Changes

From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to search
no edit summary
[[Category:Science Fiction|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Science Fiction]]__NOTOC__<!-- Remove -->
{{Frontpage
|author= Laura Lam and Elizabeth May
|title= Seven Devils
|rating= 4
|genre= Science Fiction
|summary= Eris is one of the foremost operatives of the Novantae, a resistance movement fighting against the ruthlessly expansionist Tholosian Empire – an Empire she was destined to inherit in her past life as Princess Discordia, whom everyone believed has been dead for years. Clo, an ace pilot for the Novantae, has a mission: hijack a Tholosian spacecraft to gather information vital to the war effort. Although she's less than pleased to discover that her former friend Eris is her partner on this mission. Things get more interesting as the mission commences; aboard the ship are three defectors with a secret that could potentially cripple the Empire. Eris's brother Damocles, the runner-up heir to the Empire, is plotting to disrupt peace talks between Tholos and the last of the free alien species. It's a race against time as the rebels move to put a stop Damocles' plans, with millions of lives hanging in the balance…
|isbn=1473231140
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Frederic Beigbeder and Frank Wynne (translator)
|title=A Life Without End
|rating=4
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=I looked at the calendar the other week, and disappointedly realised I have a birthday this year – I know, yet another one. It won't be one of the major numbers, but the time when I have the same number as Heinz varieties looms on the horizon. And then a few of the big 0-numbers, and if all goes well, I'll be an OBE. (Which of course stands for Over Bloody Eighty.) Now if that's the extent of my mid-life crisis, I guess I have to be happy. Our author here doesn't use that exact phrase, but he might be said to be living one. Determined to find out how to prolong life for as long as he wants – he would like to see 400 – he hops right into bed with the assistant to the first geneticist he interviews, and they end up with a child, which is at least a way of continuing the life of his genes, and a motive to keep on going. But how can he get to not flick the 'final way out' switch, especially when foie gras tastes so nice?
|isbn=1642860670
}}
{{Frontpage
|author= Adrian Tchaikovsky
|title= The Doors of Eden
|rating= 4.5
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary= Wow – this novel is gigantic, in every sense of the word. "Epic" is a word that's thrown around a lot these days, but if a book ever earned the name it's this one. It's a doorstopper full of big ideas, and at times it almost felt too big for my brain.
|isbn=1509865888
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=B0867X8NW7
|title=Access Point
|author=T R Gabbay
|rating=4
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=When we first meet Ula Mishkin she's having something of a professional success: using a device of her own invention she's helped a man who has been blind for decades to see an image of a hummingbird. She's thirty-six years old and her life is about to change radically as, cycling home, she's involved in an accident with a bus. It's two years before we meet her again and in the meantime, she's spent 392 days in a coma and now walks with a stick. A professional colleague persuades Ula that she should let out a spare bedroom to bring in some income.
}}
{{Frontpage
|author= M R Carey
|title= The Book of Koli
|rating= 4
|genre= Science Fiction
|summary= ''The Book of Koli'' is the first in a post-apocalyptic trilogy, titled ''The Rampart Trilogy'', by M.R. Carey. The novel is set in a world where nature has turned against humans. Trees move as fast as animals to crush their prey and then soak up their blood. Humans have eked out a small existence in isolated villages. They are primitive except for their reverence of 'old tech'. This is technology from the old world that seems to only work for certain chosen people. However, Koli, a young woodsmith, uncovers a secret about this technology that will upend his life and take him on a perilous journey.
|isbn=0316477532
}}
{{Frontpage
|author= Kirsty Applebaum
|title= Troofriend
|rating= 4.5
|genre= Confident Readers
|summary= Are you tired of your child's classmates constantly being horrible to them? Do you want your child to have some positive experiences with people? Introducing the new Jenson & Jenson Troofriend 560 Mark IV android! These state-of-the-art machines are capable of emulating the full range of human emotions without lying, stealing or bullying. They're the perfect companion for any child! Any mention that these androids are beginning to develop real human feelings are just unsubstantiated rumours and have absolutely no basis in reality…right?
