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[[Category:New Reviews|Science Fiction]]{{adsense2}}__NOTOC__<!-- Remove -->{{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover|title=The Box of Red Brocade (Chronoptika)All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt|author=Catherine FisherBenjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=4.5|genre=TeensScience Fiction|summary=Ok. Let's catch you 'Opening up. Jake's father is still lost in time. Venn's wife is still dead. Summer, the Queen new ways of thinking about the Shee, still hasn't made Venn her husband. Sarah still hasn't prevented the destruction shape of the future by Janusthings to come. 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.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444912631</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|title=Familiar|author=J Robert Lennon|rating=4I've heard it said that 'technology' is what happens after you're eighteen.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Is Well, I must confess that there have been more than a greater change few decades of technology in the life of a middle-aged woman than the death of her teenage son? my lifetime. Elisa might have thought not, having been forced I've kept up reasonably well with what's advantageous to bury fifteen year old Silas, and try and move on me but I'm left with her husband Derek and the yearfeeling that it's all getting away from me. Some of it is - frankly -older son, Samquite frightening. But a greater change occurs on Of course, I could research the possibilities and the way back from her annual, solo pilgrimage to his grave – something very weird happens to probabilities and end up down rabbit holes without really understanding whether I'm reading someone who knows what they're talking about or the universelatest conspiracy theorist. She pops from one car to another, from under a cloudless sky to a slightly greyer one – I needed people I knew I could trust and from her self as Elisa to a world where people call her Lisa, where she is plumper, who could deliver information in a different job, stiil married to Derek in the same home – but still the mother of two young men…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846689473</amazonuk>way I could understand.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|titleauthor=PhoenixSylvie Cathrall|authortitle=SF SaidA Letter to the Luminous Deep|rating=4.5|genre=Confident ReadersScience Fiction|summary=Lucky thinks he is There are few greater joys than a normal Human boy. But one night, he dreams that the stars are singing book which lives up to him and he can feel a mysterious power rising within him. When he wakes, his bedclothes are scorchedcompelling premise. And when his mother finds out, Lucky's world this is turned upside down and he finds himself on an alien spaceship, on the run, and in the middle one of a warzonethem. 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? |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>038561814X</amazonuk>0356522776

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Stephen P Kiernan1803816759|title=The CuriosityUnravelling|author=Will Gibson

|summary=Microbiologist Kate Philo It's 2038 and Joe is a member bored cop policing the wealthy and peaceful New York City. Joe longs for a bit of an Arctic expedition sent adventure and to locate get stuck into some really gritty crime detection. But then something goes horribly wrong with the AI system that now runs everything, making life forms frozen in ice flows. Striking it luckyeasier for many, she and the team find a human whom they reanimate once they get him back riots start to their American labspread. However new life brings new challengesFinally, Joe gets to do some real policing. The man died over a century earlier In the aftermath of the rioting global pop star Suki is kidnapped and much has changedJoe is assigned to bring her home. The press is now omnipotentJoe isn't the only one trying to save Suki - Dylan, his 'resurrection' offends religious fundamentalists a British superfan and scientific ethics never saw this problem coming. To Katetech nerd, though, he's not a problemis also on the case. HeWhat went wrong? Did the system fail or was it hacked? And how is Suki's Jeremiah, afraid, bewildered and in need of an ally.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848548753</amazonuk>kidnapping connected?

 {{newreviewFrontpage|titleisbn=All Our YesterdaysB0CP95J1CG|authortitle=Cristin Terrill|rating=4|genre=Teens|summary=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. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408835193</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewOf Ghosts & Broken Promises|author=Mitch Benn|title=TerraMark Lingane

|summary=Terra Ronan's not entirely sure why he decides to go to the party but his interest is different from everyone else on Fnrr and not only because she has vowels in her namepiqued by the way it arrived. You see, Terra isn’t actually from Fnrr. Her adoptive father (Lbbp, And it seems like a Fnrrn scientist) rescued her good opportunity to get out of his room and away from her parents, the Bradshawsonline activities he makes a living at. So he makes his way there, on dodging the planet Rrth in a moment buses that make up most of unthinking philanthropythe traffic and watching the local energy storage indicator lights. Should be enough power. Hopefully. If only he'd done a little more thinking and little less philanthropy…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0575132086</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Marie HarbonK P O'Donnell|title=Seven Point Eight: The First ChronicleVital Link (A Spark in the Ashes)

