Category Archives: science fiction

books, Post-Apocalyptic, Reviews

Serious Crimes (Strike a Match 1) by Frank Tayell

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Stars: 3 out of 5

This is not a bad book at all. It was just rather meh to me, but that might just be because I was expecting something more out of this post-apocalyptic read. 

I liked the glimpses into the past and what brought down the end of the world as we know it, even though the explanation about the AIs wasn’t all that satisfying. I mean, the technological remnants we are shown in this book aren’t advanced enough to have created something as sophisticated as the AIs as they are described. From everything I’ve seen in this book, the world “before” was at about our technological level (as in 2020’s), and we don’t have AIs or are even close to reaching that threshold. 

Also, a lot of things are hinted at, but not fully explained. Like the fact that the official story behind the Blackout isn’t really how it happened. I understand that this is only the first book in a longer series, but I would have appreciated a few more answers.

I think the biggest reason why this book was meh to me is that I never managed to connect with the characters. Mitchell seemed promising enough, but the author purposefully keeps him as a closed book. He knows a lot of things and a lot of people, but he speaks in riddles. We also never really get a glimpse inside his head or understand his motivations. I mean it’s hinted that Ruth’s mother asked him to look after her, but their connection isn’t explained.

Ruth herself didn’t work for me as the protagonist. I think it’s because she is so passive for most of this story. She joined the police academy because she couldn’t go to University and didn’t want to be a farmer or miner. She isn’t particularly motivated to be there. This is not a career she decided to pursue yet. So she kind of tags along for most of the investigation. 

She also feels woefully unprepared for the job she is supposed to be doing, which is surprising. Are you telling me that in a post-apocalyptic world where things are so bad that there is food rationing, people stopped committing crimes like murders and burglaries? So the police force is thought math and science instead of how to shoot a gun and how to best overpower and disarm a belligerent suspect? I’m sorry, but human nature being what it is, I would think that crime would have skyrocketed in society like that, so the police force would have to be a lot more brutal and better trained.

Also, because Ruth is only marginally interested in the investigation, and the reader sees it through her eyes, I was only marginally interested as well. It doesn’t help that everyone talks in riddles and never gives a straight answer.

But I guess that’s one more book I cleaned off my TBR list this year, even though I will not be continuing with the series. 

books, Cyberpunk, Reviews

Pattern Black by Sean Platt and Johnny B Truant

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Stars: 2 out of 5

This book was a chore to read, and I almost DNFed it at 32% when things were making to sense at all and I was getting very annoyed with the narrative.  I powered through it and finished this book, but I’m not sure I made the right choice. It had been a long and often frustrating slog to get through all 700+ pages of this.

The concept itself is really interesting. I mean, I love Inception. I still think it’s one of the best movies ever made. So I was really excited to read something similar. Unfortunately, this concept is a lot harder to bring to life on a written page than it is on the silver screen. Where in a movie you could add an element of crazy and reality not making sense in small visual queues, on a page it just makes for a very confusing and frustrating narrative. 

It doesn’t help that this confusion persists for the first 40% of the book. This is way too long to leave the reader wondering what the heck is going on. I have seen that a lot of readers DNFed this book around 30-35% in, and I totally understand why. Like I said, I almost did the same.

Once the protagonist emerges out of the simulation within a simulation he’s been in for the first half of the book, things start to pick up steam and make slightly more sense, but even then, the action drags. Unnecessarily, in my opinion. I found that the final confrontation took too much time as well. I kept turning the pages and wishing for things to finally be over, yet the conflict still dragged and dragged. When I finally reached the last page, my thought was “thank God, it’s done,” instead of “wow, that was good book.” That should tell you something about how invested I was(n’t) in this story.

I got tired of the simulation within simulation within another simulation that was constantly going on. I also got tired of the double- triple- and quadruple-crossing going on in this book. It made my brain hurt.