|isbn=1788003470
}}
{{Frontpage
|author= N K Jemisin
|title= The City We Became
|rating= 4
|genre= Science Fiction
|summary= New York is being born, the city has reached critical mass and has matured into a living almost-breathing entity and is ready to make it's way out into the world. Before it can be established, an ancient evil appears to attempt to destroy it just as it destroyed Atlantis and other forgotten places. The city is not alone through the birthing process, people who embody the values are selected to become the living embodiment of the city, some cities have one, some have twelve and New York has six. Together these human-embodiments must defeat the woman in white and save New York from very real destruction. But these are five different boroughs which don't always see eye to eye, it's a personality clash on an epic scale and unity is both critical and not remotely guaranteed.
|isbn=0356512665
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Cixin Liu
|title=Death's End
|rating=5
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary= If I'd been paying more attention when I picked this book up, I would have put it back on the shelf. Not because I didn't want to read it, but because I'd have figured out that it was the final part of a trilogy. Coming in part way through a saga is never the easiest thing to do and it's particularly true in science fiction because without knowing the back-story there are not just people whose names mean nothing to you (when it's assumed they will) but there are whole concepts that you won't understand. This latter is particularly true of Cixin Liu's work – his range is phenomenal. George R R Martin, who knows a thing or two about world-creation, described it as ''a unique blend of scientific and philosophical speculation, conspiracy theory and cosmology''. All of that and more.
|isbn=1784971650
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Andy Briggs
|title=Ctrl+S
|rating=5
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary= In the near future, life's pretty good. Climate change has been brought under control, the bee population has been brought back from near-extinction, and 3D printing has made things cheaper and quicker than ever before. But the biggest triumph has got to be SPACE, a simulated world that has the ability to mimic emotions as well as images. But, as with every technology, there is the potential for it to be abused. Every day, people are being kidnapped, plugged into SPACE and have their emotions and feelings harvested for the richest and sickest members of society. And now Theo's mum has gone missing. As he follows the trail left by her, he uncovers a vast conspiracy that would use any means necessary to stop him from finding out where his mum has gone...
|isbn=1409184641
}}
{{Frontpage
|author= Stephen Baxter
|title= World Engines: Destroyer
|rating= 4
|genre= Science Fiction
|summary= The last thing Colonel Reid Malenfant remembers is his Space Shuttle crashing - until he wakes up in the mid-24th Century, on an Earth massively depopulated and patiently waiting for the coming apocalypse. Suffering from severe culture shock, he tries to adjust to this new world. But all of this is changed when he receives a message from his wife Emma...who died on a mission to Phobos all the way back in 2004. As it slowly dawns on him that their timelines don't match up, he resolves to find a way to Phobos. But, this new society doesn't believe in space travel and no-one is willing to help him, until he meets a driven young woman who desperately wants to explore as much as he does...