|summary=Following several main characters VL- scientist Paul15, businessman Maxa prototype robot, remote viewer Tahra and mystery woman Ava - across two time frames spanning the 1940s is desperate 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.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B005IBYKC0</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Ioanna Bourazopoulou and Yannis Panas (Translator)|title=What Lot's Wife Saw|rating=4|genre=Science Fiction|summary= It's been over 20 years since The Overflow came, flooding half of Europeunderstand who she is. Around the same time Violet SaltUnfortunately, a new multi-functional mineral, appearedbefore she could find any answers, its production now governed globally by the mysteriousworld ended, all-powerful Consortium. Meanwhile back consumed 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 an apocalyptic war between the greatest crossword compiler nations of the age, Phileas Book, to investigate, whether he wants to or notDrexel and Renada.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845025474</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Dan Wells|title=Fragments|rating=5|genre=Teens|summary=I didn't have much hope for this book Over half- the middle book in a series tends to be filler-century later, and as [[Partials by Dan Wells|Partials]] was so brilliant, I though it was going to be hard civilisation is starting to top. I was very wrongrebuild. This book Dr Amelia Wong is mind-blowing.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007465238</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Marlen Haushofer|title=The Wall|rating=3|genre=Science Fiction|summary=One morning our protagonist awakens determined to continue her father's legacy, building 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 machines and through which she humans can see that the world outside has come to a complete standstill. Our narrator is faced with living live together in total isolation harmony, but internal frictions and forced to learn how to surviveexternal enemies might bring it all crashing down again. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0704373114</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=R J Craig Anderson|title=Quicksilver|rating=4|genre=Teens|summary=Before I say anything else, I ''must'' warn you. ''Quicksilver'' is billed as leader of a companion novel to [[Ultraviolet by R J Anderson|Ultraviolet]] with group of salvagers called the implication that you could read either firstExhumers, has his entire life turned upside down when he unearths a prototype combat robot: none other than VL-15 herself. You canEven after being buried for 65 years, her determination hasn't. You mustn't. So if you haven't read ''Ultraviolet''diminished in the slightest, go and no further. ''Quicksilver'' picks up where [[Ultraviolet by R J Anderson|Ultraviolet]] left off. But this timeerrant machine, synaesthete Alison is left behind no savage human tribe and the story is told from the point of view of Torinot even Drexel's ravaged ecosystem will stop her on her quest for answers…|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1408316285</amazonuk>B0CKRYFRZM

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Ian TregillisEmily Tesh|title=Necessary Evil: The Milkweed Triptych: Book ThreeSome Desperate Glory

|summary=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. HeWhile Earth's armed with a plan butchildren live, 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? Weenemy shall fear us're all about to find out…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>035650171X</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=SJ Griffin|title=The Vanguard|rating=4|genre=Dystopian Fiction|summary=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. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00904MC30</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Janine Southard|title=Queen & Commander (A Hive Queen Novel)|rating=3.5|genre=Science Fiction|summary=In Rhiannon's worldFollowing the destruction of the Earth, amongst a rare number of survivors, your entire future depends Kyr has been raised on your final school test results. Everyone is classified according Gaea Station – the home of the last scraps of humanity – and trained relentlessly to personality type avenge her people and entry to any career or university depends upon your personality type. It's impossible to cheat the test... unless you're Rhiannon. Rhiannon world that should really be a Perceiverhave been hers. But all All her life , she has wanted her own hive. And been conditioned to achieve thisfall in line, 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 fulfil her, followed by command of a prestigious space ship duty and hiveensure that humanity perseveres. |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>B00BRM30SE</amazonuk>0356521834

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Ian TregillisM R Carey|title=The Coldest War (Milkweed Triptych)Infinity Gate

|summary= England 1963: The war is over, Hitler defeated and the Russians (BritainI'm annoyingly picky when it comes to science fiction. Not because it's ally) retain most a genre I dislike – nothing of mainland Europethe sort. The Briton in the street believes that My standards are high precisely because it was Dunkirk 's a hard genre to get right – and the Battle of Britain that saved the nation but ex-naval intelligence officer Raybould when it'Pips bad, it' Marsh and his former friend Lord William Beauclerk know differentlys often terrible. The nation was saved by warlocks like Lord Will, But the same warlocks that are now being murderedpremise of Infinity Gate had me hooked. HoweverA concept this intriguing felt like a high-stakes gamble: if it was done well, fighting over, Pip and Will are both war-weary and want to it'd be left alone but the Secret Intelligence Service has other ideasfantastic. 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 backSo this is where I sum up that premise.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0356501701</amazonuk>0356518043

