Archive for the ‘Science Fiction’ Category
Friday, May 3rd, 2013
Pros: Fascinating culture and events
Cons: Logical inconsistencies; characters held at a distance
Rating: 3 out of 5
Release date: May 7, 2013
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Robert Silverberg’s Tales of Majipoor
collects together seven stories set in his world of Majipoor. They span thousands of years of history, from sometime after the arrival of the colonists from Earth, through several pivotal historical events (and a few more personal stories), to an excerpt from the life of Lord Valentine.
Disclaimer: I haven’t read Silverberg’s other Majipoor books (this happens sometimes when you review books—publishers can send you books from series you haven’t gotten to yet). On the one hand, it’s useful sometimes to have a fresh perspective, mostly so that new or prospective readers have some idea of where they can and can’t jump into a series. On the other hand, there were setting details that I had issues with, and I freely admit that they might be addressed within the other books. This does mean, however, that this book doesn’t stand entirely on its own. Individual stories do, and they provide a nice glimpse of Majipoor, but the whole of the book leaves some world-building holes.
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Tags: aliens, anthology, Fantasy, Lord Valentine, magic, Majipoor, Robert Silverberg, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, SF, short stories
Posted in Fantasy, Science Fiction | Permalink | No Comments »
Thursday, May 2nd, 2013
Pros: Interesting world-building and story
Cons: Some discordant tones
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Release date: May 7, 2013
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
The clockwork plague reduced some people to mindless plague-spreading zombies, while elevating others to empathy-free brilliant mad scientists called clockworkers. As the clockworkers fall deeper and deeper into plague-fueled fugues, they lose touch with their humanity, often hurting, torturing, and killing people in their mad quest to build ever-stranger devices. Thaddeus Sharpe has dedicated himself to hunting and killing clockworkers, often destroying their automatons and devices in the process. When a mysterious young woman, Sofiya, working for an even more mysterious man named Mr. Griffin, hires Thad to steal a device from a clockworker, things inevitably go wrong. Thad cares more about killing the clockworker and rescuing a young boy than he does obtaining the device, and soon he finds himself forced further and further into Mr. Griffin’s dangerous schemes.
Those schemes take him, the circus he travels with, Sofiya, and the boy he rescued (Nikolai) to the palace of the tsar, embroiling him in court politics, assassination attempts, and one great, horrific clockworker plan that threatens everyone.
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Tags: dark fantasy, Fantasy, steampunk, Steven Harper, The Clockwork Empire
Posted in Fantasy, Historical, Science Fiction | Permalink | No Comments »
Friday, April 26th, 2013
Pros: Fantastic character interplay; gorgeous world-building. I think I’m falling in love with Ritsuko and Mikani.
Cons: Occasional difficulty telling which of the partners is speaking
Rating: 5 out of 5
Release date: April 30, 2013
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Celeste Ritsuko and Janus Mikani solve murders for the Criminal Investigation Division. She’s the division’s first female inspector, and an orderly, meticulous detective. He’s a sloppy, charming pain-in-the-ass with an extremely useful—and very debilitating—sixth sense. The two of them have forged an unlikely and delightfully symbiotic partnership as they work to protect people from harm.
Then a daughter of one of the great Houses goes missing, and they’re under the gun to find her—or else. When she turns up murdered in a particularly unusual and gruesome fashion, traces of magic polluting the scene, Ritsuko and Mikani realize they’re hunting a madman. And if they don’t find him soon, losing their jobs will be the least of their worries.
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Tags: A.A. Aguirre, Andres Aguirre, Ann Aguirre, Apparatus Infernum, fairies, Fantasy, mystery, paranormal, steampunk
Posted in Fantasy, Horror & Paranormal, Science Fiction, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Monday, August 20th, 2012
Pros: Trademark snappy dialogue; fascinating mystery; continuing character development
Cons: …
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Eve’s latest case is a terrifying one. A toxic brew of chemicals was released into a bar, and everyone went mad. The death toll was horrific, and the deaths themselves more so. The chemicals are fast-acting and deadly, allowing the killer to strike quickly and decisively—anywhere, anytime. It’s an act of terrorism by its very definition, but when the killer strikes a second time, targeting people who overlap strongly in their occupations, employers, and area of residence with the first victims, Eve becomes convinced that the killer is going after personal enemies, despite the wide swath of destruction.
