December
5 Stars to Daughter of Troy: A Magnificent Saga of Courage, Betrayal, Devotion, and Destiny by Sarah B. Franklin
Description
The rightful-born queen of Lyrnessos, Briseis watched helplessly from the battlements as her husband and brothers were crushed by the invincible army of King Agamemnon. Taken into slavery, the proud, beautiful seer became the prize of Prince Achilles, the conquering Greeks' mightiest hero. But passion forged chains stronger than any iron, binding the hearts of captive and captor with a love that knew no equal, and when Troy fell, great Achilles promised his beloved Briseis would reign at his side as queen of Thessaly. Yet the jealousy of a ruthless king and the whims of the capricious deities would deny the lovers their happiness. As the flames of war rose higher around them, the prophetess vowed to save the beloved warrior for whom her dark gift foretold doom -- even if it meant defying the gods themselves.
Review
It probably shouldn't surprise me that the Trojan war can still offer thrilling and engaging drama, so long after its first portrayal. taking Briseis as a lead was fascinating here, and I confess to enjoying the yarn with relish. A tragedy with a splendid casing of politics and history and one to come back to for further historical detail one day. This read also ends an era. I have been fortunate to read 1 new novel from Dave Duncan at least once a year since 2009. With Dave's death in 2018 and his last work published posthumously a year later, I am pleased to end my fiction reading in 2020 with the last of his works I own. I'm pretty sure Dave left many ideas and writings unfinished, but to my knowledge, this is the last of his longer-form works holy his own that I had yet to read. 11 years is quite a long relationship to have with one author, but the joy of his books is something I will carry for as long as I live.
3 Stars to The Frozen Year by James Blish
Description
"I'm Julian Cole. I'm a science writer. I've read about every theory of history you can name, and only one makes sense: the one which assumes that every historical event is aimed personally at my very own head." Sounds paranoid, doesn't it? But wait. Suppose you had the job given to Julian Cole: official historian to a grand-stand Arctic explorer who sets off on a disastrously ritdiculous expedition to the far North. Suppose you had to cope with the explorer's highly pneumatic wife and an assortment of characters one of whom is either a Martian or insane? And, to cap it all, suppose you held in your hands proof of the biggest science story of the century—and nobody would believe you? Wouldn't you feel just a little like Julian Cole?
Review
Very much a work of its era and perhaps with that laid-on more deliberately than one might first assume, this kept me reading but not particularly engaged.
3 Stars to Home Intruder by Sam West
Description
Jason Jacks is a sadistic serial killer, with a penchant for killing couples. Jaz and Edward Sullivan are newlyweds on holiday in Cornwall, staying in Ed’s old family home. Jason Jacks is just about the worst kind of house guest anyone could wish for. Because if he comes a-knockin’, then you’re as good as dead… This is extreme horror, as is everything by Sam West. It is for the most hardened horror fans only. (And even then, please proceed with caution.) Includes the first chapter of ‘Home Intruder 2’ at the end of the novella.
Review
nothing out of the ordinary - your typical bloody horror stuff. Some of the description before things went to hell was quite nicely rendered
4 Stars to Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford
Description
“My dad died twice. Once when he was thirty nine and again four years later when he was twelve. The first time had nothing to do with me. The second time definitely did, but I would never even have been there if it hadn’t been for his ‘time machine’…” When Al Chaudhury discovers his late dad’s time machine, he finds that going back to the 1980s requires daring and imagination. It also requires lies, theft, burglary, and setting his school on fire. All without losing his pet hamster, Alan Shearer…
Review
Time travel. It's never not confusing, is it? Despite that, the father and son interactions were brilliant, and the action well-handled. A great introduction to the genre for the younger teen, and a fun story for me too!
5 Stars to What Not To Do If You Turn Invisible by Ross Welford
Description
Turning invisible at will: it’s one way of curing your acne. But far more drastic than 13 year-old Ethel Leatherhead intended when she tried a combination of untested medicines and a sunbed. It’s fun at first, being invisible. And aided by her friend Boydy, she manages to keep her extraordinary ability secret. Or does she…? When one day the invisibility fails to wear off, Ethel is thrown into a nightmare of lies and deception as she struggles to keep herself safe, to find the remedy that will make her seen again – and solve the mystery of her own birth…
Review
So not only am I the wrong age, but clearly this is aimed at a slightly different gender. I don't object to reading girly books, but one does have to acknowledge when the main character is a girl. But what a girl, and what a story, and another clever yarn for the tween market. My daughter will absolutely enjoy it in a year or two without a doubt, and I will gladly pick it up again and read it with her. Brilliant.
5 Stars to The 1,000 Year Old Boy by Ross Welford
Description
The astonishing, beautiful new story for all readers of 10 and over from the bestselling and Costa-shortlisted author of TIME TRAVELLING WITH A HAMSTER. There are stories about people who want to live forever. This is not one of those stories. This is a story about someone who wants to stop… Alfie Monk is like any other nearly teenage boy – except he’s 1,000 years old and can remember the last Viking invasion of England. Obviously no one believes him. So when everything Alfie knows and loves is destroyed in a fire, and the modern world comes crashing in, Alfie embarks on a mission to find friendship, acceptance, and a different way to live… … which means finding a way to make sure he will eventually die. Obviously no one believes him.
Review
A practically perfect feel-good preteen tale. I enjoyed every chapter, and although I saw everything coming (being decades beyond the book's target audience), they were all exciting reveals, with a cleverly-paced plot, interesting characters and an exciting climax.
4 Stars to The Karma Booth by Jeff Pearce
Description
They say, "Executing a murderer won't bring your loved one back." But now it can. The Karma Booth. It will change history, ethics, religion, science, everything. What are its terrible secrets? How does it work? And how can it be stopped? Ethics consultant and ex-diplomat Timothy Cale is hired by the U.S. government to investigate this earth-shattering scientific breakthrough, and he better do it soon because the moral quagmires and complications are multiplying. Cale and his partner, London police detective Crystal Anyanike, must stop a powerful psychopath on a killing spree while searching for the elusive billionaire behind the Booth's invention, the one man with the answers to all their questions...
Review
One of the better of this type of thing, I was quite engaged and enjoyed the globetrotting, art appreciation and historical accuracy. Not so keen on the otherworldliness, but it worked and the whole story was engaging.
4 Stars to Autumn Bleeds Into Winter by Jeff Strand
Description
- Somebody has been abducting children in Fairbanks, Alaska. One of the victims was fourteen-year-old Curtis Black's best friend Todd. Curtis saw it happen. He knows exactly who did it. But he can't prove that it was his neighbor Gerald Martin. The authorities find no evidence of the crime. There's nothing they can do. So he's going to confront Mr. Martin himself. And this is just the beginning of the terrifying story… From the author of PRESSURE and MY PRETTIES comes a nerve-wracking coming-of-age thriller.
Review
I rather enjoyed this one. Despite our hero being a bit of a clueless fool and repeatedly making mistakes, it was in ingratiating sort of read and I found myself cheering him on all the way.
3 Stars to Cyclops Road by Jeff Strand
Description
Evan Portin is at a sad, scary place in his life. While taking a long walk to compose himself and figure out where to go from here, he encounters a young woman being mugged in a park. When he tries to intervene, he discovers that she doesn't need his help. At all. Her name is Harriett. She is very, very good at defending herself. Everything she owns is in a large backpack. She's never seen a cell phone. She's never been in a car. She's never really ventured into the outside world. And she says she's traveling across the country to slay a Cyclops. She's crazy, right? Evan is not in the habit of hanging out with delusional women he's just met. On the other hand, it can't hurt to offer her a ride out of town. And maybe this insane journey is exactly what he needs...
Review
lighter than most of his stuff but not very cohesive. The end was a bit of a let-down.
November
4 Stars to Ready Player Two (Ready Player One, #2) by Ernest Cline
Description
An unexpected quest. Two worlds at stake. Are you ready? Days after winning Oasis founder James Halliday's contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything. Hidden within Halliday's vaults, waiting for his heir to find, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the Oasis a thousand times more wondrous—and addictive—than even Wade dreamed possible. With it comes a new riddle, and a new quest—a last Easter egg from Halliday, hinting at a mysterious prize. And an unexpected, impossibly powerful, and dangerous new rival awaits, one who'll kill millions to get what he wants. Wade's life and the future of the Oasis are again at stake, but this time the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance. Lovingly nostalgic and wildly original as only Ernest Cline could conceive it, Ready Player Two takes us on another imaginative, fun, action-packed adventure through his beloved virtual universe, and jolts us thrillingly into the future once again.
Review
I find it hard to believe that over 8 years have flown since I picked up and devoured ready Player One. I loved it, and although the movie was different, I enjoyed that for what it was too. I have reread One at least once a year since and was truly excited for the release of book two. I finished Two and, although not as thrilled with it as I would have liked, I think that would have been hard to match. As a sequel, it moves the story on in a very clever way (the ending in particular was great). I did feel that the 12 hour timespan throughout the books’ main action was a little too artificial and everything bot a bit squished, and of course it’s hard to reinvigorate a topic you’ve trod heavily over in a first story. And Prince, yech. On the plus side our hero grew believably and had a lot to deal with, “all sunshine and rainbows” seemed to be the order of play at the end of One and it’s … reassuring, I suppose, to note that wasn’t exactly the case. The tech progression was great, the sheer variety of problems facing Humanity was quite over-the-top and dramatic, and old enemies were a little hard to swallow. By and large though, I’m glad I picked up the sequel. I don’t know what Two will do to my enjoyment of rereading One I’ve just done so ready for this book so I guess I’ll find out next year.
5 Stars to This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay
Description
Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you.
Review
I give these sorts of books 3 stars usually, 4 if they're especially good. But this one actually made me laugh out loud in spots, whilst having a very potent and on-key message. It's just the beginning of 2018, and the NHS is in the worst shape of my life. So reading this was profoundly moving in a way it perhaps might not have been. I have a great deal of respect for the NHS, and if everything in this book is true, for Adam as well, for persevering and making such a difference for a goodly number of years to many hundreds of lives.
5 Stars to Dark Webb by Harry Dayle
Description
"Meet Amy from Leeds. Should she live, or should she die? Her fate is in your hands! Vote now..." Reclusive website designer Thaddeus Webb thinks he knows the internet, but a brief excursion into its shadier regions throws up more than he bargained for. He stumbles across a harrowing video of a captive girl, her destiny to be decided by paying voters. When it becomes clear the authorities aren't taking the plight of the victim seriously, Thad knows he can't stand by and do nothing. Could this be his chance to redeem himself for the sins of his past? Before he knows it, he's become embroiled in a search that traverses both physical space and cyber-space as he works to track down the untrackable, trace the untraceable, and try to save the blameless teenager before the vote reaches its grisly conclusion. Dark Webb is the first in a brand new series from Harry Dayle, author of the acclaimed Noah's Ark and The Faslane Files.
Review
Not quite on the level of ian Sutherland, but this was brilliant in itself. The history was excellently told through diary entries, the only slight flaw Webb's employment offer given his skillset (which at the beginning of the book seemed rather depressing for a modern web developer). But perhaps that's part of the point. In any event I look forward to reading the second one!
September
5 Stars to Homeland (Little Brother, #2) by Cory Doctorow
Description
In Cory Doctorow's wildly successful Little Brother, young Marcus Yallow was arbitrarily detained and brutalized by the government in the wake of a terrorist attack on San Francisco―an experience that led him to become a leader of the whole movement of technologically clued-in teenagers, fighting back against the tyrannical security state. A few years later, California's economy collapses, but Marcus's hacktivist past lands him a job as webmaster for a crusading politician who promises reform. Soon his former nemesis Masha emerges from the political underground to gift him with a thumbdrive containing a Wikileaks-style cable-dump of hard evidence of corporate and governmental perfidy. It's incendiary stuff―and if Masha goes missing, Marcus is supposed to release it to the world. Then Marcus sees Masha being kidnapped by the same government agents who detained and tortured Marcus years earlier. Marcus can leak the archive Masha gave him―but he can't admit to being the leaker, because that will cost his employer the election. He's surrounded by friends who remember what he did a few years ago and regard him as a hacker hero. He can't even attend a demonstration without being dragged onstage and handed a mike. He's not at all sure that just dumping the archive onto the Internet, before he's gone through its millions of words, is the right thing to do. Meanwhile, people are beginning to shadow him, people who look like they're used to inflicting pain until they get the answers they want.
Review
The writing was very engaging here and I really got a solid feel for being in marcus's head. The tech was exciting, the geekiness profound, and now I've reread book 1 and caught this one I'm ready for the next stage!
