December
5 Stars to This Is My Blood by M.C. Soutter
Description
"Heart-racing pacing and scalpel-sharp prose." - Kirkus Reviews Tyler Acker has been on his own for five years. His parents are dead, and so is nearly everyone else. All of which would be awful enough if any of it were true. At first, This Is My Blood is a story that seems to describe a new and terrible reality, a tale of two hundred boys and a small group of adult masters surviving together in the wake of an unspeakable global plague. But in the tradition of all great lies, this one holds together only as long as no one picks it up and turns it over. Ultimately, This Is My Blood is a novel about a young man fighting for independence. It is about being allowed to think and act freely, without the threat of retribution, and it explores the deep instinct we all share to strive, to discover our potential and then reach out for it, even at the risk of our own comfort and safety.
Review
Undetectable and the Madman's Daughter were totally awesome books, so no pressure: but I went in wanting this to be as good. I think on balance, it was. I was a bit put off at first, it lacked something of the others, but part of that must be distance and time. When I let myself relax into the story and feel for the kids, Souter's form shone through and, by the end, I was cheering on as loudly as for the climaxes of the other two books. If there were any callbacks I missed them, but a very good read nonetheless if you like this author's style.
3 Stars to Symbiote by Trevor Schmidt
Description
When a normally meek Bay Area insurance agent suddenly turns into a voracious, homicidal maniac with an uncontrollable appetite, doctors quickly determine that the cause must be a brain parasite that can only be extra-terrestrial. Now, San Francisco Police Detectives Karen Hall and Yuri Markov are on a mission to end this wave of violence before more citizens become infected. But at every turn their investigation seems to be hindered by shadowy federal agents with a hidden agenda. Can they stop this reign of terror before one of them becomes the next Symbiote?
Review
too many American cop cliches and not a great deal new to the genre meant this was passable but nothing special.
4 Stars to Destructive Reasoning (The Authorities, #2) by Scott Meyer
Description
An actor is brutally murdered while sitting alone in his fully locked car. A note arrives claiming responsibility and explaining the man died not for who he was, but for who he pretended to be. He played Dr. Watson in a production of Sherlock Holmes. The note promises to kill everybody in Hollywood currently playing Dr. Watson: a surprisingly long list. Billionaire Vince Capp sends his crime fighting team, the Authorities, down from Seattle to solve the crime, stop the killer, save lives, and above all else, increase their national profile. But it won't be easy. Detective Sloan will have to wrestle with the most irritating case of her career while two of her key operatives are terribly distracted: Rutherford has found a new role model to follow and emulate, and Max must tangle with a mysterious figure from a past he'd rather forget.
Review
Practically a re-run of the first book without the introductory chapters, this one pitches us straight into the action. Just what you'd expect of this entertaining continuation. Well worth a few hours curled up with a couple of warm drinks on a cold day.
3 Stars to A Glint in Time: A Novel of History and Time... and the Ability To Do Something About It! by Frank J. Derfler
Description
This is the revised and updated eBook edition of the original "Glint in Time". "Glint" weaves meticulously researched history with technology that is real, but almost unbelievable. This book, together with the sequel "A Twist in Time" traces an ad-hoc team of historians, techies, and soldiers as they deal with a breakthrough in physics that really could happen at many places around the world any day now. The team meets in Florida, travels to Indonesia, moves to Nevada, and faces perils from bureaucrats, Jihadists, and frustrated competitors. The story line is punctuated and driven by real events from the 1960s through to today. The book uses interesting characters, high technology, and important history to get you to ask yourself, "What if?" and "If you changed history, how would you know?" The sequel "A Twist in Time" is also available and it takes the same group of characters through more twists and turns in time.
Review
No content provided.
3 Stars to Annals of Arithmancy (Arithmancer, #3) by White Squirrel
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter Relationships: Hermione Granger/George Weasley, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Hermione won the war, but her career as the world's greatest arithmancer is just beginning. Now, she has places to go, spells to invent, and a family to start. Oh, and a whole lot of dementors to kill.
Review
Not so enjoyable for me, probably because of its more episodic nature. Pretty sure I've seen wizards hopping time zones to see in repeated new years done several times before, and of course, the final act, though a good ending symbolically, needs follow-up to be properly appreciated.
4 Stars to Lady Archimedes (Arithmancer, #2) by White Squirrel
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter Relationships: Hermione Granger/George Weasley, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Armed with a N.E.W.T. in Arithmancy after Voldemort's return, Hermione takes spellcrafting to new heights and must push the bounds of magic itself to help Harry defeat his enemy once and for all.
Review
A novel approach to end Lord Voldemort, essentially done in by maths and fairy tales. I liked the idea of a powerful Hermione, though. decade old fanfiction might lose its grip on me one day
4 Stars to The Tempest by Peter Cawdron
Description
Marc and Emma are on the graveyard shift onboard the Sycorax, an interstellar spacecraft bound for New Haven, a colony world fifty light years from Earth. Eighteen thousand colonists lie in suspended animation, awaiting a new life around another star. For the crew of the Sycorax, interstellar flight is boring—that is until they run into a tempest. Before long, they find themselves on a crippled spacecraft falling in toward a black hole, but that's the least of their problems...
Review
Some of this was brilliant - the quotations and the Shakespearean references - and I really enjoyed the final chunk set on Earth. I found Emma's portrayal particularly gripping, especially when Ariel got involved. Marc appealed less, particularly given the jack of all trades motif Cawdron had him adopt. Still, apart from that, I found myself engaged throughout and enjoyed this fascinating work.
4 Stars to The Arithmancer (Arithmancer, #1) by White Squirrel
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter Relationship: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Hermione grows up as a maths whiz instead of a bookworm and tests into Arithmancy in her first year. With the help of her friends and Professor Vector, she puts her superhuman spellcrafting skills to good use in the fight against Voldemort.
Review
Of course, Fanfition not focusing primarily on harry isn't the majority: its always interesting to see how that turns out. I rather enjoyed it, although there's much to grumble and quibble over both in terms of characterisation and plot. It still felt like a clever twist, and that's what I was looking for.
November
5 Stars to Cold Eyes by Peter Cawdron
Description
COLD EYES is a FIRST CONTACT tribute to the 1974 science fiction classic, THE MOTE IN GOD'S EYE. The UN warship Magellan is twelve light-years from Earth, exploring a cold eye, a tidally-locked super-earth called Bee. At least two advanced, intelligent species evolved on the planet, but no one is waiting for them in orbit. Dali Patel has to figure out why. Any breakdown in communication could lead to war. FIRST CONTACT is similar to BLACK MIRROR or THE TWILIGHT ZONE in that the series is based on a common theme rather than common characters. This allows these books to be read in any order. Technically, they're all first as they all deal with how we might initially respond to contact with aliens, exploring the social, political, religious, and scientific aspects of First Contact.
Review
One of Peter's best for me. A vivid, plausable exoplanet, a whip-smart lead, and plenty of action and adventure mixed with sometimes very quick thinking yet clear and profound cogitation. Just the proper recipe for a truly cracking story. Even from the very beginning, the nature of the crew's birth shows us we're not in for your stereotypical action story, yet when we see the warring factions later on and all that lead to them (the drill thing scared me, I clenched up), it was also evident that when action needs to happen it happens well. I felt a bit like I was reading some james White at times, and at others, heinlein.
5 Stars to Eversion by Alastair Reynolds
Description
From the master of the space opera comes a dark, mind-bending adventure spread across time and space, where Doctor Silas Coade is tasked with keeping his crew safe as they adventure across the galaxy in search of a mysterious artifact. In the 1800s, a sailing ship crashes off the coast of Norway. In the 1900s, a Zepellin explores an icy canyon in Antarctica. In the far future, a spaceship sets out for an alien artifact. Each excursion goes horribly wrong. And on every journey, Dr. Silas Coade is the physician, but only Silas seems to realize that these events keep repeating themselves. And it's up to him to figure out why and how. And how to stop it all from happening again.
Review
Wow. I was totally on the wrong track with this, despite plenty of clues. Intriguingly unfolded from start to finish and with a twist I should have seen coming but delightfully didnt, I gratefully devoured this book in a few short hours thanks to Michael's recommendation. Reynolds isn't a new name to me, but I can't recall reading anything of his before for some reason. IF this is any indication of the standard, I've seriously been missing out.
4 Stars to Speak For Me (Saddleback Classics) by K.R. Alexander
Description
From kid horror master K.R. Alexander, the story of a virtual friend that puts the fright into stage fright . Naomi is petrified of the talent show her school is putting on. She can't be out there alone in front of all those people... not without serious stage fright. How will she manage? The answer arrives in a mysterious box -- a ventriloquist's dummy that transforms Naomi from a shy girl into a natural performer. It all goes well... until Naomi starts to want the stage for herself. When the dummy strikes back it raises the question -- who's controlling who?
Review
A snappily told story with lots of heart, this may well be one to keep on the shelf until it catches my daughter's eye. It reminded me of a toned-down creepy x-files episode, although of course the idea of dolls getting their wicked way with people isn't new. Nonetheless, it was handled well here, and carries through the idea of speaking up for yourself tremendously. Very much enjoyed.
3 Stars to Adopted By Humans by Robert Butler
Description
A fresh take on science fiction and a glimpse at humanity through the eyes of an alien who doesn't know what 'family' is, until he finds one! "Humans are the only known intelligent species to actively create 'Found Families' in the form of parents, children, siblings, and more. If a human starts spending more time with you and initiating physical contact, they have probably adopted you." These were the words that caught my ears when attending the most prestigious university in my quadrant as a minor in alien studies. My intrigue led me to major in the study of humans, a new race to emerge into the galactic political scene, and one that had already in a mere fifty years, captured the imaginations of numerous races. So when the chance came to go to Earth to study them up close, to live with a human host family known to our professor, I took it. Inside the pages of these journals, you will find the record of my observations and experiences with human beings. More than that, you will find how what began as a curiosity that would make for an easy career in a narrow field, changed my life forever, in all the very best of ways. That's what happens I suppose, when you're adopted by humans.
Review
Anthropological fiction can sometimes come across a little didactic and I felt that here. An interesting idea, though -I’d read more, but not if I had something I knew would be more exciting.