 I might have enjoyed the twists and turns better if I cared about the characters, but as it stands, all of them are horrible human beings. Especially Mason. He is awful in the beginning of the book when he is in the simulation, and he doesn’t get much better once he emerges into the real world. In fact, all the characters do is fight with each other, bicker and hurt each other. There isn’t a single healthy relationship to be found. They never talk about their issues or try to resolve them. They just lash out and make things worse. The relationship between Mason and Carter is especially toxic, and nothing is done about it. 

To be honest, by the end of the book I was cheering Mason on when he held the logic bomb, because I would have actually been happy with an “and everybody died” ending for this group of wonderful human beings. As it stands, the ending is rather unsatisfying, because I don’t think our protagonist learned the most important lesson he had to learn – that hiding from his issues isn’t a solution. 

I am still giving this book 2 stars, because it is well-written, and the concept is amazing. With more likeable characters you could root for, this would have been a very good story.

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Reviews, science fiction, Space opera

Redshirts by John Scalzi

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Stars: 3 out of 5

For about 80% of this book I thought it would be a solid 5 stars… then the weird codas happened that turned me completely off. But since I was engaged with the story and the characters for most of the book, I am willing to still give it 3 stars.

Most of us watched Star Trek and noticed that nameless redshirt crewmember that usually dies horribly on an away mission in almost every episode, right? Well, what happens if the story is told from the perspective of some of those redshirts? Suddenly, they aren’t nameless anymore. Suddenly, they have a backstory, needs and wants, and friends. And they start wondering why so many of their crewmembers die so horribly on this one ship and not the others. Or why their commanding officers survive encounters that should have killed them ten times over. Not only do they wonder about it, but they decide to right that wrong once they discover the truth, no matter how crazy it seems.

I really got attached to these characters and was just as intrigued as they were to discover what was happening on the Intrepid. It’s an interesting take on the weekly scifi shows that kill off random characters just for shock value. You know that the core team (usually the captain and officers on the bridge) would always survive to the end of the episode, but what happens to the rest of the crew? More importantly, how do they feel about this? Well, how would you feel if you work on a spaceship where any mission suddenly becomes a life and death crisis, laws of physics and space-time stop applying, and your superior officers behave in a very strange manner from time to time. Oh, and don’t forget the Box. No wonder everyone is terrified. No wonder everyone is hiding when the call comes for an away mission crew members. They might be just extras on a show, but to themselves, they are people, and they don’t want to die.

I wanted them to find a solution to this problem and finally lead their lives on a normal Intrepid, not a ship constantly overtaken by the Narrative. So I was very shocked when that story abruptly ends on a rather negative note and we get “real” life codas instead. Honestly? I don’t care that the main writer for the show has writers block now or how he manages to overcome it. I don’t care that the actress who played Jenkins’ wife in real life finds her happy ever after. I did care a little about Hester’s transformation into Matthew, but that was about the only satisfying closure in this book.

So what had started as a fun story left me frustrated and even annoyed by the end. I know some readers would appreciate this breaking of the fourth wall, but I would have rather gotten more closure with the characters I had grown to love.

books, epic fantasy, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Reviews

Ashes of the Sun (Burningblade and Silvereye 1) by Django Wexler

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Stars: 4 out of 5

This is the third series I have picked up by this author and I can say with confidence that Django Wexler is a creator of worlds, which is good praise in my books. Each of his series has a very distinct feel, with an original world and engaging characters. 

I loved a glimpse of the world in this book, where humans live on the ruins of a war between two Elder races – the Chosen and the Ghouls, who had been intent on mutual annihilation. The Ghouls unleashed the Plague that wiped out the Chosen, but not before they bombed the ghoul underground cities into oblivion. That was 400 years ago. Humanity inherited a planet full of ruins, broken weapons, and magical artifacts. And also plaguespawn – an unfortunate side-effect of the Plague. These monsters have just one purpose – attack anything living and assimilated it, and they prefer humans. Unfortunately, they are also all over the place, so humanity lives in cities and walled villages, and travel is dangerous…

I also really liked both of our siblings – Maya and Gyre. Even though they are on the opposite ends of this conflict, it’s really hard to say who is right and who is wrong. They both believe in their own truths. They are both decent people deep inside. They are also very young, so they still see the world in black and white, even though they allowed a few shades of gray in the end which helped them find a compromise long enough to get out of a very bad situation they were in. 