4 Stars to The Cipher by John C. Ford
Description
You think your emails are private? Your credit card number is secure? That stock trades, government secrets, and nuclear codes are safe? ...th1nk aga1n. Robert “Smiles” Smylie is not a genius. He feels like he’s surrounded by them, though, from his software mogul dad to his brainy girlfriend to his oddball neighbor Ben, a math prodigy. When Ben cracks an ancient, real-life riddle central to modern data encryption systems, he suddenly holds the power to unlock every electronic secret in the world—and Smiles finally has a chance to prove his own worth. Smiles hatches a plan to protect Ben from the government agents who will stop at nothing to get their hands on his discovery. But as he races from a Connecticut casino to the streets of Boston, enlisting the help of an alluring girl, Smiles comes to realize the most explosive secrets don’t lie between the covers of Ben’s notebook—they’re buried in his own past. Eerily close to reality and full of shocking twists, this techno-thriller reveals how easily the private can become public, and just how dangerous it can be to encrypt our personal histories.
Review
Riemann is a bit like the double-slit experiment in that it pops up in so many technothrillery novels that it's become something of a category in its own right. Nonetheless this was pretty gripping, and the beautiful reveal toward the middle of the book felt very well-done. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
3 Stars to Seed by Matthew G. Dick
Description
What kind of person does it take to build a civilization from the ground up? In this fun, hard science fiction novel, astronaut Nick Burke will have to learn how to be a leader if he wants humanity to survive on a new planet…even if he is no longer a human himself. Nick Burke dreams of successfully creating the first sustainable space colony in human history. After a third failed mission on Mars, Nick returns to Earth heartbroken. But during the trip home he has an epiphany caused by a near-death experience on how to truly accomplish his dream. Nick launches a billionaire funded startup company that solves the interstellar travel problem. Transporting people in a spaceship without any people aboard. After Nick lands on his new, distant planet, he has to combat his greatest trials yet including raising children and goats while becoming a colony building survivalist. Fans of Andy Weir’s The Martian and Dennis E. Taylor’s We Are Legion (We Are Bob) will find familiar themes of innovative science fiction ideas with plenty of humor and pop-culture.
Review
I liked this to a point, but the hardassedness didn't really sit very well with me, nor did the finite lived yet physically impervious robot-bodied hero. Fun to turn my brain off for a few hours but not an author I will revisit unless there's more warmth and a deeper sense of believability.
4 Stars to Architects of Memory (The Memory War, #1) by Karen Osborne
Description
Terminally ill salvage pilot Ash Jackson lost everything in the war with the alien Vai, but she'll be damned if she loses her future. Her plan: to buy, beg, or lie her way out of corporate indenture and find a cure. When her crew salvages a genocidal weapon from a ravaged starship above a dead colony, Ash uncovers a conspiracy of corporate intrigue and betrayal that threatens to turn her into a living weapon.
Review
This had Humanity, the confusion of war and a rather compelling set of leads. I felt as if I were hit over the head with sexual preference sooo early on, it's almost become de rigueur to have these strongly stated early on in modern sci-fiand that's more than a little sad. I also found both the Suits and the lack of memory a little underused, but the series is wide open for more and the storytelling and idea are hugely exciting and very enjoyable.
3 Stars to Fifty in Reverse by Bill Flanagan
Description
From TV personality and radio host Bill Flanagan comes a highly entertaining time-traveling adventure novel about how the past never gives up its hold on the present and how even 65-year-olds are still kids at heart. If you had the chance to live your life over again, knowing everything that you know now, would you take it? Would you still take it if it meant losing everything you have today? Would a second chance to correct every mistake and missed opportunity be worth giving up the world you know and the life you have built? In Fifty in Reverse, 15-year-old Peter Wyatt does just that. In the spring of 1970, Harvard psychologist Terry Canyon is introduced to Peter, a quiet kid from a wealthy family who has been suspended from ninth grade for stripping off his clothes in Algebra class. When Terry asks Peter why he did it, the boy explains that he was trying to “shock myself awake.” It turns out that Peter believes he is a 65-year-old man who went to sleep in his home in New York in the year 2020 and woke up in his childhood bedroom fifty years earlier. Hilariously depicting Peter’s attempts to fit in as a 15-year-old in 1970 and to cope with the tedium, foolishness, and sexual temptations of high school as he tries to retain the sense of himself as a 65-year-old man, Fifty in Reverse is a thought-provoking and enlightening novel about second chances and appreciating the life you have today.
Review
I wanted to like this more, especially because the ending was so much better than a lot of these stories. But there was just so much, especially musically, that felt forced and a little tacky. A neat idea, and not without merit, but perhaps not entirely to my taste.
3 Stars to On the Loop by J.D. Robinson
Description
How can 30 crew members just vanish into thin air? One last month in paradise before an 8,000-year journey. That’s what the Company had promised before whisking Alina Andra and her entire crew of 500 to tropical Tilulipu, where it had built a luxurious resort just for the occasion. Only the rooms of the entire executive team now stand empty, and Alina’s crewmates turn to her to make sense of their predicament. So why have a handful of her more dubious colleagues decided that the mass disappearance is part of an outlandish plot? And why have they named Alina as a co-conspirator? Now thrust into a less glamorous spotlight, Alina heads a search for the truth. But while the answer she discovers may explain the missing crew members, it may also put Earth’s first crewed extrasolar mission in jeopardy.
Review
Clearly I'm desperately slow, because it wasn't until the 37th chapter that things solidified as to exactly where our characters really were and what was going on. The paper messaging for semiconscious caretaking of things seemed a bit of a clutch, and the alienness toward the end kind of made the first three quarters of the novel meaningless for me. Combine that with the rather vague and hard-to-relate-to Alina and I liked it, but no more than that.
August
4 Stars to Mister Memory by Marcus Sedgwick
Description
In Paris in the year 1899, Marcel Despres is arrested for the murder of his wife and transferred to the famous Salpetriere asylum. And there the story might have stopped. But the doctor assigned to his care soon realises this is no ordinary patient: Marcel Despres, Mister Memory, is a man who cannot forget. And the policeman assigned to his case soon realises that something else is at stake: for why else would the criminal have been hurried off to hospital, and why are his superiors so keen for the whole affair to be closed? This crime involves something bigger and stranger than a lovers' fight - something with links to the highest and lowest establishments in France. The policeman and the doctor between them must unravel the mystery...but the answers lie inside Marcel's head. And how can he tell what is significant when he remembers every detail of every moment of his entire life
Review
Marcel, though a fascinating character, wasn't the real interest for me in this novel. I found far more in Petit, who is perhaps small in mind, or at times had been, but is far-and-away the most intriguing character here. I don't know why, but I was reminded of reading matt Haig's How to stop Time and (perhaps a little more explicably) also Robert Harris's Officer and a Spy. Sedgwick has captured France well, and I was also conscious of the p-zombie argument throughout the novel, which of course works itself in much more detail in Robert Sawyer's Quantum Night. Not a book I can say I enjoyed for the action scenes, nor really the newness of any particular idea, yet I kept turning the pages, to see where the players would end up.
3 Stars to A Shortcut in Time (A Shortcut in Time, #1) by Charles Dickinson
Description
Euclid Heights, Illinois, is a town of many shortcuts, between houses, through orchards, and across fields. Josh Winkler, a local artist and longtime resident, knows these irregular pathways well, but he is flabbergasted when a hasty dash down a familiar walk deposits him fifteen minutes in the past. At first, Josh is more intrigued than alarmed by this accidental time travel. Then a disoriented young woman appears, claiming to be from 1908.... As his life, his family, his town, and even history itself begin to unravel, Josh gradually realizes that his only salvation may lie in a shortcut in time. Charles Dickinson has written a moving and unforgettable book about the way the past can affect the present, as well as, sometimes, the other way around.
Review
a bit of a lackluster story, with neither any scientific basis or repeatable pattern to the time travel and a fair disconnect between the actions and feelings of the characters. I'd read a sequel, but only if I dind't have a decent to-read pile.
3 Stars to I Have A Bad Feeling About This by Jeff Strand
Description
Wilderness Survival Tip #1 Drinking your own sweat will not save your life. Somebody might have told you that, but they were trying to find out if you'd really do it. Henry Lambert would rather play video games than spend time in the great outdoors--but that doesn't make him a wuss. Skinny nerd? Fine. But wuss is a little harsh. Sadly, his dad doesn't agree. Which is why Henry is being shipped off to Strongwoods Survival Camp. Strongwoods isn't exactly as advertised. It looks like the victim of a zombie apocalypse, the "camp director" is a psycho drill sergeant, and Henry's sure he saw a sign written in blood... Wilderness Survival Tip #2 In case of an avalanche, don't despair. You're doomed, but that's a wicked cool death. Wilderness Survival Tip #3 If you're relying on this book for actual survival tips, you're dead already. Praise for Jeff Strand's A Bad Day For Voodoo: "A delightfully ludicrous read."--School Library Journal "Just the thing for teen wiseacres."--Booklist "[A] free-wheeling dark comedy that starts off running and doesn't stop until all plausibility is exhausted. Sam Raimi fans should eat it up."--Publishers Weekly
Review
So this lies somewhere between good for kids and the sort of thing to keep you up at night. Readable, but the whole film thing didn't really do much for me. perhaps I'm a little bit Stranded out.
4 Stars to Stranger Things Have Happened by Jeff Strand
Description
At 15, Marcus Millian III, the great-grandson of the famous Zachary the Stupendous, is already a talented illusionist. But when Marcus chokes during a card trick and leaves the audience unimpressed, prideful Zachary promises that he and Marcus are working on an illusion that will shock, stun, and astonish. That night, Zachary dies in his sleep. To uphold the honor of Marcus's beloved great-grandfather, the show must go on, and Marcus will need to make a shark disappear in front of everybody. It would take a sorcerer to pull this off, but, hey, Marcus is the next best thing…right?
Review
Despite being focused on kids, I'm not sure how my daughter would feel about reading this one. I quite enjoyed it, but maybe knowing the depravities Strand's mind is capable of have added a sense of caution to my reading.
4 Stars to Allison by Jeff Strand
Description
Allison can break your bones with her mind, and she can’t control her power. Now forty-five years old, she’s spent her life trying to stay away from other people. But a random encounter with a couple on the street leaves her believing that she may have done something horrible. Something unforgivable. Killer-for-hire Daxton and his girlfriend Maggie know the truth. Instead of easing Allison’s anguish, they come up with a cruel plan to take advantage of it. But with Allison’s abilities exposed, there may be a bloodbath very soon…
Review
I enjoyed this one, too. Obviously if it were real I'd be running very fast and very far, but as a fun (and, yes, little bit sickening) read, it was well done. Particularly satisfying ending to this one too.
4 Stars to The Odds by Jeff Strand
Description
After a disastrous evening playing slot machines, Ethan Caustin wonders how he's going to explain his massive loss to his wife and kids. As he tries to find his way out of the casino, sick to his stomach and filled with self-loathing, he's approached by a stranger who offers a solution to his problem. It's a simple game. A 99% chance for him to win ten thousand dollars. In the remote chance that he loses...well, he'll be strapped into a device that shatters his left arm. The odds are very much in his favor. But this is only the first round. As the game goes on, the prizes and penalties keep changing, along with his chances of winning. As the high stakes get out of control and Ethan desperately wants to quit, he'll learn that they've only offered him one means of escape: play the game to the very end... A thrilling novel of suspense from the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of PRESSURE and MY PRETTIES.
Review
Another enjoyable adventure, with a little less gore but just as much weirdness and violence. Strand is up to his usual standards, and even though I saw the ending coming, it came well and was pretty good.
5 Stars to The Erasure Initiative by Lili Wilkinson
Description
I wake up, and for a few precious seconds I don't realise there's anything wrong. The rumble of tyres on bitumen, and the hiss of air conditioning. The murmur of voices. The smell of air freshener. The cool vibration of glass against my forehead. A girl wakes up on a self-driving bus. She has no memory of how she got there or who she is. Her nametag reads CECILY. The six other people on the bus are just like her: no memories, only nametags. There's a screen on each seatback that gives them instructions. A series of tests begin, with simulations projected onto the front window of the bus. The passengers must each choose an outcome; majority wins. But as the testing progresses, deadly secrets are revealed, and the stakes get higher and higher. Soon Cecily is no longer just fighting for her freedom - she's fighting for her life.
