Kathryn Janeway from her ship and crew. Soon she is rescued -- but not by "Voyager." Alone aboard an alien vessel, Janeway finds herself in the middle of a war she cannot yet understand. She must quickly learn the ways of this new culture and work her way back to captain if she is to protect her new allies from the war that only she knows is coming. Without her ship, all her quick wits and Starfleet experience may not be quite enough to save the Delta Quadrant from war.
Review
This was a really fabulous story. Exciting, dramatic, unusual in terms of setting (when is a warp culture not a warp culture, and all that). So I really loved it, found it captivating – but the internal voice was just so not Janeway. So a mixed bag, and no mistake.
4 Stars to The Mist (Star Trek: The Captain's Table, #3) by Dean Wesley Smith
Description
There's a bar called "The Captain's Table", where those who have commanded mighty vessels of every shape and era can meet, relax, and share a friendly drink or two with others of their calling. Sometimes a brawl may break out but it's all in the family, more or less. Just remember, the first round of drinks is always paid for with a story... even on the planet Bajor.Do the people of the Mist have the ultimate cloaking device -- or a gateway to another dimension? Captain Benjamin Sisko doesn't know for sure, but the Klingons, the Cardassians, and the Ferengi Alliance will stop at nothing to obtain the device. Now Sisko finds himself in the middle of a deadly struggle that could change the balance of power throughout the entire Alpha Quadrant!
Review
The delta quadrant? Lasers? Hyperspace? Have we not been watching the same series for the last few years??? those clangers aside, I really enjoyed this. Ben's story was told well, and somehow this is the best so far.
3 Stars to Dujonian's Hoard (Star Trek: The Captain's Table, #2) by Michael Jan Friedman
Description
There's a bar called "The Captain's Table", where those who have commanded mighty vessels of every shape and era can meet, relax, and share a friendly drink or two with others of their calling. Sometimes a brawl may break out but it's all in the family, more or less. Just remember, the first round of drinks is always paid for with a story... even if you're Jean-Luc Picard. For more than two hundred years archaeologists and treasure hunters have dreamed of Dujonian's Hoard, a fabled trove of priceless historical artifacts that may contain technology that will shift the galactic balance of power. A dream was all the hoard seemed-- until a former Starfleet officer goes in search of the treasure and turns up missing. Now everyone from Romulans to Cardassians to an enigmatic female starship captain is looking for Richard Brant, including Worf and Captain Picard, who have gone deep undercover on a secret Starfleet mission to rescue Brant, if he's even still alive...
Review
Picard's quite , a storyteller. Worf was very underplayed, but for an hour of switching off to an adventure, this wasn't bad at all.
3 Stars to War Dragons (Star Trek: The Captain's Table, #1) by L.A. Graf
Description
There's a bar called "The Captain's Table," where those who have commanded mighty vessels of every shape and era can meet, relax, and share a friendly drink or two with others of their calling. Sometimes a brawl may break out but it's all in the family, more or less. Just remember, the first round of drinks is always paid for with a story...even beyond the final frontier.
Review
For book 1 of a series, there were a worryingly large number of references to Kirk's previous time at the table. The most interesting part of this for me was Kirk and Spock's interaction, especially during Kirk's story when things were decades gone and friendships unformed. An enjoyable TOS episode with a little Table fringe for substance
2 Stars to The Secret of Spring by Piers Anthony
Description
Herb Moss is a nice young man. He's a Vegan. It's a good life, really; he's engaged to his childhood sweetheart Lily, has a job with his father's firm, and can look forward to a solid if unexciting future. And if he's bored and wistful every time he thinks about it--well, that's normal, isn't it? Surely, thinks Herb, a little romantic correspondence on the side can do no harm. Especially if Lily doesn't find out. Meanwhile, on a planet far away, a nice young woman named Spring only wishes she were bored. Spring's been living with her widowed father Gabriel, a practicing sorcerer, keeping house and helping out with the business. It's been a good life. But the evil wizard Zygote has learned of the existence of those secrets. And he'll do anything to get them, including the obvious. When Gabriel is killed, Spring takes refuge with the austere Order of Companions. There, grieving and lonely, she places a personal ad, looking for a pen pal who can discuss botany. Little does she know that she's actually placed a personal ad in Play Plant magazine, and that her new pen pal Herb thinks she's interested in romance. When Zygote closes in on her, Spring flees to the only friend she can think her buddy Herb. Trouble ensues--with Zygote following close behind it!