October
3 Stars to Inflection Point (Inflection Point #1) by Nick Cook
Description
As the gunfire and explosions of the Somme ring in his ears, Nathan Bishop finds himself staring death in the face. But when a mysterious figure offers him a way out, he can't help but be intrigued. The catch? It means traveling back in time to ancient history on a mission to save the future. On the eve of World War I, Nathan is a man with a keen mind for science, forced to work as an electrician converting Oxford's colleges to electric light. But his true dream is to work on experimental projects that push the boundaries of logic and reason. So when Professor Felix Schneider offers him the chance of a lifetime, Nathan is ready to grab it with both hands. But what is the secret behind Schneider's research in his private lab? Is it a threat to national security? As Nathan delves deeper, he realizes that the truth is beyond even his wildest expectations and will shake the foundations of everything he thought he knew. As the events of 1914 unfold and the country calls on its able-bodied men, including Nathan, to fight, he must choose between Clara, the woman who has always supported his ambitions, and his duty to his country. But the decision he makes will have consequences that ripple throughout time, impacting not only those closest to him, but the entire galaxy. Can Nathan find the courage to fully embrace his dreams, even if it means sacrificing his own life and the lives of his friends? Find out in this compelling tale of love, duty, and the ultimate power of choice. Inflection Point is part of the Multiverse Chronicles, an epic series of interlinked stories that includes the Earth Song series, and the Fractured Light and Cloud Riders trilogies, that follow humanity’s struggle to survive across parallel universes. Author For my friends across the Pond please note that this book is written in UK English and uses single quotes rather than double ones. Yes, Brits are weird like that!
Review
Though conceptually I was looking forward to this, it didn't really work for me. Mainly I think it's a language problem - Cook's dialectal efforts just don't really hold water, not when you've enjoyed Dave Duncan's Past imperative or David Walton's Quintessence. The behaviour also felt a little off: William was your typical good-in-a-fight but drinks and is a troublemaker, Nathan just seemd very easily lead but with some attempted flavourings of 20th century honour and Clara just got angry at men things. Then there is the typical time travel trope of hearing something but it being too subtle to identify or worry about and it later proving to be you all along - that's par for the course these days - as is a second shady travelling figure who's out to thwart our heroic do-gooders from completing their mission. it felt like this book borrowed from plenty of other time travel stories without adding much original. No explanation is given as to why things are set during the Great War, and the differences in technology between that era and the book's future are massive, without needing to add alien intelligences into the mix. Read to complete, but did consider at several points just putting it down. oh and the typos - calvary! It's like solider, you can't escape it. And the other interesting one was "a little courtesy", not a curtsey.
5 Stars to Living Memory (Living Memory, #1) by David Walton
Description
We always thought we were the first. When paleontologists Samira and Kit uncover dinosaur skeletons in northern Thailand, they also find the remains of an ancient genetic technology that nations will kill to control. Catapulted into a web of murder and intrigue involving the Chinese Ministry of State Security, a powerful Asian crime syndicate, the CIA, and a beautiful Thai princess, Samira and Kit don’t know who they can trust. Torn apart by competing factions and stranded on opposite sides of the world, they race to discover the truth before the world goes to war. Can they bring the past to life before it kills them all? Living Memory is the first book of a globe-spanning thriller series by the author of The Genius Plague.
Review
Nooooo! You can't just end it there! I knew this would happen as soon as I preorderd this and read it was the start of a triloogy, but waiting until next May? Seriously? That's cruel! Standout scene set in modernity has to be Mai in the mess hall in chapter 19, brilliant. And of course the historic stuff is just amazing, as you'd expect from Walton. I'm a little saddened that all the rest of his works have been longer, more complete stories, yet now I know there's going to absolutely be something to read in May 2023 that i'll enjoy.
3 Stars to Lord Conrad's Lady (Conrad Stargard, #5) by Leo Frankowski
Description
The modern-day time-traveling hero, Conrad Stargard, returns to medieval times where Countess Francine, his wife, complicates Conrad's swashbuckling life
Review
Conrad's ethics seemed to dip some here, and the inevitable but irritating introduction of more time travel soured things some.
4 Stars to The Flying Warlord (Conrad Stargard, #4) by Leo Frankowski
Description
UNCERTAIN VISION For a twentieth-century man, Conrad Stargard had done a lot in thirteenth-century Poland. In just nine years, he had "discovered" universal education, aircraft, radios, steamboats, and machine guns. More important, he had prepared Poland to defeat the bloodthirsty Mongols in 1241. But now that the Mongol hordes had arrived, something was disturbing the flow of history. Even the Time Masters who secretly watched over Conrad couldn't predict his future, because they no longer even knew their own past . . .
Review
This seemed to end an era, the big battle, which Conrad had been tooling up to repel for all these years, draws close.
4 Stars to The Radiant Warrior (Conrad Stargard, #3) by Leo Frankowski
Description
New light on the past Conrad Stargard, a 20th-century Pole marooned in 13th century Poland has just ten years to prevent the Mongol Hordes from slaughtering everyone in Poland. So he "invented" all the modern advances, things like prefabricated housing, playboy clubs, the steam engine, universal education, the cloth factory, and belly dancing. But wars are fought by warriors, not strong economies, and Conrad would need the very best. So he set out to create an army...
Review
Though very obviously similar to previous works, it was enjoyable to see how things extended. I enjoyed carrying this on.d
4 Stars to The High-Tech Knight (Conrad Stargard, #2) by Leo Frankowski
Description
Somehow, Conrad Stargard, faithful Roman Catholic and stalwart Socialist of the Peoples Republic of Poland, 20th Century, had been marooned in Poland, A.D. 1231. Somehow, Conrad found himself under investigation by the Inquisition, got himself knighted, was granted his own fief, and made a few enemies. Somehow, he had to round up a few vassals, build himself a city, and figure out how to survive armed combat against the Champion of the Teutonic Knights, one of the Toughest Men Alive. Then he'd have time to worry about the Mongols . . .
Review
I wish I knew why I was so engaged with this series, because objectively it's got flaws. But it's like junk food, I want to keep going!
2 Stars to The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton
Description
Harry Benson is prone to violent, uncontrollable seizures and is under police guard after attacking two people. Dr. Roger McPherson, head of the prestigious Neuropsychiatric Research Unit at University Hospital in Los Angeles, is convinced he can cure Benson through a procedure called Stage Three. During this highly specialized experimental surgery, electrodes will be place in the patient's brain, sending monitored, soothing pulses to its pleasure canyons. Though the operation is a success, there is an unforseen development. Benson learns how to control the pulses and is increasing their frequency. He escapes -- a homicidal maniac loose in the city -- and nothing will stop his murderous rampages or impede his deadly agenda. . .
Review
People keep calling Douglas Richards a worthy successor to Crichton. Either I had a dodgy copy, or this isn't one of his best works. The entire plot seemed to be expensive medical thing goes in guys head, guy gets worse due to medical thing. Like that wasn't predictable? Am I missing something?
5 Stars to The Cross-Time Engineer (Conrad Stargard, #1) by Leo Frankowski
Description
The Right Man for the job One moment Conrad Schwartz was a hungover hiker in the mountains of modern Poland, the next he was running for his life from an angry Teutonic Knight. At first Conrad just thought he'd stumbled across a mad hermit. But several days of ever stranger events convinced him that he had somehow been stranded in 1231 A.D. And that meant Conrad had to turn Medieval Poland into the most powerful contry in the world. Otherwise the Mongols were destined to detroy it--in just ten years!
Review
Worryingly, I have had this book on my to-read shelf since I was 16 years old. I had no idea of anything other than its name, and of course have read plenty of similar works in the interim. I still managed to totally enjoy myself and kept reading until about 2:15 in the morning. I seriously considered getting out of bed and buying the next one, but sense prevailed and I went to sleep instead. Somehow, Conrad is just fascinating and I want to read moooore!
5 Stars to Second Self (Star Trek: Picard #4) by Una McCormack
Description
The thrilling adventure based on the acclaimed TV series Star Picard! Following the explosive events seen in season one of Star Picard, Raffi Musiker finds herself torn between returning to her old life as a Starfleet Intelligence officer or something a little more tame—teaching at the Academy, perhaps. The decision is made for her though when a message from an old contact—a Romulan spy—is received, asking for immediate aid. With the help of Elnor and assistance from Jean-Luc Picard, Raffi decides to take on this critical mission—and quickly learns that past sins never stay buried. Finding the truth will be complicated, and deadly… ™, ®, & © 2023 CBS Studios, Inc. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Review
I was gripped from the first chapter. Despite Picard having gone down some directions onscreen that I find curious, the opening to this novel portrayed Jean-Luc to perfection as an elder statesman pulling strings and having his way with a society where he’s already done so much. This is hugely contrasted with the final act of the work, where Una touches on “The history that Jean-Luc Picard had lived through”, and it begins with the Romulan Supernova, of all things. I know that, technically, that is where this chapter of his life begins now, but it seems rather tawdry to dismiss the first 75 years of his life as having no historical significance. Apart from that, the book had solid footing all the way through. The protagonist – who I will not name due to his identity being only implied early on - is of course one of my very favourite characters whom I had not heard mention of for several decades in the trekverse. I loved every minute he was in view, enjoyed – or imagined – the callback to the White Star of Night, and will want to read more closely the scenes with the old Vedek if, other than penetrating eyes, there are more subtle clues I might have missed on the first go around. I’ve had a rocky time with pic novels: The Last Best Hope did Romulans well, and here too, Sokara is vivid. The Dark Veil was my favourite – it had the feel of an episode about it, it was set on a starship, it returned us to what we thought of as old Trek at times. Rogue Elements was harder, because I’d not warmed up to Rios, and now here we are, with second Self pressing my buttons in a good way (and it’s only now I’ve typed that title that I realise there is more than one meaning behind it. Very clever). Given the previews of Pic Season 3 going around, I can only imagine the enjoyment authors will have with stories set around it. Tldr? A worthwhile couple of hours with my kindle, thanks very much!
4 Stars to Expect Me Tomorrow by Christopher Priest
Description
A petty thief known as John Smith was arrested for fraudulent behavior in 1877. He tricked women into thinking he was rich, then stole their belongings and vanished. His guilt was obvious. In 1852, Adler and Adolf Beck's father died on an expedition to a glacier, and their lives separated. One became a respected climate scientist, one a successful opera singer touring the world. Or so he claimed. But both remained in touch, if only to share the mysterious voices only they could hear. Charles Ramsey also has a twin. It is 2050, and Greg is a journalist reporting on the climate-change inspired conflicts around the world. When Charles is made redundant from his job as a profiler for the police and sent home with a new experimental chip in his head, he is urged by his brother to explore a little-known aspect of their family history. All of these people are connected. All of their lives will intersect. And the climate of their world will keep on changing.
Review
Naturally without the aliens, this nonetheless had a feeling of Eifelheim about it and I soaked up every page and nuance. it felt more alive and vivid the further back in time you went, and I suppose that's partly intentional with the future so bleak and miserable. Totally enjoyed start to finish, very much my sort of thing.