I liked that they both felt “alive” to me. No, I didn’t agree with all of their actions, especially with what Gyre did in Deepfyre, but I understood their motivations. To me, that’s the most important part. I might not like the character or agree with them, but I need their actions to make sense with what I know about them. That’s exactly what I get every time I pick up a Django Wexler book. 

Of course, there are still a lot of questions left unanswered – who or what is that black spider that Maya keeps encountering. How did it get ahold of Jaedia? What is the Thing on Maya’s chest and why does the spider call her an experiment? What are the plaguespawn and are they really the by-product of the Plague? Are the Chosen really gone? And a lot more. 

So this book accomplishes what a first book in a series is supposed to do – introduces an interesting world with engaging characters and left us with enough questions to pick up the next book. Well done, Mr. Wexler, well done. I am definitely continuing with this series. 

PS: I received a fee copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Reviews, science fiction, Space opera

Steel in the Blood (The Reckoning Cycle 1) by N.T. Narbutovskih

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5

I am not sure why this was published as a book. As far as story goes, it’s only Part 1 of a bigger book. The part that sets up the characters and the premise and doesn’t nothing else. By the end of Steel in the Blood, the main conflict of the story was set up, alright, but no questions were answered, there was no emotional payoff for sticking with the story so far. It just ended. So if you want to learn what this story is actually about, you have to buy the next book.

Unfortunately, there is nothing I hate more in a book than a cliffhanger designed solely to make you buy the next book, so I’m afraid that this series and I will be parting ways. Which is a shame, because from the little I have seen of the world and history in this small installment, it might be an interesting story.

The human empire has existed for thousands of years, ruled by an immortal Empress. It’s big, safe and prosperous (or so we’re told), but it has stopped growing. Innovation is discouraged, exploration is non-existent. It’s a well-oiled machine designed for one purpose only – to keep trade flowing to the capital worlds. No part of the Empire is self-sufficient. They all depend on each other for food, raw materials, trade, or goods. 

Each section of the empire is governed by members of different genelines, who have been cloned and enhanced to rule their sections for millennia as well. There has been no war in a thousand years, after the last Medicant Wars have ended. But now one is brewing…

Wonderful premise for an exciting book, right? That’s what I thought as well. I already mentioned the first problem with this story – this book is only a set-up. A transit point from one geneline is seemingly attacked by agents of another geneline, even though the Executor of that geneline never ordered the attack he is accused of. He has to find those who are responsible and clear his name or a civil war will break out. He leaves to do just that and puts his daughter in charge of their whole sector… And that’s it. That’s where the story ends.

If you are expecting answers to all the questions asked in this book, you will have to purchase the next book in the series.

My second problem is that while the world setting is intriguing, the characters are a lot less so. Erick seems very naïve and indecisive for a leader who supposedly ruled his corner of the Empire for 400 years. Bryn seems a little more interesting, but we haven’t really been in her head enough to get attached. In fact, the character I found the most interesting and whom I could empathize the most with is the Medicant. Yes, an android is has more personality than the humans in this story.

The ending also feels a bit flat – we are introduced to a whole assault team of characters we’ve never seen before who have a brief battle to capture a saboteur at a fold array. Said saboteur explodes, literally, damaging the array. The end. Again, if you were looking for answers and emotional payoff for sticking with this story for a few hours, buy the next book. Maybe the story will get better, maybe not. I am out either way.

PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Reviews, science fiction, Soft Science Fiction

Nightwatch on the Hinterlands (The Weep 1) by K. Eason

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Stars: 5 out of 5.