Review
I can't say I'd have picked this up without Anthony's name on it, and only found it average in spite of that. The punning, of course, is a clear nod, as is the very strange sexuality. And yet it's a little muted for some of his other works, a little off-key for the man himself, a sort of oddly-reflected image of his other works. The back story was more interesting than the book, alas.
5 Stars to The Wizardry Consulted (Wiz, #4) by Rick Cook
Description
After rescuing the world from the creatures of darkness and chaos by applying a few computer logistics, Programmer and Systems Analyst Extraordinaire Wiz Zumwalt finds himself in another fix when he is kidnapped by dragons. Original.
Review
This series was one of the earliest works I read as a teen, and I loved it. naturally, by today's standard the stuff is even more dated (I loved the parenthetical aside explaining the "Internet"). We are talking about the mid 1990's, so of course, that's to be expected. This book in particular I liked from the first, but having read it afresh just today, I find it even funnier, given that I've been exposed to a few sales pitches at work. It's a little hammed-up, that's part of the charm, and the first book is still probably way up there for introducing such a fantastic concept, but this, along with book 2, is probably joint second. Although book 3 with the dwarves ... that was funny, to ...
4 Stars to Limbo System by Rick Cook
Description
An Earth ship encounters a densely populated alien system possessing advanced technologies and a highly aggressive nature, and they must prevent their own advanced transportation from falling into alien hands
Review
Rick's wizardry series provided me hours and hours of sheer, unalloyed joy. I don't think I've gotten to rereading them all for Goodreads, so I'm sure I will, but I powered through them many years before I started cataloguing. This was ... average, really. But to read it after all this time, I can't resist enjoying it. So not an objective rating, but a well-earned one.
5 Stars to Son of a Liche (The Dark Profit Saga, #2) by J. Zachary Pike
Description
A doubly disgraced Dwarven hero. A band of accident-prone adventurers. Giving redemption a second shot may have been a grave mistake… Still bruised and heartbroken from their last calamitous quest, Gorm Ingerson and his band of washed-up heroes try to make amends for the Orcs they accidentally betrayed. But justice is put on hold when an old foe marches to the city gates. Gorm is horrified to discover a liche pitching the frightened city-dwellers on the merits of the undead lifestyle… at the head of a corpse army. To save the city from high-pressure sales tactics and an inevitable siege, the Dwarf warrior and his misfit band hatch a harebrained scheme that lands them at the top of the king’s kill list. With death and dark magic on his heels, Gorm must craft his own pitch to round up the troops and put the undead snake-oil salesman and his army of pushers permanently out of business.
Review
Another absolutely brilliant instalment, particularly the final battle, which was rife with ribtickling hilarity. I see that book 3 is only a fifth drafted, so something to look forward to without a doubt.
3 Stars to The Lighter Side. An NHS Paramedic's Selection of Humorous Mess Room Tales by Andy Thompson
Description
From the paramedic pondering a dignified solution as he surveys his previously digested Pot Noodle adorning the naked genitalia of a recently deceased lady, to the man who rang the doctor Out of Hours service with an audibly severe case of excess flatulence, with hilarious consequences, and the old lady's wig that caused one chuckling paramedic to struggle to keep a hold of the carry-chair, 'The Lighter Side - An NHS Paramedic's Selection of Humorous Mess Room Tales' will have you laughing out loud then looking around furtively, wondering if you should! In his 'The Dark Side' series, Andy Thompson gives us a taste of the dark sense of humour paramedics use as a coping mechanism; here he packs laugh-out-loud moments into every page as he recalls health care professionals' encounters with the weirdest of behaviour, hilarious misunderstandings, and cringingly embarrasing episodes. You'll soon be relating to the sense of humour that moves an ambulance driver to respond to his friend and fellow paramedic's predicament on a hot summer's day, as a powerful smell engulfs the saloon of the vehicle. What would you do? Open the cab windows and the hatch through to the saloon to provide some extra ventilation? Of course not! You switch the heating on, causing the already intolerable pong to become even more unbearable, making for a bangin' mess room tale on your later return! Wonderfully illustrated with cartoons depicting each scene, it's an eye-watering insight into the Lighter Side of working on the Dark Side, straight from the mess rooms of ambulance stations up and down the UK. There's also a heartening reminder of the power of a flamin' good belly laugh and its analgesic effect even in situations of severe pain. This is a book that laughs in the face of extreme emotion and stress. Outrageous? Perhaps. Distasteful? Probably. Humorous? Absolutely!