|isbn=1473223172
}}
{|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->
<!-- Jason Boggs -->
|-
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:154564134X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/154564134X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Dragon's Harvest by Jason F Boggs]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] Young Nelson Jones was a young and gifted military cadet in the fascist new world order called the 'New Era'. As his experiences led him on a path of conflict and self-discovery, he became a changed man. Picking up 20 months after the events of ''The Devil's Dragon'', Nathan is on an expedition to uncover the mystery of the sungates, when a terrible secret leads to horrifying discoveries for all involved. Meanwhile, the humans and the Aesini fight for their very existence, as Nelson's nemesis, Major Ira Billis, finds a terrifying new ally in a quest to restore the New Era to glory. As Nelson and his friends race against the clock in order to defeat this new threat, they find themselves facing a power beyond imagination… [[The Dragon's Harvest by Jason Boggs|Full Review]] <!-- Anders Graves -->
|-
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:1785653199194927201X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785653199194927201X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[The City In The Middle Of The Night Lakes of Mars by Charlie Jane AndersMerritt Graves]]=== [[image:34.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] After his entire family is killed in a shuttle crash, one that he was piloting no less, Aaron Sheridan enlists in the Martian Fleet, fully expecting to die in the ongoing Rim War. Instead, he winds up on Corinth Station, the Fleet's command school. At first, he is apathetic towards the brutality and scheming of the students and staff, but after standing up for his only friend, he becomes a target for the dreaded Caelus Erik, the most feared cadet on Corinth. Scared that any further actions will put others on his flight team at risk, Aaron shuts himself off from everyone. But, when he discovers that the staff on Corinth have a motive other than training officers, he begins to realise that risking his all might be the safest thing he can do... [[Lakes of Mars by Merritt Graves|Full Review]]
January is a dying planet. It wasn't exactly pleasant to begin with. One half is scorching sunlight, pure, blazing heat, and totally uninhabitable. The other half is pure darkness and ice, where a creature can freeze to death in seconds, and totally uninhabitable. In the middle is a brief twilight that is barely survivable. Life is a knife-edge, stray too close to one side you die, to close to the other, you die and yet the heat from the sun and the water from the ice are necessary for life. Life for the inhabitants of January is long, and hard, and arduous, will anything ever change? [[The City In The Middle Of The Night by Charlie Jane Anders|Full Review]] <!-- Hamilton Merritt Graves -->
|-
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:14472813221949272028.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/14472813221949272028/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[Salvation by Peter F Hamilton]]===
===[[Sunlight 24 by Merritt Graves]]=== [[image:3.5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
Apparently In 2031, genetic engineering and robotics is changing the term ''space opera'' was coined in 1941 world at an unprecedented rate, with a regimen known as a pejorativeRevision making people stronger, faster and smarter than ever before. It was borrowed not from Baseline humanity is slowly being rendered obsolete, with people like 16-year-old Dorian Waters being left by the wayside as these new superhumans dominate the high-brow musical art formworkforce. Without Revision, but from the common or garden Dorian can'soap operat go to University and can't get a job. It related to a particular kind And so begins Dorian's slow spiral of science fiction which the coiner (one Wilson Tucker) described as a ''hackyself-destruction, grindingrobbing houses with his best friend Ethan to pay for his Revision, stinking, outworn, spaceship yarn". It would be fifty years later before all the term started time desperately trying to be re-appropriated to cover – if still the same themes keep this activity secret from his family. But, with his psychopathic brother already suspicious of distant futures, military conflict, heroism him and a simplistic set of values – more literarythe police gaining ground, more expansive worksDorian slowly begins to realise that he's going to have to risk everything to stay ahead.. The term is now taken as compliment. [[Salvation Sunlight 24 by Peter F HamiltonMerritt Graves|Full Review]]
<!-- Chadwick -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:0349700249.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0349700249/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[XX by Angela Chadwick]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:LGBT Fiction|LGBT Fiction]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] Angela Chadwick's debut novel explores the possibility of two women being able to produce a baby girl through a process called Ovum-to-Ovum fertilisation. It centres around Rosie and Jules who take part in the first ever clinical trial that would allow them to have a child of their own without the need for a sperm donor or any other male intervention. What follows is a story that shows the harshness and at times disgraceful behaviour of the media, and the general public, when faced with a controversial technique that could lead to the demise of men. [[XX by Angela Chadwick|Full Review]] <!-- Thompson Peter F Hamilton -->
|-
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:03565113671447281357.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/03565113671447281357/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[Rosewater Salvation Lost by Tade ThompsonPeter F Hamilton]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction]]