September
4 Stars to Lost in Time by A.G. Riddle
Description
Control the past. Save the future. One morning, Dr. Sam Anderson wakes up to find that the woman he loves has been murdered. For Sam, the horror is only beginning. He and his daughter are accused of the crime. The evidence is ironclad. They will be convicted. And so, to ensure his daughter goes free, Sam does what he must: he confesses. But in the future, murderers aren't sent to prison. Thanks to a machine Sam helped invent, the world's worst criminals are now sent to the past – approximately 200 million years into the past, to the dawn of the time of the dinosaurs – where they must live out their lives alone, in exile from the human race. Sam accepts his fate. But his daughter doesn't. Adeline Anderson has already lost her mother to a deadly, unfair disease. She can't bear to lose her father as well. So she sets out on a quest to prove him innocent. And to get him back. People around her insist that both are impossible tasks. But Adeline doesn't give up. She only works harder. She soon learns that impossible tasks are her specialty. And that she is made of tougher stuff than she ever imagined. As she peels back the layers of the mystery that tore her father from this world, Adeline finds more questions than answers. Everyone around her is hiding a secret. But which ones are connected to the murder that exiled her father?
Review
I found the opening of the book a little confusing, we were thrown at Absolom without much explanation. Despite that, or perhaps because I wasn’t quite clicked, the revelations hit me without me having guessed what was happening. Sam’s prehistoric time didn’t work as I thought it would and much of the “Try but the universe is helping you” motif annoyed me some. Still, from the beginning of part 3 onward, I was intensely hooked, determined to read and keep reading until the mysteries and all around them had been resolved. So in that aspect, the book was excellent, because if you’d suggested doing anything else, I’d have said no thanks!
5 Stars to Portals by Douglas E. Richards
Description
The gripping near-future thriller by the New York Times bestselling author whose books have sold over two million copies. Hidden portals link Earth to numerous other planets. But why do they all contain human civilizations? And why does our nearest neighbor have its sights set on Earth? Noah Harris and Ashley Flynn are field agents for a powerful organization tasked with protecting humanity from the misuse of game-changing technology. But when they discover hidden portals that link Earth to numerous planets, put in place ages earlier by transcendent beings, they are thrust into a maze of deception and intrigue they can't begin to understand. One that not only has them battling for their very lives, but which will decide the fate of worlds. Because, inexplicably, each of the planets contain human civilizations. And the human rulers of our nearest portal neighbor, having already conquered their own world, have come up with a brilliant, twisted plan to conquer ours. And only Noah and Ashley stand in their way . . . Portals is a masterful near-future thriller, one packed with nonstop action, astonishing twists, and mind-blowing concepts. "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 THE IMMORTALITY CODE UNIDENTIFIED PORTALS 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
The second of Doug’s recent novels to be written with first person narration, Portals opens with a much more actiony feel than Unidentified. I didn’t particularly click with Noah to start with, but he grew on me, and his logical deductions and inferences were dazzling and exciting to read about. The portals themselves were cleverly done, and the intricacy of the connections and AI-monitored travel rules leave a lot of room for more novels set in this universe. I really hope Doug can fly with this, he’s done a few series before and, to my mind, Portals is ripe for future exploits someday. Yet again, Doug excels at manipulating the reader and characters both (although any time I see that someone died in a Doug Richards novel I now disbelieve it until there’s a genuine body). As this story progressed, I was engaged and excited. I read the first 2 parts and went to bed, the addiction specialist idea bubbling up in my head. I paused at the start of part 6 to go feed myself and kept churning everything over in my mind. And then I finished the whole thing after that, gleefully sucking down every twist and turn and totally enjoying myself.
August
4 Stars to Wind That Shakes the Seas and Stars (Sacrifices Arc, #5) by Lightning on the Wave
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter Relationship: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
AU of OoTP, Slytherin!Harry, HPDM slash. Snape begins the year with a mistake that sets his ward against him. Now Harry is using all his own considerable cunning to ride out the multiple storms, even as the Second War goes into motion.
Review
Crikey, this was long and, yes, as hard to stop reading as the rest. I grew a bit restive toward the end, the buildup to the final battle felt a bit drawn out and the results too, even though they weren't terribly long in comparison to the work as a whole. The author said they needed a break and I can see why after this, it's a nice resting place for the final 2 books in a couple of days.
5 Stars to Freedom And Not Peace (Sacrifices arc, #4) by Lightning on the Wave
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter
AU of GoF, Slytherin!Harry. Training his brother, negotiating with former Death Eaters, juggling responsibility and duty...Harry's life is running away with him, as he struggles to balance.
Review
These have totally veered into mega alternate universe land now, the Goblet of Fire itself being a comparatively minor thing in this massive tome of a work. The writing is just so ... moreish. Addictive. Compelling in a poetic sort of a way.
3 Stars to Deathless (Pressure #2) by Jeff Strand
Description
The horrifying sequel to the Bram Stoker Award-nominated novel Pressure. Though Darren Rust is serving a life sentence in prison, Alex Fletcher is desperate to escape the shadow of his former best friend. Darren is a psychopath who thought he’d found somebody who would kill with him, and when he realized he was wrong, he took everything from Alex. Losing his family—and coping with the heinous act Darren forced him to commit—is too much. Alex is unable to have a normal social life. Until he meets Luna Booth. She’s fun. Intelligent. Sexy. She’s exactly what he needs right now. Alex may not have found his soulmate, but he’s found somebody that he loves spending time with. Somebody who doesn’t mind the nightmarish skeletons in his closet. In fact, she may be too understanding. Too interested. And she may have a very dark and twisted secret…
Review
Not one of my favourites of Strand's works, the ending left me feeling a bit, 'now what?'. Ok, but without much of a thrill.
5 Stars to Comes Out of Darkness Morn (Sacrifices Arc, #3) by Lightning on the Wave
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter
AU of PoA, Slytherin!Harry. Harry struggles to rebuild himself after the shattering events of his second year. He will finally learn the truths he needs to know...but they're hardly going to be pleasant ones. Cover art by Kenobisgal (deviantart.com).
Review
Well, things are hotting up! Harry's made some unbreakable decisions, we did indeed have a prisoner from Azkaban, and I just love the mystique around the pureblood dancing, the dark magic, all of it. It's like this author has a deliciously slanted view of Rowling's world, one where you just take a look at something from a bit of a different angle and you can see around corners. Very much an AU, and book 4 is almost twice the length of this one. bliss!
4 Stars to No Mouth But Some Serpent's (Sacrifices Arc, #2) by Lightning on the Wave
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter
AU of CoS, Slytherin!Harry. Harry goes back to Hogwarts, determined to protect his brother Connor, the BoyWhoLived, and stay in the shadows. But last year two people learned the truth about Harry... and this year, two more will. Cover art by Sockcat (deviantart.com).
Review
As we pull further away from Canon, things continue to become more intriguing. Much of this book sets up the thought picture of harry's mindscape, and we learn about the abuses, both magical and mental, that have constricted our young hero and made him what he is. The books get much bigger from here on out, and darker, too. It's a fascinating lens through which to view the wizarding world, and I am just as hooked now as I was when I read these well over a decade ago
4 Stars to Saving Connor (Sacrifices Arc, #1) by Lightning on the Wave
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter
AU, eventual HPDM slash, very Slytherin!Harry. Harry's twin Connor is the Boy Who Lived, and Harry is devoted to protecting him by making himself look ordinary. But certain people won't let Harry stay in the shadows... Cover art by kimpertinent (deviantart.com).
Review
The appeal of this series doesn't really hit home during the first book, and there are plenty of warnings as to what's to come. I remember on my first reading, many years ago now , thinking that much of the traditional first year stuff had been rushed and glossed-over. Yet it is AU and, if you take the time to fall into it, there are glimmerings. The pureblood dances are clear of much more to come, and there's this whole stratified society which we've not really seen much of yet. James and Lily make a very poor showing as parents, and that's obviously only going to get worse, and although I'm sure there's going to be much eroticism and sexual behaviour which can be off-putting if done too much in what started as a series for kids,it's clear the author's taking things off in his own direction and sculpting an intricate, complicated world. Book 2 here I come!
2 Stars to The Work Ahead: A Novel by Sameer Chopra
Description
What happens to the regular people during an alien invasion? What about after humanity gets it's butt kicked? If you, like me, aren't a super soldier, trained assassin, billionaire playboy philanthropist, god or hulk, then you start working for your new alien overlords. And no, you don't get some cool "fly a spaceship around" job- you get to be a farmer! This fast paced, funny, book is an account of the time that I lost my office job- the one with the super chill boss, and went into farming with my new a blood thirsty 8ft tall space lizard that was only interested in getting his next big promotion. Read and witness how I use the only things I'm good 90s pop culture trivia and MS Excel to go from humble farmer to slightly more efficient farmer, to member of the secret society that runs all of EARTH! Witness my ego growing so large that I fail to see the anonyms hackers I hired off the internet using Dogecoin might not actually have my best intrest at heart! You already know, having survived the invasion that humanity wins, but you DON'T know what happened behind the scenes. You don't know how THAT sausage was made! So here it is! You'll laugh at the absurdity of my life (hey!), you'll cry at the similarities of human and alien corporate culture, you'll join me in solemnly saluting my coworker's tragic loss of frequent eater points at his favorite sub sandwich shop, you'll remember the 90s, and most of all you won't be bored for a few hours!
Review
I hoped this would be funny and there might be a little more farming. But there wasn't. The blindness thing really didn't work well, the humour wasn't to my taste and I felt as though things hadn't really progressed from one end of the book to the other.
5 Stars to Harry Potter and the Amulet of the Moon (Post-Deathly Hallows, #2) by semprini
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter
Harry and fifteen members of the DA go to an isolated island, then back in time a year, to train Aurors for a suddenly Auror-less society... and are unexpectedly thrust back into the thick of events.
Review
I've read this multiple times of course, and it follows up from Semprini's first post Deathly Hallows story. I ultimately prefer the first one, but this has an interesting idea all its own and is still very, very good.
3 Stars to Moonstruck by Edward M. Lerner
Description
Will our first contact with aliens be the dawn of a new tomorrow -- or the last act in human history? The moon has suddenly acquired its own satellite: a two-mile-across starship that represents a hitherto unsuspected Galactic Commonwealth. The F'thk, a vaguely centaur-like member species for whom Earth's ecology is hospitable, have been sent to evaluate humanity for prospective membership. The F'thk are overtly friendly but very private -- "Information is a trade good." As Earth's scientists struggle to understand their secretive appraisers, odd inconsistencies emerge. As troubling as those anomalies is the re-emergence of a bit of insanity humanity thought it had outgrown: Cold War and nuclear saber-rattling. The Galactics' arrival may signify the start of a glorious new era, or it may presage the cataclysmic end of human civilization. Which outcome do the aliens really desire ... And what will they do if humanity refuses to play its assigned role?