Review
Feel good stories, and although some of them were a little more odd than entertaining it sounds as though the people involved were professional and funny both, a rare and warming combination.
5 Stars to Orconomics (The Dark Profit Saga, #1) by J. Zachary Pike
Description
Professional heroes kill and loot deadly monsters every day, but Gorm Ingerson's latest quest will be anything but business as usual. The adventuring industry drives the economy of Arth, a world much like our own but with more magic and fewer vowels. Monsters' hoards are claimed, bought by corporate interests, and sold off to plunder funds long before the Heroes' Guild actually kills the beasts. Of course, that's a terrible arrangement for the Shadowkin; orcs, goblins, kobolds, and their ilk must apply for to become Noncombatant Paper Carriers (or NPCs) to avoid being killed and looted by heroes. When Gorm Ingerson, a Dwarven ex-hero with a checkered past, stands up for an undocumented goblin, he inadvertently singles himself out for recruitment by a prophet of the mad goddess to undertake a suicidal quest. But there's more to Gorm's new job than an insane Powerful corporations and governments have shown an unusual interest in the quest. If his party of eccentric misfits can stop fighting each other long enough to recover the Elven Marbles, Gorm might be able to turn a bad deal into a golden opportunity.
Review
Wow, I really enjoyed this. An interesting way to start the book, I mean after the prologue but before we meet Gorm, who as our central character and de facto leader. The whole work seethes with cleverness and humour, and I must confess to being allowed to laugh loudly at certain bits (the Stone Drake is a good example). There's a lot of social commentary beneath the adventuring, and not a little playful poking at more typical adventurous work, and just a sprinkling of solemnity in spots to make you feel that things do actually matter, humour aside. So yes, a book that makes me laugh in spite of myself, whilst tearing up typical hack and slash tropes and dishing out poignant asides on all sorts of issues has to go far with me, and this one certainly failed to disappoint.
3 Stars to Atoma and the Blockchain Game by G.M. O'Neill
Description
In 2050 Earth Inc. controls every aspect of life on a frozen planet at the tail end of a mini ice age. It's my 16th year, just as it is for everyone in my class of Space Engineers, and that means our Citizen Celebration Day fast approaches. I am not looking forward to it, and as it happens I don't have to. The world as I know it comes to a shattering end when our air-shuttle crashes and I awake in hospital. The AI treating me announces my DNA is banned. Then, my mother tells me about my biohack that she hid from the state as well as from me. Not that any of that matters anymore. I am not a citizen. I have no rights. I'm a Zero. When Earth Inc. catches up with me, they give me a choice. A labor camp, where I am worked to death within a few short years, or I train with other Zeros at a secretive research base for a high-risk expedition? I have to discover why I was made a Zero. I have to live and that means surviving the mission.
Attaapa, Book II in the Atoma series is coming out soon.
Review
I can't say I was overly impressed. I know a lot of Ya books try and get the parents out of the way quickly, but this was done rather extremely. The chapters were incredibly short and in at least two places whole sentences were literally repeated verbatim. Quite a few plot issues, not to mention a rather strange writing style (perhaps an attempt at teen-styling?) and I came away feeling that the book had been rushed to little benefit.
3 Stars to 2020 by Kenneth Steven
Description
In the tradition of 1984 and It Can't Happen Here, 2020 is a timely dystopian novel about a country divided, a terrorist attack, and an populist leader who promises he alone is the solution. In 2020, Britain is at a breaking point. Years of economic turmoil, bitter debates over immigration, anger at the political elites, and fears about the future have created a maelstrom, a dis-United Kingdom, with citizens tempted to find easy answers in demagoguery and isolationism. The country is a bomb waiting to explode. Then it does. A major terrorist attack targets a sleeper train traveling between Edinburgh and London, leaving a staggering number of dead and wounded. Investigators soon identify the culprits as a radicalized group of young British Muslims. Horrific images from the attack and speculation by the media fan worries about further terrorist acts and the danger of an enemy within. In the aftermath, two far right organizations join to create a new radical group called White Rose, promising to stand up for English values. An unproven leader vows thathe can fix the nation. As the nightmare unfolds, a myriad of voices—from across the social and political spectrum—offer wildly differing perspectives on the chaotic events . . . and unexpectedly reveal modern Britain’s soul with 20/20 acuity. Thoughtful, compassionate, and provocative, Kenneth Steven’s 2020 is a parable for our times.