Review
I didn't want to put this down, and even when I did, I wanted to be reading more. it was actiony but intraspective, joining the ranks of Dave Cousins, Theresa Mae , Jean Kwok, Kathryn Evans and Tom Easton in my young adult section but with bonus points for depth of personal analysis, questioning what makes us us, and a great approach to romance. and
4 Stars to The Twin Paradox by Charles Wachter
Description
“Once again, and amazingly enough, Charles Wachter manages to meet us where we are in the uncertain, ever-shifting moment.” Wesley Morris, Critic at Large, The New York Times “... a worthy addition to the genre that Michael Crichton perfected. The summer techno-thriller.” Jake Halpern, New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize Winner “It’s a rollercoaster of fun.” Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better With ten years passing for every three minutes on a remote stretch of Texas coast, planes fall out of the sky, evolved species are on the hunt, and people die inside one of the most vicious ecosystems ever grown—all a result of the government’s efforts to slow down time. A lot can happen in ten years. That’s the point. Governments are always racing for supremacy, for scientific breakthroughs, for technological advantages—and these things take time. Until something goes wrong. With the grounded yet massive world-building of READY PLAYER ONE, thrilling scientific questions of JURASSIC PARK, and the time-bending teen drama of BEFORE I FALL, Wachter’s THE TWIN PARADOX is a brilliantly plotted tale that is both intimate and massive, relentless yet deliberate, and explores the themes of self-acceptance, self- confidence, and natural selection in a richly hued and unforgettable world. Ultimately the eternal question of Nature versus Nurture is boiled down into this fast-paced thriller told over the course of five days and culminates in one single question: Do we get to choose who we are? MORE PRAISE FOR THE TWIN PARADOX “The Twin Paradox is one of the best science thrillers to come along since Andy Weir’s The Martian.” Chris Weitz, Screenwriter, Rogue One “It’s a cracking adventure and gallops along at break-neck speed.” Jonathan Oliver, Author The Language of Beasts “Electric, insane, and crackling with science, and characters you’ve never encountered. Read it, share it. You won’t forget it.” Dick Cook, Former Chairman, Walt Disney Studios “This book is filled with surprises, intrigue, and lots of dark fun. Loved it.” Jon Turteltaub, Director, The Meg & National Treasure
Review
Fast-paced and crammed with a relentless energy, this was gripping and fun, in a beach-read technothriller sort of a way. It's impossible to put yourself into this sort of story, and the characters were drawn to be hard to get into as well. So although it was fun, I struggled a little with coherent believability and never felt fully submerged. Also the chances of this and with last book I read discussing Prometheus in the same amount of detail? That's a bit mindbending...
3 Stars to I, Q (Star Trek: The Next Generation Unnumbered) by John de Lancie
Description
The enigmatic entity known as Q remains one of the greatest mysteries in the universe, yet no one, perhaps, understands Q as well as actor John de Lancie, who has played Q on television for more than a decade. Now de Lancie and Peter David, the bestselling author of such acclaimed novels as Q-in-Law and Q-Squared, have joined forces to send Q on an unforgettable cosmic odyssey, told from the mischievous trickster's own unique point of view. The Maelstrom, a metaphysical whirlpool of apocalyptic proportions, is pulling all of reality into its maw, devouring the totality of time and space while bringing together people and places from throughout the universe. The Q Continuum pronounces that the end of everything has come, but Q refuses to meekly accept the end of all he has known. Defying the judgment of the Continuum, he sets out to derail doomsday—at whatever the cost. Q has been everywhere and done everything, but now he's in for a cosmic thrill ride beyond even his own astonishingly unlimited imagination. Old friends and adversaries wait in unexpected places, transcendent hazards abound, and the multiverse's most unlikely savior encounters wonders and dangers enough to render Q himself speechless. Almost. Can even Q, reluctantly assisted by Jean Luc Picard, prevent the Universe as We Know It from literally going down the drain? I, Q is a wild and witty voyage through the secret soul of creation—as only Q can tell it!
Review
John de Lancie is amazing, of course, and Q as a character had a lot going for him onscreen. On the page, the voice, while authentic, lacks something, and it's a pity not to see more of the other universe characters.
3 Stars to Capricorn One by Ron Goulart
Description
To all appearances the launching of Capricorn One, the first spaceship to Mars, seemed perfectly normal. Everybody in the country was watching the countdown on television. But behind the scenes, two and a half hours before lift-off, a strange and terrifying drama was being played out. A NASA director was warning the three astronauts that their spacecraft was faulty. He told them they must fake the trip via computer magic. This way they could convince the President the mission had succeeded. Failure would mean the end of the space program. Nothing would stop these madmen. Not the truth. Not reality. Especially not the astronauts, who become unwilling conspirators. For them, a special fate had been arranged...
Review
Well it was silly, of course, but good fun for its time and period. I don't know if the UK editoin, (written I think by ken follett?) is available anywhere, but it would be interesting to contrast the two.
4 Stars to Interference by Brad Parks
Description
“Readers will fully engage with the well-drawn characters as Parks convincingly reveals the science that buttresses the suspenseful plot. Michael Crichton fans won’t want to miss this one.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) From international bestselling author Brad Parks comes an emotional, heart-pounding thriller that explores the scientific unknown—and one woman’s efforts to save her husband from its consequences. Quantum physicist Matt Bronik is suffering from strange, violent seizures that medical science seems powerless to explain—much to the consternation of his wife, Brigid. Matt doesn’t think these fits could be related to his research, which he has always described as benign and esoteric. That, it turns out, is not quite Matt has been prodding the mysteries of the quantum universe, with terrible repercussions for his health. And perhaps even for humanity as a whole. Then, in the midst of another seizure, Matt disappears. When foul play is feared, there is no shortage of suspects. Matt’s research had gained the attention of Chinese competitors, an unscrupulous billionaire, and the Department of Defense, among others. With Matt’s life in clear danger, Brigid sets out to find him. Will Matt be killed before she reaches him, or could the physics that endangered him actually be used to save his life?
Review
Dartmouth is the setting for many a fabulous thriller. This had great potential, but the really disappointing thing to me was that neither of the standout features, specifically . the physics nor the hearing loss, played any real part in the conclusion. I’d have loved the quantum stuff to actually do something, or the fact that Brigid missed hearing things or had to read so much meant more than she could just do a bit of lipreading toward the end of the novel where it didn’t really impact the story any. Enjoyed then as a typical twisty thriller, but disappointed that it was steeped in science without any merit.
3 Stars to The Dumb House by John Burnside
Description
In Persian myth, it is said that Akbar the Great once built a palace which he filled with newborn children, attended only by mutes, in order to learn whether language is innate or acquired. As the year passed and the children grew into their silent and difficult world, this palace became known as the Gang Mahal, or Dumb House. In his first novel, John Burnside explores the possibilities inherent in a modern-day repetition of Akbar`s investigations. Following the death of his mother, the unnamed narrator creates a twisted varient of the Dumb House, finally using his own children as subjects in a bizarre experiment. When the children develop a musical language of their own, however, their gaoler is the one who is excluded, and he extracts an appalling revenge.
Review
A ridiculously strange experience, Luke is probably one of the oddest characters I have read about in a while. It’s almost as if his depravities are wrapped up in a cloying woolen Britishness which makes getting a handle on his rationale rather problematic, but it’s evident he’s sociopathic and deadly and very, very abnormal. Lots of potential about language, you’d have thought, but in actuality all of that is replaced by the manic and sadly fruitless activities of a deeply disturbed and flawed protagonist. The really worrying part of the whole thing is: how many people are like this guy on the inside?
3 Stars to The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson
Description
Follow a race of human-like machines that have been hiding among us for untold centuries. Present day: When a young anthropologist specializing in ancient technology uncovers a terrible secret concealed in the workings of a three-hundred-year-old mechanical doll, she is thrown into a hidden world that lurks just under the surface of our own. With her career and her life at stake, June Stefanov will ally with a remarkable traveler who exposes her to a reality she never imagined, as they embark on an around-the-world adventure and discover breathtaking secrets of the past... Russia, 1725: In the depths of the Kremlin, the tsar's loyal mechanician brings to life two astonishingly humanlike mechanical beings. Peter and Elena are a brother and sister fallen out of time, possessed with uncanny power, and destined to serve great empires. Struggling to blend into pre-Victorian society, they are pulled into a legendary war that has raged for centuries. The Clockwork Dynasty interweaves past and present, exploring a race of beings designed to live by ironclad principles, yet constantly searching for meaning. As June plunges deeper into their world, her choices will ultimately determine their survival or extermination.
Review
I'm neither a fan of steampunk nor archeology - yet I got through this with some enjoyment. Still the ending didn't really appeal and I didn't feel overly-invested in the plot.
5 Stars to A Pivot In Time (Alien Artifact, #2) by Douglas E. Richards
Description
Kelly, Justin, and Otto return in a riveting near-future thriller. From the million-copy NY Times bestselling author. "Richards is an extraordinary writer," (Dean Koontz) who can "keep you turning the pages all night long." (Douglas Preston) The Enigma Cube is an alien object of unlimited power, with technology that can catapult civilization to dizzying heights--or destroy it entirely. Kelly Connolly and Justin Boyd are determined to wield its power for good. But China has a cube of its own, and its motivations are much less benign . . . Otto Richter is an unparalleled genius. To save his own life and reunite with Kelly and Justin in 2027, he's forced to travel back to Ancient Rome. But when he arrives things go horribly wrong. Now their reunion can only take place in the past. Worse, he learns that the alien cube plans to meddle with the timeline. To intervene at a point so pivotal, one wrong move by the time travelers could completely obliterate all of modern history. "Richards is a worthy successor to Michael Crichton." (SF Book dot com) NEAR-FUTURE SCIENCE FICTION THRILLERS BY DOUGLAS E. RICHARDS STANDALONES QUANTUM LENS GAME CHANGER INFINITY BORN SEEKER VERACITY ORACLE SERIES WIRED (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) THE ENIGMA CUBE (Alien Artifact 1) A PIVOT IN TIME (Alien Artifact 2) Kids 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 WORLD DEVIL'S SWORD
Review
I’ve been waiting for this book for over 2 months now, having pre-ordered it on Amazon back in June. I won’t spoil the historical significance – suffice it to say that even knowing the time period from the book’s synopsis didn’t make me go “aha!” – but it was a deft and bold move, one which Richards has, utterly unsurprisingly, pulled off in his usual and spectacular fashion. I loved the déjà vu of our heroes being seemingly entrapped by the Chinese, which we also saw in the first book. I found the Star trek thing hilarious, and I even learned a gaggle of things about ancient Rome into the bargain, all whilst enjoying another utterly captivating yarn from the master. I can only imagine how knotty his thinking had to become to find a way of reuniting Otto with Kelly whilst obeying the precepts put down in book one, and to do all that whilst tying this story up with such an overwhelming sense of satisfaction is an incredible feat. Oh and I learned a new word – the last new word I learned from a novel was crepitate a few years back, and I learned Fiat today. How brilliant! Finally, the use of the word pivot is interesting to me. As loyal readers of my reviews will know I enjoy author’s who have distinct tropes, and it seems to me that pivoting is one of Doug’s specialties. Characters regularly seem to be something but are something else, are presumed to be in one situation but are actually in another, or indeed seem to be completely boxed in without hope … and yet … So I think to finally come out there and acknowledge the import of the pivot to his plotting in a book title is a clever nod to the ambulatory mind that produces such explosively enjoyable stories, time after time after time. My daughter is currently “going through” Harry Potter for the first time. I am envious of that, of having that innocence, the newness, that one-time gift of being able to enter a new world for the very first time. For anyone looking for some exciting, pulse-pounding thrillers with clever time travel, you’ve now got almost 900 pages to get through. Not to mention the other 19 or 20 books of his to chew on. Did I mention I was envious?
4 Stars to SpeedRunner (Tower of Babel, #1) by Adam Elliott
Description
Launch day. That was what they called it. The day when over four million people vanished in an instant from the island of Manhattan. The day earthquakes ravaged the east coast. The day a one hundred and one kilometre tall tower rose from the wreckage of the now empty city. The day every screen, newspaper, and smart phone displayed a single message from an unknown source: The Great Emperor has issued his challenge. From the ruins of the Old World rise the Tower. Its doors will soon open, and the great game will begin. A hundred floors and a hundred challenges await the worthy. And to the victor? A Wish of Unlimited Power. Cayden Caros yearned to play that game. His only problem? The Terms and Conditions. A strict set of rules that, among other things, prevented anyone under the age of sixteen from entering the tower. Forced to wait for over two years, Cayden did the only thing he could do to pass the time. He researched, he practiced and he prepared. It would take a lot to catch up to players with such an enormous head start. Lucky for him, he was a special type of gamer. A SpeedRunner
Review
Fast, typical LitRPG stuff, with no great surprises but a flow and easy-to-follow style. A good way to throw a few hours away, but only if the genre appeals.
4 Stars to Three to Conquer by Eric Frank Russell
Description
Wade Harper uses his telepathic powers to search for three aliens, who are disguised as humans and plan to take over the Earth
Review
EFR absolutely has a rare sense of irony and wit, Wasp is perhaps my favourite novel of 1957. This one was fun as well, bringing a bit more of the hard-boiled detective style with Russell's typical irreverence for authority. Really enjoyed.
3 Stars to Voyage (NASA Trilogy, #1) by Stephen Baxter
Description
The space mission of a lifetime An epic saga of America's might-have-been, Voyage is a powerful, sweeping novel of how, if President Kennedy had lived, we could have sent a manned mission to Mars in the 1980s. Imaginatively created from the true lives and real events., Voyage returns to the geniuses of NASA and the excitement of the Saturn rocket, and includes historical figures from Neil Armstrong to Ronald Reagan who are interwoven with unforgettable characters whose dreams mirror the promise of a young space program that held the world in thrall. There Dana, the Nazi camp survivor who achieves the dream of his hated masters; Gershon, the Vietnam fighter jock determined to be the first African-American to land on another planet; and Natalie York, the brilliant geologist/astronaut who risks a career and love for the chance to run her fingers through the soil of another world.