Review
I enjoyed the alien viewpoint bits quite a lot but somehow the writing didn't click to give me maximal enjoyment. Perhaps I'll try again one day, but even with that this was 'good' because it's Lerner.
4 Stars to The Q Continuum (Star Trek: the Next Generation) by Greg Cox
Description
Review
I almost heard Peter David in these pages, Greg does seem to have been able to stamp Q in a similar way. It's a little sad that this is quite an old miniseries now; for many years, anything that happened beyond the enterprise D was new and futuristic feeling. Time catches us all, I suppose. This was a little fun, light reading, good to pop into old friends. I felt sorry for poor Leyoro, and enjoyed very much hearing the tones of the familiar actor's voices as I read this one.
4 Stars to Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
Description
This an alternate cover for 9780552151696 When the NSA's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant and beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage...not by guns or bombs, but by a code so ingeniously complex that if released it would cripple U.S. intelligence. Caught in an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Susan Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not only for her country but for her life, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves. From the underground hallways of power to the skyscrapers of Tokyo to the towering cathedrals of Spain, a desperate race unfolds. It is a battle for survival--a crucial bid to destroy a creation of inconceivable genius...an impregnable code-writing formula that threatens to obliterate the post-cold war balance of power. Forever.
Review
I've never read a Brown: I got pushed abridged audio of the Da Vinci Code on its release, and the furore around it failed to attract at the time. It feels like this one was written earlier - cellphones are very new tech and even floppy disks get an honourable mention. The crypto side of things was pretty interesting and of course the trope of teacher turned superhero is widespread. Some of the language stuff felt a little OTT at times too, and of course the last-minute array of firewalls was pure visual cinema. all that said, I still enjoyed it, even if, quite Ironically, the book comes across as quite dated - unusual when you consider Brown's plaudits as a new voice of his generation.
4 Stars to Churchill's Gold by James Follett
Description
In 1941, before America entered the war, the last of Britain's dwindling gold reserves are held in South Africa. It has to be moved to America to pay Roosevelt's `cash and carry' bills. The German High Command learn of British shipping plans and resolve to stop it or capture it.
Review
Classic James, although all-the-more so after his death of course. A giant of a man, this was one of only 3 of his books I have yet to read Vintage WWII stuff here, with a lot of naval work and considerably less character detail than I'd come to expect. Still very much enjoyed.
July
5 Stars to The Measure by Nikki Erlick
Description
A luminous, spirit-lifting blockbuster that asks: would you choose to find out the length of your life? Eight ordinary people. One extraordinary choice. It seems like any other day. You wake up, drink a cup of coffee, and head out. But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. The contents of this mysterious box tells you the exact number of years you will live. From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Is there truth to what they promise? As society comes together and pulls apart, everyone faces the same shocking choice: Do they wish to know how long they’ll live? And, if so, what will they do with that knowledge? The Measure charts the dawn of this new world through an unforgettable cast of characters whose decisions and fates interweave with one another: best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, pen pals finding refuge in the unknown, a couple who thought they didn’t have to rush, a doctor who cannot save himself, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything. Enchanting and deeply uplifting, The Measure is an ambitious, invigorating story about family, friendship, hope, and destiny that encourages us to live life to the fullest. INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!
Review
Some books just grab you. This one was hugely thought-provoking, from the synopsis alone I knew it'd be interesting but of course the devil is in the detail: the execution was flawless, and the impact and motivations of the characters was brilliantly realised. There are a number of books and authors which have a lasting, resonant impact on me, and this is joining them.
3 Stars to Planet B (Architects of the Apocalypse, #1) by Jasper T. Scott
Description
2069: EARTH IS DYING AND SOCIETY IS ON THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE We are out of time to save the planet. All that’s left is to watch the world burn, but the apocalypse is about to take an unexpected twist. Alice Rice has discovered the impossible: a potentially habitable world in close proximity to Earth. The media is calling it Planet B. PEOPLE ARE DISAPPEARING Detective Layla Bester was about to marry the love of her life when she learned that he slept with her best friend. Now, she’s alone and starting over in the once great city of New York. But the world has more than enough troubles to make hers feel small, and a new one has just been added: people are vanishing, and no one knows where they’re being taken. AND A WAR IS BREWING Meanwhile, Billionaire Preston Baylor is leading the race to reach Planet B, but competing space programs are heating up political tensions and driving superpowers ever closer to war. Climatologist Bruce Gordon believes an incomprehensibly powerful species sent Planet B to us, but who are our mysterious saviors, why are they hiding, and what do they want? As time goes by, it becomes clear that even if their intentions were good, our own self-destructive natures could be all it takes to wipe us out.
Review
Passable entertainment, but when almost every solution to a problem is set a dinosaur on it I do begin to drift, mentally. Also, one of my pet peeves is books that use time or dates to no obvious result, which happens here when people cross over, and also when the author clearly hasn't even read their dates back by writing something like 25nd or 22th which happened once here too. Not sure I have much interest in book 2.
4 Stars to Upgrade by Blake Crouch
Description
You are the next step in human evolution. At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep. But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most—in whole new ways. The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked. And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy. Worse still, what’s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large—at a terrifying cost. Because of his new abilities, Logan’s the one person in the world capable of stopping what’s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he’ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human. And even as he’s fighting, he can’t help wondering: what if humanity’s only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution? Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man’s thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity—and our boundless potential.
Review
I quite got into this, and as it turned into an arms race of mental and physical excellence, I found myself even more absorbed. The ending did seem to appear a little rapidly, and as with some of these ubermensch stories, the thought processes of the enhanced all seem to asymptotically converge to a degree. In that regard it was refreshing to have a difference of view between two characters. Up there with Suarez’s Change Agent for pushing the boundaries of genetic resequencing and the GPA having the feel of Marcus Sakey’s Federal Brilliance agency, Crouch has shown that once again he can tell a superbly compelling story with bold extrapolation.
4 Stars to Differently Morphous by Yahtzee Croshaw
Description
A magical serial killer is on the loose, and gelatinous, otherworldly creatures are infesting the English countryside. Which is making life for the Ministry of Occultism difficult, because magic is supposed to be their best kept secret. After centuries in the shadows, the Ministry is forced to unmask, exposing the country's magical history - and magical citizens - to a brave new world of social media, government scrutiny, and public relations. On the trail of the killer are the Ministry's top agents: a junior operative with a photographic memory (and not much else), a couple of overgrown schoolboys with godlike powers, and a demonstrably insane magician. But as they struggle for results, their superiors at HQ must face the greatest threat the Ministry has ever known: the forces of political correctness.... Differently Morphous is the latest and greatest tale to emerge from the mind of writer (and narrator) Yahtzee Croshaw.
Review
I enjoyed this quite a lot. Every single time someone tries funny light sci-fi, of course the inevitable comparison to adams pops up. But that aside, it had plenty of amusement factor all its own. I felt like I was reading a funnier Ben Aaronovitch.
3 Stars to The Alien by Leslie Purnell Davies
Description
Set in 2016, the plot concerns a man of unknown origins (to himself and others it would seem) who wakes from an accident in hospital and with no memory of his identity. The man, on a quest to solve the riddle in his head. Riddle being-who is he, where is he from, who can he trust, where is he going, and what was his life here like before his "accident"? Attempts to recover his memory lead to the suspicion that he may be a member of an alien race. It was filmed in 1972 as 'The Groundstar Conspiracy'.
Review
A quaint thing of its time, although surprisingly lackluster for me at the moment. Perhaps I'm just feeling a little off.
3 Stars to Appliance by J.O. Morgan
Description
**Finalist for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2022 ** From the Costa Award winner, a highly inventive and and humane novel about our relationship with technology and our addiction to innovation. 'Are they paying you extra for this? You'd better be getting something. For the inconvenience, I mean. Here for the whole weekend is what they said. What if we'd had guests? They never asked. And in any case what are the dangers? Being tested like lab rats, we are. Did they even try to provide any assurance it was all perfectly-' This is the prototype. The first step to a new future. A future that will be easy and abundant. A future in which distance is no longer a barrier to human contact. And all it takes is a simple transport unit, in every home, every street, every town. Quick. Clean. Easy. A future driven by data, not emotion. And so begins the journey of a new technology that will soon change the world and everyone in it - the sceptics and the converts, the innocents and the evangelists. A scientific wonder that quickly becomes an everyday aspect of life. But what of our inherent messiness? In a world preoccupied with progress, what will happen to the things that make us the memories, the fears, the love, the blood, the contradictions, the mortality? As we push for a sense of perfection, what do we stand to lose? Questioning, innovative and shot through with a rich humanity, Appliance is much more than a novel. It examines our faith in technology, our hunger for new things and the rapid changes affecting all our lives. It challenges us to stop and reflect on the future we want, the systems we trust, and what really matters to us.
Review
This sounded interesting on paper, but the actualisation didn't really hit home for me as I`d have expected. Enjoyable as far as it goes, but I didn't find myself captivated as I'd hoped.
4 Stars to Derelict (Janet Hollander Book 1) by Mark All
Description
If you find alien technology … don’t turn it on. Beyond the farthest reaches of explored space, survey ship Cerberus arrives at an unclaimed planet to find a deserted vessel already in orbit. When newly commissioned captain Janet Hollander leads a team to the derelict, they find an ancient alien artifact on board. As her own crew members begin to disappear, Hollander learns that neither the ghost ship nor the planet are as lifeless as they appear. She must survive long enough to find out what happened to the derelict—before she and her crew suffer the same fate.
Review
I got a vibe of Dave Duncan's wildcatter from this, which of course was enough to keep me going, for although it is perhaps one of his shortest and less technically brilliant works, Wildcatter is one of my favourite ever science fiction novels. Derelict lacked a certain something, perhaps structure. everything happened in a linear, predictable way, with very little doubt as to what was coming next. The chapters were insanely short and, if I'm honest, I felt that at times it was more aimed at movie screens than Kindles. Still, it's a worthy entry to the genre, even if I've never seen mutagenic tech change a creature to rely on a holy different blood chemistry.
