Difference between revisions of "Newest Science Fiction Reviews"

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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover
|author=Peyton Marshall
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|title=All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt
|title=Goodhouse
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|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Dystopian Fiction
 
|summary=There have been times in history when governments have thought they knew who the criminal underclass was.  This did not lead to anything good under the Nazis and the same can be said of the Goodhouse regime.  If we knew that certain genetics led to an increased chance of criminality, wouldn’t educating these people when they were young be a good thing?  Prevention is better than cure, but I am not sure if fascism is.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>085752190X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio
 
|title=Girl Genius: Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|summary=''Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle'' is the third novel in the Girl Genius series, adapted from the award-winning steampunk-style webcomic. Following the dramatic events of the previous two books, this volume sees Agatha returning to her family home in Mechanicsburg in order to claim her place as 'The Heterodyne'. She also needs to restore her war-damaged ancestral castle, which is in poor condition following a devastating attack by “The Other.” Of course, in the world of Girl Genius, nothing is straightforward and Agatha's mission is complicated by several things: the castle is a sadistic sentient being with a fractured personality; Agatha has a copy of her evil mother locked away inside her brain that could reappear at any moment AND a huge pink airship has just appeared in Mechanicsburg heralding the arrival of a fake Heterodyne heiress.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178116651X</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Greg Keyes
 
|title=Interstellar: The Official Movie Novelization
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|summary=The Earth is dying – dust storms are ravaging the world and blight killing off all useful crops, meaning farmers are vital to keep the few people to have survived recent wars fed, even if they need to go further and use less arable lands to do so.  Cooper is one such man, despite a history in a completely different career; he lives with the father of his deceased wife and their two children in amongst the corn.  But when some mysterious happenings keep occurring in the bedroom that was his wife's as a young girl and is now their daughter's, a most unlikely chain of events leads him to find clues that could revive his past – that in fact of a highly trained astronaut, with the one last potential mission – that of a shortcut to the stars in the trails of prior manned probes to detect new habitable planets for what's left of mankind…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783293691</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Stephen Baxter
 
|title=Ultima
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|summary=In ''Proxima'', alien hatches were discovered across the galaxy, hatches that when opened caused completely unimaginable events to occur - amongst many strange happenings,  one character suddenly had a twin she didn't have previously , and one hatch led to a different earth, where the Roman Empire never died.
 
 
 
It is there that ''Ultima'' begins - on a world where the Roman Empire never fell, and the technology and culture is markedly different as a result.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0575116870</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Gavin Deas
 
|title=Empires: Infiltration
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|summary=When is a book, not a book?  When it is an experiment of course!  Empires: Infiltration is one part of a two book series that explores the same story from differing points of view.  I started reading the other half, [[Empires: Extraction by Gavin Deas|Empires: Extraction]], first, but can now fill in some of the narrative gaps as I start again.  This time we view an alien threat by the race known as The Pleasure, through the eyes of Corporal Noel Barnes.  By book’s end, will I have an appreciation of this daring literary experiment, or will I conclude that narrative has been the same for hundreds of years for a reason?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>057512928X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Justin Richards
 
|title=The Blood Red City (Never War 2)
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=Unbeknown to most of the world who have their eyes on the unfolding events of World War II, the alien Vril continue their invasion.  There are those among the allies who know that the conflict has taken an other-worldly turn.  For instance British Intelligence's Guy Pentecross continues to do what he can along with Sarah Diamond who is now SOE trained so can handle herself, thank you very much!  While the Vril continue to seep into the consciousness of those they find useful, they seem to have turned their attention to some ancient archaeological artefacts.  Will our heroes understand the significance before it's too late?  Oh and are you afraid of cats?  No?  Give it a little while…
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|summary=''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>009195598X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Gavin Deas
 
|title=Empires: Extraction
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|summary=I will take my hat off to any author or authors who partake of experimental fiction; trying to do something a little differently to push new ground. However, I will jam that hat right back onto my head if said book forgoes the basic need to entertain in preference of being something 'Meaningful'.  Gavin Deas, a combination of authors Gavin Smith and Stephen Deas, have tried to do something different, but does it work?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>057512900X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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I've heard it said that 'technology' is what happens after you're eighteen.  Well, I must confess that there have been more than a few decades of technology in my lifetime. I've kept up reasonably well with what's advantageous to me but I'm left with the feeling that it's all getting away from me. Some of it is - frankly - quite frightening.  Of course, I could research the possibilities and the probabilities and end up down rabbit holes without really understanding whether I'm reading someone who knows what they're talking about or the latest conspiracy theorist.  I needed people I knew I could trust and who could deliver information in a way I could understand.
|title=The Book of Strange New Things
 
|author=Michel Faber
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|summary=In ''Under the Skin'', Michel Faber fused ordinary, contemporary surroundings with an element of science fiction to spectacular success. He's repeated the trick in The Book of Strange New Things which once again matches an unlikely sci-fi conceit with the crushingly familiar to impressive effect.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782114068</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Sylvie Cathrall
|title=Descent
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|title=A Letter to the Luminous Deep
|author=Ken MacLeod
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=In the relatively near future, two schoolboys climb a hill near their small Scottish town. They encounter some sort of craft, that emits a white light and knocks the boys out for several hours. It's only later that one of the boys, Ryan, realises he was abducted by Aliens.
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|summary= There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise. And this is one of them.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841499420</amazonuk>
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|isbn= 0356522776
 