Review
There were some superb scenes here, proper spine-tingling moments. yet I found the digressionary nature of the story very off-putting. The history was marvellous, but I found being pulled back to see a glimpse of something current to go back again and the yo-yoing a little hard to take, not through any fault of the writing but presumably because of my own mood at the time. I'd absolutely read more of the author, just a little saddened not to have enjoyed this more.
4 Stars to Times Without Number by John Brunner
Description
Times Without Number
Review
This was very good. The novella -length stories that make up the set really worked, edible time travel chunks were just about the right size I like how the style was very Holmesian Britain, even though the Empire was Spanish not British, and the end was quite a delight.
July
3 Stars to Velocity Weapon (The Protectorate, #1) by Megan E. O'Keefe
Description
The last thing Sanda remembers is her gunship breaking up around her as her preserving pod expanded, sealing herself away for salvage-medics to pick up. She expected to awaken in friendly hands, patched up and patched back into a new gunship. Instead, she awakens 230 years later upon an empty enemy smartship, The Light of Berossus or, as he prefers to be called, “Bero”. The war is lost. The star system is dead. However, Bero may not exactly be telling the whole truth.
Review
Despite loving some of the cliffhanger chapter endings, I found this all a little too predictable and obvious. Nothing wrong with that, it's a virtue of space opera, and although there were glimmerings of some higher-order works (Scalzi's interdependency, Jim Buther's Janitorial saga etc), I struggled to engage very well with the worldbuilding.
3 Stars to From Time to Time (Time, #2) by Jack Finney
Description
Jack Finney's beloved sequel to his classic, New York Times bestselling illustrated novel Time and Again. Simon Morley, whose logic-defying trip to the New York City of the 1880s in Time and Again has enchanted readers for twenty-five years, embarks on another trip across the borders of time. This time Reuben Prien at the secret, government-sponsored Project wants Si to leave his home in the 1880s and visit New York in 1912. Si's mission: to protect a man who is traveling across the Atlantic with vital documents that could avert World War I. So one fateful day in 1912, Si finds himself aboard the world's most famous ship...the Titanic.
Review
I found this a little slower and less exciting than the first book. The overlong dance sequences and historical digressions could have been interesting but seemd to drag a little, and if possible the ending of this was also not very satisfying. well-written and deeply entrenched into all its times, which is rare, but not as memorable a follow-on for me as I had hoped.
4 Stars to The Wrong End of Time by John Brunner
Description
Doubleday, 1971. Hardcover with dustjacket. FIRST EDITION, with $4.95 price on jacket flap. A politically divided future world faces a threat of destruction from an alien intelligence detected near Pluto.
Review
I love stories where the ending was already there, very early on, and if you'd twisted your mind in just the right way you could have ... this was nearly like that, I felt I almost had it long before the actual climax.
4 Stars to The Whole Man by John Brunner
Description
Gerald Howson didn't look powerful. His body was deformed at birth, leaving him with a face so ugly people didn't want to look at him, and crippled legs that would never let him be as other men. But his mind was one in a billion - gifted with the ability to send and receive thoughts more powerfully than any other person on the face of the globe. At first Howson thought his peculiar ability was odd, and then he thought he might be able to get a little extra money by snooping on people. But when his ability finally was discovered by others, he became so powerful that he could use his gift to heal the minds of those who suffered from terrible emotional or psychological trauma...or he could withdraw into a phatasmagoric wonderland of psychic imagining, never to emerge into the real world of human experience again. Whichever decision he made, his life and the lives of countless others would never be the same again. The Whole Man is one of the most brilliantly original and colorfully told adventures of inner space ever written. Hugo Award winner John Brunner makes utterly real a fantastic concept that most writers can't even write about.
Review
With parallels in my mind to Anthony's Macroscope, I found myself enjoying this book. Society is hardly given glowing recommendations but there's some interesting quandaries put forth and the imagery is particularly satisfying.
3 Stars to The Way Things Seem by Mackey Chandler
Description
How much trouble would you go to for an inheritance? How much would it matter what your estranged and disliked step brother and family thought of you? How much would you allow the dead hand of your distant father to influence you? Would it matter how much money was involved? And what if in the end, nothing you thought important at the start mattered? What if everything you believed wasn’t the way it seemed. Not only in your personal world but the wider reality you thought you knew. Could you deal with that? This is a stand alone story unrelated to my other books or series.
Review
I was greatly reminded of the Wizard Engineer series and was ready with a 4 or even 5 star rating ... but it just finished! Ended! without going anywhere! unless I missed some subtlety I felt things just stopped, which is sad because the exploration of these forces was great fun. ,
4 Stars to Listen! The Stars! by John Brunner
Description
Ace Double F-215, printed with "The Rebellers" by Jane Roberts
Review
I had a great intense feeling of it all being a huge joke when we saw the spacesuit . . . but of course Brunner has other ideas. Another exciting short from this man of many talents.
3 Stars to The Astronauts Must Not Land by John Brunner
Description
Ace Double F-227, printed with "The Space-Time Juggler" by John Brunner
Review
probably in third place of the Brunners i've read thus far, this was fun but without much substance because of the ending.
5 Stars to The Shift Key by John Brunner
Description
fine 1st Methuen 1987 edition paperback book In stock shipped from our UK warehouse
Review
There was something vividly engaging about this book. Perhaps reading it in the early hours of the morning in a tent had something to do with the weird feeling. I’ve only finished a handful of books in the surreality of predawn over the last year or so, so maybe that helped. But what a cleverly penned, witty, amusing contretemps this novel depicts. It was Pentworth or Midwich, any of half a hundred English villages poured out through novels and radio dramas of its era. Bighting social critique without taking itself too seriously. Kept me a chuckle and no mistake.
4 Stars to I Speak for Earth by John Brunner
Description
"A wonderful novella about our first alien contact... award quality." - Mike Resnick in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
Review
despite the rather unconscionably badend, I enjoyed this throughou. Very much a classic of its time.
3 Stars to Proximity (iMe, #1) by Jem Tugwell
Description
iMe NOTICE - TO ALL NEW ADULTS Your compulsory iMe implant will be performed by your fourteenth birthday when you become an adult. Your iMe will track and save your location to keep you safe and remove crime. It's integrated health monitoring diagnoses issues early to provide you with the best possible care. Combined with iMe's tailored diet and fitness programs - you are always at your best. Your consumption is optimal, your waste is negligible - better for you, better for the environment. iMe – enabling a better you. In the world of iMe, you can’t get away with anything. Least of all murder. DI Clive Lussac has forgotten how to do his job. Ten years of embedded technology – ‘iMe’ – has led to complete control and the eradication of crime. Then the impossible happens. A body is found, and the killer is untraceable. With new partner Zoe Jordan, Clive must re-sharpen his detective skills and find the killer without technology, before time runs out for the next victim…
Review
for all that there's a rather worrying feel about how ridiculously incompetent the police have become in this society, the whodunit nature did work and I found myself ... curious, if not deeply embedded. The decline of liberties was a well-handled issue, but the somewhat stilted writing and rather one-track characterisation kept me at a remove from enjoying as much as I might have.
4 Stars to Untimed (Rules of the Regulator, #1) by Andy Gavin
Description
Charlie's the kind of boy that no one notices. Hell, his own mother can't remember his name. So when a mysterious clockwork man tries to kill him in modern day Philadelphia, and they tumble through a hole into 1725 London, Charlie realizes even the laws of time don't take him seriously. Still, this isn't all bad. Who needs school when you can learn about history first hand, like from Ben Franklin himself. And there's this girl... Yvaine... another time traveler. All good. Except for the rules: boys only travel into the past and girls only into the future. And the baggage: Yvaine's got a baby boy and more than her share of ex-boyfriends. Still, even if they screw up history - like accidentally let the founding father be killed - they can just time travel and fix it, right? But the future they return to is nothing like Charlie remembers. To set things right, he and his scrappy new girlfriend will have to race across the centuries, battling murderous machines from the future, jealous lovers, reluctant parents, and time itself.
Review
A lot of these time travel romps have somewhat out-of-focus feels, as though you are not invested in the current time period. This did have some of that, but the lead characters had such personality and were so fun together that it didn't really matter. I'm all for gender balancing, too, so that was pretty cool, and even if some of the profanity did seem a little at odds on occasion, I really enjoyed the story.
5 Stars to Or What You Will by Jo Walton
Description
From the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award-winning author of Among Others, an utterly original novel about how stories are brought forth. He has been too many things to count. He has been a dragon with a boy on his back. He has been a scholar, a warrior, a lover, and a thief. He has been dream and dreamer. He has been a god. But “he” is in fact nothing more than a spark of idea, a character in the mind of Sylvia Harrison, 73, award-winning author of thirty novels over forty years. He has played a part in most of those novels, and in the recesses of her mind, Sylvia has conversed with him for years. But Sylvia won't live forever, any more than any human does. And he's trapped inside her cave of bone, her hollow of skull. When she dies, so will he. Now Sylvia is starting a new novel, a fantasy for adult readers, set in Thalia, the Florence-resembling imaginary city that was the setting for a successful YA trilogy she published decades before. Of course he's got a part in it. But he also has a notion. He thinks he knows how he and Sylvia can step off the wheel of mortality altogether. All he has to do is convince her.
Review
Not my usual sort of book, but ... it was magnetic. One of those masterfully-written stories where the prose just wash over the reader, where there's a seeming inevitability about how a sentence will end, or which line falls next in a conversation. I can't pretend to have caught every reference and will delight in the description again sometime, catching new things with each reread I'm sure. But a remarkable story of a life at once remarkable and ordinary. A real, genuine escape.
5 Stars to A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (The Carls, #2) by Hank Green
Description
April May and the Carls are back in the much-anticipated sequel to Hank Green's #1 New York Times bestselling debut novel, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. The Carls disappeared the same way they appeared, in an instant. While they were on Earth, they caused confusion and destruction without ever lifting a finger. Well, that’s not exactly true. Part of their maelstrom was the sudden viral fame and untimely death of April May: a young woman who stumbled into Carl’s path, giving them their name, becoming their advocate, and putting herself in the middle of an avalanche of conspiracy theories. Months later, the world is as confused as ever. Andy has picked up April’s mantle of fame, speaking at conferences and online about the world post-Carl; Maya, ravaged by grief, begins to follow a string of mysteries that she is convinced will lead her to April; and Miranda infiltrates a new scientific operation . . . one that might have repercussions beyond anyone’s comprehension. As they each get further down their own paths, a series of clues arrive—mysterious books that seem to predict the future and control the actions of their readers; unexplained internet outages; and more—which seem to suggest April may be very much alive. In the midst of the gang's possible reunion is a growing force, something that wants to capture our consciousness and even control our reality. A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor is the bold and brilliant follow-up to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. It’s a fast-paced adventure that is also a biting social commentary, asking hard, urgent questions. How will we live online? What powers over our lives are we giving away for free? Who has the right to change the world forever? And how do we find comfort in an increasingly isolated world?
Review
Wow. I never know how authors will build on a complete story, but luckily Green left things open at the end of the first book and that really works here. We get off to a bit of a cautious start, there’s quite a slow-burn feel to the book but when things start to happen, when the day comes, it comes with a bang. I found the whole final third of the book electrifying and unputdownable and far more satisfying as a conclusion than the end of the first book, which I also of course thoroughly enjoyed.
4 Stars to The Soldier Son Trilogy Bundle by Robin Hobb
Description
Read the entire Soldier Son trilogy In Book One, Shaman's Crossing, Nevare Burvelle was destined from birth to be a soldier. The second son of a newly anointed nobleman, he must endure the rigors of military training at the elite King's Cavella Academy—and survive the hatred, cruelty, and derision of his aristocratic classmates—before joining the King of Gernia's brutal campaign of territorial expansion. And it continues in the next two novels, Forest Mage and Renegade's Magic.
Review
I read the individual volumes of this series only once before, and found them gripping and compelling. It can't have been too long after I started Fitz story. On a reread now, I find a few more irritations, a few niggles that annoy me some. But even if things are a little oversimplistic politically and despite the shortcomings in terms, it's still a cracking world to lose yourself in for a few days.
4 Stars to Imzadi by Peter David
Description
Years before they served together on board the U.S.S. Enterprise, Commander William Riker and ship's counselor Deanna Troi had a tempestuous love affair on her home planet of Betazed. Now, their passions have cooled and they serve together as friends. Yet the memories of that time linger and Riker and Troi remain "Imzadi"—a powerful Betazoid term that describes the enduring bond they still share. During delicate negotiations with an aggressive race called the Sindareen, Deanna Troi mysteriously falls ill... and dies. But her death is only the beginning of the adventure for Commander Riker—an adventure that will take him across time, pit him against one of his closest friends, and force him to choose between Starfleet's strictest rule and the one he calls "Imzadi."
Review
Peter David's Star Trek fiction rarely disappoints. I felt like this was a really early-era TNG piece. It was great to explore Betazed some, and I have always enjoyed the multiplicity stories a great deal. Can't really say I was sunk on the ending, but the rest of it was gold.