5 Stars to Unidentified by Douglas E. Richards
Description
It's now clear that UFOs are real. When Jason Ramsey discovers their shocking agenda, his actions will either transform humanity . . . or destroy it entirely. Unidentified is a riveting page-turner. One detailing the actual evidence that UFOs are here, while offering a mind-blowing fictional take on the reasons why. Ripped from today's headlines, Unidentified is the latest thriller from the NY Times bestselling author whose books have sold over two million copies. Between 2017 and 2021 the US military admitted to having undeniable evidence that UFOs (now UAVs or UAPs) are here, and defy the laws of physics. When Jason Ramsey, a popular science-fiction writer, becomes obsessed with the subject, he undertakes a relentless quest to uncover what is really going on. After recruiting Tessa Barrett, an extraordinarily talented mercenary, Jason devises a risky, desperate plan to get to the bottom of it all. But the truth is far more shocking, convoluted, and dangerous than anyone could have guessed, and he has no idea who he can trust. Jason soon realizes that he can only be certain of two things. He somehow holds the key to the future of the galaxy itself . . . and his chances of living out the week are vanishingly small. Unidentified is a masterful near-future thriller, one packed with nonstop action, unexpected twists, extraordinary technology, and astonishing ideas.
Review
Well now, it turns out that my review of this one vanished into the ether. naturally, it being a Doug book, it was not only pre-ordered, but I was up for the release at midnight too. This is, on the face of it at least, something of a departure for Doug - both aliens based on real evidence and a first person narrative are unusual things. Nonetheless, it does seem to have made for a fascinating story, and I found myself as gripped on this reread as I was the first time through. Even now recognising many of the twists and turns before their reveals, I still truly enjoyed myself. I can't imagine the mental gymnastics needed to keep rescuing heroes from the jaws of death as Doug manages in every single novel, and really hope that, even though he mentions finding new ideas hard to find sometimes, we keep seeing novels of this calibre for a long time to come. Whilst Unidentified hasn't made its way into my top spots, it's undeniably a hallmark work of his and I am sure I'll pick it off my shelf again one day in the coming months.
5 Stars to The Classmate by Will McIntosh
Description
Thirteen-year-old Benjamin is pulled from his old life and forced to attend a special boarding school in the middle of nowhere. That's confusing enough. Then, he's fed instructions through an earbud and thrown into etiquette classes alongside an angry, spike-covered creature. Despite wearing purple dresses and having the unassuming name of Eve, the creature is horrifying and, as Eve quickly demonstrates, dangerous. With the help of his new friends Lorena and Persephone, Ben must overcome his own anxieties and uncover the truth about Eve’s origin. But he learns that the school's agenda is much bigger than he ever thought possible. Ben needs to earn Eve’s trust, and fast. The fate of the world depends on it.
Review
As a YA story this was light reading, but I love McIntosh's characters. this was really good, and it'll be going on my own child's pile of books to choose from. the message is of course the important thihng, but the action and the humour were real, too. very well done indeed.
June
3 Stars to Paycheck by Philip K. Dick
Description
Genialny komputerowiec uczestniczy w ściśle tajnym przedsięwzięciu. Jest jednym z autorów odkrycia, które może odmienić losy świata. Po zakończeniu kontraktu zostaje poddany wyczyszczeniu mózgu. Ściga go Tajna Policja... Zdany na siebie i kilka drobnych przedmiotów, które przyjął zamiast ZAPŁATY, usiłuje rozszyfrować swój plan sprzed utraty pamięci.
Review
A lot of PKD's stuff is really far out and this title is no exception, it just makes a little more sense than most of the psychedelic stuff of his I've read before.
May
4 Stars to Do They Know it's Christmas Yet? by James Crookes
Description
Immerse yourself in the Eighties where Thursday meant 'Top of the Pops', Sunday meant taping The Top 40, and photos took two weeks to develop. Thirty-somethings Tash and her brother Jamie didn’t mean to time travel back to October 1984, but bizarrely they did on the very day that Bob Geldof watched the BBC news report which moved him to form Band Aid and record 'Do They Know It’s Christmas?'. Except their arrival caused him to miss it. So because of them, there’ll be no Band Aid, no USA For Africa, and no Live Aid. Jamie wants to find Bob and put things right. Tash wants to go straight back to the 21st century—she has a 5-month-old baby waiting for her. What would YOU do? Go to your baby or feed a million others?
Review
Oh yes. I laughed out loud in spots and that's precious I'm not quite old enough to have been there, but this was very much the next best thing. Great fun!
4 Stars to Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket
Description
For more than twenty years, Lemony Snicket has led millions of young readers through a mysterious world of bewildering questions and unfortunate events. With this latest book—a love letter to readers young and old about the vagaries of real life—longtime fans and new readers alike will experience Snicket’s distinctive voice in a new way. This true story—as true as Lemony Snicket himself—begins with a puzzling note under his door: You had poison for breakfast. Following a winding trail of clues to solve the mystery of his own demise, Snicket takes us on a thought-provoking tour of his predilections: the proper way to prepare an egg, a perplexing idea called “tzimtzum,” the sublime pleasure of swimming in open water, and much else. Poison for Breakfast is a classic-in-the-making that—in the great tradition of modern fables like The Little Prince and The Phantom Tollbooth—will delight readers of all ages.
Review
I found this surprisingly engaging. It's been years since I read any of his children's stories, but it was still very pleasant to come back to this style. There's no easy definition for the intent behind the work, which meanders magnificently throughout and honestly really does defy classification, but I felt buoyed throughout and my attention was completely held all the way through.
April
5 Stars to Red Dwarf Omnibus: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers & Better Than Life (Red Dwarf #1-2) by Grant Naylor
Description
Here are the first two novels of the cult series Red Dwarf in one volume – Red Dwarf and Better Than Life – plus the first draft of the original TV pilot script. It all begins when Dave Lister is celebrating his twenty-fourth birthday on a Monopoly board pub crawl round London, and somehow ends up three million years from Earth, marooned in the wrong dimension of the wrong reality, and down to his last two cigarettes. Together with a dead man, a senile computer, a deranged sanitation mechanoid with an overactive guilt chip and the best-dressed entity in all six known universes, the last remaining member of the human race begins his epic journey home.
Review
Oh, a pillar of British comedy and no doubt about it. Dwarf is right in there with happy memories of episodes of The Next Generation and Blake's 7 from my childhood. This omnibus edition gave me plenty of laughs and it's hard to think that I reread the individual volumes over a decade ago and haven't picked them up since. A highly entertaining way of spending a few hours without a doubt
5 Stars to Harry Potter and the Antiquity Link (Post-Deathly Hallows, #1) by semprini
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter
The morning after defeating Voldemort, Harry finds he wants nothing more than to be left alone. However, angry goblins, dementors, and a well-meaning Minister make this impossible, imposing on Harry more responsibilities than he wants... and then some.
Review
Obviously I'm a huge Semprini fan, as everyone will know by now. I find it interesting that he falls into the "book 7 happened without the epilogue" camp - a commonly-held view among fans, of course, but the pickiness of it was pause for thought on this reread. I very much enjoyed it as I have done at least a handful of times before. The Japanese culture thing isn't new to the fandom, but it is juggled incredibly well here. The writing style is top drawer, and I confess to being a little sad not to have anything after one more year of these to read.
4 Stars to The Wizard's Butler (The Wizard's Butler, #1) by Nathan Lowell
Description
Alternate cover edition of ASIN B0865326GF For five grand a month and a million dollar chaser, Roger Mulligan didn't care how crazy the old geezer is. All he had to do was keep Joseph Perry Shackleford alive and keep him from squandering the estate for a year. They didn't tell him about the pixies.
Review
Heavens. I had no idea that this sort of slice-of-life book, about effectively a manservant, could be so utterly captivating and ... moreish! It was like pringles! You just had to carry on! I got an almost Mackey Chandler vibe at points and was sad to see it come to an end. Not my usual stuff, but actually very much enjoyed.
4 Stars to Clearing Waves by Cody Whitfill
Description
Surviving a plane crash wasn’t easy, but surviving the apocalypse will be nearly impossible. Nigel Fletcher finds himself stranded on a deserted island with nothing but his journal and the clothes on his back. Not only must he locate food, water, and shelter to survive, but Nigel will also have to combat wave after wave of savage monsters intent on ridding the world of humanity. Clearing these waves grows progressively harder as each week brings additional monsters, new mutations, and behind them all, a living terror with an insatiable appetite for human flesh. To have even the slightest chance of surviving, Nigel will need to build up his island base to perfection with what limited resources he has available. Crafting weapons, taming beasts, erecting towers... It will take an enormous amount of grit and determination to transform this deserted island into one of humanity’s last bastions of hope. Will it be enough?
Review
as progression fantasy goes, this was interesting. Tower Defense is something I've not seen handled before, so if you accept the idea that the GM basically sets you up with scaling resources from the beginning you're good to go. This is a bit like suspending disbeleif in typical fantasy books I suppose: this doesn't have to happen in your general progression because the MC goes and does stuff around the world, rather than the world being forced into his small area of it. That aside, I enjoyed the writing. My second Australian one, too.
3 Stars to For Love of Magic by Noodlehammer
Description
A different upbringing leaves Harry Potter with an early knowledge of magic and a view towards the Wizarding World not as an escape from the Dursleys, but as an opportunity to learn more about it. Unfortunately, he quickly finds that there are many elements in this new world that are unwilling to leave the Boy-Who-Lived alone. Chapters: 56 Words: 812'590 (including A/N causæ FFN)
Review
Getting through this was a bit of a grind - lots of sex, and much of it quite repetitive. The story itself was kinda interesting, although the ending was a bit of a shame given how long the rest of the thing was. Haven't seen Harry give an interview to the Muggle media sinse Febuary 2003, so that was neat.
4 Stars to A Measure of Disorder (Mother-Earth, #1) by Alan Tucker
Description
Jenni Kershaw s ordinary, eighth grade life becomes a thing of the past when her science class goes on a field trip. Armed with only their notebooks, MP3 players, and wits, Jenni and her classmates are unknowingly transported to another world. Follow Jenni and her class on their extraordinary adventures in their fight to discover who and what they really are.
Review
Portal fantasy is a staple of the genre now of course, but this one has kids and is a great introduction for the younger of us. It avoids language or gore and, if I were looking for a solid entry-level work to the genre as a young or even pre-teen, this would fit the bill very nicely indeed.
4 Stars to Knot in Time (Tales of Uncertainty, #1) by Alan Tucker
Description
My name is Darius Arthur Heisenberg, but most people call me Dare. If my last name sounds familiar, it’s probably because of my great-great uncle Werner Heisenberg. He was a physicist who came up with something called the Uncertainty Principle. But listen, Uncle Werner had no idea how uncertain things really are. I work for a group, called the Keepers, that label themselves the custodians of time. And, believe me, time is a mess. It needs all the custodians it can get. Which is, of course, why the Keepers selected me, a nineteen-year-old high school dropout, to join them. I recently worked as a janitor for a couple months. Perfect fit, right? Okay, it didn’t make much sense to me either, but I wasn’t in a position to turn down a steady job and a roof over my head. Besides, all I’m supposed to do is travel through time and save the universe as we know it, how hard could it be? Yeah, better hold on. This could get ugly.