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Tags: crime, Eve Dallas, futuristic, in death, J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts, Roarke, romance, science fantasy, serial killer, suspense
Posted in Romance & Erotica, Science Fiction, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 2 Comments »
Monday, June 11th, 2012
Pros: Intense erotica and romance
Cons: Over-the-top erotica and romance
Rating: 3 out of 5
Review book (uncorrected proof) courtesy of Penguin Group
Expected publication date: 8/7/2012
Stygian needs to find a missing woman named Honor Roberts, who might hold the key to saving a young child who was injected with a terrible serum. He’s looking for her with the help of Liza Johnson, who works for the Navajo Nation. Unfortunately, Liza is far more wrapped up in his case than it seems at first, and things only get more complicated when the mating heat develops between both of them. Finding Honor just might end up destroying their own fragile relationship. Behind it all is Jonas Wyatt, who would do almost anything, hurt almost anyone, to get to Honor and save the little toddler he loves as his own.
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Tags: Lora Leigh, paranormal, science fantasy, shape-shifters, shapeshifters, the Breeds
Posted in Horror & Paranormal, Romance & Erotica, Science Fiction | Permalink | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
Pros: Fascinating look at a young killer who never had a childhood trying to learn to be a normal person
Cons: A little more awkward and predictable than her Leandros Bros. series (she sets a high bar for herself!)
Rating: 4 out of 5
NOTE: Rob Thurman’s Basilisk
is book two in her Korsak Brothers series, following Chimera. If you haven’t read that book yet, preferably skip this review until you have in order to avoid spoilers.
Lukas Korsak grew up in a cold, emotionless institute, called only Michael for as long as he could remember. There they experimented on him and trained him to become the perfect assassin, capable of killing with a single touch. His brother Stefan, however, never gave up looking for him, and finally managed to break him out. That was three years ago. Lukas has been learning to fit into a world he has no memory of. Meanwhile, he searches for a “cure” that will disable the other Chimera, something that will allow them all to go back to being normal people, rather than weapons worth a great deal of money. Lukas and Stefan have even allowed themselves to become almost comfortable in a small town they could call home.
Which means, of course, that they’re running out of time. A killer comes to retrieve Lukas. A visit to the new Institute grounds reveals that the Chimera weren’t nearly as carefully controlled as their owners thought—someone started a rebellion, someone capable of killing without even a touch. Now a crew of young, maladapted killers, all of whom find joy in harming others, is loose upon the world. Lukas might be the only chance at stopping them, but he’s starting to realize something—for all that he’s a genius, he isn’t nearly as smart as he thought he was.
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Tags: biothriller, Chimera, futuristic, genetic engineering, Korsak Brothers, near future, Rob Thurman, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, SF
Posted in Horror & Paranormal, Science Fiction, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
Pros: Some enjoyable flights of fancy
Cons: Some stories that try too hard to be high-minded and end up being obtuse
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Also posted on Epinions.com
The universe is vast, and it’s hard to imagine that there isn’t at least one other intelligent race out there, if not many. So why have we seen no evidence of aliens? Do they deliberately hide themselves from us? Are they already among us? Do they keep us in quarantine? Do advanced civilizations inevitably destroy themselves? Are we too blind to recognize an alien when we see one? Is Anybody Out There?
is a collection of 15 short stories about the possibilities of extra-terrestrial life within our universe, edited by Nick Gevers and Marty Halpern.