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1803816759
|title=The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy - The Nearly Definitive Edition
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|title=The Unravelling
|author=Douglas Adams
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|author=Will Gibson
|rating=5
 
|genre=General Fiction
 
|summary=There are few series that have garnered such a cult following as 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'. Whether the fans have come from the radio series, the (impossibly hard) computer game, or the (well intentioned but not particularly good) film, they are everywhere.  Ask a room of people what the meaning of life is, and you can be pretty sure a good few will pipe up with '42' as the answer.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434023396</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|title=Spark
 
|author=John Twelve Hawks
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=Jacob Underwood is dead. At least, he thinks he is.
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|summary=It's 2038 and Joe is a bored cop policing the wealthy and peaceful New York City. Joe longs for a bit of adventure and to get stuck into some really gritty crime detection. But then something goes horribly wrong with the AI system that now runs everything, making life easier for many, and riots start to spread. Finally, Joe gets to do some real policing. In the aftermath of the rioting global pop star Suki is kidnapped and Joe is assigned to bring her home. Joe isn't the only one trying to save Suki - Dylan, a British superfan and tech nerd, is also on the case. What went wrong? Did the system fail or was it hacked? And how is Suki's kidnapping connected?
 
Suffering the after effects of a traumatic accident, Jacob believes he is dead, just a spark existing inside a body, but unable to fully interact with anything around him. Emotionally detached and living in a shadowy, silent world, Jacob is the ideal assassin. When a new hit is assigned to him, Jacob must prepare himself - and his journey will change both his self, and how he sees the world around him.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0593073312</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=B0CP95J1CG
 +
|title=Of Ghosts & Broken Promises
 
|author=Mark Lingane
 
|author=Mark Lingane
|title=Faraday: 3 (Tesla Evolution)
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Teens
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|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=Alert: if you haven't read the first two Tesla books, this contains spoilers. So if you'd like to come back once you've read them?
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|summary= Ronan's not entirely sure why he decides to go to the party but his interest is piqued by the way it arrived. And it seems like a good opportunity to get out of his room and away from the online activities he makes a living at. So he makes his way there, dodging the buses that make up most of the traffic and watching the local energy storage indicator lights. Should be enough power. Hopefully.
Sebastian and his friends finally get out of the Hive but did he do it in the right way or has he caused a chain reaction that will destroy the world?  Seb and Melanie don't have too much time to reason that out though as they travel across Australia to continue the war against the cyborgs and the mysterious Iris. Perhaps if Seb realised they were taking one of the most dangerous foes with him, they'd reconsider the passenger list?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0992593514</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=K P O'Donnell
|title=The Hive Construct
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|title=The Vital Link (A Spark in the Ashes)
|author=Alexander Maskill
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=New Cairo is a city on lockdown. A strange new virus has appeared, seemingly from nowhere, affecting a large percentage of the population and indiscriminately shutting down their ''bio augs'';artificial limbs and organs. Until the virus can be contained, no one is allowed to leave the city, a decision that does not go down well with those as yet unaffected and keen to remain that way. Despite the quarantine, someone is actually trying to break INTO the city; a gifted hacker called Zala Ulora who plans to destroy the virus in the hope that the resulting gratitude of the authorities will clear her criminal record. The city is a dangerous place to be, however, as a rising mass of rebels seek to break free from quarantine and the source of the spreading virus seems untraceable.
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|summary=VL-15, a prototype robot, is desperate to understand who she is. Unfortunately, before she could find any answers, the world ended, consumed in an apocalyptic war between the nations of Drexel and Renada. Over half-a-century later, civilisation is starting to rebuild. Dr Amelia Wong is determined to continue her father's legacy, building a world where machines and humans can live together in harmony, but internal frictions and external enemies might bring it all crashing down again. Craig Anderson, leader of a group of salvagers called the Exhumers, has his entire life turned upside down when he unearths a prototype combat robot: none other than VL-15 herself. Even after being buried for 65 years, her determination hasn't diminished in the slightest, and no errant machine, no savage human tribe and not even Drexel's ravaged ecosystem will stop her on her quest for answers…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857522213</amazonuk>
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|isbn=B0CKRYFRZM
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Emily Tesh
|title=Lock In
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|title=Some Desperate Glory
|author=John Scalzi
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=The Hayden disease started off looking like the common flu, but when people fell into comas and did not come out again we realised this was something very different.  Twenty years later and society has moved on, with millions of Americans locked into their bodies a new culture has developed; one of coma patients being able to control androids or other people.  So when a murder happens is it the body, or the mind that inhabits the body that is at fault?  It is up to FBI agents Chris Shane and Leslie Vann to discover.
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|summary=''While Earth's children live, the enemy shall fear us''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00LCRWCGU</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Following the destruction of the Earth, amongst a rare number of survivors, Kyr has been raised on Gaea Station – the home of the last scraps of humanity – and trained relentlessly to avenge her people and the world that should have been hers. All her life, she has been conditioned to fall in line, to fulfil her duty and ensure that humanity perseveres.
|title=Replica
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|isbn=0356521834
|author=Jack Heath
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=There is a tendency for adults to feel embarrassed about reading young adult fiction, but this book demonstrates that a focus on a younger character shouldn’t prevent a wider audience from enjoying a good story. ''Replica'' is a strange and compelling combination of action, mystery, thriller and science-fiction.  Heath has even included a hint of a romance.  There is something for everyone and although the book raises some challenging and thought-provoking problems, the text is easy-to-read, immersive and unpretentious.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>019273766X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=M R Carey
|title=Afterparty
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|title=Infinity Gate
|author=Daryl Gregory
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=People have been taking pills and seeing God for years, but in ''Afterparty'' Daryl Gregory is taking the idea of smart drugs one step further. What happens if after a particularly bad trip you have an omnipresent God with you?  Is this a sense of wellbeing, or are you now just schizophrenic?  In the near future people take drugs not only for their cures, but also their side effects and seeing deities may be the worst side effect of all.
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|summary= I'm annoyingly picky when it comes to science fiction. Not because it's a genre I dislike – nothing of the sort. My standards are high precisely because it's a hard genre to get right – and when it's bad, it's often terrible. But the premise of Infinity Gate had me hooked. A concept this intriguing felt like a high-stakes gamble: if it was done well, it'd be fantastic. So this is where I sum up that premise.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783294582</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356518043
 