Review
Morbid and scarily divisive, I can't honestly say that there's anything in here I can't see happening. It's so hard to reconcile the friendly, cheerful people with whom I work and those I see on the street every day with the mob mentality shown here, and yet I know that we are only a very short step away from that every single day of our lives. This was penned truly and with a stark, strong message.
3 Stars to Dream Static by Robert S. Wilson
Description
When successful environmental prosecutor, Angela Bane, goes in for her annual synaptic backup, she's just as reluctant as always. After all it's just a routine procedure. Until she wakes up twenty-two years later in a chaotic surgery room, disoriented and unable to speak. As she slowly recovers from the Resus operation and learns about her fate, she struggles to deal with a world that's gone on without her. Her father's dead, her fiance, Jordan, has become an old man in her "absence," and her body hasn't aged at all since the day it was littered with bullets. With no memory of her murder and no bearings in this place and time, Angela begins both physical and emotional therapy to try and adjust. Unable to deal with the chasm of time that's opened up between them, she sends Jordan away determined to suffer in solitude. Then the dreams begin. A dark parking garage, a close colleague, and the obscured face of a man lifting his gun and pointing it in their direction. Could she actually be remembering something that happened after her backup? "It's called Dream Static. Sometimes the old brain tissue still retains bits of memories and, upon reanimation, those synapses can connect and reincorporate with the ones that were backed up." Before long, someone comes to visit her in the hospital. A dark brooding presence, Maddox was the original detective assigned to her murder. And now that she's alive, maybe, just maybe she holds the key to bringing the man responsible to justice. Over time, the dreams bring Angela closer and closer to finding the identity of her killer. As her heart draws her closer and closer to Detective Maddox. And in the end the killer might just find her… Again.
Review
A rather melancholy story, without much in the way of a surprise but with interesting repercussions for backups of Human consciousness.
4 Stars to Augmented (The Transcended, #1) by Anthony James
Description
When hundreds die in a sub-surface alien military facility, two of the Space Corps’ augmented officers – Lieutenants Becky Keller and Joe Nation - are sent to check it out. Deep underground, something waits. It’s hostile and immune to every known weapon. Its arrival threatens much more than this single planet. What begins as a standard in-out mission leads to warfare on a galactic scale and a confrontation between two well-armed fleets. Keller is the best spaceship pilot in the Corps and Nation has his own unique skills. They’re going to have a hard time turning this situation into a positive. Augmented is a high-action science fiction adventure involving massive space battles, overwhelming odds and new technologies. It is the first book in the Transcended series. Book 2: Fleet Vanguard is available now.
Review
Very cool military sci-fi, very strongly written and with a great deal of interesting tech going for it. I guess the focus on only the 2 main leads could thin after a while, but for now rather enjoyed.
3 Stars to On the Run by Gordon R. Dickson
Description
After the police order him to forget his missing wife, Kil Bruner's search leads him to deformed psychos, secret societies of wierd giants, time-warping superhumans, and warring conspiracies ready to destroy Earth
Review
Strangely appealing, in a slightly dated, pulp sci-fi sort of a way. I don't recall constant movement being proposed as a solution to any sort of troubles in recent reads, so that was interesting. As to the whole psi thing, it ended things well, if abruptly, but rounded off the story nicely enough.
4 Stars to Star Cops by Chris Boucher
Description
The year is 2027. When a swimmer is found drowned in a London park, the police computer rules the death as accidental. Chief Superintendent Nathan Spring’s natural instincts lead him to suspect otherwise, and he begins an investigation - despite the objections of his colleagues and superiors. To deflect him from pursuing this, Spring is manipulated into accepting a job that he does not want - as commander of the International Space Police Force, an organisation set up to enforce law and order on various space stations orbiting the Earth. The ISPF, disparagingly nicknamed the ‘Star Cops’, is an undistinguished force populated by undisciplined officers, concerned mainly with their own welfare and making money on the side, rather than upholding the law.Arriving at the European space station Charles de Gaulle, Spring struggles to adapt to conditions in low gravity while working to mould his team into an effective force for law enforcement. Before he’s even begun to adjust, he discovers that several crewmembers have recently died, following unforeseen spacesuit malfunction. Although these apparent accidents fall well within the limits of statistical acceptability, Spring’s instincts again lead to him to suspect the work of a saboteur. He decides to expose the culprit by taking a desperate course of action - gambling with his own life... Elsewhere, Spring’s second-in-command David Theroux investigates an explosion on a distant space freighter that has knocked the craft off course and condemned its two pilots to death, the Star Cops are warned of terrorist attacks by a communications expert based on the Moon, a scientist disappears without trace from the American space station - with the crew denying his very existence - and rumours begin to grow of alien artefacts having been discovered on Mars...