Do you have those rare occasions when a book just “click” with you? That you get so immersed in it that you love every single moment. And even if you can see some flaws, they don’t distract you from the pure joy of reading it? Well, that’s what happened to me with Nightwatch on the Hinterlands. I loved it from the very first sentence I read until the last one. 

I think a big part of my enjoyment comes from the wonderful characters the author created. Iari and Gaer couldn’t be more different, but they feel so “alive” and interesting that it was a delight to read both of their points of view. You could see how their reluctant partnership slowly progressed and mutated from ambassador and escort to colleagues to friends. They are different and bring different skills and beliefs to the table, but both are very interesting individuals. 

I also think that the world seen through our characters’ eyes is also rather unique and fascinating. Technically, it’s a scifi book, because we have space-faring races and spaceships and space stations and high technology weapons like the mecha Iari is wearing. But most of their technology is based on arithmancy and alchemy, so, dare I say, magic. Heck, Iari is part of a religious order of battle monks whose life is dedicated to preventing incursions from the Weep, which is a tear in the reality of the multiverse leading to a not so welcoming layer of it. So is this scifi or is this fantasy or a little bit of both? I’m not sure, but I loved every moment of it. 

I need to mention that the blurb mentions that this new series takes place in the same world as the author’s previous books, but since this is the first book I have read by this author, I can’t attest to that. I can however say that this reads perfectly well as a standalone. I was never confused by the worldbuilding, and if I missed some references to the author’s prior works, it wasn’t critical to this story.

The plot of the book is also interesting. What at first looks like a Riev malfunction turns out to have some much bigger, dare I say, earthshattering implications. And I loved how Iari pursued this investigation with a bullheaded determination, no matter how hurt she got in the process. That tenacity is part of what makes her so endearing. That and the fact that she would do anything to protect those she considers friends, even if one of them is the ambassador of a not-so-friendly race that caused the Weep in the first place, and the other is a Riev – who, until recently, was considered machinery, not an actual person. 

The whole idea about Riev is fascinating as well, though rather horrifying. They are basically the ultimate Frankenstein monsters – a fusion of dead people and mecha, held together with alchemy and arithmancy. Especially considering what we learn as the story progresses – that they retain some sort of consciousness and sense of self. I believe that Oversight was created precisely to suppress that, and once it had been disabled, the Riev started thinking for themselves again. Some better than others. I would be interested in exploring the implications of this further in the next book. 

And while the main intrigue of this book has been resolved by the end, there are a lot of thread still left untied. Plus we have a whole new set of questions to answer. So I would say that that this book sets up the series quite nicely.

All in all, this was an excellent first book in a series and a good introduction to a fascinating world for those who aren’t familiar with the author’s other books. I will definitely pick up the next book in the series.

books, Reviews, science fiction

Reclaimed by Madeleine Roux

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 Stars: 3.5 out of 5

This was an interesting read and it went in a different direction than I expected. 

What would you do to get rid of the memories of the most traumatic events that haunt you? What would you do to never have to remember then again? Would that make your life easier? Better? Would that help you start over? Or would you realize that those events are also part of who you are, and by erasing them, you erase an important part of yourself as well?

This was the most interesting aspect of the story for me. I understand that people can be so damaged and haunted by something horrible in their past that they would do anything to get rid of the memory. Even accepting to be part of an experimental treatment offered by a person whose face nobody has ever seen. Even accepting to go to a remote and desolate location where they would basically be at the mercy of that same person. I understand that the desire to forget can overwhelm the instinct of self-preservation. And when you get to the place and things don’t seem quite right, or when the man in charge makes the hairs on your back stand up, you still try to make excuses, because you want so bad for this to work…

This book also raises an interesting question of whether our memories and experiences shape us as a person. That we are the sum of all the experiences we had – both good and bad. If we erase the bad, would we still be the same person? 

Also, how can we be certain that someone who has absolute access to your memories didn’t modify something else? How can you be sure that you are still you, and that your desires are really yours, instead of implanted by a machine?

