[[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.
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{{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
}}
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[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
Aaron Sheridan doesn't want to live anymore. His After his entire family is dead by his own hand, killed in a shuttle crash. Unable to deal with the guilt, one that he signs up for was piloting no less, Aaron Sheridan enlists in the Martian Fleet , fully expecting a fatal deployment to die in the ongoing Rim War. Instead, but instead ends he winds up at their most prestigious on Corinth Station, the Fleet's command school, Corinth Station. InitiallyAt first, he's detached from is apathetic towards the brutality of his instructors and the Machiavellian tactics scheming of the other students thereand staff, but after he sticks standing up for his only friend , he makes himself becomes a target of for the dreaded Caelus Erik, the most feared cadet on the station, Caelus ErikCorinth. Unsure of whom to trust and worried Scared that anything he does any further actions will make put others on his flight team targets as wellat risk, Aaron retreats deeper and deeper inside shuts himselfoff from everyone. HoweverBut, when he discovers that officer the staff on Corinth have a motive other than training is not the station's only purposeofficers, it becomes increasingly clear he begins to realise that risking everything is his all might be the safest thing he can do. .. [[Lakes of Mars by Merritt Graves|Full Review]]
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[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
If In 2031, genetic engineering and robotics is changing the game wasn’t fair world at an unprecedented rate, with a regimen known as Revision making people stronger, faster and smarter than ever before. Baseline humanity is slowly being rendered obsolete, it’s definitely not fair now. Or so thinks with people like 16-year-old Dorian Waters, part of being left by the ever-expanding portion of humanity who can’t afford wayside as these new superhumans dominate the nano-implant and genetic augmentation regimen known as Revisionworkforce. And because he can’t afford Without Revision, he can’t get into college. He can’t Dorian can't go to University and can't get a job. And when he sees the brilliant and mesmerizing Lena for the first timeso begins Dorian's slow spiral of self-destruction, he knows he doesn’t have a chance with her, either. Feeling thoroughly lost and exasperated, Dorian robs a house robbing houses with his best friendEthan to pay for his Revision, Ethan. Then they do it again. It’s thrilling and terrifying and deeply unsettling. But since they take so little each all the time that their targets don’t notice, they’re able desperately trying to keep at it until they have enough money saved upthis activity secret from his family. Once they do their first RevisionBut, their initial choices in self-enhancement start impacting their future choiceswith his psychopathic brother already suspicious of him and the police gaining ground, which in turn impact their future Revision––on and on in a downward spiral of self-destruction. Dorian desperately wants slowly begins to slow things down and figure out the kind of person realise that he really wants 's going to be, but with the police one step behind them and a contentious relationship with his brother, Jaden, threatening have to unravel risk everything, it’s the expedient choices that he’s finding himself more and more compelled to makestay ahead... [[Sunlight 24 by Merritt Graves|Full Review]]
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In the twenty-third century, humanity Humanity is enjoying at a comparative utopia. Yet life on Earth is about to change, foreverturning point. After Feriton Kane's investigative team has discovered investigation uncovers the worst threat ever to face mankind – and we've almost no time to fight back. The supposedly benign Olyix 's plan to harvest humanity, in order to carry us to their god at the end name of the universe. And as their agents conclude schemes down on earthgod, vast warships converge above the entire human race prepares to gather this cargofight back. Some factions push 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 live in hiding amongst the stars – although in an effort to hide from their aggressors, even though only a chosen few small percentage of humanity would make it out in timesurvive. But others refuse choose to break before the stormfight them head-on. As disaster loomshumanity comes face-to-face with the largest ever threat to their existence, animosities must old grudges will have to be set put aside to focus on just one goal: wiping obliterating this enemy from the face of creation. Even if it means preparing planning for a future this generation than none of them will never ever live to see... [[Salvation Lost by Peter F Hamilton|Full Review]]
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[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction]]
The last thing Sanda remembers is After her gunship exploding. She expected is destroyed in a battle, Sanda Greeve expects to be recovered by salvage-medics and to awaken wake up in a friendly handsmedical ward, patched-up fully healed and ready to rejoin get back into the fight. Instead However, instead she wakes up 230 years a quarter of a millenia later, on missing a deserted leg, aboard an enemy starship called The Light of Berossus - (or"Bero", as he the starship's rather grumpy AI prefers to call himself, 'Bero'). Bero tells Sanda that the war is lost. That long over, and that the entire star population of the system is dead. But The only option, it seems, is that to travel to the full story? After allnearest star system. But, in as the starship makes preparations for its decades-long voyage across the vastness of spacestars, anything it becomes clear to Sanda that something else is possible going on. . . [[Velocity Weapon by Megan E O'Keefe|Full Review]]