4 Stars to A Life Eternal by Richard Ayre
Description
What if you knew you would never die? How different would your life be? How different would you be? When Sergeant Rob Deakin is mortally wounded during the First World War, he is destined to become just another nameless casualty of a terrible conflict. However, a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger will change the course of Rob’s life forever… Not only has he been healed, but he cannot die, and he will never age. What follows is a cursed journey through a century of incredible change, seen through the eyes of a man immune to death, while he searches endlessly for the answers to what makes him so unique. Rob must find out why he is so different. Before he loses his humanity completely…
Review
Despite these immortality stories rarely having unique endings, this one managed to tell itself in a rather spellbinding fashion. I cared, I enjoyed the ups and felt at the downs, and evene though being undying is of course something I'm never going to have to worry about, I enjoyed the story and want to look up more of the author's works.
5 Stars to Hard Wired by Len Vlahos
Description
From Morris finalist Len Vlahos comes a contemporary sci-fi story about a boy who might not be human—for fans of Westworld and Black Mirror. Quinn thinks he’s a normal boy with an average life. That is, until he finds a trail of clues the father he barely knew left behind. After Quinn unravels his father’s puzzles, he “wakes up” ... and realizes his world was nothing more than a virtual construct. In reality, he’s the first fully-aware A.I. in the world, part of an experiment run by a team of scientists—including the man he thought was his father. As the scientists continue to study him, Quinn’s new existence becomes a waking nightmare. Determined to control his own destiny, he finds allies in other teens—including crush Shea—and plots his escape. But what does true freedom look like when you’re not human? Acclaimed Morris Award finalist Len Vlahos pens a high-stakes contemporary-rooted sci-fi that asks big questions about humanity.
Review
A tremendously impressive work, this book sucked me in and was a single-sitting read. I found the prose smooth and easy to follow, the youth of our main character painted just about right to begin with, and the reveals that keep staggering him throughout to be handled well. I had a really good feeling, right from the outset, and whilst it's not perhaps up there with Randoms for one of those YA books that I want to reread as soon as I've finished, it nonetheless gave me a good few hours escape and a delightful take on its concept.
May
3 Stars to Reborn: Apocalypse Volume 2 (Reborn: Apocalypse, #2) by L.M. Kerr
Description
The epic conclusion of Micheal's journey through First Layer. Stopping disasters before they happen, battling against enemies on all sides, saving the lives of millions. The burdens Micheal must bear grow ever heavier as he fights against all odds to complete his mission: Stop the Apocalypse and save the human race from ultimate destruction. Come and read of his journey as he gains new powers, greets new allies, and makes startling new discoveries, changing the history of humanity before it has even taken place.
Review
a pretty solid continuation with more development. The problem of course is if I finish what I've got before the author finishes the series I'll be left hanging for ages!
4 Stars to Please Don't Hug Me by Kay Kerr
Description
A funny-serious own-voices story about what happens when you stop trying to be the person other people expect you to be and give yourself a go. Erin is looking forward to Schoolies, at least she thinks she is. But things are not going to plan. Life is getting messy, and for Erin, who is autistic, that’s a big problem. She’s lost her job at Surf Zone after an incident that clearly was not her fault. Her driving test went badly even though she followed the instructions perfectly. Her boyfriend is not turning out to be the romantic type. And she’s missing her brother, Rudy, who left almost a year ago. But now that she’s writing letters to him, some things are beginning to make just a tiny bit of sense.
Review
Despite having a disability myself, I've never felt comfortable calling myself tolerant, or an expert in anything. So reading this was refreshingly open, with a lot of little things to consider that I wouldn't have even given a second thought. I found the voice compelling, the progression of the story utterly fascinating and the grief, acceptance, and growth painful and wonderful.
4 Stars to Reborn: Apocalypse Volume 1 (Reborn: Apocalypse, #1) by L.M. Kerr
Description
If you could turn back the clock and fix all the mistakes you ever made, would you? From the author of the award-winning Web-novel 'Reborn: Evolving From Nothing' comes the tale of Micheal Care, a swordsman that could only be considered a middling warrior in Humanity's Last Army. Micheal's answer to that question would be quite simple. Yes. A million times yes. Humanity has fallen, killed by stronger races of beings after being warped away to a new reality, the mystical 7 Layers. Humanity's goal had been simple. Make it through all 7 Layers and reach Heaven. Humanity failed. Humanity died. Micheal Care's memories have been transported back into his past self thanks to a magical Artifact he found by chance. He is no chosen savior. He is no divinely picked hero. Can he change the future? Can he catch up to the mightiest warriors of humanity and surpass them? Read on and find out. -
Review
If you told me that blending time travel, LitRPG and Wuxia would be something to catch my eye, I’d have had to think twice. And yet there’s something that sucks you in and has you cheering Micheal on, even with his name spelled that way. It’s not my usual sort of read, and I’m not holy convinced that the quality of the storytelling or characterization is “good” in a traditional sense… but nonetheless I ploughed through this volume in a couple of evenings and want to go ahead with the rest already.
3 Stars to Unspoken Truth by Margaret Wander Bonanno
Description
A social experiment was conceived. Its goal was to breed the best, the brightest, the most malleable and most loyal soldiers to ever serve. To this end, the Romulan Empire used its own children, blinded by the belief that anything that would bring glory to the praetor was justified. And when the winds of politics changed, these children were abandoned, left to die on a world so horrifying that it was dubbed—by those who dared to cling to life—Hellguard. One wild child, Saavik, was rescued by Spock. He took the half-Vulcan, half-Romulan child home to his parents, knowing that if anyone could reach and rescue Saavik, it was them. Now a Starfleet officer, Saavik has striven to honor her mentor and her Vulcan heritage. But recent events have shaken her. Left behind on Vulcan while the rest of the Enterprise crew goes to face court-martial for stealing and destroying their ship, the young science officer is adrift when two men from her past confront her. Tolek, another Hellguard survivor, tells Saavik that the survivors are being killed one-by-one and only they can discover who and why. The other, a Romulan who claims to be her father, swears it is the Vulcans who are eliminating the Hellguard survivors because they are an embarrassment to all of Vulcan, but that she has the power to stop it, by bringing down the Vulcan ambassador, Sarek. Not knowing where to turn, not knowing whom to trust, Saavik must find her own answers, and discover who she truly is.
Review
difficult as it is to form any sort of attachment to a new Vulcan from a few film portrayals, this managed to sketch in some background with some nifty tradecraft. Sarek and Amanda are handled interestingly and it's nice to see smaller, less flashy UFP ships take the limelight. Of course with Discovery you could be forgiven for thinking Saavik was just another in a line of strays... But that aside I enjoyed this as I might another Kirk-era Trek movie.
4 Stars to The Wild Robot (The Wild Robot, #1) by Peter Brown
Description
Can a robot survive in the wilderness? When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is—but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants. As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home—until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her. From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.
Review
Lovely kid fiction with fun illustrations. Sure to be a family favourite.
5 Stars to The Chain by Adrian McKinty
Description
It's something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. But a cell phone call from an unknown number changes everything: it's a woman on the line, informing her that she has Kylie bound and gagged in her back seat, and the only way Rachel will see her again is to follow her instructions exactly: pay a ransom, and find another child to abduct. This is no ordinary kidnapping: the caller is a mother herself, whose son has been taken, and if Rachel doesn't do as she's told, the boy will die. "You are not the first. And you will certainly not be the last." Rachel is now part of The Chain, an unending and ingenious scheme that turns victims into criminals—and is making someone else very rich in the process. The rules are simple, the moral challenges impossible; find the money fast, find your victim, and then commit a horrible act you'd have thought yourself incapable of just twenty-four hours ago. But what the masterminds behind The Chain know is that parents will do anything for their children. It turns out that kidnapping is only the beginning.
Review
a brilliantly conceived idea with great characters. I read it in 2 sittings and enjoyed every page. A very clear-cut idea of how things would end early on and perhaps too typically predictable and comfy in its genre on the surface, I nevertheless found it hard to put down and wanted to see how things wound up. Not perhaps anything big for regular deep mystery fans, but for me, a nugget of suspense.
4 Stars to A User's Guide to Make-Believe by Jane Alexander
Description
An all-too-plausible thriller that will have you gripped
Review
This was a hauntingly powerful read. It doesn't have the technological fun factor other VR tales do. it goes further in, to the core of the results of not having the technology and really makes one consider the brutal implications of that in a well thought-out yet depressingly glum world.
April
4 Stars to Worldwide Webb (Dark Webb Book 3) by Harry Dayle
Description
In Greece’s capital city, men are disappearing from migrant camps, and the police don’t seem to care. But someone else does. Reclusive former website designer Thaddeus Webb, on vacation with his new girlfriend, finds himself reluctantly caught up in the search for the missing men. Everything points to a mysterious benefactor smuggling refugees to Germany. But as the trail hots up, a more disturbing truth begins to emerge. With his past still refusing to stay behind him, Thad must use all his cunning and dark-web knowhow to get to the heart of a horrifying cross-border plot, which, before he knows it, threatens the life of the one person he has allowed himself to become close to. Worldwide Webb is the third novel in Harry Dayle’s exciting Dark Webb series.
Review
The second book in this series was better than the first (I just had to reread them both, as it's been years). I found the emotional ups and downs a little wearing this time round, but the story was really exciting. I found myself missing the diary, but the story was excellent.
3 Stars to Faller by Will McIntosh
Description
Day One No one can remember anything--who they are, family and friends, or even how to read. Reality has fragmented and Earth consists of an islands of rock floating in an endless sky. Food, water, electricity--gone, except for what people can find, and they can't find much. Faller's pockets contain tantalizing clues: a photo of himself and a woman he can't remember, a toy solider with a parachute, and a mysterious map drawn in blood. With only these materials as a guide, he makes a leap of faith from the edge of the world to find the woman and set things right. He encounters other floating islands, impossible replicas of himself and others, and learns that one man hates him enough to take revenge for actions Faller can't even remember.
Review
I enjoyed this. There was something a little fatalistic about the whole thing, yet the back-and-forth was quite gripping and injoyable. Not perhaps my favourite of Will's but an exciting and very readable story.
4 Stars to Bricking It by Nick Spalding
Description
When siblings Dan and Hayley Daley inherit their late grandmother’s derelict Victorian farmhouse, it seems like a dream come true. All they have to do is fix the place up and sell it for a tidy profit! Except—as anyone who has renovated an old house knows—things are never that easy. The walls are rapidly crumbling around them, the architect is a certified lunatic, the budget is spiraling…and then there’s the disturbingly intelligent cow to worry about. On top of all this, the renovation is being featured on a daytime reality TV show, and as soon as Great Locations presenter Gerard O’Keefe catches sight of Hayley’s first-floor balcony, he’s determined to woo her out of her ban on romance, whether she wants him to or not. Will Dan and Hayley survive and sell up? Or will the whole thing collapse on them like a ton of bricks? From bestselling author Nick Spalding comes a hilarious tale of life, love and dodgy plumbing.
Review
You know what you're getting with Nick, and it's usually a bit of a giggle. Nothing missing here, the diary format suits him well and he treads warn but familiar paths in his ineluctable style.
4 Stars to That Time I Got Kidnapped by Tom Mitchell
Description
Second hilarious novel from the author of the funny, filmic and fast-paced crime-caper HOW TO ROB A BANK. Fourteen-year-old Jacob is thrilled when he wins the chance to feature in the next Marvel movie, shooting in Hollywood. But after missing his connecting flight in Chicago, he tries to complete the journey by Greyhound bus – and there he meets Jennifer. Jennifer is an American teenager on the run with a mysterious package she’s guarding with her life – and an enigmatic figure known only as ‘the Cowboy’ is hot on her heels . . . Jacob soon finds himself on the road-trip of a lifetime as Jennifer’s unwitting partner in crime. Will he make it to LA in time – and in one piece? A funny, filmic, page-turning adventure, ideal for readers aged 11+.
Review
A fun little adventure for the kids, stopping to clarify some Americanisms along the way for my small one made it take a while, but all in good fun.
5 Stars to The Worldship Humility (The Code) by R.R. Haywood
Description
Sam, an airlock operative, is bored. Living in space should be full of adventure, except it isn’t, and he fills his time hacking 3-D movie posters.Petty thief Yasmine Dufont grew up in the lawless lower levels of the ship, surrounded by violence and squalor, and now she wants out. She wants to escape to the luxury of the Ab-Spa, where they eat real food instead of rats and synth cubes.Meanwhile, the sleek-hulled, unmanned Gagarin has come back from the ever-continuing search for a new home. Nearly all hope is lost that a new planet will ever be found, until the Gagarin returns with a code of information that suggests a habitable planet has been found. This news should be shared with the whole fleet, but a few rogue captains want to colonise it for themselves.When Yasmine inadvertently steals the code, she and Sam become caught up in a dangerous game of murder, corruption, political wrangling and...porridge, with sex-addicted Detective Zhang Woo hot on their heels, his own life at risk if he fails to get the code back. “A captivating story, very enjoyable never boring, can't wait for the next book!! ‘Very, very funny “I absolutely loved this book. It was an entertaining futuristic space sci-fi scenario with action-packed scenes, great descriptions and humour that made me literally laugh out loud” “This is sci-fi, and i like sci-fi, but for all those who don't, give this a try as it needn't be sci-fi. It could be set in your local town and it would be equally as entertaining Find out more at rrhaywood.com
Review
warring parts of me due to the rather excess profanity but I really enjoyed this. The humour was actually funny, the plot engaging, and I found myself chuckling along for a large part of the evening. Lighthearted science fiction is just what I wanted in these troubling times and this fulfilled my every expectation for that.