[[image:5starHumanity is at a turning point. After Feriton Kane's investigation uncovers the supposedly benign Olyix's plan to harvest humanity in the name of their god, the entire human race prepares to fight back. But when the Olyix's harvesting ships appear and start heading towards Earth, and Olyix-derived technology begins preparing them for transportation, humanity realises that they are vastly outnumbered and outgunned. Some people to flee, taking to the stars in an effort to hide from their aggressors, even though only a small percentage of humanity would survive. But others choose to fight them head-on. As humanity comes face-to-face with the largest ever threat to their existence, old grudges will have to be put aside to focus on obliterating this enemy. Even if it means planning for a future than none of them will ever live to see...jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science FictionSalvation Lost by Peter F Hamilton|Science FictionFull Review]]
Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious alien biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry and the helpless - people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumoured healing powers. Kaaro is a government agent with a criminal past. He has seen inside the biodome, and doesn't care to again - but when something begins killing off others like himself, Kaaro must defy his masters to search for an answer, facing his dark history and coming to a realisation about a horrifying future. [[Rosewater by Tade Thompson|Full Review]] <!-- Rajaniemi Megan E O'Keefe -->
|-
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:14732032870356512223.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/14732032870356512223/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[Summerland Velocity Weapon by Hannu RajaniemiMegan E O'Keefe]]=== [[image:4star4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dystopian Fiction|Dystopian Fiction]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]] Imagine After her gunship is destroyed in a world battle, Sanda Greeve expects to wake up in which death was no longer something to fear but something to aspire a friendly medical ward, fully healed and ready toget back into the fight. After discovery However, instead she wakes up a quarter of the afterlifea millenia later, missing a leg, the British Empire has extended its reach into Summerlandaboard an enemy starship called The Light of Berossus (or "Bero", as the Big Smoke for the recently deceasedstarship's rather grumpy AI prefers to call himself). In 1938 Bero tells Sanda that the British Empire war is caught up in a race against Soviet spies long over, and dealing with a mole buried deep in that the heart entire population of Summerlandthe system is dead. When Rachel WhiteThe only option, an ambitious SIS agentit seems, is to travel to the nearest star system. But, becomes suspicious about as the starship makes preparations for its decades-long voyage across the potential rogue agentstars, she must decide how far she is willing it becomes clear to go and how much she Sanda that something else is willing to risk to uncover the truthgoing on... [[Summerland Velocity Weapon by Hannu RajaniemiMegan E O'Keefe|Full Review]]
<!-- Setchfield Vaughn -->
|-
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:17856570970751568228.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/17856570970751568228/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[The War in Across the Dark Void by Nick SetchfieldS K Vaughn]]===
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] Europe – 1963. The world is used to the constant tensions between the West and Russia, with the Cold War a seemingly never ending threat in the lives of everyday people. What they don't know however, is that the real cold war is fought on the borders of this world, far from prying eyes at the edges of the light. British Intelligence agent Christopher Winter is forced to flee London when an assassination attempt goes horribly wrong, and is forced into a tense, unwelcome alliance with the lethal Karina Lazarova. As the threats rise, Christopher finds himself caught in a quest for centuries old hidden knowledge – an occult secret that will give instant supremacy to whichever nation possesses it. Racing against the enemy, Christopher is taken from ruins in Bavaria through to the haunted Hungarian border, all in search of something unholy – born of the power of white fire and black glass. It's a world of treachery, blood and magic. A world at war in the dark. [[The War in the Dark by Nick Setchfield|Full Review]] <!-- Dixen -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471406849.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471406849/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Ascension by Victor Dixen]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] Six girls, six boys. Each in the two separate bays of a single spaceship. They have six minutes each week to seduce and to make their choices, under the unblinking eye of the on-board cameras. They are the contenders in the Genesis programme, the world's craziest speed-dating show ever, aimed at creating the first human colony on Mars. Leonor, an 18 year old orphan, is one of the chosen ones. She has signed up for glory. She has signed up for love. She has signed up for a one-way ticket. Even if the dream turns to a nightmare, it is too late for regrets. [[Ascension by Victor Dixen|Full Review]] <!-- Ruocchio-->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0756413001.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0756413001/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Empire of Silence (Sun Eater) by Christopher Ruocchio]]=== [[image:5star4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] Hadrian Marlowe sits in the distant future writing the true account of his life to add context to a tale everyone in the Empire knows already. ''Empire of Silence'' is a hero's quest but it is made clear from the start that it will not end that way. We are millennia in the future, Earth has been lost and great houses rule portions of a vast empire. Hadrian Marlowe is set to inherit one of the great houses but following some terrible news he decides upon a new path instead. [[Empire of Silence (Sun Eater) by Christopher Ruocchio|Full Review]]  <!-- Reynolds -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Reynolds_Fire.jpg|left|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0575090588/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Elysium Fire by Alastair Reynolds]]===