Review
I only know of Boucher from Blake's 7, so it was interesting to read this period work. The characters weren't overly likable, but they were cunning and clever, and hard sci-fi on TV at the time in the UK was a rare thing. So to get a little beyond the screen and actually read this stuff was a rare pleasure.
3 Stars to An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim
Description
Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781501192555 America is in the grip of a deadly flu pandemic. When Frank catches the virus, his girlfriend Polly will do whatever it takes to save him, even if it means risking everything. She agrees to a radical plan—time travel has been invented in the future to thwart the virus. If she signs up for a one-way-trip into the future to work as a bonded labourer, the company will pay for the life-saving treatment Frank needs. Polly promises to meet Frank again in Galveston, Texas, where she will arrive in twelve years. But when Polly is re-routed an extra five years into the future, Frank is nowhere to be found. Alone in a changed and divided America, with no status and no money, Polly must navigate a new life and find a way to locate Frank, to discover if he is alive, and if their love has endured.
Review
A clever take on time travel, I don't think I've ever come across anything quite like it. I did struggle a little to get into heads, and the story itself didn't do much for me, but the concepts and the artistry were intriguing.
2 Stars to RoboCop by Ed Naha
Description
Murphy was a good cop. He had the toughest beat in the toughest precinct in a tough city. He had a fine family, good friends, and a new partner. Then a bunch of lowlifes blew him away. Only Murphy didn't completely die. He came back in a body of steel-big, invincible, and deadly... back to the streets where the bad guys ruled. But no more. Behind the badge is a cop that can't be killed. A super cop out to find the punks who shot him. And stop crime. Dead.
Review
as a blind person, I often enjoy film novelisations because they let me picture things better than a movie sometimes. This one... didn't really do that. It didn't really do much of anything. As hard as it is to put feelings into a robot, it wasn't even a decent attempt in this messy, rushed-feeling work.
4 Stars to Class of '92 (The Time Bubble #5) by Jason Ayres
Description
Josh Gardner, a man born in 2001, finds himself stranded in 1992 in this latest novel from the acclaimed Time Bubble series. Alone in a pre-internet culture, with funds low, Josh seeks out the one person who can help him survive in the twentieth century, his former teacher, Peter, who is now younger than he is. Finding somewhere to live and a means of support until he can return to his own time are soon the least of Josh's worries as a new Time Bubble mystery develops. A local police officer, Rebecca Osakwe, discovers that there is more to a spate of people going missing than meets the eye. When people from decades in the past start showing up she teams up with Josh and Peter to investigate. Together, the new Time Bubble team face some tough challenges as they try and deal with the new arrivals. This story is the fifth 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.com/TheTimeBubble ============================================================================= What readers are saying about Class of '92... Yet another great novel in the Time Bubble series. Make sure you read the others first so that you get the full benefit! 1992 was a fantastic year! - Amazon Customer on Amazon UK Loved this book, with great characters and storytelling, it was impossible to put down. So great how the books are all tied together, but the story is still complete in its own if you didn't read the others! Thank you! - LindaK on Amazon UK Perfect for time travel fans and those who enjoy a bit of nostalgia. I love the fact they go back to the 90s, a time that doesn't seem so long ago but there have been so many changes since then that you would really notice the difference if you could travel back. - Emma on Amazon UK Interesting stories and I love the way that the characters in the books are all linked throughout the timelines, even the ones in the spin off books. If you like time travel stories these are some of the best about. - Girl from Brum on Amazon UK Once again another fast fun adventure in time traveling. Like the others in the series this one also develops likeable characters that you want to follow in future books. If you've read all the books you know that even minor characters can have a cracking good side story. I look forward to those future stories. - Mark L Swisshelm on Amazon.