Review
As YA fiction goes, this is fast, fun, and intense. It does feel quite rushed in spots, and the ending leaves one wanting book 2 straight away, but it's very much the sort of thing I'd enjoy with my kid as they entered the realm of teendom.
5 Stars to Generation of Vipers (Seeds, #2) by Peter Cawdron
Description
Generation of Vipers is the sequel to Wherever Seeds May Fall. Two years have passed since comet Anduru skimmed the clouds of Saturn on its way to Earth. Kath and Nolan are looking for answers, trying to find ways to protect Earth from the possibility of an invasive alien species overrunning the planet. The US Presidential Election changes the political landscape. With new, hostile leadership, Kath and Nolan find themselves out of favor. Lies continue to dominate social media. Perhaps the greatest threat doesn't come from the stars. Perhaps there's already a generation of vipers here on Earth. FIRST CONTACT is a series of stand-alone novels that explore humanity's first interaction with extraterrestrial life. It is similar to BLACK MIRROR or THE TWILIGHT ZONE in that the series is based on a common theme rather than common characters. This allows these books to be read in any order. Technically, they're all first as they all deal with how we might initially respond to contact with aliens, exploring the social, political, religious, and scientific aspects of First Contact. Although Generation of Vipers is a sequel it has been written so it can be read as a stand-alone novel.
Review
I was very much looking forward to reading this just as the sequel to Seeds ... but oh, my word. it started out as I expected, but then took a dramatic and utterly fantastic turn for the better. Kath drunk was splendid writing, I giggled to myself for pages. There's a totally creepy hotel experience the morning after, which was electrifying, And then the whole novel sort of shifts into this absolutely unputdownable saga of action-packed dramatic tension. Honestly, I could see things working as a mega-budget TV series: the livestreamed presidential briefing. Nolan's briefing to the rangers. The helicopter from the roof. the dive shop. the firebombing. The lawnmower and the basketball hoop. flashes of scenes and action shots which would make utterly compelling television. Why aren't Netflix at Peter's door, I ask myself? Hell, I'm absolutely 100% blind, yet I have just read the best few hours of TV you've never seen. Seriously thrilling stuff. I love the Humanity, Jorge and Veronica are beautiful. Andy was great. Winters and her whole squad kick ass, and yet again, Kath and Nolan do good things. Peter's also not shy about reality, his afterword comments on mis- and disinformation are insightful and, quite honestly, scarier than the aliens. SO, if you're a hard sci-fi fan, you'll enjoy the science. If you enjoy action? This one also has you covered. The first book in this series felt quite cerebral and thoughtful, and I like that. But although that was present in this novel too, I enjoyed the latter half with as much popcorn and chips as brain food.
4 Stars to Wherever Seeds May Fall (Seeds, #1) by Peter Cawdron
Description
Astronomers from around the world watch in awe as an extrasolar comet approaches Saturn, being drawn in by its immense gravity. When the comet grazes the planet rather than plunging beneath the clouds, speculation is rife. With the comet now on course to collide with Jupiter, even the most skeptical scientists can no longer deny what's happening—an alien spacecraft has entered the solar system and is using the gas giants to slow its approach to Earth.
Review
I was gripped by this from the very outset. There are a number of twists and revelations that serve to keep us interested, and of course there's a huge message about the positives of science, thinking for oneself, and analysing data rather than accepting blase assurances. Peter's not done too many sequels, many of his First Contact novels stand by themselves, so I'll be interested to see where this one goes next. Thought-provoking, pretty hard science fiction with a more mental bent this. Loved it.
3 Stars to The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Volume 3: The Father-Thing by Philip K. Dick
Description
A fitting tribute to a great philosophical writer who found science fiction the ideal form for the expression of his ideas - The Independent The third volume of the definitive five-book set of the complete collected stories of the twentieth century's greatest sf author; twenty-three tales which were written in little more than a year, before Philip K. Dick's first novel, Solar Lottery, was published in 1956. Many of these stories are previously uncollected, but also included here are some of Dick's most famous pieces, like Foster, You're Dead, a powerful extrapolation of nuclear war hysteria, and The Golden Man, a very different story about a super-evolved mutant human. This is a brilliant collection vividlly displaying some of the best of Dick's originality, quirky-humour and overflowing ideas. One of the most original practitioners writing any kind of fiction. Philip K. Dick made most of the European avant-garde seem navel-gazers in a cul-de-sac - Sunday Times A stunning composite portrait of our times - The Observer The most consitently brilliant SF writer in the world... author of more good short stories than I can count - John Brunner
Review
Some of my favourites of this volume are The Hanging Stranger (another great foreshadowed ending), The Eyes have It (because it’s just silly), The Golden man (even if the end is a little scary) and Sales Pitch. However, top-billing has to go to War Veteran! Grand writing.
March
4 Stars to Paused by Stephanie Ellis
Description
People are stopping, bodies halting regardless of situation or location. They are still alive but completely unresponsive, vulnerable statues utterly at the mercy of their environment. Unable to run from fire, some burn. Unable to return to shore, some drown. Unable to move from the path of a truck, some are crushed. Nor are you safe at home—unable to move, you starve. Dr Alex Griffiths heads a research department in a university hospital. As more and more succumb to this strange affliction—including his own family—it becomes a race against time for his team to find an answer before they too are affected. Humanity has been put on pause. Will it ever restart?
Review
I tend to avoid novellas because I read so quickly, they often feel over with before they started. This took me under an hour, and although of necesity it was short, it was also quite captivating. i'm not sure that Alex - our protagonist - really does much; I found the teen girls far more fleshed out in their actions, and it seems, toward the end of the work, as though it's as much his team than Alex himself doing anything interesting. A couple of points - the mysteriously silent covert lab, Alex's mental chat with Anwen and of course the speeding up of things by the end struck awkward chords. But by and large it's a quick, clever read, even if it does posit a finite endpoint to Covid in the very near future.
5 Stars to The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
Description
When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls "an animal rights organization." Tom's team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at least. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world. They're the universe's largest and most dangerous panda and they're in trouble. It's not just the Kaiju Preservation Society that's found its way to the alternate world. Others have, too--and their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die.
Review
Absolutely perfect. I was hooked within 7 minutes of cracking it open. Not a deep and meaningful read, but as we're told in the author's notes at the end, sometimes, a pop song is what you need. This delivers tremendously and I enjoyed every page. The action was fast. The characters, great fun. The synergy of the whole book was just a jolt of happy escapism, and I'm hugely glad to have read it.
3 Stars to The Ashes of Eden (Star Trek: Odyssey, #1) by William Shatner
Description
The Enterprise is being decommissioned, and Captain James T. Kirk finds himself standing at a crossroads. Following Jim Kirk's death in Star Trek: Generations, Pocket Books continued the captain's story in the first of several novels by William Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, known colloquially as the "Shatnerverse". The Ashes Of Eden resonated with fans, and DC Comics adapted the book in comic form. Collected in this volume, along with The Ashes Of Eden, are DC's Star Trek Specials #2-3, featuring tales by Kevin Ryan, Steven Wilson, Michael Jan Friedman, and Mark Altman.
Review
I actually read books 2 through 9 of this saga well over a decade ago. if you like Kirk and want to see a simplistic, totally deniable yet strangely compelling look into a future that only happened in one man's mind, they're pretty good. This is the opener, and although it was cheesy and clearly just shoehorned stuff in to set things up for the latter books, it was tolerable.
5 Stars to Only Human (Themis Files, #3) by Sylvain Neuvel
Description
In her childhood, Rose Franklin accidentally discovered a giant metal hand buried beneath the ground outside Deadwood, South Dakota. As an adult, Dr. Rose Franklin led the team that uncovered the rest of the body parts which together form Themis: a powerful robot of mysterious alien origin. She, along with linguist Vincent, pilot Kara, and the unnamed Interviewer, protected the Earth from geopolitical conflict and alien invasion alike. Now, after nearly ten years on another world, Rose returns to find her old alliances forfeit and the planet in shambles. And she must pick up the pieces of the Earth Defense Corps as her own friends turn against each other.
Review
So I couldn't quite see how this would end until it rushed up on me, and then it all fell into place. So yea! an ending I can be happy with and a trilogy that given me hours of enjoyment. The audio version are brilliant - not my thing, but I can appreciate the artistry - and the idea, characterisation and execution were spot-on. A splendid series to add to the collection.
5 Stars to Waking Gods (Themis Files, #2) by Sylvain Neuvel
Description
What's going on? Turn on the television. What channel? Any channel. An unknown vessel, not of this world, materializes in London. A colossal figure towering over the city, it makes no move. Is this a peaceful first contact or the prelude to an invasion? Every child has nightmares. But the only thing scarier than little Eva Reyes' dreams - apocalyptic visions of death and destruction - is the habit they have of coming true... Scientist Dr Rose Franklin has no memory of the last few years. The strangers she works with say she died, and was brought back to life. The question is not just how ... but why? Kara Resnik and Vincent Couture fell in love during war, and have found peace since. They are the thin line of defence against what is coming. But they do not know they have been living a lie.
Review
I have no idea why I didn't finish this series at the time. It's brilliant, the story is just massive and grows in scope here rather worryingly to be honest and I really, really hope the ending of the third book will be satisfying ...
4 Stars to A History of What Comes Next (Take Them to the Stars, #1) by Sylvain Neuvel
Description
Showing that truth is stranger than fiction, Sylvain Neuvel weaves a scfi thriller reminiscent of Blake Crouch and Andy Weir, blending a fast moving, darkly satirical look at 1940s rocketry with an exploration of the amorality of progress and the nature of violence in A History of What Comes Next. Always run, never fight. Preserve the knowledge. Survive at all costs. Take them to the stars. Over 99 identical generations, Mia’s family has shaped human history to push them to the stars, making brutal, wrenching choices and sacrificing countless lives. Her turn comes at the dawn of the age of rocketry. Her mission: to lure Wernher Von Braun away from the Nazi party and into the American rocket program, and secure the future of the space race. But Mia’s family is not the only group pushing the levers of history: an even more ruthless enemy lurks behind the scenes. A darkly satirical first contact thriller, as seen through the eyes of the women who make progress possible and the men who are determined to stop them...