[[image:5starSea epics? So 20th century. Try a space epic.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:CrimeAcross the Void by S K Vaughn|CrimeFull Review]]
What happens when Utopia is achieved? When everyone is linked neurologically to everyone else and people vote on each minor decision so every aspect of life is truly democratic? Everyone knows everything and everyone decides everything so what can possibly go wrong? Except people are dying, melting to be precise, and no one knows how, or why, or who could be next. In such a circumstance who can be trusted to solve this crime and do so without spreading panic? What if the only people who can be trusted have already let you down once before? [[Elysium Fire by Alastair Reynolds|Full Review]] <!-- Quine Chiang -->
|-
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:Quine Beasts1529014484.jpg|left|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/09927549411529014484/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[The Beasts of Electra Drive Exhalation by Rohan QuineTed Chiang]]===
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:FantasyShort Stories|FantasyShort Stories]]
Meet Jaymi. He's a worldOver the past twenty-class video games designereight years Ted Chiang has published fifteen science fiction short stories, and fresh to these magnificent stories have won twenty-seven major science fiction awards so if you are a new mansion in science fiction fan it is likely that you have already come across some of the Hollywood Hills on the basis of some recent successwork by Ted Chiang. But he's seen the future and he doesnIf you haven't like it. His current employers, able to bring any amount of class, skill and culture to the world of gameplay, are beset on appealing than take this opportunity to the most lunkheaded and lowest common denominators insteaddo so now. Indeed, their next big thing will change the world for the worse – it Trust me; your imagination will be a massively disturbing environment, where people progress through the world of the entity by spreading fake news about anyone and everyone else on the planet, whether they're playing along or not, and by getting kind of prestige points on spoiling and shaming anything beyond a user-accepted, algorithm-designed, status quo. With a much more Reithian approach, Jaymi goes freelance, and sets up a way of restoring the balance with a launch of his own, where aspects of his more humanitarian mind are played out by avatars of him in the gamegrateful. He sees this as a way to improve society and get his own back – but the chance of getting revenge more quickly comes about when those avatars leave their encoded background, and become fully playable characters in reality… [[The Beasts of Electra Drive Exhalation by Rohan QuineTed Chiang|Full Review]]
<!-- Doescher -->
|-
| style="''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"''|[[image:Doescher_Will168369094X.jpg|left|link=httpshttp://www.amazon.co.uk/gpdp/product168369094X/159474985Xref=nosim?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]
| style="''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"''|===[[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a man called William Shakespeare, who was able Get Thee Back to create a series of dramatic histories full of machinations most foul, rulers most evil and rebellious heroes and heroines most sturdy. You may or may not have noticed the cinematic version of his original stage play for ''The Force Doth Awaken'', but here at last we get the actual script, complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to-before droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, and people keeping it in the family til it hurts. And if you need further encouragement, don't forget his audience only demanded three parts of Henry VI – here the series is so popular we're on to part seven – surely making this over twice as good… [[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh Future! by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] <!-- Brookmyre -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Brookmyre_Places.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/035650624X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=035650624X]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Places in the Darkness by Chris Brookmyre]]===
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] Living in 2017 has me longing to live in some sort of futuristic Utopia, in a world of free thinking and no major crime. Perhaps in a Space Station high above the Earth were the greatest minds have travelled so that they can build a vessel that will send the next generations of humans to populate new planets. You know that as soon as you arrive it will be the same old problems. You can't really have a Utopia with people in it, can you? [[Places in the Darkness by Chris Brookmyre|Full Review]] <!-- Curtis -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Curtis_Water.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0995465754?