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{{Frontpage
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|author= Michael Grothaus
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|title=Beautiful Shining People
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|rating=4
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|genre= Literary Fiction
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|summary= ''But fearing something and having it come to pass are two different things. And I'm willing to bet most of what we fear will never happen, or we can take steps to change it.''
  
{{newreview
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''Beautiful Shining People'' revolves around the question of identity and acceptance. Of what it means to be human. Of what is real and what is artificial, and whether the development of technology is exciting or frightening.
|title=The Dark Between the Stars
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|isbn=191458564X
|author=Kevin J Anderson
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|summary=From my experience Opera should be left to fans of the art form, or BBC4. However, there is one sort of opera that I will take notice of, the Space Opera – a term that encompasses science fiction on an epic scale e.g. Dune.  Starting an all-new Space Opera is a daunting task for both reader and writer.  In ‘The Dark Between the Stars’, Kevin J Anderson not only had to create new worlds full of interesting characters, but we the reader have to get our head around all the concepts at once.  Therefore, having the story told from the point of view of up to twenty different people is probably not the wisest thing to do.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00K1HRZKK</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1739593901
|title=Koko Takes a Holiday
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|title=22 Ideas About The Future
|author=Kieran Shea
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|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=Pulp science fiction is not as easy a genre to carry off as you may think; it takes more than just a voluptuous catsuit-wearing alien firing off laser cannons (but that can only help)Pulp is often just that; pulp.  It should be shredded and used to soak up the juices in landfill, but when it is done right, it can be excellent.  When someone writes a book that is darkly funny, intelligent and a little ultraviolent, you may just have the perfect mix.  A perfect mix called ‘Koko Takes a Holiday’, by Kieran Shea.
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|summary=''Our future will be more complex than we expectedInstead of flying cars, we got night-vision killer drones and automated elderly care with geolocation surveillance bracelets to track grandma.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781168601</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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I've got a couple of confessions to makeI'm not keen on short stories as I find it easy to read a few stories and then forget to return to the bookThere's got to be a very compelling hook to keep me engaged.  Then there's science fiction: far too often 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 incidentalSo, what did I think of a book of twenty-two science fiction short stories?  Well, I loved it.  
|title=Theatre of the Gods
 