{{newreview|author=Mark Lingane|title=Beyond Belief|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=Joshua Richards isn't the most successful PI; clients aren't exactly lining up Beautiful Shining People'' revolves around the block but he lives in hope that one day his luck will change… question of identity and acceptance. Of what it doesmeans to be human. Within a couple of weeks he has a sudden plethora of enquirers; the bad news Of what is that none of them seem to live long enough to pay him. Meanwhile elsewhere, the Engine powering the world (literally) real and what is dyingartificial, although and whether the populous development of technology 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 yetexciting or frightening. |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0987478605</amazonuk>191458564X

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio1739593901|title=Girl genius: Agatha H 22 Ideas About The Future|author=Benjamin Greenaway and the Clockwork PrincessStephen Oram (Editors)

|summary=Nobody said that life on the road with a travelling show would ''Our future will be easy, but Master Payne’s Circus of Adventure seems to face more hazards complex than mostwe expected. Firstly Instead of flying cars, there are those giant battle clanks lurking in the forest, waiting to reduce unsuspecting travellers we got night-vision killer drones and automated elderly care with geolocation surveillance bracelets to cinderstrack grandma. 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...|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781166498</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Christopher Brookmyre|title=Bedlam|rating=3.5|genre=Science Fiction|summary=Ross Baker is I've got a wage slave at Neurosphere, writing computer code for a new brain scanning systemcouple of confessions to make. His girlfriend, Carol, is I'm not happy about keen on short stories as I find it easy to read a few stories and then forget to return to the hours he puts into his job, thinking hebook. There's being played for got to be a fool by doing extra work for no recognitionvery compelling hook to keep me engaged. Ross thinks theyThen there're about to break up, but soon discovers their relationship is about to move to a level he was s science fiction: far too busy to anticipateoften it's the technology which takes centre stage along with the world-building. It's human beings who fascinate me: the technology and the world scape are purely incidental. After So, what did I think of a rough morningbook of twenty-two science fiction short stories? Well, he agrees to have his brain scanned in one of the trial machinesI loved it.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356502139</amazonuk>

 {{newreview|author=Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio|title=Girl Genius: Agatha H and the Airship City|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|summary=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...|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781166471</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Iain M BanksMark Lingane|title=The Hydrogen SonataGalaxy

|summary=It's 25 Spark, who is an elite pilot with the Space Academy, barely makes it through a battle alive. His co-pilot was not so fortunate. Waking from a coma that lasted years since Iain M Banks introduced us to the utopian ''Culture'' series of sci fi adventure books , he remembers little and ''The Hydrogen Sonata'' is the 13th in the seriesno physical shape to resume his duties. One thing Banks does particularly well But Earth is under threat and he must. Returned by his superiors 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 waysspace station, this is he finds himself amid a good introduction for those who have yet last ditch attempt to discover save humanity - and not just from the joys of this excellent series because alien threats against 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 herealso from its own sins against itself.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0356501507</amazonuk>B09X3NZ76W

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Kevin J AndersonTade Thompson|title=The Martian WarFar From the Light of Heaven|rating=34.5

|summary=Suppose H G Wells was not simply Michelle 'Shell' Campion is fulfilling her lifelong dream of going to space. As first officer aboard the sleeper ship Ragtime, bound for the world of Bloodroot, she will essentially be a skilled writer with a spectacular imaginationbabysitter for the ship's AI captain. However, but was in fact centrally involved in a fantastical adventure which formed when she wakes up at the basis for several end of her trip to find dozens of his most successful novels. Kevin J Anderson has supposed exactly this in his latest novel her passengers butchered and the Ragtime'The Martian Wars AI almost non-responsive, she begins to realise that her first mission won't be going as smoothly as she hoped it would. Real historical figures such as Percival Lowell Down on Bloodroot, disgraced investigator Rasheed Fin and T H Huxley share centre stage with famous Wellsian characters like Dr Moreau his android partner Salvo are sent up to discover exactly what went wrong on the Ragtime. Meanwhile, former astronaut and Mr Cavor in a story that borrows elements from 'War friend of the WorldsShell's father Lawrence Biz takes a shuttle to Bloodroot, 'The First Men half-alien daughter in tow, to see why the Moon'Ragtime has gone quiet, 'The Island leaving behind the politicking and bureaucracy of Doctor Moreau' and 'The Invisible Man'Space Station Lagos.What the five of them discover on the Ragtime has ramifications not just for Bloodroot, but potentially the entirety of human space…|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1781161720</amazonuk>0356514323