Review
I started but aborted this when it came out, and I have no idea why. I loved the Themis files (although I don't remember buying book 3). Here, I almost enjoyed the afterword and the relating of the real world facts and figures more than the story: I suspect that's because the age-old good versus evil via your offspring trope has been done to death, so no matter how skilled (and Neuvel is clearly very much that), can lift the idea in my mind. still, the humour works, you really want to see them succeed. Looking forward to book 2.
5 Stars to The Broken Room by Peter Clines
Description
Hector was the best of the best. A government operative who could bring armies to a halt and nations to their knees. But when his own country betrayed him, he dropped off the grid and picked up the first of many bottles. Natalie can't remember much of her life before her family brought her to the US, but she remembers the cages. And getting taken away to the Project with dozens of other young children to become part of their nightmarish experiments. That's how she ended up with the ghost of a dead secret agent stuck in her head. And Hector owes Natalie's ghost a big favor. Now Hector and Natalie are on the run from an army of killers sent to retrieve her. Because the people behind the Project are willing to risk almost anything to get Natalie back and complete their experiments.
Review
Clines has it dead-on in the afterword: entertainment and a little bit creeped out is why you read these. This is one of my favourite books of the year so far. Jack Reacher haunted me from the outset, and the whole thing had great pace, action, and of course plenty of room for more books to fill in the gaps whilst finishing a nice story all its own.
5 Stars to Terminus (Threshold, #4) by Peter Clines
Description
Murdoch’s past has finally come crashing down on him. His former girlfriend. His Family. He’s been happily avoiding them for ages, trying to live something close to a normal life. But now he’s been drawn back into another one of their ludicrous attempts to bring about the end of all things. Chase has spent the past year just trying to get away. Trying to escape the memories that won’t stop following him, the moment when his life collapsed. He’s traveled around the world trying to stay ahead of it all, but those final moments may be catching up with him at last. Anne is tired of living in the past. She’s finally looking to the future and embracing her destiny. She’s going to lead the Family forward on their greatest, final crusade to destroy the hated Machine of their long-time adversary. Their paths will intersect in the middle of nowhere, on an uncharted island where the walls of reality are thin... and an apocalyptic threat is tearing its way through. Listening Length: 11 hours and 21 minutes.
Review
Wow, this was really quite good too! Dead moon took me a bit further afield in time and I had perhaps lost a little of the feeling, but I felt right back at home here. I love how Clines can just drop one of these out every so often and add to the worldlore, and I really hope there are plenty more to come!
February
5 Stars to Dead Moon (Threshold, #3) by Peter Clines
Description
In the year 2243, the Moon belongs to the dead. The largest graveyard in the solar system, it was the perfect solution to the overcrowding and environmental problems that had plagued mankind for centuries. And the perfect place for Cali Washington to run away from her past. But when a mysterious meteor crashes into one of the Moon's cemeteries, Cali and her fellow Caretakers find themselves surrounded by a terrifying enemy force that outnumbers them more than a thousand to one. An enemy not hindered by the lack of air or warmth or sustenance. An enemy that is already dead. Now Cali and her compatriots must fight to survive. Because if they don't, everyone on the Moon may be joining the dead.
Review
I started Dead moon when I got it, but my annoyance about the audio-first thing just kept bugging me and interfering with my enjoyment. That sucked, because on a second attempt ... Woow! The threshold universe is rather gripping. The horror of it all is scarily appealing. I think 14 is my favourite so far, which would still put Dead moon in third because of the initial excitement of 14. Obviously we've leapfrogged a little, and I don't think I've come across the moon as burial ground explored anywhere to this level before. Another brilliant instalment true to the form of the whole saga, and I'm looking forward to reading the next one.
4 Stars to Close to Home (DI Adam Fawley, #1) by Cara Hunter
Description
Librarian note: Alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780241283097 Someone took Daisy Mason. Someone YOU KNOW. Last night, 8-year-old Daisy Mason disappeared from her parents' summer party. No one in the quiet suburban street saw anything - or at least that's what they're saying. DI Adam Fawley is trying to keep an open mind. But he knows that nine times out of ten, it's someone the victim knew. That means someone is lying. And that Daisy's time is running out... Introducing DI Fawley and his team of Oxford detectives, Close to Home is a pulse-pounding race against time and a penetrating examination of what happens to a community when a shocking crime is committed by one of its own.
Review
I was disgusted to see a temperature in Fahrenheit on the opening pages, but apart from that the story was gripping. Perhaps a few too many secrets and revelations and characters, flung thick and fast, in an effort to obscure the truth. And then the way in which the reveal is handled doesn't really progress the police investigation. perhaps we'll see more of these coppers again, though. To sum, enjoyable, I didn't see the end coming, but I also felt a little lost partway through.
January
5 Stars to Phoenix Intuition (Post-OotP Trilogy, #3) by semprini
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter
A man who lost family to Voldemort blames many; he seeks to punish Harry and his friends as well as cause chaos in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds, threatening exposure of the wizarding world.
Review
And thus the series ends. I have very much enjoyed coming back to these, although as at the time, one of the central ideas - that many of those who died during 9/11 were meant to die - doesn't sit well with me. I don't think I can accept the idea that the world turnes due to a collective uberconsciousness without having more detail. Still, the extension of the wizarding politics and the branching-out into Muggle life is done well. At the time I don't think I liked this as much as the earlier two, mostly I suspect because it didn't fall into the typical year-at-Hogwarts schemata and I was, you know, under the legal age to drink.
5 Stars to Harry Potter and the Ring of Reduction (Post-OotP Trilogy, #2) by semprini
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter
Feeling a great sense of responsibility for those who die helping him, Harry tries to master his 'power the Dark Lord knows not' as he heads for a final showdown with Voldemort.
Review
Of course, this was a brilliant ending after the first book. On every reraed I look forward to the chapter where the magic goes away – I don’t know quite why, it just gets me every time. As I said a few days ago there is a tremendous sense of the black-and-white about these books, although the idea of moral absolutism not being a thing is brought in here. For all their flaws, and what book lacks them? I will treasure these as pillars of my personal pantheon. They played a substantial part in my teen years and have been enjoyed many times over.
5 Stars to The Salvage Crew (The Salvage Crew #1) by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne
Description
They thought this was just another salvage job. They thought wrong. An AI overseer and a human crew arrive on a distant planet to salvage an ancient UN starship. The overseer is unhappy. The crew, well, they're certainly no A-team. Not even a C-team on the best of days. And worse? Urmahon Beta, the planet, is at the ass-end of nowhere. Everybody expects this to be a long, ugly, and thankless job. Then it all goes disastrously wrong. What they thought was an uninhabited backwater turns out to be anything but empty. Megafauna roam the land, a rival crew with some terrifyingly high-powered gear haunts the dig site, and a secret that will change humanity forever is waiting in the darkness. Stuck on this unmapped, hostile planet, lacking resources, and with tech built by the cheapest bidder, the salvage crew must engineer their way to payday...and beat Urmahon Beta before it kills them all. Experience this space exploration adventure told from the perspective of a snarky artificial intelligence you won't soon forget.
Review
So the foreword alone was enough to get my juices flowing. It was a name-drop of epic proportions, throwing around high-octane concepts in coding and linguistics whilst absolutely not being stingy with the philosophy and literature. A weird, yet surprisingly apposite gestalt, as you will see when you get further into the book than the opening chapter. The foreword was also inscribed from Colombo, which rang an Arthur C. Clarke bell in my head for some reason. I took a little while to settle to the pace of the narrative, perhaps in part because our OC is quite the fast-talker. There’s also a fascinating dichotomy between the overseer’s care for each individual crew member and the speed with which they die, and couple that with the time and tech being further from Sol than I’d planned maybe meant I needed to adjust for a while. Of course, things start to happen. The pace picks up, if that’s possible, and you end up with a seemingly impossible pastiche of hauntingly-beautiful poetry, dinosaur-sized megafauna and deadly micromachines. I won’t spoil the end, but I loved Shen, and things start going south rapidly after the poor Replicant gets itself into trouble. The ending, now that was rather good. I wondered what would happen, which is a nice change of pace from either “all is good, everyone’s fine” or “oh, they’re all dead”. Explosive and climactic in several senses of the word, I must confess to slightly overextending my lunch break because I was on chapter 40 and wanted to know how things would pan out. So for me, a slow starter, but a proper gripping, thrilling burner of a story when it got going. Bring on more, I say! More!
5 Stars to Harry Potter and the Veil of Mystery (Post-OotP Trilogy, #1) by semprini
Description
Fandom: Harry Potter
Post-OotP Reluctantly taking a leadership role in the fight against Voldemort, urging others to 'say the name', Harry tries to learn how he can use his 'power the Dark Lord knows not' to fulfill the prophecy as he becomes his enemy's biggest target.
Review
Given I'd fallen back down the rabbit hole of fanfiction with All the Young Dudes, it seemed only fair to dust off my copy of a Fic that played a large part in my life. Veil of Mystery was written in 2003 and made its way online a few years later. It's hard to swallow that I would have read it over 17 years ago now. Looking at it through older eyes, it's clear to see how much of a moralising story it is. The good guys (Dumbledore etc, are painted as very good, and Voldemort as an unstoppable (but misguided) evil. The book picks up after Rowling's 5th story, and a second volume rounds out the 7 year hogwarts arc in traditional fashion. Much is made of mysticism and the spiritual realm, the idea of Karmic balance weighs heavily and there are many discussions between characters promoting these themes in the series as a whole. For all that, I enjoyed them. I read them many times as a teen, and whether because I lacked a strong father figure in my own childhood or just was easily swayed saw something positive in the type of behaviour they call for. They are the sort of book where, I suppose, if everyone behaved as the titular character ends up behaving, the world might be a better place. Thinking on it now, I can't help but feel that much of this stems from something I would want, rather than something I can necessarily believe to be true. the idea that any wrongs we do can be smoothed-over by our future selves or through some soul efforts, people that have harmed us will see how we felt about it after death etc is a potent stick. it almost feels like I imagine the pull of organised religion could have exerted on me in different circumstances, which is both terrifying and worthy of more exploration sometime. So they're not like Rowling's books, yet nor are they straight-up adventure and fun, but now, having given the first book some serious attention, I can't but help feel there are more questions than answers as to why my teen-aged self was so utterly and profoundly engaged. Sure, it's nice that an author can spell drawer rather than draw and takes the time to proofread their text, but there was clearly more than that going on in my head even then, young though it may have been. I guess it's a matter of putting it back on the shelf and coming back to it in another couple of decades to see how I feel then.