Review
It was fun to return to these stories, Ayres is clearly onto a winning formula being able to swipe at these characters from all sorts of angles thanks to the multiverse. I’ve read deeper and more meaningful stories, but for an hour and a half of enjoyable, lighthearted downtime, you can’t ask for much better.
3 Stars to Hero (Level Up #2) by Dan Sugralinov
Description
MP3 CD Format A lazy and wussy ex-gamer, Phil becomes one of the few humans who receive a mysterious alien piece of wetware which allows them to see the world through an augmented–reality interface very similar to those used in a MMORPG game. Guided by its stats and messages, Phil begins to level up, gradually transforming himself and his life. He even opens his own business in order to help his friends and complete strangers who acquire a newfound respect for him, assisting him in his travails. As Phil continues on the road to self–improvement, guided by his own conscience rather than system messages, he tries to find out more about the mysterious third party which has bestowed such superhuman abilities upon him.
Review
So no great surprises in this follow-on, other than being able to die and respawn, which sort of takes the real out of the realrpg. There's also quite a casual blowing through of relationships, and lovely turns of phrase in spots, as is traditional with the influx of this type of thing from beyond the curtain. Will I carry on? yes indeed, it's a bit like a guilty pleasure.
3 Stars to The Process: What he wasn't looking for...changed everything. by David Mayne
Description
Silas Anderson is a man who has lost everything, who lives his life day to day in a never ending loop of mediocrity. Everything changes however when Silas discovers “The Process,” something that allows him to escape the doldrums of his existence, a powerful tool that shapes his life, and his past, in ways that he could never dream of. The Process is an emotional journey that asks the question: Is the past ever truly gone, or does it reside somewhere, deep within us all?
Review
OK, so. Time travel,via the bathtub. If you can swallow that, the rest is quite formulaic, even down to the uberpower. Morris clearly has more to reveal, and of course, the ending really does make you want to read more, but I must admit that I'm a little on-the-fence as to whether Mayne can tie it all up in further works with any degree of satisfaction
4 Stars to Re-start (Level Up #1) by Dan Sugralinov
Description
At thirty years old, Phil is an unemployed gamer who’s struggling to make ends meet. His only source of income is freelance writing (whenever he feels inspired enough to add another article to his less-than-popular blog). His wife has just walked out on him, leaving him without money, purpose, or food in the fridge. On the day his wife dumps him, Phil receives a mysterious piece of wetware. A game interface seems to have been implanted in his brain which allows him to see the world through the eyes of an RPG player. Now that Phil discovers his real-life stats, he can see they’re far below average. With 4 pt. Agility, 6 pt. Strength and 3 pt. Stamina, his most advanced life skill is playing one of the most epic RPG games of all times. Luckily, real-life stats can be leveled up just like virtual ones. But will it help Phil get his wife back? Can he stop being such a couch potato? Would the new game help him become fitter? Or more successful? Can his gaming skills finally come in handy in real life? Last but not least, can he find out who could have uploaded the mysterious game to his brain? And how is he supposed to deal with this unknown but apparently omnipotent force?
Review
Realrpg isn't a genre with which I'm overly familiar, although I was getting this book confused with level Up by Craig Anderson, which is weird, given that Sugralinov's is part of the Level-up series. It's fun as all of these are, and I must admit to wanting to read the next one.
2 Stars to Lost on Mars by Paul Magrs
Description
Epic SF adventure in a vast and hostile landscape. For 10+, first in a trilogy. With the scale and scope of the great science fiction epics, Lost on Mars tells the story of Lora and her family, settlers on the red planet struggling to survive in incredible circumstances. The family clings to life on a smallholding, surviving storms and sinister rumours of people disappearing – until one night Lora sees the Dancers. When her father and grandmother disappear, Lora and her family are driven out to seek a new life across the plains. But none of them are ready for what they find – the beautiful, dangerous City Inside.
Review
flat storytelling, little characterisation and a superbly disappointing ending.
4 Stars to The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Description
Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m. There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit. We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer. Understood? Then let's begin . . . Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others . . . The most inventive debut of the year twists together a mystery of such unexpected creativity it will leave listeners guessing until the very last second.
Review
A very enjoyable, intricately-plotted and minutely-detailed novel. I should have taken notes, there was a rather grand sense of complexity to the whole thing, and the period tropes were brilliantly done.