|author=M Suddain
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|summary=M Francisco Fabrigas – unfortunate Arsenal FC connection aside – is worthy of your attentionFor not only has he proven to be one of the longer-lasting humans in this universe, he has also been in other universesAnd at the same, other universe's Fabrigas's have come to visit us – or is it the other way round? Either way, he has been engaged in an epic adventure where he ends up on a moon full of toxic plants, and inside dread behemoths, and fought to make his way through various universes against galactic popes and worse, all in the company of two unfortunate young people – a vicious and caring deaf lad who is more or less a kung-fu-powered computer chip, and a caring but blind young female saviourBoth are needed to save the universe – or was it fewer of them, but more universes?  This book is the much-sought-after, long-lost, often-censored account of his derring-do, as close to being from the horse's mouth as is possible, and with the sheer complexity of the circumstances and contrivances on every page, we should be grateful.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099575647</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Mark Lingane
|title=The Forever Watch
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|title=Galaxy
|author=David Ramirez
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=Great science fiction is made up of many parts, but three things are vital for it to become a classic; world building, story and character. If one of these three elements is slightly below the others, a great novel can be punished. In ‘The Forever Watch’ by Daniel Ramirez we have a fantastic world in the form of the spaceship Noah, a great character in the form of Hana, but does the story quite match up to the rest?
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|summary=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, he remembers little and is in no physical shape to resume his duties. But Earth is under threat and he must. Returned by his superiors to the space station, he finds himself amid a last ditch attempt to save humanity - and not just from the alien threats against it, but also from its own sins against itself.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>144478790X</amazonuk>
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|isbn=B09X3NZ76W
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Tade Thompson
|author=Nnedi Okorafor
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|title=Far From the Light of Heaven
|title=Lagoon
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|rating=4.5
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=Three people walk along a Lagos beach as the world changes. Adaora is strolling to clear her head and try to understand why her husband hit her earlier tonight. Rap artist Anthony (known to his parents as Edgar) is having a post-gig wander. The third, Agu, is covered in blood.  The fact that he's on the beach is immaterial; he just needs help.  Then it happens.  A boom, a bat falls stunned from the sky and then nothing is the same again.  The strangers' futures all become one and the creature arrives; the creature they call Ayodele.
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|summary=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 babysitter for the ship's AI captain. However, when she wakes up at the end of her trip to find dozens of her passengers butchered and the Ragtime's AI almost non-responsive, she begins to realise that her first mission won't be going as smoothly as she hoped it would. Down on Bloodroot, disgraced investigator Rasheed Fin and his android partner Salvo are sent up to discover exactly what went wrong on the Ragtime. Meanwhile, former astronaut and friend of Shell's father Lawrence Biz takes a shuttle to Bloodroot, half-alien daughter in tow, to see why the Ragtime has gone quiet, leaving behind the politicking and bureaucracy of 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…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444762753</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356514323
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Claire North
|title=The Burning Dark
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|title=Notes from the Burning Age
|author=Adam Christopher
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=In space, no one can hear you scream and for the skeleton crew of the U-Star Coast City this is redundant anyway as no one cares if they do. Captain Abraham Idaho Cleveland is about to start early retirement, but he is given one last job overseeing the dismantling of this space station that orbits a forbidding star that gives off an eerie radiation. With only a couple of hundred people left on the massive station, it is pretty quiet.  This makes it easier to hear the things going bump in the night – a night that continues 24 hours.
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|summary=At its core ''Notes From the Burning Age'' by Claire North is a spy thriller, with as many double crosses, interrogations and night time escapes as Le Carre or Fleming. However, as with the best novels, it wears many masks and its most affecting one is that of a new and timely genre, cli-fi, or climate change fiction. North's novel tells of a world devastated by climate change where humans have been forced to start anew and live alongside nature without any of the modern and corrupting "luxuries" (read: fossil fuels, weapons of mass destruction, intensive farming). There is a growing unhappiness with this limiting world, and one group, the Brotherhood, aims to master these processes no matter the cost to the Earth.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783292016</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0356514757
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author= Adrian Tchaikovsky
|title=Ex-Purgatory
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|title= Shards of Earth
|author=Peter Clines
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|rating= 4
|rating=3.5
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|genre= Science Fiction
|genre=Science Fiction
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|summary= Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed, warped into an unrecognisable shape by the moon-sized aliens known as the Architects. Humanity is scattered, constantly fleeing as world after world falls to the architect's reshaping. Then, just when they had the human race on the run, the Architects vanished. And so, the memories of the war fades, heroes are forgotten, and humanity begins to fracture and fight among themselves. Idris Telemmier, a man genetically engineered to try and communicate with the Architects, does not want to be remembered. But, when he and the crew of the salvage ship he calls home discover what appears to be recent Architect activity, suddenly he is thrust back into the spotlight. As he and his allies bounce from star system to star system, chased by alien crime syndicates, human secret police and rich slavers, he slowly begins to realise that the real war is only just getting started…
|summary=A book in the Science fiction genre can easily get wrapped up inside itself if it not careful e.g. a dream on top of a vision, set in a future alternative world. Juggling all these concepts and creating a novel that is entertaining and at least in some way believable is not easy. This is proven in Peter Clines’ ''Ex-Purgatory'', the fourth outing in the Ex series. Our heroes are used to being surrounded by the undead, but at the start of this novel they wake up in their old lives.  What is a dream and what is a reality?
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|isbn=1529051886
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00HE6AX3C</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Terry Miles
|title=Libriomancer
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|title=Rabbits
|author=Jim C Hines
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Fantasy
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|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=Pulp fantasy may be frowned upon by some who believe that novels should be about emotions, inner journeys and despair.  Fantasy and science fiction can have all these things as well, but they can also be fun, entertaining and laser pistols. ‘Libriomancer’ by Jim C Hines is a great example.  It is a book that follows Isaac Vainio, a Libriomancer who has the power to draw magic from books.  He must use this gift to good effect when one day, whilst sitting comfortably cataloguing, he is attacked by three vampires.  Does that sound fun to you?  If so, read on; if not, this may not be the book for you.
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|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 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 average person no obvious entry point. A bit like the game of life then. Yes, this is the game of life for a certain tribe of people – the fan of the conspiracy, the computer game, the hack from the darkest of webs. People like our hero, K, named like that 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 the game are in the most peculiar places, and are still very short. However this time it's different. This 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 sort out what the game is doing, if it's even being played, and how his loved ones might be kept safe, he is only to find out that the line between observing and learning about the game, and playing it, is a very thin one indeed...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091953456</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1529016932
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|title=Snowpiercer Vol.2 - The Explorers
 
