Newest Science Fiction Reviews
Doctor Who: 11 Doctors, 11 Stories by Eoin Colfer, Michael Scott and others
It's basic knowledge that Doctor Who has changed a lot since first being seen fifty years ago – and I don't mean the title character, but the nature of the programme. It has gone from black and white, and cheaply produced, and declared disposable, to being an essential part of the BBC, full-gloss digital, and accessed in all manner of ways. So with the celebratory programme still ringing in our ears, and leaving people pressing a red button to see a programme about three Doctors, er, pressing a red button, we turn to other aspects of the birthday bonanza. Such as this book, which has also mutated in its much shorter lifespan, from being a loose collection of eleven short e-book novellas written by the blazing lights of YA writing, to a huge and brilliant paperback collecting everything within one set of covers. Full review...
Rags and Bones by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt (Editors)
Some of today's top authors have come together to retell classic tales - from fairy stories to Victorian-era fiction. As usual with this kind of anthology, it's a fairly hit-or-miss affair, but the hits here are so strong that they're well worth picking up the book for. Full review...
The Time Traveller's Almanac by Anne VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer
From H.G Wells to Doctor Who, there is something about a good time-travel story that has the power to ignite the imagination in a way unique to the genre. Perhaps it is due to the fact that when dealing with the subject of time travel, literally anything is possible. Well, almost anything...apart from going back in time and killing your Grandfather, which we know would cause an almighty paradox and probably destroy the universe. Full review...
Parasite by Mira Grant
Parasite is the first part of the Parasitology series and if the quality of this book is anything to go by the next is going to be highly sought after. It puts us several years into the future, in a time where medicine has made massive leaps forward and where humans no longer take medication, suffer from allergies, or even catch the common cold. These medical advancements are all thanks to SymboGen and the invention of their intestinal shield, which is a genetically engineered tapeworm designed to monitor your body’s functions and correct abnormalities. Full review...
Conquest by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard
The Earth has been invaded by the Illyri, a vaguely humanoid race far in advance of humankind, who were able to conquer the planet gently by proving how futile it would be to resist. They are keen to ensure the human race remains compliant, but are mostly keen to avoid bloodshed. Humankind, however, is not a race to take conquest lying down. There is a very active resistance, particularly in Scotland, where the Scots come out of the Highlands to strike on the Illyri garrisons and power bases in cities like Edinburgh. Full review...
The Box of Red Brocade (Chronoptika) by Catherine Fisher
Ok. Let's catch you up. Jake's father is still lost in time. Venn's wife is still dead. Summer, the Queen of the Shee, still hasn't made Venn her husband. Sarah still hasn't prevented the destruction of the future by Janus. And the Scarred Man still hasn't done, well, whatever it is that he's trying to do. The Chronoptika, a mirror made of black obsidian and a time travel device, connects Jake, Venn, Sarah and the rest, but they all want different things from it. Can they all be satisfied? It doesn't look likely. Full review...
Familiar by J Robert Lennon
Is there a greater change in the life of a middle-aged woman than the death of her teenage son? Elisa might have thought not, having been forced to bury fifteen year old Silas, and try and move on with her husband Derek and the year-older son, Sam. But a greater change occurs on the way back from her annual, solo pilgrimage to his grave – something very weird happens to the universe. She pops from one car to another, from under a cloudless sky to a slightly greyer one – and from her self as Elisa to a world where people call her Lisa, where she is plumper, in a different job, stiil married to Derek in the same home – but still the mother of two young men… Full review...
Phoenix by SF Said
Lucky thinks he is a normal Human boy. But one night, he dreams that the stars are singing to him and he can feel a mysterious power rising within him. When he wakes, his bedclothes are scorched. And when his mother finds out, Lucky's world is turned upside down and he finds himself on an alien spaceship, on the run, and in the middle of a warzone. Everything Lucky has been brought up to believe is being tested. The war between Human and Axxa is raging, so why does Lucky's mother trust alien renegades more than she does humans? Where is his father? What are the secrets his mother has kept from him all his life? Full review...