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Michael CobleyClaire North|title=The Ascendant StarsNotes from the Burning Age

|summary=At its core ''Space Opera has never been in more capable handsNotes From the Burning Age'' by Claire North is the Guardian quote that concludes the blurb for thisa spy thriller, Cobley's wrap up part of the ''Humanity's Fire'' trilogy that started with [[Seeds of Earth (Humanity's Fire) by Michael Cobley|Seeds of Earth]] as many double crosses, interrogations and continued through [[The Orphaned Worlds (Humanity's Fire) by Michael Cobley|The Orphaned Worlds]]night time escapes as Le Carre or Fleming. It's hard to disagreeHowever, but it's also hard to get away – on this evidence – from as with the fact that Space Opera might be closer to Soap than Classicalbest novels, when it comes to opera classification.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841496367</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Peter Heller|title=The Dog Stars|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=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, wears many masks and/or armed and desperate, and so are particularly its most affecting one is that 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' new and fishin' guy. These two solitary men are an unlikely partnershiptimely genre, but both look out for each other in complementary ways. Bangley has his watchcli-towerfi, while Hig takes off in his Cessna to get away from it all, and his flights act as a first line of defenseor climate change fiction. 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? |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755392590</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Sam Thompson|title=Communion Town|rating=5|genre=Literary Fiction|summary=Communion Town – one city but it may as well be many as each personNorth's perception novel tells of it is coloured a world devastated by their experiences within it. Each chapter introduces us climate change where humans have been forced to a different story, a different viewpoint start anew and therefore, practically a different city. Starting with live alongside nature without any of the ominousmodern and corrupting "luxuries" (read: fossil fuels, creepy story weapons of Nicolasmass destruction, through stories encapsulating such themes as recaptured friendshipintensive farming). There is a growing unhappiness with this limiting world, murder and an enigmatic take on one group, the life of a private investigatorBrotherhood, we start aims to master these processes no matter the cost to piece together the nature of Communion Town.Earth.. or do we?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0007454767</amazonuk>0356514757

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Simon DenmanAdrian Tchaikovsky|title=ConnectedShards of Earth|rating=3.54|genre=General Science Fiction|summary=DougEighty years ago, a maths and computing undergraduate at Essex UniversityEarth was destroyed, has just pulled warped into an unrecognisable shape by the moon-sized aliens known as the most amazing girlArchitects. So heHumanity is scattered, constantly fleeing as world after world falls to the architect's not really that interested in reshaping. Then, just when they had the human race on the run, the Architects vanished. And so, the file memories of fractals research best friend Kal has just sent him. But while Doug and Cindy the war fades, heroes are busily getting it onforgotten, something has gone horribly wrong for Kal and Doug emerges from afternoon delight humanity begins to the horrific discovery that his friend has committed suicidefracture and fight among themselves. Miles away in Idris Telemmier, a man genetically engineered to try and communicate with the countrysideArchitects, Peter is attending his brother's funeral. Martin was a musician but does not a tortured artist and it seems inconceivable that he too would take his own lifewant to be remembered. But , when he and the crew of the trip, for Petersalvage ship he calls home discover what appears to be recent Architect activity, suddenly he is more than a family obligation - it's thrust back into the chance of a break spotlight. As he and his allies bounce from a stale marriage star system to star system, chased by alien crime syndicates, human secret police and an opportunity rich slavers, he slowly begins to indulge in some guilty proximity to his newly-bereaved sister-in-law. realise that the real war is only just getting started…|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>B0089YQPI0</amazonuk>1529051886