|author=Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Graphic Novels
 
|summary=All of humankind is living on a single train. Oh sorry, as this is the sequel, make that two trains.  Launched on the same tracks as the original Snowpiercer, but clearly at a slight remove, was a second mile-long behemoth of a train, designed with the latest high tech to be completely self-sustaining as it travelled ceaselessly on the tracks encircling a frozen Earth, waiting for the time the world was inhabitable once more. But the high tech on board, complete with lemon farms, and differing qualities of virtual holidays depending on cost and class of customer, has not put paid to one aspect of society – and in fact the sole aspect of society not featured in [[Snowpiercer Vol.1 - The Escape by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette|the first book]] – religion.  Some people are fearing the end time, when the Icebreaker crashes into the original Snowpiercer. Some believe they're duped into the whole train idea, and are in fact on a spacecraft.  Some people know something else – the rare few explorers who get to go outside the train into the world beyond, and see glimpses of what came before…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782761365</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=C J Carey
|author=Mark Lingane
+
|title=Widowland
|title=Tesla 1
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=Sebastian has lost both his parents.  His father died of a mysterious wasting disease whereas his mother is just... well... lost.  The only thing he has he has to remember his mother by is a note telling him to go to the mysterious Steam Academy.  However, first he has to find his way there in a futuristic Australia without widespread technology but with dangerous cyborg warriors.  What's worse, despite fighting humans in general for thousands of years, the cyborgs now seem to have turned their attention and energy to killing Sebastian in particular.  What's he done to deserve that?  More to the point, whatever he's done, how can he survive?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0992377951</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|title=Snowpiercer Vol.1 - The Escape
 
|author=Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Graphic Novels
+
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=All of humankind is living on a single trainI know British commuters feel that way at times, but this is a much different circumstance it is a train miles long, running non-stop as a self-contained unit across tracks circling a desolately frozen Earth, moving on endlessly until, perhaps some time in the distant future, the planet can recover from the cataclysm that froze itIt's certainly been going on long enough for it to have a culture – a hierarchical society from the rich and leisured classes near the front, through the orgiasts, past the useful carriages set aside for producing food, to the underclass at the endIt's all set in its routine, set in motion.  But there are two fishes out of water a man from the rear who escaped, and a middle-class woman working with civil rights campaigners.
+
|summary=It's April 1953, and Adolf Hitler's schedule includes going to Moscow to attend the state funeral of Joseph Stalin then within weeks coming to London, parading around a bit, and watching over the sanctioned return to the throne of Edward VIII with his wife, Queen WallisFor yes, Britain caved in the lead-up to the World War Two that certainly didn't happen as we know it, and we are now a protectorate well, we share enough of the same blood as the Germanic peoples on ''the mainland''But this is most certainly a different Britain, for Nazi-styled phrenology, and ideas of female purpose, has put all of that gender into a caste system, ranging from high-brow office bigwigs to the drudges, and beyond those, right on down to the childless, the husbandless and the widows.  Female literacy is actively discouragedAnd in this puritanical existence, our heroine, Rose Ransom, is employed with the task of bowdlerising classical literature to take all encouragement for female emancipation out of it after all, not every book can be banned, and not every story excised immediately from British civilisation, and so they just get a hefty tweak towards the party line before they're stamped ready for reprint.  That is her job, at least, until the first emerging signs of female protest come to light, with their potential to spoil Hitler's visit.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782761330</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=152941198X
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Everina Maxwell
|title=God's War
+
|title=Winter's Orbit
|author=Kameron Hurley
+
|rating=5
|rating=3
 
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=People who do not like the genre love to lump all Science Fiction into the same pile – massive space ships and stuff. That is just not the case.  It can range from subtle alternative versions of our own Earth, to Space Sagas set around the orbit of a distant planet.  Where sci fi gets its bad reputation from is when complex ideas are not explained clearly enough for the reader. 'God’s War: Bel Dame Apocrypha' by Kameron Hurley is one such book; a novel crammed with some great ideas, but also moments of strange confusion.
+
|summary= Prince Kiem is a famous political disappointment. He's outgoing, carefree, and has gotten into many drunken scandals over the past few years. So when an important political alliance is to be arranged – one that is supposed to prevent an interplanetary war – no one expects him to be chosen for the role. Least of all him.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091952786</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0356515885
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Rob Winters
|title=Channel Blue
+
|title=His Name Was Wren
|author=Jay Martel
+
|rating=4
|rating=3.5
+
|genre=Confident Readers
|genre=Science Fiction
+
|summary=In September 1944 something came down in Oban Woods, near the village of Hurstwick.  It came down hard, taking the spire of the village church with it, destroying a stone shack, and leaving a wide trail through the wood, but no trace of what it actually was. German secret weapon was the local gossip, but there should have been an explosion and a crater, and there were neither of those things.
|summary=What if the planet you called home wasn’t just a random blob in the universe, orbiting a far off star. What if the things that happened on it weren’t entirely down to chance or fate or whatever you want to call it. What if, actually, life on Earth was less random and more, well, scheduled than you might like to admit. Someone up there, calling the shots, deciding when to send in ‘natural’ disasters, influencing how things work, people behave, countries are run. Not a God, mind, but something far crazier: a television executive. Earth is the reality show to end all reality shows, and while its inhabitants have no clue every second of their lives is being watched and edited, that doesn’t stop them behaving in a way that keeps the viewers highly entertained.
+
|isbn=B08KGVNVNB
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781855803</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Mark Lingane
|title=Plastic Jesus
+
|title=Note to Self: An Education
|author=Wayne Simmons
+
|rating=4
|rating=3
 