The Curiosity by Stephen P Kiernan
Microbiologist Kate Philo is a member of an Arctic expedition sent to locate life forms frozen in ice flows. Striking it lucky, she and the team find a human whom they reanimate once they get him back to their American lab. However new life brings new challenges. The man died over a century earlier and much has changed. The press is now omnipotent, his 'resurrection' offends religious fundamentalists and scientific ethics never saw this problem coming. To Kate, though, he's not a problem. He's Jeremiah, afraid, bewildered and in need of an ally. Full review...
All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
Em and Finn are being held prisoner by the Doctor. They never see each other but are able to communicate through the cell wall. This is a blessing but also a curse: they can each hear the interrogations and torture meted out to the other. Neither talks but how much can they take? And then Em finds a note hidden in her cell. It's from her future self and it tells of fourteen escapes. And fourteen failed trips back to the past to try to put things right. There's only one way left. Em must kill someone she loves. Full review...
Terra by Mitch Benn
Terra is different from everyone else on Fnrr and not only because she has vowels in her name. You see, Terra isn’t actually from Fnrr. Her adoptive father (Lbbp, a Fnrrn scientist) rescued her from her parents, the Bradshaws, on the planet Rrth in a moment of unthinking philanthropy. If only he'd done a little more thinking and little less philanthropy… Full review...
Seven Point Eight: The First Chronicle by Marie Harbon
Following several main characters - scientist Paul, businessman Max, remote viewer Tahra and mystery woman Ava - across two time frames spanning the 1940s to the present day, Seven Point Eight blends science fiction and fantasy in a sprawling, absorbing, diffuse novel that will attract fans of both genres. Full review...
What Lot's Wife Saw by Ioanna Bourazopoulou and Yannis Panas (Translator)
It's been over 20 years since The Overflow came, flooding half of Europe. Around the same time Violet Salt, a new multi-functional mineral, appeared, its production now governed globally by the mysterious, all-powerful Consortium. Meanwhile back in Europe The Colony, a haven for those escaping floods and indeed justice, is ruled by Governor Bera and six officials, the 'Purple Stars'. All seems to be well in a despotic, lawless way until the six wake up to the realisation that the Governor has died mysteriously in the night. The Consortium needs answers so choose the greatest crossword compiler of the age, Phileas Book, to investigate, whether he wants to or not. Full review...
Fragments by Dan Wells
I didn't have much hope for this book - the middle book in a series tends to be filler, and as Partials was so brilliant, I though it was going to be hard to top. I was very wrong. This book is mind-blowing. Full review...
The Wall by Marlen Haushofer
One morning our protagonist awakens to a world in which she appears to be the sole living human inhabitant. A mysterious transparent wall has been erected around a large area in the Austrian mountains where our narrator has been holidaying, a wall that is unbreakable and through which she can see that the world outside has come to a complete standstill. Our narrator is faced with living in total isolation and forced to learn how to survive. Full review...
Quicksilver by R J Anderson
Before I say anything else, I must warn you. Quicksilver is billed as a companion novel to Ultraviolet with the implication that you could read either first. You can't. You mustn't. So if you haven't read Ultraviolet, go no further.
Quicksilver picks up where Ultraviolet left off. But this time, synaesthete Alison is left behind and the story is told from the point of view of Tori Full review...
Necessary Evil: The Milkweed Triptych: Book Three by Ian Tregillis
Raybould Marsh has been sent back from the 1960s to the Second World War to avert end of the world while saving the life of baby Agnes. At least that's what he thinks he's doing it for. He's armed with a plan but, even if his friend and warlock Sir William Beauclerk and his own younger self help, there are unforeseen disadvantages in dabbling with time. And then of course there's the seer and ex-Nazi experiment, Gretel. Is she mad, bad or just has a funny way of showing her philanthropic side? We're all about to find out… Full review...
The Vanguard by SJ Griffin
Sorcha Blades and her four closest friends do the best they can with what they have. Living in a post-apocalyptic world, they are from the wrong side of the tracks. Unable to live easy and glittering lives like the elite, they scam and forage and hack their way to some degree of comfort and still manage to avoid the - very unpleasant - state security apparatus for the most part. Not that there's much state left for the security apparatus to protect. Full review...