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Ted KosmatkaTerry Miles|title=The GamesRabbits

|summary=Welcome to the world of The Game. Or should that be the game, for while it ought to be capitalised to high heaven, it never leaves lower case throughout this book. It's the near future also called Rabbits, although only as a slangy term for it – as far as anyone knows, it has no official title, no official source, no hard and fast structure, and to the Olympics go on, but not without changesaverage person no obvious entry point. A new event has been added to those that we'd recognise: genetically engineered gladiatorial combatbit like the game of life then. This Yes, this is no holds barred competitionthe game of life for a certain tribe of people – the fan of the conspiracy, the computer game, with one rule: each country's gladiator must be devoid the hack from the darkest of any human DNAwebs. IndeedPeople like our hero, K, America is so good named like that their team in the least Kafkaesque manner possible. K and his bezzies are trying to be historians of the game, and have studied amongst many things the most unique of high score boards, for the lists of who has successfully won all the last three games' goldsgame are in the most peculiar places, thanks to geneticist Dr Silas Williams, but and are still very short. However this year is time it's different. This year he has nothing time the game seems the most dangerous, nay lethal, the most broken it's ever been – morally and otherwise. Unfortunately for K, in trying to do with sort out what 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 game is just one sentencedoing, just wordsif it's even being played, but words can and how his loved ones might be misunderstood kept safe, he is only to find out that the line between observing and learning about the game, and misunderstanding can be devastating for more than just genetically manufactured gladiatorsplaying it, is a very thin one indeed...|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1781164142</amazonuk>1529016932

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=David BrinC J Carey|title=ExistenceWidowland

|summary=We are Prince Kiem is a few decades further into the 21st Century at the start of this sci-fi novelfamous political disappointment. The world is buckling under climate changeHe's outgoing, carefree, and has gotten into many drunken scandals over-populationthe past few years. Those with enough funds are completely wired into a virtual world, but wherever they live out their existence things are going So when an important political alliance is 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 arranged – one 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 supposed to prevent an interplanetary war – no one expects him to be sure that this alleged First Contact was actually chosen for the first?role. Least of all him.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0356501728</amazonuk>0356515885

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Kim Stanley RobinsonRob Winters|title=2312His Name Was Wren

|genre=Science FictionConfident Readers|summary='Intellectually engaged…intensely humane… exuberantly speculative' was Iain M Banks' blurb for ''2312''. So who am I to disagree with one of In September 1944 something came down in Oban Woods, near the current masters village of the genre? No-one. Just an ordinary readerHurstwick. And actuallyIt came down hard, taking the more I think about spire of the less I do – actually – as such – disagree. village church with it, destroying a stone shack, Banks' phrases are true and accurateleaving a wide trail through the wood, but no trace of what it actually was. They're just not German secret weapon was the whole story. Not for me anyway. For local gossip, but there should have been an explosion and a readercrater, as opposed to another writer, the book is much more difficult than that. ''Publishers Weekly'' called it ''challenging'' and that's much nearer the markthere were neither of those things.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1841499978</amazonuk>B08KGVNVNB

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Garth NixMark Lingane|title=A Confusion of PrincesNote to Self: An Education

|summary=The best thing about Paolo BacigalupiIn Kry's latest young adult novel is world, the discovery that you almost certainly wouldnhuman cells replace themselves every seven years results in a cascade of medical "advances": in 2030 it't realise s found that radiation can return cells back to their regeneration state seven years before, in 2035 it was intended for 's possible to cure cancerous tumours but with the side effect of erasing seven years of memory, by 2045 the cosmetics industry is using the same technique to "de-age" their customers by seven years. In a society obsessed with image and youth, who needs memories?|isbn=B08LY8J4KS}} {{Frontpage|author= Christopher Paolini|title= To Sleep in a Sea of Stars|rating= 5|genre= Science Fiction|summary= On the moon of a younger audience unless someone pointed it out distant gas giant, Xenobiologist Kira Navárez is helping with the efforts to make the planet habitable to youhuman life. However, a discovery of an ancient alien bunker under the moon''The Drowned Cities'' may lack s surface leaves her bonded with a strange alien entity. After the entity bonded to her loses control and kills half the staff of the sexresearch station, swearing the United Military Command cruiser Extenuating Circumstances arrives in the system to take Kira in for examination. Things go from bad to worse when the Extenuating Circumstances is attacked and amoral protagonists of his award-winning adult novel '[[The Windup Girl destroyed by Paolo Bacigalupi|The Windup Girl]]an alien ship, but it and she has all to flee to the 61 Cygnus star system. She is revived aboard the needlefreighter Wallfish, crewed by Captain Falconi and a rag-sharp descriptiontag bunch of misfits, complex worldand the news is grim. The same aliens that destroyed the Extenuating Circumstances are now wreaking havoc across all of human-building occupied space, and brilliant characters that have rapidly made only a name for Bacigalupi mythical weapon known as one the Staff of Blue can stop them. As the death toll climbs and more players are introduced into this centuries preeminent science-fiction writers.war, Kira slowly begins to realise that she may have had a greater hand in the conflict than she could've possibly imagined…|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1907411119</amazonuk>1529046505