 
|genre=Science Fiction
 
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=Johnny Lyon is a computer coding expert spiralling out of control following the death of his lover. Johnny’s colleague Sarah convinces their boss Garcon that he needs Johnny for a project that is perfect for him (creating a virtual reality Jesus) and just might help him to concentrate on something other than his loss. They embark on a project with potentially monumental impact within a world of degradation and violence in a city ruled over by organised crime king pin Paul McBride. Many storylines collide as the project effects more people than Johnny realises.
+
|summary= In Kry's world, the discovery that human cells replace themselves every seven years results in a cascade of medical "advances": in 2030 it's found that radiation can return cells back to their regeneration state seven years before, in 2035 it'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?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907773630</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=B08LY8J4KS
}}
+
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Christopher Paolini
|title=Doctor Who: 11 Doctors, 11 Stories
+
|title= To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
|author=Eoin Colfer, Michael Scott and others
+
|rating= 5
|rating=5
+
|genre= Science Fiction
|genre=Confident Readers
+
|summary= On the moon of a distant gas giant, Xenobiologist Kira Navárez is helping with the efforts to make the planet habitable to human life. However, a discovery of an ancient alien bunker under the moon'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 research station, 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 destroyed by an alien ship, and she has to flee to the 61 Cygnus star system. She is revived aboard the freighter Wallfish, crewed by Captain Falconi and a rag-tag bunch of misfits, and the news is grim. The same aliens that destroyed the Extenuating Circumstances are now wreaking havoc across all of human-occupied space, and only a mythical weapon known as the Staff of Blue can stop them. As the death toll climbs and more players are introduced into this war, Kira slowly begins to realise that she may have had a greater hand in the conflict than she could've possibly imagined…
|summary=It's basic knowledge that Doctor Who has changed a lot since first being seen fifty years ago – and I don't mean the title character, but the nature of the programme. It has gone from black and white, and cheaply produced, and declared disposable, to being an essential part of the BBC, full-gloss digital, and accessed in all manner of ways.  So with the celebratory programme still ringing in our ears, and leaving people pressing a red button to see a programme about three Doctors, er, pressing a red button, we turn to other aspects of the birthday bonanza.  Such as this book, which has also mutated in its much shorter lifespan, from being a loose collection of eleven short e-book novellas written by the blazing lights of YA writing, to a huge and brilliant paperback collecting everything within one set of covers.
+
|isbn=1529046505
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141348941</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author= Laura Lam and Elizabeth May
|title=Rags and Bones
+
|title= Seven Devils
|author=Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt (Editors)
+
|rating= 4
|rating=4.5
+
|genre= Science Fiction
|genre=Anthologies
+
|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…
|summary=Some of today's top authors have come together to retell classic tales - from fairy stories to Victorian-era fiction. As usual with this kind of anthology, it's a fairly hit-or-miss affair, but the hits here are so strong that they're well worth picking up the book for.
+
|isbn=1473231140
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472210522</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Frederic Beigbeder and Frank Wynne (translator)
|title=The Time Traveller's Almanac
+
|title=A Life Without End
|author=Anne VanderMeer and Jeff VanderMeer
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Anthologies
+
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=From H.G Wells to ''Doctor Who'', there is something about a good time-travel story that has the power to ignite the imagination in a way unique to the genre. Perhaps it is due to the fact that when dealing with the subject of time travel, literally ''anything is possible''. Well, almost anything...apart from going back in time and killing your Grandfather, which we know would cause an almighty paradox and probably destroy the universe.
+
|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?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781853908</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1642860670
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
Move on to [[Newest Short Story Reviews]]

Latest revision as of 17:18, 25 March 2024

AllTomorrowsFutureCover.jpg

Review of

All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt by Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)

5star.jpg Science Fiction

Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.

