Newest Science Fiction Reviews
What Makes This Book So Great: Re-Reading The Classics Of Science Fiction And Fantasy by Jo Walton
Jo Walton has published over ten books, several of which have been award winning. On top of that, she has a voracious appetite for books - both as a well respected writer of original fiction, but as a well respected reviewer too. Not only does she have time to do all that, but she also writes a regular column for Tor.com, on Science Fiction and Fantasy books, and it is these columns that a selection of which are collected here. Full review...
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Mare is a Red - a race kept in lives of poverty and servitude by the Silvers, a race with wealth and mutant powers that allow them to live lives of luxury. Learning to survive amongst the slum like conditions that the Reds inhabit, Mare is swiftly thrown into the world of the Silvers - one that proves to be more dangerous than she had ever imagined, with treachery, plots and deadly games lurking round every corner. Full review...
Goodhouse by Peyton Marshall
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. Full review...
Girl Genius: Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio
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. Full review...
Interstellar: The Official Movie Novelization by Greg Keyes
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… Full review...
Ultima by Stephen Baxter
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. Full review...
Empires: Infiltration by Gavin Deas
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, 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? Full review...
The Blood Red City (Never War 2) by Justin Richards
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… Full review...
Empires: Extraction by Gavin Deas
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? Full review...
The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
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. Full review...
Descent by Ken MacLeod
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. Full review...
The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy - The Nearly Definitive Edition by Douglas Adams
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. Full review...
Spark by John Twelve Hawks
Jacob Underwood is dead. At least, he thinks he is.
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. Full review...
Faraday: 3 (Tesla Evolution) by Mark Lingane
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? 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? Full review...
The Hive Construct by Alexander Maskill
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. Full review...
Lock In by John Scalzi
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. Full review...
Replica by Jack Heath
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. Full review...
Afterparty by Daryl Gregory
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. Full review...
The Dark Between the Stars by Kevin J Anderson
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. Full review...
Koko Takes a Holiday by Kieran Shea
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. Full review...
Theatre of the Gods by M Suddain
M Francisco Fabrigas – unfortunate Arsenal FC connection aside – is worthy of your attention. For not only has he proven to be one of the longer-lasting humans in this universe, he has also been in other universes. And 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 saviour. Both 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. Full review...
The Forever Watch by David Ramirez
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? Full review...
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
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. Full review...
The Burning Dark by Adam Christopher
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. Full review...
Ex-Purgatory by Peter Clines
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? Full review...
Libriomancer by Jim C Hines
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. Full review...
Snowpiercer Vol.2 - The Explorers by Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette
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 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… Full review...
Tesla 1 by Mark Lingane
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? Full review...
Snowpiercer Vol.1 - The Escape by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette
All of humankind is living on a single train. I 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 it. It'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 end. It'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. Full review...
God's War by Kameron Hurley
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. Full review...
Channel Blue by Jay Martel
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. Full review...
Plastic Jesus by Wayne Simmons
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. Full review...
Doctor Who: 11 Doctors, 11 Stories by Eoin Colfer, Michael Scott and others
It's basic knowledge that Doctor Who has changed a lot since first being seen fifty years ago – and I don't mean the title character, but the nature of the programme. It has gone from black and white, and cheaply produced, and declared disposable, to being an essential part of the BBC, full-gloss digital, and accessed in all manner of ways. So with the celebratory programme still ringing in our ears, and leaving people pressing a red button to see a programme about three Doctors, er, pressing a red button, we turn to other aspects of the birthday bonanza. Such as this book, which has also mutated in its much shorter lifespan, from being a loose collection of eleven short e-book novellas written by the blazing lights of YA writing, to a huge and brilliant paperback collecting everything within one set of covers. Full review...