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0995465754]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Water & Glass by Abi Curtis]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Dystopian Fiction|Dystopian Fiction]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] Something has happened, something very nasty and on a submarine a pregnant elephant is one of only a handful of animals living below the waves. We follow Nerissa Crane, a vet, as she remembers recent events, looks after the animals and falls into a world of intrigue. It is difficult to properly review this book without giving too much away. There will be mild spoilers throughout this right from the start but I will try to avoid the main ones. [[Water & Glass by Abi Curtis|Full Review]] <!-- Dick -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Dick_Electric.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1473223288?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1473223288]] ===[[Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams by Philip K Dick]]===  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|[[image:3star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Philip K Dick's stories were originally published in the 50s, but they are more present than past. On the big screen ''Blade Runner 2049'' relaunched the Dick-inspired cult classic to reviews of pure praise; and on slightly smaller screens, Channel 4 has adapted the author's short stories for TV. Startlingly, Dick's current relevance reaches beyond fiction and into the factual: his topics from intrusive advertising and loss of privacy to the increasing machination of society are all headline material in today's news. It is as if half a century after their inception, Dick's electric dreams are becoming reality. [[Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams by Philip K Dick|Full Review]] <!-- Goss -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Goss_600.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785942719]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|Children's Rhymes and Verse]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Consider the Doctor. Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he have to hand out each year, were he to keep in touch with even half of his companions? He would certainly need a few novelty gifts for some of them, say, for example, whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the life of a Time Lord and that of some of his friends and enemies. As luck would have it, he has the space in his TARDIS to stock up in advance, so my advice to him – sorry, her – would be to pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and get himself ready. And if you're working on a shorter timescale, with a shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, well my advice is pretty much the same. [[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies|Full Review]] <!-- Mann -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Mann_Ghosts.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1783294183/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Ghosts of Empire by George Mann]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
Taking on A long time ago, in a band of undead Mummies will take publishing house far away, [[:Category:Ian Doescher|someone]] thought it out of wonderfully wacky to rewrite the best story of us Star Wars in Shakespearean pentameter, colliding two entirely different genres and styles in such a holiday may be neededclever way they seemed perfectly suited. If you are from New York there are not many It was then duly repeated for all the other cities worldwide that could impress youfilms in the main Star Wars cycle, and clearly someone's buffing their quills ready for Episode Nine, but London is one the title of themwhich became public knowledge the day before I write. Surely In the hiatus, a nice visit to Englandhowever, far from the hustle and bustle of effort has been made to see if the Big Applesame shtick works with other texts, will help you and to relaxriff on other seemingly unlikely source materials in iambs. It is not as if Russian Tsarists are on And could we have anything more suitably unsuitable-seeming than Back to the loose Future, with magical powers or the events are conspiring to raise the sleeping power its tales of Albion from its slumber. Is ittime travel, bullying, and parent/child strife like no other? [[Ghosts of Empire William Shakespeare's Get Thee Back to the Future! by George MannIan Doescher|Full Review]]
<!-- Weir Martine -->
|-
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:Weir_Artemis1529001579.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/00919569431529001579/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[Artemis A Memory Called Empire by Andy WeirArkady Martine]]===
[[image:34.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
Welcome to Artemis, the first city on the moon. A powerhouse for the rich and a once in a lifetime trip for earth tourists, and also a place a small community of citizens call home. Jazz Bashara is one such citizen. She came to Artemis The problem with her father aged six, itMartine's fiction debut is that she makes the only place she's ever known but she wouldn't say two commonest errors in SF writing: she's flourishing. In fact, the phrase most often used tries to describe Jazz is a waste of talent. Jazz lives in the low end of town, sleeping on a bunk, using a shared bathroom, which is all be too clever and she can afford through wants her job as a porter. However, Jazz dreams above all else of being fictional languages to be complex and rich and to this end, she has set up a errs on the side business of illegal smuggling activitymaking them unpronounceable by most readers. When one of Jazz I can see why she does both, but it's regular clients wants her to step up from petty criminal to major criminal for a handsome reward, it is just too tempting to refuse. What Jazz doesndisappointment because they't know is all re the blocks against which the brilliance of the facts behind what she is being asked to dobook stumbles. [[Artemis A Memory Called Empire by Andy WeirArkady Martine|Full Review]]
<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->
|}

Navigation menu