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Mike LancasterLaura Lam and Elizabeth May|title=1.4Seven Devils|rating=4.5|genre=TeensScience Fiction|summary=Peter Vincent lives a privileged life. His father Eris is one of the foremost operatives of the Novantae, a world-renowned scientist and fully expects his son resistance movement fighting against the ruthlessly expansionist Tholosian Empire – an Empire she was destined to follow inherit in his footstepsher past life as Princess Discordia, whom everyone believed has been dead for years. But Peter Clo, an ace pilot for the Novantae, has other ideas. He wants a mission: hijack a Tholosian spacecraft to gather information vital to study literaturethe war effort. Although he enjoys gaming and social networking, heshe's uncomfortable about spending too much time less than pleased to discover that her former friend Eris is her partner on The Link, this mission. Things get more interesting as the mission commences; aboard the ship are three defectors with a system which connects the minds of every individual on secret that could potentially cripple the planetEmpire. So when he meets Strakerite Alpha, he is immediately attracted to her. PeterEris's father hates brother Damocles, the Strakerites, who believe that human evolution depends on regular upgrades from alien aggressors. So when Alpha contacts Peter runner-up heir to tell him that people are disappearingthe Empire, he is more than willing plotting to helpdisrupt peace talks between Tholos and the last of the free alien species. Together, they will uncover It's a conspiracy to hide race against time as the clock ticking down rebels move to put a stop Damocles' plans, with millions of lives hanging in the next upgrade... balance…|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1405258187</amazonuk>1473231140

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Dan WellsFrederic Beigbeder and Frank Wynne (translator)|title=PartialsA Life Without End|rating=54|genre=TeensLiterary Fiction|summary=Since I looked at the Breakcalendar the other week, no baby has lived longer than three days. Scientists and disappointedly realised I have studied every baby to try and find a curebirthday this year – I know, yet another one. It won't be one of the major numbers, but with no luck. The human race is the time when I have the same number as Heinz varieties looms on the verge horizon. And then a few of extinction after the Partials big 0-numbers, and if all goes well, I'll be an OBE. (genetically engineered soldiers who were made to fight Which of course stands for humansOver Bloody Eighty.) turned on their makers and released Now if that's the deadly virus extent of my mid-life crisis, I guess I have to be happy. Our author here doesn't use that has wiped exact phrase, but he might be said to be living one. Determined to find out most of how to prolong life for as long as he wants – he would like to see 400 – he hops right into bed with the population. For those lucky assistant to survivethe first geneticist he interviews, and they now spend their time trying 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 cure not flick the virus that kills every baby.'final way out' switch, especially when foie gras tastes so nice?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>000746522X</amazonuk>1642860670

{{newreview|author=Johan Harstad|title=172 Hours On The Moon|rating=4.5|genre=Teens|summary=It's 2018 and people at NASA want to go back to the moon. But no one's been there since the 70s, so with funding and public support limited, they need an angle. A draw. Something to get people all over the world buzzing. Their answer is a worldwide lottery to select three teens who can accompany the NASA team Move on their week long jaunt into space. The chance of a lifetime! An unforgettable, unrepeatable experience! An adventure that truly is out of this world!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907411518</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Matt Kindt|title=Revolver|rating=5|genre=Graphic Novels|summary=Meet Sam. He has a rather dull life, with a materialistic girlfriend, and a job in the arse-end of celebrity journalism and a boss he can't stand. All of which is preferential to waking up and finding his home city under attack - munitions going off, skyscrapers burning and people falling from them. He ends up fleeing with said editor, only to wake the next day back in this world. He will indeed fall to being snatched from each reality in turn, at set times of day, forced to suffer consumerism in one, looting in another, basic pay raises here, producing Samizdat bare-bones journalism for survivors there. But always with enough time to ask the important questions - how, and why?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1401222412</amazonuk>}}[[Newest Short Story Reviews]]