I've heard it said that 'technology' is what happens after you're eighteen. Well, I must confess that there have been more than a few decades of technology in my lifetime. I've kept up reasonably well with what's advantageous to me but I'm left with the feeling that it's all getting away from me. Some of it is - frankly - quite frightening. Of course, I could research the possibilities and the probabilities and end up down rabbit holes without really understanding whether I'm reading someone who knows what they're talking about or the latest conspiracy theorist. I needed people I knew I could trust and who could deliver information in a way I could understand. Full Review

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Review of

A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall

5star.jpg Science Fiction

There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise. And this is one of them. Full Review

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Review of

The Unravelling by Will Gibson

4star.jpg Science Fiction

It's 2038 and Joe is a bored cop policing the wealthy and peaceful New York City. Joe longs for a bit of adventure and to get stuck into some really gritty crime detection. But then something goes horribly wrong with the AI system that now runs everything, making life easier for many, and riots start to spread. Finally, Joe gets to do some real policing. In the aftermath of the rioting global pop star Suki is kidnapped and Joe is assigned to bring her home. Joe isn't the only one trying to save Suki - Dylan, a British superfan and tech nerd, is also on the case. What went wrong? Did the system fail or was it hacked? And how is Suki's kidnapping connected? Full Review

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Review of

Of Ghosts & Broken Promises by Mark Lingane

4.5star.jpg Science Fiction

Ronan's not entirely sure why he decides to go to the party but his interest is piqued by the way it arrived. And it seems like a good opportunity to get out of his room and away from the online activities he makes a living at. So he makes his way there, dodging the buses that make up most of the traffic and watching the local energy storage indicator lights. Should be enough power. Hopefully. Full Review

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Review of

The Vital Link (A Spark in the Ashes) by K P O'Donnell

3.5star.jpg Science Fiction

VL-15, a prototype robot, is desperate to understand who she is. Unfortunately, before she could find any answers, the world ended, consumed in an apocalyptic war between the nations of Drexel and Renada. Over half-a-century later, civilisation is starting to rebuild. Dr Amelia Wong is determined to continue her father's legacy, building a world where machines and humans can live together in harmony, but internal frictions and external enemies might bring it all crashing down again. Craig Anderson, leader of a group of salvagers called the Exhumers, has his entire life turned upside down when he unearths a prototype combat robot: none other than VL-15 herself. Even after being buried for 65 years, her determination hasn't diminished in the slightest, and no errant machine, no savage human tribe and not even Drexel's ravaged ecosystem will stop her on her quest for answers… Full Review

0356521834.jpg

Review of

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

4.5star.jpg Science Fiction

While Earth's children live, the enemy shall fear us

Following the destruction of the Earth, amongst a rare number of survivors, Kyr has been raised on Gaea Station – the home of the last scraps of humanity – and trained relentlessly to avenge her people and the world that should have been hers. All her life, she has been conditioned to fall in line, to fulfil her duty and ensure that humanity perseveres. Full Review

0356518043.jpg

Review of

Infinity Gate by M R Carey

5star.jpg Science Fiction

I'm annoyingly picky when it comes to science fiction. Not because it's a genre I dislike – nothing of the sort. My standards are high precisely because it's a hard genre to get right – and when it's bad, it's often terrible. But the premise of Infinity Gate had me hooked. A concept this intriguing felt like a high-stakes gamble: if it was done well, it'd be fantastic. So this is where I sum up that premise. Full Review

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Review of

Beautiful Shining People by Michael Grothaus

4star.jpg Literary Fiction

But fearing something and having it come to pass are two different things. And I'm willing to bet most of what we fear will never happen, or we can take steps to change it.

Beautiful Shining People revolves around the question of identity and acceptance. Of what it means to be human. Of what is real and what is artificial, and whether the development of technology is exciting or frightening. Full Review

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Review of

22 Ideas About The Future by Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)

5star.jpg Science Fiction

Our future will be more complex than we expected. Instead of flying cars, we got night-vision killer drones and automated elderly care with geolocation surveillance bracelets to track grandma.

I've got a couple of confessions to make. I'm not keen on short stories as I find it easy to read a few stories and then forget to return to the book. There's got to be a very compelling hook to keep me engaged. Then there's science fiction: far too often 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. So, what did I think of a book of twenty-two science fiction short stories? Well, I loved it. Full Review

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Review of

Galaxy by Mark Lingane

4star.jpg Science Fiction

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, he remembers little and is in no physical shape to resume his duties. But Earth is under threat and he must. Returned by his superiors to the space station, he finds himself amid a last ditch attempt to save humanity - and not just from the alien threats against it, but also from its own sins against itself. Full Review

0356514323.jpg

Review of

Far From the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson

4.5star.jpg Science Fiction

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 babysitter for the ship's AI captain. However, when she wakes up at the end of her trip to find dozens of her passengers butchered and the Ragtime's AI almost non-responsive, she begins to realise that her first mission won't be going as smoothly as she hoped it would. Down on Bloodroot, disgraced investigator Rasheed Fin and his android partner Salvo are sent up to discover exactly what went wrong on the Ragtime. Meanwhile, former astronaut and friend of Shell's father Lawrence Biz takes a shuttle to Bloodroot, half-alien daughter in tow, to see why the Ragtime has gone quiet, leaving behind the politicking and bureaucracy of 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… Full Review