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The problem with Martine's fiction debut is that she makes the two commonest errors in SF writing: she tries to be too clever and she wants her fictional languages to be complex and rich and errs on the side of making them unpronounceable by most readers. I can see why she does both, but it's a disappointment because they're the blocks against which the brilliance of the book stumbles. [[A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine|Full Review]]
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===[[The Rose, the Night, and the Mirror by Mark Lingane]]===
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
Julian's family are getting pretty fed up with his perma-student status. They feel that the maths PHD candidate should start earning some money. To that end, they have managed to find him a job tutoring the children of a highly regarded politician. Julian bowls up at their strange, austere mansion with little in the way of expectation. Victor, the politician is not at home. But Esis, his wife, is. A beautiful but isolated woman, Esis shows little interest in her children and not much more in Julian. She directs him towards his room, the library in which he will teach the children, and the kitchen, whose chefbot will provide him with food. [[The Rose, the Night, and the Mirror by Mark Lingane|Full Review]]
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===[[Betrayed by Geoffrey Arnold]]===
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
In an extension of the story begun by Geoffrey Arnold in ''Ripped Apart'', he continues to tell the story of the Quantum twins. Born on a parallel world, these genetically identical twins interfered with an experiment and were hurtled through space-time to our earth - and a series of adventures ensued in the following books. When we rejoin them in ''Betrayed'' we find Tullia struggling to adapt to life in the bush - adopted by a Bushman family and made part of a tribe. Twin Qwelby however, is not doing so well - shocked by the violence on the earth. Rescued by an old friend, he then tries to help a girl called Xaala - but her ulterior motives may well prove to drive a wedge between the twins as they try to reconnect... [[Betrayed by Geoffrey Arnold|Full Review]]
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===[[The Passengers by John Marrs]]===
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]]
In the near future, self-drive cars are the norm - a convenient and easy way of transport. However, when someone hacks into the systems of eight self-drive cars, their passengers are set on a fatal collision course. As everyday commutes turn into terror-filled journeys, the public have to judge who should survive. But with every aspect of these passangers being examined by the public - will they turn out to be what they seem? [[The Passengers by John Marrs|Full Review]]
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===[[Beneath the World, A Sea by Chris Beckett]]===
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
South America, 1990. Ben Ronson, a British police officer, arrives in a mysterious forest to investigate a spate of killings of Duendes. These silent, vaguely humanoid creatures - with long limbs and black button eyes - have a strange psychic effect on people, unleashing the subconscious and exposing their innermost thoughts and fears. Ben becomes fascinated by the Duendes, but the closer he gets, the more he begins to unravel, with terrifying results... [[Beneath the World, A Sea by Chris Beckett|Full Review]]
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===[[Zero Bomb by M T Hill]]===
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
Meet Remi. He's a fan of running, and indeed has been – from the wife and life he abandoned when they buried their seven year old daughter. Now working in London as a courier, he's taking a routine piece of samizdat literature across town when he's seemingly attacked by a driverless car. Struggling to keep to his schedule, he takes to the Tube, where mysterious people sit with him – and regale him with cryptic clues that mention his dead child. Slowly, woozily, he's drawn into a completely surreal scenario, as he tries to find out what is wanted of him, and by whom – and indeed, who he himself even is. [[Zero Bomb by M T Hill|Full Review]]
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===[[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'', Nelson 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 F Boggs|Full Review]]
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===[[The City In The Middle Of The Night by Charlie Jane Anders]]===
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
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]]
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===[[Salvation by Peter F Hamilton]]===
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
Apparently the term ''space opera'' was coined in 1941 as a pejorative. It was borrowed not from the high-brow musical art form, but from the common or garden 'soap opera'. It related to a particular kind of science fiction which the coiner (one Wilson Tucker) described as a ''hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn, spaceship yarn". It would be fifty years later before the term started to be re-appropriated to cover – if still the same themes of distant futures, military conflict, heroism and a simplistic set of values – more literary, more expansive works. The term is now taken as compliment. [[Salvation by Peter F Hamilton|Full Review]]
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===[[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]]
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===[[Rosewater by Tade Thompson]]===
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
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]]
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