So I loved all those concepts and questions raised by this book. Unfortunately, the characters we followed through the story felt a bit flat to me. Though, I must admit that they improved by the end of the story, but for most of the book, I wasn’t really engaged in their stories or their well-being. I felt slightly more engaged with Senna than the other two, but even then, it was more mild curiosity than concern.

Plus, the villain’s motivations didn’t particularly stand to scrutiny. What was his end-game there? Keep these people prisoners on his nice little ice world forever? Edit their memories so badly that they become no better than androids who obey his every whim? That’s not viable on the long run.

Also, the technology itself was more in the realm of fantasy than science fiction. So that was a bit of a let down. And I also found that the ending was wrapped up a little bit too neatly.  There would have been a lot more fallout for the survivors after they basically accused the most influential man in the system of kidnapping and illegal experimentation. I mean, look what happens to those who go against rich and influential figures in our times – most times those lawsuits go nowhere and we never hear from the accuser again… yet the accused are still rich and thriving. 

All in all though, it was an entertaining story that I would certainly recommend. 

PS: I received a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Reviews, science fiction, Time Travel

The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart

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 Stars: 4 out of 5.

I don’t read a lot of time travel stories. Usually because the science of it makes my head hurt, or because the complete lack of scientific backing or inner logic makes my brain hurt. Plus, I usually can’t get over the time paradox that a lot of these stories create. Like, if the character went into the past to save his sister/lover/parent, wouldn’t that person be alive in the new present, thus negating their need to go into the past and change things? Brain explodes.

But I’m happy to announce that we don’t have as many time traveling shenanigans here, so I could enjoy this book without giving myself a migraine. We have more of a case of people existing outside of time, or being Unstuck. And that’s a wonderfully interesting concept that I haven’t see in books before. I liked the narrative possibilities it opened. Being Unstuck is not a boon. In fact, most people who reach the third stage of being Unstuck fall into a coma, their mind lost in time, disconnected from their body and the “present”. This adds an additional danger to the already dangerous situation our protagonist finds herself in.

Speaking of protagonists. January is a hard cookie to crack. She is far from being a nice person. She is abrasive and rude to everyone around her. She lashes out at everyone who tries to help her out or even try to be nice at her. She is like a wounded dog that bites the hand that tries to pet him. It’s hard to empathize with such an abrasive character… and it’s a real feat that the author actually makes you empathize with her in the end. 

January is a major b to everyone around her and so clearly miserable with her job, with the hotel, with her life in general, to the point that nobody understands why she stays there. She has enough years on the job to retire comfortably. In fact, retiring and getting away from the time port is the best thing she can do, since being so close to it slowly worsens her condition. So why does she stay? By slowly uncovering her reasons for staying, the author explains why she is so abrasive to everyone. And makes the reader care for her in the process.

It also helps that she genuinely cares about the hotel and the people who work there, even if she doesn’t know how to show her affection to them. So she fights tooth and nail to keep them safe. To neutralize the threat she uncovers. And she grieves for those she is unable to save. January is flawed, even broken, but she isn’t a bad person.

And the other characters are just as interesting and eclectic. I really enjoyed getting to know them. They felt real. I would have loved to discover more of their backstories. What brought them to Paradox Hotel? Why are they staying? It’s not like they are treated well or that the pay is exceptional… yet all of them stay. It says a lot about the author’s mastery of their world that each supporting character could have been the protagonist of their own story, and I would have been there for the ride.

My only complaint is the villains’ motivation. I’m still not sure what the end game was here, for either of those people. They already went back in time and made one of them filthy rich. What else did they want to accomplish? What’s the ultimate end goal? Since that’s never really explained, it lessens the impact of the book, in my opinion. 

But that’s a small gripe. I loved this story a lot more than I expected, and I’m not a fan of time travel stories. So for those who love them, this is a must read!

PS: I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Post-Apocalyptic, Reviews

The Extinction Trials by A. G. Riddle

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 Stars: 1 out of 5.