4 Stars to Deep Dive by Ron Walters
Description
When your reality shatters, what will you do to put it back together again? Still reeling from the failure of his last project, videogame developer Peter Banuk is working hard to ensure his next game doesn’t meet the same fate. He desperately needs a win, not only to save his struggling company, but to justify the time he’s spent away from his wife and daughters. So when Peter’s tech-genius partner offers him the chance to beta-test a new state-of-the-art virtual reality headset, he jumps at it. But something goes wrong during the trial, and Peter wakes to find himself trapped in an eerily familiar world where his children no longer exist. As the lines between the real and virtual worlds begin to blur, Peter is forced to reckon with what truly matters to him. But can he escape his virtual prison before he loses his family forever?
Review
A friend labeled this the Ready Player One of 2022, an unputdownable thrill-ride. The chapter endings were certainly an adrenaline rush, and even though the plot had a degree of predictability to a seasoned sci-fi reader it was well-told and excitingly handled. I felt that the generic bad guy thing was perhaps a little overdone; there was little characterisation of the muscle and people were very free with weaponry. I also may have missed something, but the jump between the Peter who first wears the VR headset and the one who believes he has children seems to be wider than the story can account for when the memory gap is filled-in. Nonetheless, niggles aside, an enjoyable and intriguing story and a lovely way to spend a few hours without a doubt.
4 Stars to Who Goes Here? (Warren Peace, #1) by Bob Shaw
Description
In the 24th century, men join the Space Legion to forget. A memory-erasing machine makes sure they do just that. The machine purges the memory of all traces of guilt, but for Legion recruit Warren Peace it has wiped out everything. He must have had a very nasty past indeed – if only he could recall it. Into battle with the Legion, Warren faces vicious predators in fearsome conflict without the slightest idea why he's been stupid enough to sign on in the first place!
Review
With a delightful Campbell reference in the title and a very Bill the Galactic hero feel, this was nothing unexpected but also great fun. It's clearit's written as farse and that works well, book 2 is sure to entertain me further someday.
4 Stars to Rules of Accusation (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) by Paula M. Block
Description
An original eNovella set in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine universe! On the space station Deep Space 9, Quark’s Public House, Café, Gaming Emporium, Holosuite Arcade, and Ferengi Embassy can’t legitimately be called an embassy until the Grand Nagus—namely, Quark’s brother Rom—dedicates it as such. Not that Quark really cares about Ferengi protocol, but a well-publicized dedication ceremony will naturally draw people to the bar. Everybody loves a good open house—free appetizers, half-price drinks, door prizes, etc.—all of which Quark can write off as Embassy expenses. It’s a win-win situation, with him on both sides of the win. There’s even a plan to display the original scroll of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition—which no one has seen for decades given that it’s been held in protective storage—and charge patrons by the minute to look at it up close. Nothing, of course, could possibly go wrong with this big plan. Absolutely nothing at all…
Review
You don't see comedy done much in the Star Trek universe. Peter David can be very funny, but he has a style all his own and his humour is often based on that. this was a short work clearly just played for laughs - the "fake" bit referencing In the Pail Moonlight either just a joke in poor taste or an unintended connection on my part. The plot wasn't much to write home about, but it was nice to pick up something set chronologically forward with some familiar faces.
3 Stars to He Who Fights with Monsters 2 (He Who Fights with Monsters, #2) by Shirtaloon
Description
The path from retail middle management to interdimensional wizard adventurer wasn’t easy, but Jason Asano is settling into his new life. Now, a contest draws young elites to the city of Greenstone, competing for a grand prize. Jason must gather a band of companions if he is to stand a chance against the best the world has to offer. While the young adventurers are caught up in competition, the city leaders deal with revelations of betrayal as a vast and terrible enemy is revealed. Although Jason seems uninvolved, he has unknowingly crossed the enemy’s path before. Friends and foes made along the way will lead him to cross it again as inevitable conflict looms.
Review
This felt a bit more grindy, so hopefully things will pick up some in future works. Obviously in progression fantasy this has to happen and the writing was fine and plot moved along, but some of the initial wow factor of the world was missing of course, lending it a feel of just moving on rather than expanding,if that makes sense.
4 Stars to He Who Fights with Monsters (He Who Fights with Monsters, #1) by Shirtaloon
Description
Jason wakes up in a mysterious world of magic and monsters. It’s not easy making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer. At least, Jason tries to be heroic, but it's hard to be good when all your powers are evil. He’ll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters...and that’s just on the first day. He’s going to need courage, he’s going to need wit, and he’s going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he’s going to need pants. After cementing itself as one of the best-rated serial novels on Royal Road with an astonishing 13 million views, He Who Fights with Monsters is now available on Kindle. About the series: Experience an isekai culture clash as a laid-back Australian finds himself in a very serious world. See him gain suspiciously evil powers through a unique progression system combining cultivation and traditional LitRPG elements. Enjoy a weak-to-strong story with a main character who earns his power without overshadowing everyone around him, with plenty of loot, adventurers, gods and magic. Rich characters and world-building offer humor, political intrigue and slice-of-life elements alongside lots of monster fighting and adventure.
Review
Australia is a nice change of pace, given the profusion of eastern-european and asiatic titles in this genre. I wish I knew the reason my brain gets so hooked on these things. Nothing particularly leapt out at me as brilliant here, but i didn't want to put it down nonetheless.
4 Stars to Mother of Learning: ARC 1 by Domagoj Kurmaić
Description
Zorian Kazinski has all the time in the world to get stronger, and he plans on taking full advantage of it. A teenage mage of humble birth and slightly above-average skill, Zorian is attending his third year of education at Cyoria's magical academy. A driven and quiet young man, he is consumed by a desire to ensure his own future and free himself of the influence of his family, resenting the Kazinskis for favoring his brothers over him. Consequently, Zorian has no time for pointless distractions, much less other people's problems. As it happens, though, time is something he is about to get plenty of. On the eve of Cyoria's annual summer festival, Zorian is murdered, then abruptly brought back to the beginning of the month, just before he was about to take the train to school. Finding himself trapped in a time loop with no clear end or exit, he will have to look both within and without to unravel the mystery set before him. He does have to unravel it, too, because the loop clearly wasn’t made for his sake, and in a world of magic even a time traveler isn't safe from those who wish him ill. Fortunately for Zorian, repetition is the mother of learning…
Review
I found myself hugely engaged for some reason. Nothing leapt out as brilliant individually but this kept my brain wanting more for some reason I can't quite pin down. Annoyingly I'm sure there's much more already published but not in proper book form, which is ... irritating, to say the least!
4 Stars to All the Young Dudes by MsKingBean89
Description
A Harry Potter fanfiction, detailing the lives of the Marauders throughout their schooling, told through Remus Lupin.
Review
I woke up on a typical November morning a few months ago to find the Google headline "The Best Harry Potter Novel Isn’t Written by J.K. Rowling". Rachelle Hampton had written a piece for slate.com about All the young dudes, a Marauder era fanfic that despite having been finished for a few years was still bouncing around the social medias. "I first started reading All the Young Dudes in November 2020, while I was living at home," Rachelle writes. "It’s indisputable fact that if you live at home for longer than three weeks, you regress into a teenager." Of course, this immediately struck a chord with me. A vivid memory of me wanting to finish a chapter of Harry Potter and the Psychic serpent on a Saturday morning and being displaced by my grandmothers need to vacuum precisely where I was sat bubbled up to the fore. I must have been 14 or thereabouts, and to this day, I wrestle, emotionally, with the shame at my teenage intractability whilst admiring my tenacity not to put down the book. Psychic Serpent was also a fanfic, of course - I had a diet of nothing but, during the "Great Wait" for the next official instalment. I have a dozen or so that I treasure dearly, not all for their literary merits, but because they are intertwined with my growing up. There are parts of them that make me me still, and that's something I never want to lose. yet, I'd pretty much put fanfiction away when the canon drew to a close. I recommend the odd story to some of my students and, if I am in a nostalgic mood, will leaf through an old one to reminisce. But reading new stuff was not only unnecessary given the amount of published books I get thrown at me, it was almost taboo. Something I’d moved beyond, perhaps? But here was a mainstream news article, throwing my teenaged self back at me. So why not, I thought. My Kindle doesn't care what I put on it. Is it somehow shameful to read fanfiction? Would I be embarrassed to admit it to someone on the bus? And as it turned out, I wouldn't. So I started reading it and, just under 14 hours of "focused" reading time later I finished the final chapter. It's a brilliant story, of course. being gay in the setting and time of the book was fascinating to read about in and of itself, and that, coupled with the relationships, were the real draws. it’s not a children's story, but nor is it a Harry Potter story, nor really a magic story. It's a story of people, of how and what they feel. It's framed through the lens of Hogwarts, set in a world of werewolves to be sure, but that seems only necessary to dispense with much of the background the author would otherwise have to introduce. I wouldn't say it's a sublime read; the words didn't flow passionately nor wax eloquent much of the time. In essence, much was predictable, and it is difficult to reconcile the characters with their portrayal in Rowling's original novels to a great degree, even when the illusion is attempted. But it's a window onto a different part of the world to that which I see every day, and something that kept my attention throughout, and more, a haunting glimpse of an older me, which few books have managed to conjure. It is a fitting way to start the new year.
3 Stars to Cytonic (Skyward, #3) by Brandon Sanderson
Description
Spensa’s life as a Defiant Defense Force pilot has been far from ordinary. She proved herself one of the best starfighters in the human enclave of Detritus and she saved her people from extermination at the hands of the Krell—the enigmatic alien species that has been holding them captive for decades. What’s more, she traveled light-years from home as an undercover spy to infiltrate the Superiority, where she learned of the galaxy beyond her small, desolate planet home. Now, the Superiority—the governing galactic alliance bent on dominating all human life—has started a galaxy-wide war. And Spensa has seen the weapons they plan to use to end it: the Delvers. Ancient, mysterious alien forces that can wipe out entire planetary systems in an instant. Spensa knows that no matter how many pilots the DDF has, there is no defeating this predator. Except that Spensa is Cytonic. She faced down a Delver and saw something eerily familiar about it. And maybe, if she’s able to figure out what she is, she could be more than just another pilot in this unfolding war. She could save the galaxy. The only way she can discover what she really is, though, is to leave behind all she knows and enter the Nowhere. A place from which few ever return. To have courage means facing fear. And this mission is terrifying.
Review
Alas this didn't capture me the way the opening novel did. To begin with it almost felt like a different series entirely; my brain seemed unable to adjust to the shift in reality as part of the story. It had the feeling, the whole book I mean, of an interlude - and as much as it was an interesting read in its own right and I grew to enjoy the story, I still didn't quite feel like I was reading Sanderson somehow.