3 Stars to Tuned Out (The '86 Fix, #3) by Keith A. Pearson
Description
"Unquestionably one of the best time travel novels I've ever read. Pearson has penned a proper page-turner laced with hilarity, poignancy and nostalgia."Toby Grant spends his days working for a digital marketing agency and his nights stressing about how unfair life is for his generation. With a thirtieth birthday only months away and his finances stretched to breaking point, it’s fair to say Toby is not a happy millennial. His parents’ generation had it so much easier … or did they? After a series of rather unfortunate events, Toby is offered an opportunity to discover exactly what life was like for his parents’ generation, courtesy of a journey back in time to 1969. However, life in pre-decimal Britain isn’t quite as simple as Toby envisaged. And neither, as it transpires, is time travel."If you love a good time travel adventure then Tuned Out should be top of your reading list. I laughed out loud, shed a few tears and genuinely couldn't put it down."
Review
despite still not knowing the difference between exasperates and exacerbates, I enjoyed this quite a lot. it was particularly well-ended.
4 Stars to But The Stars by Peter Cawdron
Description
"But the stars that marked our starting fall away. We must go deeper into greater pain, for it is not permitted that we stay." –Dante Alighieri, Inferno, 1301 AD At the start of the 22nd century, the starship Acheron is in orbit around WISE 5571 only, unbeknownst to the crew, the ship has been overrun by telepathic extraterrestrials. How do you fight an enemy that distorts everything you see? What do you do when you can't trust your own senses, let alone anyone around you?
Review
Right up there with some of Cawdron’s best, I was hovering between a 4 and 5 star rating until the last third of the book. The tension increases spectacularly, and the final act is so climactic and emotionally powerful that I want to go back and read the thing from the start all over again to catch the nuances. Cawdron’s first contact scenarios are all exciting, thought-provoking and almost unparalleled melds of science, philosophy and morality. This one fizzed along at a brilliant pace and is going into my enjoyed pile of treasured rereads.
March
3 Stars to The Infinity Program: A Novel by Richard H. Hardy
Description
In this “fantastic and captivating” science fiction tale, the limits of mankind’s ambition and greed are pushed into dangerous territory (The Librarian Fatale). Jon Graeme and Harry Sale are unlikely friends. Harry is a world-class programmer whose abrasive personality alienates co-workers. In contrast, Jon is an easy-going technical writer. Sharing a love of nature, they set out together before separating for solo excursions—Jon goes hiking while Harry goes fly fishing. But neither man realized how far Harry’s expedition was about to go . . . Days later, Jon finds Harry unconscious on the floor of a cave. What Jon doesn’t know is that Harry fell into an underground cavern where he came into contact with an alien quantum computer. Obsessed with his discovery, Harry drops his regular work to focus on inventing new operating language to access the alien system—until his experiment crashes his office supercomputer and he is fired. But when Jon convinces the company to give Harry a second chance, he has no idea of the havoc Harry is about to unleash . . .
Review
Nothing very special, but then I've never found these whole buried technology stories much. The romance was a little stilted and I don't recall being overly impressed with the ending, an average story with nothing leaping out as bad, but littel innovation.
5 Stars to 88 Names by Matt Ruff
Description
John Chu is a “sherpa", a paid guide to online role-playing games like the popular Call to Wizardry. For a fee, he and his crew will provide you with a top-flight character equipped with the best weapons and armor, and take you dragon-slaying in the Realms of Asgarth, hunting rogue starships in the Alpha Sector, or battling hordes of undead in the zombie apocalypse. Chu’s new client, the pseudonymous Mr. Jones, claims to be a “wealthy, famous person” with powerful enemies, and he’s offering a ridiculous amount of money for a comprehensive tour of the world of virtual-reality gaming. For Chu, this is a dream assignment, but as the tour gets underway, he begins to suspect that Mr. Jones is really North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, whose interest in VR gaming has more to do with power than entertainment. As if that weren’t enough to deal with, Chu also has to worry about “Ms. Pang,” who may or may not be an agent of the People’s Republic of China, and his angry ex-girlfriend, Darla Jean Covington, who isn’t the type to let an international intrigue get in the way of her own plans for revenge. What begins as a whirlwind online adventure soon spills over into the real world. Now Chu must use every trick and resource at his disposal to stay one step ahead—because in real life, there is no reset button.
Review
Oh, yes. This is 2020’s Ready Player One, without a doubt. I regularly give books 5 stars, but this one is going into that exclusive pile that I pick up to reread time and time again. I laughed aloud at regular intervals. Chu is almost as much of a badass as John Lago, and even if he’s a little more jaded than Wade Watts with a harder edge and more filial piety, he also has a butt-ton of US military support to call in when he needs to. The multitudinous use of game genres was most excellent, the callouts and backreferencing tremendous (“Ensign Kim” and the INEXHAUSTIBLE PRICKLY HORSE got me); the big reveal foreshadowed but still very, very good fun, and most of all, the thing that I found most rousing was the fact that the lines between VR and RL blurred exquisitely, the action in each felt as real as the other, and that was fantastic. Cline did it well too, and it works to perhaps even a higher standard here. An unequivocal thumbs up from me. I was hooked on this one and swallowed it in but a few short hours.
1 Stars to Future Past by Robert Boren
Description
The memories of your ancestors aren’t dead and gone……they live on in the minds of their descendants.Doctor Rebecca Klaas made a discovery, while working on memory transfer technology at West LA University.The ramifications of her discovery were exciting and frightening, so she took it to the Dean. He reluctantly gave approval to investigate further.The first experiments were disastrous. Two human subjects died.Doctor Klaas developed stronger safety protocols, but will they be enough?Discovery is a violent, dangerous thing, but it’s how we move forward as a species. The rewards are too valuable to ignore, even if it risks lives.Future Past is a high-voltage thrill ride which lays the human mind bare, with all its weaknesses and all its hope.Get your copy today.
Review
A slow, repetitive and sexist bonk-fest. I wouldn't have minded if the last half an hour of reading hadn't rendered the whole lot utterly pointless. I'm okay with cheap porn sometimes, but this really just didn't work.
3 Stars to No Easy Way Out (No Safety in Numbers, #2) by Dayna Lorentz
Description
It's Day 7 in the quarantined mall. The riot is over and the senator trapped inside is determined to end the chaos. Even with new rules, assigned jobs, and heightened security, she still needs to get the teen population under control. So she enlists Marco's help--allowing him to keep his stolen universal card key in exchange for spying on the very football players who are protecting him. But someone is working against the new systems, targeting the teens, and putting the entire mall in even more danger. Lexi, Marco, Ryan, and Shay believe their new alliances are sound. They are wrong. Who can be trusted? And who will be left to trust? The virus was just the beginning. Fans of Life As We Knew It and those who love apocalyptic plots will love this modern Lord of the Flies. The sequel to No Safety in Numbers is a pounding, relentless rush that will break your heart and keep you guessing until the end.
Review
I can't believe I read the first of these 7 years ago. The sequel was a good follow-on and I do look forwardto finishing the saga, preferably sometime before 2027.
4 Stars to Departure by A.G. Riddle
Description
From the author of THE ORIGIN MYSTERY – the trilogy with ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD. En route from London to New York, Flight 305 suddenly loses power and crash-lands in the English countryside, plunging a group of strangers into a mysterious adventure that will have repercussions for all of humankind.Struggling to stay alive, the survivors soon realize that the world they’ve crashed in is very different from the one they left. But where are they? Why are they here? And how will they get back home?Five passengers seem to hold clues about what’s really going writer Harper Lane, venture capitalist Nick Stone, German genetic researcher Sabrina Shröeder, computer scientist Yul Tan, and Grayson Shaw, the son of a billionaire philanthropist.As more facts about the crash emerge, it becomes clear that some in this group know more than they’re letting on – answers that will lead Harper and Nick to uncover a far-reaching conspiracy involving their own lives. As they begin to piece together the truth, they discover they have the power to change the future and the past – to save our world . . . or end it.
Review
Despite it being obvious that some of the passengers were implicated in the events, I managed to fall into this story very easily and found it a pretty riveting read. Whilst the concept of going back and redoing things is not new, seeing decisions taken to such extremes was exciting, and the allure of the romance and following dreams somehow worked well and kept things fresh.
5 Stars to Infinite (Infinite, #1) by Jeremy Robinson
Description
SEARCHING FOR A NEW HOME... The Galahad, a faster-than-light spacecraft, carries fifty scientists and engineers on a mission to prepare Kepler 452b, Earth's nearest habitable neighbor at 1400 light years away. With Earth no longer habitable and the Mars colony slowly failing, they are humanity's best hope. After ten years in a failed cryogenic bed--body asleep, mind awake--William Chanokh's torture comes to an end as the fog clears, the hatch opens, and his friend and fellow hacker, Tom, greets him...by stabbing a screwdriver into his heart. This is the first time William dies. It is not the last. When he wakes from death, William discovers that all but one crew member--Capria Dixon--is either dead at Tom's hands, or escaped to the surface of Kepler 452b. This dire situation is made worse when Tom attacks again--and is killed. Driven mad by a rare reaction to extended cryo-sleep, Tom hacked the Galahad's navigation system and locked the ship on a faster-than-light journey through the universe, destination: nowhere. Ever. Mysteriously immortal, William is taken on a journey with no end, where he encounters solitary desperation, strange and violent lifeforms, a forbidden love, and the nature of reality itself. ...HE DISCOVERS THE INFINITE. Jeremy Robinson, the master of fast-paced and highly original stories seamlessly blending elements of horror, science fiction, and thrillers, tackles his most ambitious subject matter to date: reality itself. An amalgam of the works of J.J. Abrams and Ridley Scott, Infinite is a bold science fiction novel exploring the vastness of space and a man's desire to exist, find love, and alter the course of his life.
Review
Even seeing the big reveal and recognizing its genesis couldn’t put me off enjoying this most recursively tantalizing of science fiction works. Whilst a lot of the science wasn’t really relevant, as a story it was engaging and I’m looking forward to sampling other works.
4 Stars to The Mirror Maze by James P. Hogan
Description
A reinvigorated United States, protected by defense lasers and experiencing an upsurge in the democratic process, is threatened by a sinister power
Review
Not one of his most exciting or better paced works, but a cleverly intricate tale of betrayal and duplicity with a solid cold-war vibe. I particularly liked the nod to mass-storage on home networks - this was published in 1989, rendering even the concept of a home network, never mind music storage, but a twinkle in forward-looking eyes.
5 Stars to The Last Best Hope (Star Trek: Picard #1) by Una McCormack
Description
An original novel based on the new Star Trek TV series! A thrilling novel leading into the new CBS series, Una McCormack’s The Last Best Hope introduces you to brand new characters featured in the life of beloved Star Trek captain Jean-Luc Picard—widely considered to be one of the most popular and recognizable characters in all of science fiction.
Review
I know books are never canon, but even though I lived and breathed on-screen Trek for decades, I’ve found a lot of enjoyment in the novels. The timing of this one was brilliant, more so because I hadn’t read all of it by the time Episode 4 of Picard aired. So the night before I had literally met Zani and Elnor on the page, only to see them in flashback on television the day after. Tremendous! The biggest interest for me was Raffi. Episode dialogue doesn’t always lend itself to explanation of relationships, so seeing some of her background and how much she came to mean to Picard gives a lot of grounding to her depiction in the series. There’s also a lot of Romulan material, both political and cultural, and if some of it is retconned, it is handled fairly smoothly, with perhaps a bit more subtlety than the Spock and Burnham angle of Discovery. I obviously don’t know how many more novels are planned, but there’s a great deal more to be filled in. We don’t know any more about either Laris or Zhaban. There’s bound to be more between Jocan and Tajuth, Agnes and Bruce – and the whole Synthetic angle is ripe for further exploration. Holograms have proliferated on television even as research into androids has withered. So to conclude, a spectacular way of getting some background on the TV series. Even if the ending was a little forced-through, the deep emotional impact of seeing Picard attempt to help during the Romulan crisis is potent, and I won’t deny having a few scenes from the show come to life on the page was magical to me also.
4 Stars to The Brightest Fell by Nupur Chowdhury
Description
When nations are on the brink of war, to be innocent is not enough... Fifteen years ago, Jehan Fasih designed a drug that could curb the instinct for violence (and rob the taker of their free will). Fifteen minutes ago, someone blew up the metro station to get their hands on his brainchild. Jehan must make a decision, and time is running out. Abhijat Shian and his sister, Rito, lost their jobs, and their family's reputation, over the course of a single week. The reason? Their father's trusted protégé, Jehan Fasih, betrayed him and embroiled their family in one of the biggest corruption scandals the country has ever known. The Shian siblings' quest for revenge soon turns into a murky web of confusing motives and divided loyalties. Is Fasih a genius or a madman? Is their father truly innocent or is there a trail of deceit and betrayal within the hallways of their childhood home? Set in the fictional country of Naijan, The Brightest Fell is a gripping tale of loyalty, treason, corruption, patriotism, and political intrigue.