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Tags: Alex Irvine, aliens, anthology, David Langford, Felicity Shoulders, Ian Watson, James Morrow, Jay Lake, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Leslie What, Lezli Robyn, Marty Halpern, Matthew Hughes, Michael Arsenault, Mike Resnick, Nick Gevers, Pat Cadigan, Paul di Filippo, Ray Vukcevich, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, SF, Sheila Finch, short stories, Yves Menard
Posted in Science Fiction | Permalink | No Comments »
Monday, February 6th, 2012
Pros: Still a wild ride and a highly unusual zombie tale
Cons: Seems to de-rail a bit and get overly random
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
In Xombies: Apocalypse Blues, we follow Lulu Pangloss and a troop of survivors of a Xombie infection as they try to find and reach a safe haven. Along the way, the bizarre nature of the post-apocalyptic world reveals itself one piece at a time, even as we find out, bit by bit, what exactly Agent X is and what it’s doing to the human race.
In Xombies: Apocalypticon, a ragtag bunch of young men, a scientist who worked on Agent X, and a bunch of military men seem to be safe aboard a refitted nuclear sub; their only major problem—and it’s a doozy—is that they’re running out of food. They have the only “tame” Xombies known to exist, and plan to use them to seek out supplies, as well as knowledge of what happened with Agent X.
Finally, in Xombies: Apocalypso
, Lulu and the rest of the crew of the USS No-Name search the shores and seas in search of humans to save from the coming cataclysm. They’re about to get mixed up in a couple of interesting new groups of humans, however. One is gathering a handful of immune women in an attempt to rebuild the human race. The other advertises peace and prosperity for all. Of course, neither is entirely what it seems to be…
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Tags: apocalypse, bio-thriller, Sci-Fi, Walter Greatshell, Xombies, zombies
Posted in Horror & Paranormal, Science Fiction, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Pros: Good rationale for personal involvement this time; backs off of the dark personal stuff a bit; enjoyable murder mystery
Cons: …
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Also posted on Epinions.com
A movie is finally being made based on one of Eve’s prior cases, and she’s the guest of honor at a dinner party attended by the stars, director, and producers. While her partner, Peabody, is delighted to experience Hollywood glamor, Eve almost hopes for a murder to get her out of it. Be careful what you wish for, Eve—the evening isn’t yet over when K.T. Harris, the actress playing Peabody, is found drowned on the roof. No one particularly misses her; she was beyond rude, she stalked those she supposedly cared about, and she used blackmail and violence to get her way. In fact, the problem isn’t finding a suspect—the problem is sorting out which one of many might have done it. And this isn’t easy when all of the suspects are such good actors, and quite accustomed to circling the wagons to keep outsiders at bay. Things become more urgent, however, when another person turns up dead, and Eve begins to suspect a larger pattern at work…
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Tags: in death, J.D. Robb, mystery, Nora Roberts, romance, Sci-Fi, science fantasy, suspense
Posted in Romance & Erotica, Science Fiction, Thriller, Adventure & Mystery | Permalink | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011
Pros: Fascinating world; great story & characters; cinematic action; self-contained
Cons: …
Rating: 5 out of 5
Review book courtesy of Penguin Group
Also posted on Epinions.com
Evrenfels is a high fantasy kingdom, a world of privileged magic-wielding nobility and poor magic-less peasantry. It is cut off from the outside world by the Great Barrier, erected centuries ago to protect the MageLords from a commoner uprising. Outside the barrier, the mages are forgotten as anything other than myth and legend. Magic doesn’t exist, and a steampunk-style technology is on the rise. All this time, the two cultures have existed almost entirely unaware of each other, but that is about to end.
On the MageLords’ side of the barrier, several very powerful people want to bring it down—each for his or her own purposes. This requires the death of several innocent people, but each of the conspirators has managed to justify the cost. It’s surely worth it, after all, in order to restore the kingdom’s power, to keep magic from disappearing from the world, or to crush the MageLords’ power entirely. Of course, the planned sacrificial lambs have other plans, and they have one surprising thing on their sides—on the outside, a scientist and his apprentice plan to sail over the Barrier in a new flying ship to finally find out what lies beyond. And their arrival adds unpredictable variables that will throw decades’ worth of plans into upheaval.
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Tags: Fantasy, Lee Arthur Chane, Magebane, steampunk
Posted in Fantasy, Science Fiction | Permalink | 3 Comments »