I DNFed this book at 55%. You would think that reaching the halfway point there would have been some exciting action, right? With a name like Extinction Trials, you would think there would be some high stakes, trials, etc., right? Wrong. 

Yes, there seems to have been a mass extinction event, but even halfway through the book I’m not sure how long ago it had happened or how the characters ended up in Station 17. And apart from them leaving the station and getting on a boat, there hadn’t been any trials either. Unless you count them trying to repair the boat as a trial. But then one man was working on it and the rest were just mulling around waiting, so that’s a boring trial.

And that’s the crux of it – this book is boring. The characters are uninspiring. Heck, I am not sure I can remember most of them after dropping this book a few days ago. I mean who the heck is Blair and what is her purpose in this story anyway? They have no personality, no quirks, no inner strengths or weaknesses. And even though the book is told from the perspective of two of those characters, we never really get familiar with them. 

The reason for that is because the author doesn’t know how to show things. What we get instead is never-ending exposition. Each character has to tell their backstory. Then they find a journal and a character needs to read every single entry out loud. Then they find video recordings, so those are narrated as well. Heck, at one point, the two character even read excerpts from a self-help book… Yawn.

By the time I reached the halfway point and discovered that nothing major had happened yet and I didn’t particularly care about any of the characters, I decided that continuing this struggle wasn’t worth my time. So I skipped to the end just to see how this whole mess was resolved and… let’s just say that the ending is very disappointing. If you want the events in a book to make sense and abide by the rules of the world that the author created, this book is definitely not for you.

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Reviews, science fiction, Space opera

Ion Curtain by Anya Ow

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 Stars: 4 out of 5.

This was a surprise hit for me. I went into this book not expecting much of anything and just hoping that it would be a fun enough to compensate for a disastrous post-apocalyptic read I had DNFed before starting this. I’m glad that I tried it. It was fun, it was fast-paced, and it had surprisingly a lot of heart.

I loved the characters. Be it Kalina or Solitaire or our stoic Russian Captain. They are surprisingly very real and “alive” in their interactions and inner thoughts. I laughed out loud a few times and rooted for them and was shocked and sad about the demise of some of the characters. It’s a sign of good writing when the reader ends up grieving the death of minor characters along with the protagonists. 

The worldbuilding was also pretty impressive and different than the usual scifi fare. In most scifi books written in the Western World, The space-faring galactic humanity is distinctly ango-saxon. If minorities are mentioned, it’s glossed over or considered that they assimilated into the bigger anglo-saxon culture. It was a breath of fresh air to see something different here. Human colonies are divided between a militaristic Federation that originated from the Russian expansion into the stars and the UN who is an amalgamation of other races but with a strong Chinese base and influence. This results in mentalities, languages and behaviors that are different from the usual. 

I absolutely loved that! We need more diverse voices in science fiction. It’s absurd to think that American culture will still dominate humanity hundreds of years from now. I loved Firefly for that exact reason – they accounted for the melting pot of cultures that will expand into the galaxy, and not all of them spoke English. 

It is also interesting to read a book about AIs and the dangers that come with achieving singularity. Though there could be discussion here whether the ships really are AIs – after all, they are brain scans of real people, so they behave like those people. Either way, the prospect is rather terrifying. And AI is be definition faster and more intelligent than a normal human. What happens if it decides that humanity is no longer relevant? What can humans do against a super computer that is self-aware and incontrollable? 

I think the author did an excellent job showing us just how ruthless and alien that kind of enemy can be. The destruction of New Tesla was horrifying because of how unnecessary it was. The AI destroyed an entire colony to get at one little ship. How do you negotiate with that kind of enemy?

I have one complaint about this book though. The story isn’t finished. Nothing is resolved. In fact, one might argue that the real story is barely starting. This made me feel rather unsatisfied when I finished the book. I was hoping for a little more resolution so to say. And I don’t mind waiting for the next book in the series, but so far no other books have been announced. I really hope we get a continuation (and conclusion) of this story eventually. 

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.