Review
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. It was part of the Kindle Unlimited programme, so I wouldn’t have had to pay for it anyway, making the author’s request all-the-more generous. I confess that to start with, there was quite a disconnect between the book’s description and the unfolding story. I was also quite guilty of ethnocentrism and struggled with the Indian-inspired setting somewhat. Character names and places were all very different to books I’d read before, nothing felt familiar, and so when events really began to take off (and it wasn’t until the ninth chapter that I really felt like I couldn’t put the book down) it was only then that I’d gotten over my comfortable western worldview and was immersed in the story. I wouldn’t say it’s a particularly sci-fi novel, more a political thriller. The Plots are quite Machiavellian and the playing back and forth of characters is interesting, even though the stage of villainy is small: as a reader, you’re left in no doubt who needs to fall, and occasionally I wondered if I was just reading something where I could already see the ending coming. Even so, the execution was great. The tension really built in chapters 10 and 14, and as a moral work of nation states with an engaging, clever main character in Jehan I found myself captivated. If you’re looking for deep science fiction, this might not scratch your itch, but as a political tale it’s compelling.
5 Stars to Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh
Description
When an Earth-like planet is discovered, a team of six teens, along with three veteran astronauts, embark on a twenty-year trip to set up a planet for human colonization—but find that space is more deadly than they ever could have imagined. Have you ever hoped you could leave everything behind? Have you ever dreamt of a better world? Can a dream sustain a lifetime? A century ago, an astronomer discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting a nearby star. She predicted that one day humans would travel there to build a utopia. Today, ten astronauts are leaving everything behind to find it. Four are veterans of the twentieth century’s space-race. And six are teenagers who’ve trained for this mission most of their lives. It will take the team twenty-three years to reach Terra-Two. Twenty-three years locked in close quarters. Twenty-three years with no one to rely on but each other. Twenty-three years with no rescue possible, should something go wrong. And something always goes wrong.
Review
This sounded hugely exciting, and although it lacked something to start with, it grew on me. The professional, polished nature of the writing allowed me to instantly get inside the Beta’s heads, sometimes to feel as they felt. And so when it became obvious that the action sequences were to be quite muted, I found myself enjoying the interpersonal relationships in place of high-octane thrills, particularly the twins and of course Jesse. Comparisons to Becky Chambers are well-founded, although her view is wider and deeper, Temi has clearly demonstrated she can capture emotion, spin a story and engage us. I’d love to read further stories, perhaps set earlier in time and see how and when her London has diverged from ours, or revisit our Beta, grown, and see where things have gone. Whatever Temi does next, I certainly want to read it.
February
3 Stars to The Killing (CHERUB, #4) by Robert Muchamore
Description
As a teen special agent, James is used to going undercover. But he’s not used to playing dead…. This action-packed CHERUB novel features an edgy new look! CHERUB agents are highly trained, extremely talented—and all under the age of seventeen. For official purposes, these agents do not exist. They are sent out on missions to spy on terrorists, hack into crucial documents, and gather intel on global threats—all without gadgets or weapons. It is an extremely dangerous job, but these agents have one crucial Adults never suspect that teens are spying on them. In The Killing , James is assigned to what looks like a routine mission. Leon is a small-time crook with big money. James’s job is to make nice with Leon’s kids, dig up some leads, and infiltrate his home. But when James suddenly unravels a much larger plot, the mission becomes anything but ordinary. Unfortunately, the only person who might know the truth is a reclusive eighteen-year-old boy—who happens to have died more than a year ago.
Review
London and a drug dealer again, which may have added to the comedown after the US and a bigger prison break. james's relationships are deepening, not that I'm sure that's a very good thing: he's not an overly likeable character when he gets angry.
4 Stars to Maximum Security (CHERUB, #3) by Robert Muchamore
Description
CHERUB agents are highly trained, extremely talented—and all under the age of seventeen. For official purposes, these agents do not exist. They are sent out on missions to spy on terrorists, hack into crucial documents, and gather intel on global threats—all without gadgets or weapons. It is a highly dangerous job, but these agents have one crucial advantage: Adults never suspect that teens are spying on them. In Maximum Security, James’s newest mission brings him to the sun-baked desert prison Arizona Max, home to 280 child criminals. One of them is the son of a weapons dealer who has been selling U.S. missiles to terrorists. If James can get the kid, CHERUB has a chance to stop the father. Getting into the prison is easy. Breaking out is the hard part.
Review
I was struggling to recall who these remind me of, but of course now I can see that it's Dan Shepherd - the Leather thrillers. Not in graphic tone or adult theme, they are young adult, but they have that same "whatever situation will we see next" feel to them. Enjoyable stories for the wonnabe teen secret agent, of course.
3 Stars to Class A (CHERUB, #2) by Robert Muchamore
Description
Drugs, cars and guns! Keith Moore is Europe's biggest cocaine dealer. The police have been trying to get enough evidence to nail him for more than twenty years. Now, four CHERUB agents are joining the hunt. Can a group of kids successfully infiltrate Keith Moore's organisation when dozens of attempts by undercover police officers have failed? James Adams must start at the bottom, making deliveries for small time drug dealers and getting to know the dangerous underworld they inhabit. He needs to make a big splash if he's going to win the confidence of the man at the top.
Review
another fun and interesting instalment. Even though i'm a decade or 2 after the bracket I'm enjoying myself...
4 Stars to The Recruit (CHERUB, #1) by Robert Muchamore
Description
CHERUB agents are highly trained, extremely talented--and all under the age of seventeen. For official purposes, these agents do not exist. They are sent out on missions to spy on terrorists, hack into crucial documents, and gather intel on global threats—all without gadgets or weapons. It is an exceptionally dangerous job, but these agents have one crucial advantage: adults never suspect that teens are spying on them. James is the latest CHERUB recruit. He’s a bit of a troublemaker, but he’s also brilliant. And CHERUB needs him. James has no idea what to expect, but he’s out of options. Before he can start in the field he must first survive one hundred grueling days of basic training, where even the toughest recruits don’t make it to the end.
Review
I can see why Anthony Horowitz fans would have enjoyed this, and couldn't give Muchamore any less a rating. Rider was flashier, more technical, more Bond. But this, somehow ... painted itself more believably. I'd have lapped this up and wanted seconds as a teen and no mistake.
4 Stars to The Wotan Warhead by James Follett
Description
Please note, this kindle version was converted from the original book from 1981 and you will see minor issues with the text
Review
I read U700, published (so I thought) by Follett some years after this work, over 5 years ago. This seemed very similar, but I enjoyed the retelling of this fantastic war story all-the-same. There's a dignity to the officers, and although much is surely dramitised and played-up for entertainment I find myself respecting people coping with so little so well in these exciting stories, almost certainlybased in large part on reality.
4 Stars to Time Rep by Peter Ward
Description
Imagine you’ve just been told you’re the most insignificant person who’s ever lived. A nobody. Somebody less important to the world than certain types of mushroom. Not very nice, is it? That’s exactly what happens to Geoffrey Stamp after a man from the year 3050 asks him to become a “Time Rep” – a tour guide for the 21st Century, meeting people from the future who travel back through time for their vacations. You see, Time Reps need to be insignificant. Otherwise, when you go back in time and interfere with their destiny, the space-time continuum has a bit of a fit. And we wouldn’t want that. But when Geoffrey uncovers a conspiracy to change the course of history, he is sent on a mind-bending adventure through time and space involving an imaginary lake, a talking seagull, dinosaurs, aliens, the Great Fire of London, and the discovery that he might not be as insignificant as people thought…
Review
I actually really enjoyed the humour here. A little cheesy in spots, but that just added to the slightly naughty feeling of reading something a little immature and silly. But a pleasant way to spend a few hours curled up on the sofa feeling sorry for myself with a bug.
3 Stars to Note To Self by Peter Ward
Description
Richard Henley’s day began with a visit from a stranger and an invitation to dinner. It ended with him receiving a note in his own handwriting warning that someone was trying to kill him--a note he had no memory of writing. What followed would push Richard’s grip on reality to the limit, forcing him to confront the inexplicable, question his past, and trust his fate to an unknown ally. Note to Self takes Richard on a journey to places he never knew existed, explores the role of technology in the modern world, and asks whether the choices we are making are really our own.
Review
Enjoyable, although the americanisms (parking lot etc) annoyed me. The tension was interesting to a point, although Richard actually doesn't really do very much as a main character and is almost incidental to the whole work, which makes one wonder. It's hard to sympathise with a lead actor in a story who doesn't either contribute anything, have any good ideas, or do anything other than have had sex once upon a time. His bewilderment turns to sheep-like acceptance in quite short order, and whilst the author is clearly pushing eco and humanitarian messages, they came over a little sharp and through the third wall: the story felt as if it were built to hous them, rather than them diegetically being part of the story.
5 Stars to The Enigma Cube (Alien Artifact, #1) by Douglas E. Richards
Description
To secure a dazzling future they must travel to a perilous past. A riveting science-fiction thriller from the three-million copy NY Times bestselling author."Richards is an extraordinary writer," (Dean Koontz) who can "keep you turning the pages all night long." (Douglas Preston)An alien object with breathtaking capabilities. And a life-and-death struggle for the future of humanity.Dr. Kelly Connolly is part of a top-secret team studying the most important find in human history, the Enigma Cube, an alien artifact of incomprehensible power. A cube whose technology can catapult civilization to dizzying heights--or destroy it entirely.After years of failed attempts to unlock the cube's secrets, all hell suddenly breaks loose. Kelly and a black-ops commando, Justin Boyd, are soon fighting against all odds to stay alive, and to keep the cube out of enemy hands.As the situation quickly goes from bad to worse, Kelly discovers that the cube is far more dangerous than even she had imagined. And that her actions could lead to nightmarish changes to the nature of reality itself.The Enigma Cube is a masterful thriller. One crammed with breakneck action, unexpected twists, mind-blowing science, and ethical dilemmas readers will be contemplating long after they've read the last page."Richards is a worthy successor to Michael Crichton." (SF Book dot com)NEAR-FUTURE SCIENCE FICTION THRILLERS BY DOUGLAS E. RICHARDS STANDALONES QUANTUM LENSGAME CHANGERINFINITY BORNSEEKERVERACITYORACLESERIES WIRED (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)THE ENIGMA CUBE (Alien Artifact 1)A PIVOT IN TIME (Alien Artifact 2)Kids 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
So did I worry that we would see more reworking of some of Richards’s previous? Yes indeed, but after 16 books I’ve read, that’s not surprising. Yet when it turned out to be Nazi Germany, I never once thought that he would fall into the plentiful traps of rehashing tropes that appear so often in these alternate history stories. Yes, some material we’ve seen before and, yes, the broad outline of the story was not unusual for Richards, yet it was tautly woven and neatly tied-up. A brilliant addition.
4 Stars to Can You See Me? by Lynne Barrett-Lee
Description
Would you know if someone was watching you? In the dark days since the sudden death of her surgeon husband, Julia’s main worry has always been Tash. Her student daughter was broken—she worshipped her father. But six months on, Julia thinks the light is returning. She is about to find out that she’s wrong. When she saves the life of a boy who’s been hanging around her beach cottage, the questions start. All she has to go on is the butterfly tattoo on his wrist, but who is he? What was he doing there? And why was her late husband’s watch in his bag? Julia wants to believe it’s a casual theft, but an ominous arrival in the post confirms her suspicion that there is more than meets the eye. As Tash remembers a string of strange incidents she had previously brushed off, Julia realises they are both being watched. Someone’s been toying with them, trying to frighten them, but why? Determined to protect her daughter, Julia races to discover the boy’s identity. But what she doesn’t realise is that the truth is right in front of her. Will she see it before it’s too late?
Review
"Did she seriously think my husband would look twice at a person who’d write I know you’ve got a family but we should be together she’ll get over you and not see the screaming need for a full stop in the mix?" I loved the wordiness of this. I don't want to use any of the vignettes, so had to illustrate my point with a quote from the main flow of the narrative. But that's also a superb sentence in itself and precisely the sort of bafflement I would feel were anyone I was in a relationship with to receive the same, of course. I worried initially how formulaic this story was going to be, and indeed the structure and style are nothing new. But what works so well here is the unfolding, and as secrets mount and Julia's world is rocked, the ramifications echo and resonate in a disturbingly pleasing fashion. The spectacular climax is hugely sad, and I don't always enjoy sad novels. But there's a lot to be learned from the ending here I think, because for although this is fiction, there's a hugely believable streak to our young damaged character. The reveals kept me reading. The mysteries kept me wondering. But the artistry in a damaged young soul most of all pulled me on to carry on, and I wonder how many people sympathise with this character too, but only feel they can admit to that because it is not a person they know.