Queen & Commander (A Hive Queen Novel) by Janine Southard
In Rhiannon's world, your entire future depends on your final school test results. Everyone is classified according to personality type and entry to any career or university depends upon your personality type. It's impossible to cheat the test... unless you're Rhiannon. Rhiannon should really be a Perceiver. But all her life she has wanted her own hive. And to achieve this, she must test as a Queen or Commander. And this she does. The only person to ever have manipulated the test. Rhiannon's future is set: leadership training, followed by a choice of Devoted to serve her, followed by command of a prestigious space ship and hive. Full review...
The Coldest War (Milkweed Triptych) by Ian Tregillis
England 1963: The war is over, Hitler defeated and the Russians (Britain's ally) retain most of mainland Europe. The Briton in the street believes that it was Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain that saved the nation but ex-naval intelligence officer Raybould 'Pip' Marsh and his former friend Lord William Beauclerk know differently. The nation was saved by warlocks like Lord Will, the same warlocks that are now being murdered. However, fighting over, Pip and Will are both war-weary and want to be left alone but the Secret Intelligence Service has other ideas. For the Nazi experimental 'willpower' children are now adult and assembling in England, still equipped with the super powers of their childhood. This means Will and Pip have old scores to settle and greater evils waiting to be faced… Yes… those greater evils are back. Full review...
Beyond Belief by Mark Lingane
Joshua Richards isn't the most successful PI; clients aren't exactly lining up around the block but he lives in hope that one day his luck will change… and it does. Within a couple of weeks he has a sudden plethora of enquirers; the bad news is that none of them seem to live long enough to pay him. Meanwhile elsewhere, the Engine powering the world (literally) is dying, although the populous is blissfully oblivious. Is there a connection? Joshua Richards doesn't know, but there seems to be a huge part of himself he's not acquainted with either… at least not yet. Full review...
Girl genius: Agatha H and the Clockwork Princess by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio
Nobody said that life on the road with a travelling show would be easy, but Master Payne’s Circus of Adventure seems to face more hazards than most. Firstly, there are those giant battle clanks lurking in the forest, waiting to reduce unsuspecting travellers to cinders. There are also prowling gangs of eerie Geisterdamen, or 'spider riders', with their ghostly glowing eyes and long hair. Nearby towns could be inhabited by revenants; misshapen zombie humans infected by Slaver Wasps, hungrily on the lookout for their next victim. But when a mysterious girl called Agatha and her talking cat join the troupe, that’s when the real danger begins... Full review...
Bedlam by Christopher Brookmyre
Ross Baker is a wage slave at Neurosphere, writing computer code for a new brain scanning system. His girlfriend, Carol, is not happy about the hours he puts into his job, thinking he's being played for a fool by doing extra work for no recognition. Ross thinks they're about to break up, but soon discovers their relationship is about to move to a level he was too busy to anticipate. After a rough morning, he agrees to have his brain scanned in one of the trial machines. Full review...
Girl Genius: Agatha H and the Airship City by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio
Agatha Clay has had a bad day. Waking up late was just the beginning. She got mugged in a dark alley on her way to university and her precious locket was stolen. Things did not get any better when she arrived at the university. When demonstrating her latest mechanical design, it malfunctioned and exploded in front of her instructor. Then, without warning, the faculty had an impromptu inspection by Baron Wulfenbach, the ruthless dictator who controls most of the continent. By the time the day was through, the university had been reduced to a pile of rubble and her beloved mentor killed. And then,of course, she had those blinding headaches to deal with. But if today was bad, tomorrow is set to be even worse... Full review...
The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M Banks
It's 25 years since Iain M Banks introduced us to the utopian Culture series of sci fi adventure books and The Hydrogen Sonata is the 13th in the series. One thing Banks does particularly well is to make his books completely accessible as stand alones, explaining the concept afresh each time without going over old ground for long time fans, of which there are many. In many ways, this is a good introduction for those who have yet to discover the joys of this excellent series because it's far more linear than some. He sometimes leaves even hardened Culture addicts struggling to work out what's going on with alternative realities before bringing them together, but there's little of that here. Full review...