0356514757.jpg

Review of

Notes from the Burning Age by Claire North

4star.jpg Science Fiction

At its core Notes From the Burning Age by Claire North is a spy thriller, with as many double crosses, interrogations and night time escapes as Le Carre or Fleming. However, as with the best novels, it wears many masks and its most affecting one is that of a new and timely genre, cli-fi, or climate change fiction. North's novel tells of a world devastated by climate change where humans have been forced to start anew and live alongside nature without any of the modern and corrupting "luxuries" (read: fossil fuels, weapons of mass destruction, intensive farming). There is a growing unhappiness with this limiting world, and one group, the Brotherhood, aims to master these processes no matter the cost to the Earth. Full Review

1529051886.jpg

Review of

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

4star.jpg Science Fiction

Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed, warped into an unrecognisable shape by the moon-sized aliens known as the Architects. Humanity is scattered, constantly fleeing as world after world falls to the architect's reshaping. Then, just when they had the human race on the run, the Architects vanished. And so, the memories of the war fades, heroes are forgotten, and humanity begins to fracture and fight among themselves. Idris Telemmier, a man genetically engineered to try and communicate with the Architects, does not want to be remembered. But, when he and the crew of the salvage ship he calls home discover what appears to be recent Architect activity, suddenly he is thrust back into the spotlight. As he and his allies bounce from star system to star system, chased by alien crime syndicates, human secret police and rich slavers, he slowly begins to realise that the real war is only just getting started… Full Review

1529016932.jpg

Review of

Rabbits by Terry Miles

4.5star.jpg Science Fiction

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 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 average person no obvious entry point. A bit like the game of life then. Yes, this is the game of life for a certain tribe of people – the fan of the conspiracy, the computer game, the hack from the darkest of webs. People like our hero, K, named like that 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 the game are in the most peculiar places, and are still very short. However this time it's different. This 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 sort out what the game is doing, if it's even being played, and how his loved ones might be kept safe, he is only to find out that the line between observing and learning about the game, and playing it, is a very thin one indeed... Full Review

152941198X.jpg

Review of

Widowland by C J Carey

4star.jpg General Fiction

It's April 1953, and Adolf Hitler's schedule includes going to Moscow to attend the state funeral of Joseph Stalin then within weeks coming to London, parading around a bit, and watching over the sanctioned return to the throne of Edward VIII with his wife, Queen Wallis. For yes, Britain caved in the lead-up to the World War Two that certainly didn't happen as we know it, and we are now a protectorate – well, we share enough of the same blood as the Germanic peoples on the mainland. But this is most certainly a different Britain, for Nazi-styled phrenology, and ideas of female purpose, has put all of that gender into a caste system, ranging from high-brow office bigwigs to the drudges, and beyond those, right on down to the childless, the husbandless and the widows. Female literacy is actively discouraged. And in this puritanical existence, our heroine, Rose Ransom, is employed with the task of bowdlerising classical literature to take all encouragement for female emancipation out of it – after all, not every book can be banned, and not every story excised immediately from British civilisation, and so they just get a hefty tweak towards the party line before they're stamped ready for reprint. That is her job, at least, until the first emerging signs of female protest come to light, with their potential to spoil Hitler's visit. Full Review

0356515885.jpg

Review of

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell

5star.jpg Science Fiction

Prince Kiem is a famous political disappointment. He's outgoing, carefree, and has gotten into many drunken scandals over the past few years. So when an important political alliance is to be arranged – one that is supposed to prevent an interplanetary war – no one expects him to be chosen for the role. Least of all him. Full Review

B08KGVNVNB.jpg

Review of

His Name Was Wren by Rob Winters

4star.jpg Confident Readers

In September 1944 something came down in Oban Woods, near the village of Hurstwick. It came down hard, taking the spire of the village church with it, destroying a stone shack, and leaving a wide trail through the wood, but no trace of what it actually was. German secret weapon was the local gossip, but there should have been an explosion and a crater, and there were neither of those things. Full Review

B08LY8J4KS.jpg

Review of

Note to Self: An Education by Mark Lingane

4star.jpg Science Fiction

In Kry's world, the discovery that human cells replace themselves every seven years results in a cascade of medical "advances": in 2030 it's found that radiation can return cells back to their regeneration state seven years before, in 2035 it'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? Full Review

1529046505.jpg

Review of

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

5star.jpg Science Fiction

On the moon of a distant gas giant, Xenobiologist Kira Navárez is helping with the efforts to make the planet habitable to human life. However, a discovery of an ancient alien bunker under the moon'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 research station, 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 destroyed by an alien ship, and she has to flee to the 61 Cygnus star system. She is revived aboard the freighter Wallfish, crewed by Captain Falconi and a rag-tag bunch of misfits, and the news is grim. The same aliens that destroyed the Extenuating Circumstances are now wreaking havoc across all of human-occupied space, and only a mythical weapon known as the Staff of Blue can stop them. As the death toll climbs and more players are introduced into this war, Kira slowly begins to realise that she may have had a greater hand in the conflict than she could've possibly imagined… Full Review

1473231140.jpg

Review of

Seven Devils by Laura Lam and Elizabeth May

4star.jpg Science Fiction

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… Full Review

1642860670.jpg

Review of

A Life Without End by Frederic Beigbeder and Frank Wynne (translator)

4star.jpg Literary Fiction

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? Full Review

Move on to Newest Short Story Reviews