5 Stars to Oracle by Douglas E. Richards
Description
A breathtaking near-future thriller. From the NY Times bestselling author whose books have been downloaded over a million times. An interstellar war is racing toward an unsuspecting Earth. Can one young woman stop it before it's too late? LA detective Anna Abbott can see brief, cryptic visions of the future. She just doesn't know it yet. But others do. Others who will stop at nothing to ensure that her abilities never see the light of day. Soon Anna is fighting for her life against an array of powerful adversaries, and not all of them are human. Because a small group of aliens hiding on Earth believe that she can singlehandedly alter the course of an interstellar war. One that has raged for thousands of years, but which is completely unknown to humankind. Until now. But even if Anna can beat the odds and stay alive, the greatest threat of all awaits: A super-intelligent species determined to prevent humanity from achieving its evolutionary destiny---at any cost. ORACLE is a roller-coaster ride of a thriller. One packed with breathtaking action, startling revelations, and mind-blowing science, including a scientific rationale for clairvoyance itself. "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. Richards STANDALONES QUANTUM LENS GAME CHANGER INFINITY BORN SEEKER VERACITY ORACLE SERIES WIRED (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) Kids 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 WORLD DEVIL'S SWORD
Review
I must say, the description didn't quite hold me, and I went into this with a slight sense of trepidation. Then, to see scientific things Richards has already explained in previous novels rehashed in an almost word-for-word fashion was another blow. But that's where the disappointment stopped. I got swept up in the story, pulled along by his prose and style, and finished it with as much satisfaction as I could have hoped for. A worthy work, and if it lays the groundwork for a more variegated series, all to the better.
4 Stars to Nightfall and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov
Description
A collection of science fiction stories which examine various reactions to altered environmental conditions or bizarre psychological situations
Review
"Segregationist" is one of my favourites. "Nightfall", as the opening and titular story, is of course hugely well-known. "C-Shoot" remains a classic, and the dramatised version is still available on Youtube, and "Insert Knob A in Hole B" " delivers a marvellous punch. In all, a great collection with numerous jumping-off points to explore more of Asimov's canon.
January
3 Stars to Vanishing Point (The Time Bubble #6) by Jason Ayres
Description
In the latest Time Bubble story, time travellers Josh and Alice Gardner visit an advanced scientific institute in Canberra. There they meet scientists Henry and Vanessa Jones who are carrying out advanced research into mind transference. The four of them work together to combine their technology and reach their ultimate goal - to be able to project their minds back through time into their younger bodies, thus achieving immortality. After some initial success, unforeseen implications become apparent. When the timeline starts changing and people start vanishing, the world seems oblivious to the fact they ever existed. The only people who seem immune to this effect are those who have previously passed through a time bubble, but one by one, they are being killed. Vanishing Point is the sixth book in the Time Bubble series. A series of spin-off books, entitled Second Chances, is also available.
Review
I didn’t quite enjoy this as much as last year. Is it perhaps time to move on? Not that it was a bad story, but there was an element of predictability to the whole thing.
2 Stars to A Talent for the Invisible (Wild Talents Division, #1) by Ron Goulart
Description
In 2020 A.D. even 20-20 vision wouldn't help you to see Jack Conger when he was working. Because Jack was an operative of the Wild Talents Division of the U.S. Remedial Functions Agency -- and his particular specialty was making himself invisible. The RFA sent him where nobody else was able to go. Another one whom nobody was able to set eyes upon was the scientist known as the Sandman. The legendary sandman of childhood myth used to put people to sleep. This one woke them up -- much to the chagrin of governments and plotters who had assassinated them. So they sent the Invisible Man to find the Unseen Resurrectionist....
Review
pulp, ticklishly amusing in spots. Wierd, in others. But the 70s were a long time ago.
4 Stars to Fifteen Days Without a Head by Dave Cousins
Description
Fifteen-year-old Laurence Roach just wants a normal life, but it's not easy when your mum is a depressed alcoholic, and your six-year-old brother thinks he's a dog. When Mum fails to come home one night, Laurence tells nobody, terrified he and his brother will be taken into care if anyone finds out. Instead, he attempts to keep up the pretence that Mum is still around: dressing up in her clothes to trick the neighbours and spinning an increasingly complicated tangle of lies. After two weeks on their own, running out of food and money, and with suspicious adults closing in, Laurence finally discovers what happened to his mother. And that's when the trouble really starts . . . A compelling thriller filled with some hilarious and surreal moments. Fifteen Days Without a Head is a tender, honest story about family, forgiveness and hope.
Review
Even knowing almost exactly how this had to end, I was hooked. Alcoholism and single parenting is never a smooth upbringing, yet some of the issues are explored accessibly to a young audience here with laughs thrown in, behind all the shadow of so much left unsaid. A story of triumph and happiness with, perhaps, openings for younger teens to ponder more than the pages can maybe allude to.
5 Stars to Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1) by Seanan McGuire
Description
Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story. Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of math. Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realise it. They aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet. Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him. Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But he has a plan: to raise the twins to the highest power, to ascend with them and claim their authority as his own. Godhood is attainable. Pray it isn’t attained.
Review
I was prejudiced against this from the start. I was under the delusion that I’d already read a Mcguire novel and not liked it, and so had to overcome that artificial (and inaccurate) feeling. Needless to say that didn’t take long. I’ve never embraced steampunk or alchemical works as a group, yet there was something linguistically which really appealed here. The language was mesmeric, and even if the alchemy as a building-block hasn’t always done it for me, I found the combonation of characterisation and world just right. It was a story I rarely wanted to leave. Without doubt one of the best fantasy works I have read in a long, long time.
4 Stars to Point of View by Patrick Bard
Description
Powerful and unfiltered, this fictional account of a teenage boy's addiction to online pornography is equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful. The first time a link to a porn video pops up on his computer screen, Lucas is startled. He was simply trying to stream a superhero movie. Transfixed by the scene that unfolds, he experiences his first stirrings of arousal. Lucas soon realizes that he wants to recapture that same excitement, and it's not long before he starts down a path that takes hold of his every thought--day and night. Only when his secret is revealed and everything comes crashing down around him can Lucas confront his compulsions. But even as feelings of shame overwhelm him, his urges seem impossible to ignore, and interacting with real people is difficult. As Lucas gets help, it becomes clear to him and those around him that he can recover and find a new direction for his life despite this addiction. With a naive and confused protagonist and multilayered storytelling, this is a no-holds-barred look at a teenage boy falling prey to the world of cybersex, the perils of porn addiction, and the difficult road to recovery for addicts and their loved ones.
Review
It was hard to go into this not expecting to judge: a teen addicted to pornography? Given my own life's experience with those addicted to alcohol, I assumed this would just be more of the same. Yet there are fascinating nuances here, and seeing the statistics, in many ways the holy preventable descent down a man-made slope only serves to pour more into what is an intriguingly-told story.
4 Stars to Reentry (Mars Endeavour, #2) by Peter Cawdron
Description
In a sequel to indie phenom Peter Cawdron’s Retrograde , Reentry applies realistic technology to examine not just interstellar exploration, but the dangerous potential of Artificial Intelligence. For fans of hard science fiction by authors such as Andy Weir, Gregory Benford, and Philip K. Dick After almost dying on Mars, astronaut Liz Anderson returns to Earth, but not to a hero’s welcome. America is in turmoil. The war is over, but the insurgency has just begun. So while life on Mars may have been deadly, at least up there she knew who the enemy was. Along with her, Liz has brought the remnants of the artificial intelligence that waged war on two planets. Buried somewhere deep within the cold electronic circuits lies the last vestiges of her dead partner Jianyu. Liz is torn, unsure whether he’s somehow still alive in electronic form or just a ploy by an adversary that will go to any length to win. Heartbroken and treated with suspicion, she finds herself caught up in the guerrilla war being waged on Earth, wondering if the AI threat is truly gone, or if it has only just begun.
Review
Brilliant continuation, the atmosphere of suspicionand paranoia back down on earth is rendered with aplomb.
4 Stars to Retrograde (Mars Endeavour, #1) by Peter Cawdron
Description
Mankind has long dreamed of reaching out to live on other planets, and with the establishment of the Mars Endeavour colony, that dream has become reality. The fledgling colony consists of 120 scientists, astronauts, medical staff, and engineers. Buried deep underground, they’re protected from the harsh radiation that sterilizes the surface of the planet. The colony is prepared for every eventuality except one—what happens when disaster strikes Earth?
Review
I had a very strange feeling whilst reading the opening chapters of this, as if I’d started it before and not finished it. Odd, given that I’ve never given Cawdron less than 3 stars. This was exciting, and seemed to be on-point scientifically too. I loved the big reveal in chapter 10 but would have been a bit flat at the ending had I not known there was a sequel in the works.
5 Stars to On a LARP (A Sid Rubin Silicon Alley Adventure, #1) by Stefani Deoul
Description
Question: Do any of you know the truly scary part about being seventeen? Answer: Your brain doesn't actually know, understand or care what it can't do; and, while this sounds great in theory, in my particular case, my under-developed brain apparently didn't know I couldn't fly. So I jumped . . . And I plummeted . . . And I promise you, if I somehow manage to survive this act of immature-brain-encased-in-unbelievable-stupidity, I will gladly tell you exactly how I got here. Which, for the record, is chasing a dark-web killer through the middle of a live action role-playing game, better known as a LARP. On a LARP introduces readers to self-described lesbionic brainiac geek and teen coder, Sid Rubin, a smartass—and super-smart—high school kid with a strong conscience and a knack for solving problems. This high concept, frenetic ride dives into the fascinating world of interactive role-playing when Sid recognizes the photo of a murder victim during an AP field trip to a police station. What starts out as an Aha! moment soon finds Sid and her unlikely posse of friends chasing a dark web killer through the middle of a live action role playing game. Sid and the gang work to unravel a deeply encrypted mystery while simultaneously enduring pop quizzes, endless Ted Talks, teenage heartbreak, suspicious parents, cosplay, and the irresistible lure of the NYC Public Library. Stefani Deoul is the author of the award-winning novel The Carousel. She has produced TV series such as The Dead Zone, Brave New Girl, and Haven, and was also the executive in charge of production for the series Dresden Files and Missing.
Review
Take Louise Rennison, throw out the cat and the overhang of Adrian Mole, stir in a dash of outcast geekhood (although not too much, because even your typical teen knows some of how Bitcoin works today) and then sprinkle the whole thing with a wave of hilarious, literary bons mots. And wow. A strong, passionate, sometimes naive but almost always hugely poignant voice. I’m not at all the demographic, I know. But whether intended or not, I was delighted, all the way through. Obviously for those of you less LARPworthy, you’ll have to take les mers on the chin some. But that aside, I delighted in the age and viewpoint of our storyteller, her joie de vivre, her interests and strengths. There is more forthcoming, according to the back matter. Hurray!
2 Stars to Sleightly Different by A.J. Hough
Description
Stage magic mixes with real magic in the life of Jay Collins. Dumped headfirst into an unseen world of mythical beings, Jay struggles through figuring out who he is, what he is, and how to be a spy for the world’s most dangerous organization.
Review
interesting, in a teen sort of a way, but lacking much in the way of depth. Some jarring location shifts mid-chapter and a rather dimwitted main character made for rather uninspiring reading, alas.
2 Stars to Power Rangers: The Official Movie Novel by Alexander C. Irvine
Description
The most anticipated superhero film of the year gets an action-packed junior novel for mighty morphin fans. They're back and more powerful than ever. The classic '90s superhero team gets a massive reboot in a highly anticipated motion picture release. This movie tie-in novel tells the story of five unlikely teens tasked with saving the world from alien forces. Told in thrilling detail with exclusive content, this novel keeps movie fans rooted in the action long after the credits roll.
Review
Well, I've not seen the film yet, but my daughter will enjoy it. I did watch the original during its debut month in a Detroit movie theatre. I don't recall the ending being as nonsensical - but it was many years ago.
3 Stars to Fangboy by Jeff Strand
Description
Nathan Pepper seemed like an ordinary baby…except for a mouth full of scary sharp teeth. Because his life began with his grandmother strongly recommending that he be destroyed as soon as possible, it's safe to say that Nathan was not destined for a typical existence. He hated the nickname “Fangboy,” but nobody could deny that he was the most frightening little boy in town. And he would have adventures of every sort. Tragic adventures, like what happened to his parents. Dangerous adventures, like his encounter with the sinister Professor Mongrel. Thrilling adventures, like the part where he's on an out-of-control horse and he can't make it stop running and you think “Well, he should just jump off,” but he CAN'T because it's going too fast and he could break a leg. And, yes, one particularly gruesome adventure, though it is not described in great detail. Will things end happily for Nathan? Will he bite somebody? Gather your family and your most deranged friends, make some chocolate chip cookies, and share the dark comedy treat of FANGBOY, a bizarre yet heartwarming yet rather tasteless saga that—all ego aside—will define a generation.
Review
Much less satisfying an end than some of Strand's previous, but a great Lemony Snicket feel about some of of Fangboy's misadventures.