The Martian War by Kevin J Anderson
Suppose H G Wells was not simply a skilled writer with a spectacular imagination, but was in fact centrally involved in a fantastical adventure which formed the basis for several of his most successful novels. Kevin J Anderson has supposed exactly this in his latest novel 'The Martian War'. Real historical figures such as Percival Lowell and T H Huxley share centre stage with famous Wellsian characters like Dr Moreau and Mr Cavor in a story that borrows elements from 'War of the Worlds', 'The First Men in the Moon', 'The Island of Doctor Moreau' and 'The Invisible Man'. Full review...
The Ascendant Stars by Michael Cobley
Space Opera has never been in more capable hands is the Guardian quote that concludes the blurb for this, Cobley's wrap up part of the Humanity's Fire trilogy that started with Seeds of Earth and continued through The Orphaned Worlds. It's hard to disagree, but it's also hard to get away – on this evidence – from the fact that Space Opera might be closer to Soap than Classical, when it comes to opera classification. Full review...
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
We are in North America in a near but post-Apocalyptic future. Those few humans to survive a pandemic have to be treated as carriers, and/or armed and desperate, and so are particularly of note to military-minded survivalist Bangley. And climate and eco-problems have killed off many common species, something closer to narrator Hig's heart, as he's a more placid, huntin', shootin' and fishin' guy. These two solitary men are an unlikely partnership, but both look out for each other in complementary ways. Bangley has his watch-tower, while Hig takes off in his Cessna to get away from it all, and his flights act as a first line of defense. But is it all life could be, for Hig and his dog and Bangley? What is Hig still to make of the last inviting contact he heard on his plane's radio - even if that was three years ago? Full review...
Communion Town by Sam Thompson
Communion Town – one city but it may as well be many as each person's perception of it is coloured by their experiences within it. Each chapter introduces us to a different story, a different viewpoint and therefore, practically a different city. Starting with the ominous, creepy story of Nicolas, through stories encapsulating such themes as recaptured friendship, murder and an enigmatic take on the life of a private investigator, we start to piece together the nature of Communion Town... or do we? Full review...
Connected by Simon Denman
Doug, a maths and computing undergraduate at Essex University, has just pulled the most amazing girl. So he's not really that interested in the file of fractals research best friend Kal has just sent him. But while Doug and Cindy are busily getting it on, something has gone horribly wrong for Kal and Doug emerges from afternoon delight to the horrific discovery that his friend has committed suicide. Miles away in the countryside, Peter is attending his brother's funeral. Martin was a musician but not a tortured artist and it seems inconceivable that he too would take his own life. But the trip, for Peter, is more than a family obligation - it's the chance of a break from a stale marriage and an opportunity to indulge in some guilty proximity to his newly-bereaved sister-in-law. Full review...
The Games by Ted Kosmatka
It's the near future and the Olympics go on, but not without changes. A new event has been added to those that we'd recognise: genetically engineered gladiatorial combat. This is no holds barred competition, with one rule: each country's gladiator must be devoid of any human DNA. Indeed, America is so good that their team has won all the last three games' golds, thanks to geneticist Dr Silas Williams, but this year is different. This year he has nothing to do with the design; someone sent a single design criterion to an experimental intelligence computer. (You just know that was a bad idea day don't you?) The design criteria is just one sentence, just words, but words can be misunderstood and misunderstanding can be devastating for more than just genetically manufactured gladiators. Full review...
Existence by David Brin
We are a few decades further into the 21st Century at the start of this sci-fi novel. The world is buckling under climate change, and over-population. Those with enough funds are completely wired into a virtual world, but wherever they live out their existence things are going to be changed, when a space-based labourer, clearing space junk from orbit, finds an alien artifact containing contact with various races in a sort of memory bank cum virtual reality. Where are the aliens that had previously been so silent while we sought for them with our Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence? What is the purpose and message behind this capsule? And who can be sure that this alleged First Contact was actually the first? Full review...