Category Archives: science fiction

books, Reviews, science fiction

Outlaw Planet by M.R. Carey

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Stars: 4 out of 5

This is my fourth book by M.R. Carey. I loved The Girl with All the Gifts and Fellside, but Infinity Gate left me somewhat disappointed. Although Outlaw Planet is set in the same universe as the Pandominion series, it works well as a standalone novel and, for me, was much more enjoyable than the original duology.

The premise is a fun blend of science fiction and western. An entire population is mind-controlled into endlessly reenacting the American Civil War as part of a grotesque experiment. When a squad of soldiers from a highly advanced civilization enters the system, they discover to their horror that they are trapped there, cut off from help and unable to break the cycle within their lifetimes.

I particularly enjoyed the dual point-of-view structure. One storyline follows Bess, who was born and raised within the system and embodies the trauma and brutality of the endless war. The other follows Engineer Esten, the sole surviving member of a military unit that originally entered the experiment. Bess’s perspective adds emotional depth and shows the human cost of the system, while Esten’s gradually reveals the mysteries behind its existence. The two storylines converge in a satisfying finale that ties the book together effectively.

One issue I have begun to notice across Carey’s books is that I struggle to connect with his female protagonists. I suspect he intends them to be complex and deeply scarred individuals, but to me they often come across as emotionally distant and difficult to relate to.

I wanted to like Bess more, especially since she is the central protagonist, but I found myself far more invested in characters like Wakefull Slim and even the old man with his scorpillion. It says a lot that I was more emotionally engaged by an AI-powered gun than by the woman carrying it.

That said, the ending was excellent. It brought the various plot threads together neatly and delivered a satisfying conclusion. Would I return to this series if Carey writes another installment? Possibly.

PS: My thanks to NetGalley for providing a free review copy.

books, Horror, Lovecraftian horror, Military science fiction, Reviews, science fiction

Necrotek by Jonathan Maberry

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Stars 3.5 out of 5

This is the second book based on the Lovecraftian mythos that I’ve read this year, the first being A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-young. Despite drawing from the same source material, the two books couldn’t be more different. One leans into existential horror, while this one is firmly in the military-action horror camp.

The book starts strong. A space station filled with military personnel, journalists, scientists, and representatives from various Earth religions gathers to witness the test of a new warpline gun. Naturally, the test goes horribly wrong.

I have to admit that the chapters covering the test and the immediate aftermath of Asphodel Station’s transport were genuinely chilling. Space, time, and even reality itself begin to warp and collapse, confronting people with horrors that are both real and born from their own minds. That’s nightmare fuel right there.

The first encounter with the shoggoth was also an edge-of-your-seat read. The action scenes throughout the book are well written, with plenty of tension and high stakes.

Unfortunately, the frequent info-dumps kill a lot of that momentum. I found my attention wandering, even during major action sequences, because they were constantly interrupted by exposition, existential crises, or “meaningful conversations.” The fight with the shoggoth vanguard is a good example—the action repeatedly stalls while Soren reflects on the Necrotek and wrestles with his doubts.

Speaking of necrotek, we have to wait until almost 80% of the book before that technology actually comes into play.

That said, I did like the characters. Soren tends to proselytize a bit more than I personally enjoy, but the cast is generally strong. I especially loved the Lost Souls and found myself rooting for them, even though a group with a name like that practically announces its fate from the beginning. Surprisingly, my favorite character ended up being Sybil. For an AI, she’s incredibly likeable. I also understood Lost’s desperation. It is the last survivor of a long-forgotten race, and the enemy they once fought has returned with a vengeance.

The ending clearly leaves the door open for a sequel, and I’ll probably pick it up. I just hope this book got most of the world-building out of the way so the next installment can focus a little more on action and a little less on exposition and philosophical reflection.

PS: Big thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy.

books, Horror, Reviews, science fiction

The Iron Garden Sutra by A.D. Sui

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Stars: 4 out of 5

I didn’t quite know what to expect when I picked up this book. I was surprised to find a “murder ship” story with a strong element of cosmic horror. I also didn’t expect to enjoy Iris and his AI companion as much as I did.

Iris and his AI companion are definitely the highlight of the book. They are a fascinating duo—two separate consciousnesses sharing a single mind. They bicker and can even hurt each other at times, but they also genuinely care about one another’s well-being. As you learn more about their relationship, it becomes increasingly compelling and easy to appreciate.

The deeper I learned about Iris’s trauma, the more I empathized with him. He constantly strives to be useful, to do the right thing, yet he feels he is never quite enough—that he is falling short of what it means to be a Vessel. I was glad to see him eventually find some measure of peace, even though it comes after a series of difficult and painful events.

I wasn’t as engaged with the other characters, as they are less developed and often feel like expendable background figures. I found it difficult to distinguish between the students for much of the book. They are mostly portrayed as frightened and helpless, with others trying to protect them, but they lack distinct identities.

In terms of the story, it’s a strong example of cosmic horror combined with claustrophobic suspense. A group of people explores a derelict generation ship, only to discover that the ship is not as lifeless as it appears—and that it poses a deadly threat.

The book also explores interesting ideas about what it means to be alive versus simply aware, along with a thoughtful perspective on the relationship between humans and artificial intelligence.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and am looking forward to the next installment, especially since the ending leaves things on a cliffhanger.

PS: My thanks to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

books, Reviews, science fiction, Space opera

Platform Decay (The Murderbot Diaries 8) by Martha Wells

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Stars: 4 out of 5

Murderbot is back! And his risk assessment module is repaired and functioning better than in the last book. He even added an emotional check subroutine on it, and let me tell you, the results of that check are often hilarious.

Here we have Murderbot at his best – when he is in charge and trying to extricate humans out of tricky situations while pretending that he doesn’t really care about them. But we all know that he is a big mush under that gruff exterior, and that he absolutely cares about his humans.

Murderbot has a plan (well, the bare bones of one at least), but that plan goes out of the window as soon as he enters the taurus anyway. Shenanigans happen, with lots of snark from our favorite SecUnit, and I loved every minute of it.

We get to meet DR Mensah’s extended family, including one of her spouses and her daughter. Sofi is an amazing character, but I loved Granma the most. Also, it’s hilarious how awkward Bot is with children, but how good he is with them as well. No matter how much he gripes about it, it’s like he senses when little humans need him to be there for them, even if it’s just a strong hand to hold on to when the world around is scary.

Oh, and Three freeing other SecUnits with Murderbot 2.0 code, and the rogue SecUnit panic that spreads through the taurus is rather funny to read about. Especially Bot’s reaction when one of those units tried to interfere with the rescue of his humans.

My only complaint about this book is that once again, we get very little of ART and Bot interactions. I miss ART. I want them exploring the galaxy together, watching soap operas and being hilariously snarky about the humans they have to deal with.

PS: My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced review copy.

books, Reviews, Space opera

Cello’s Gate (The Sky Pirates of Imperia 1) by Maurice Africh

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DNF at 15%

I am baffled. I don’t understand where all the 5-star reviews are coming from. I am also mad at myself for trusting those reviews and going for this book based on them. I feel like I got bamboozled.

Yes, it’s a debut and also the first book in a series, which means it has to do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to introducing the world, the plot, and the characters. So I am willing to give it a bit of grace, but my patience only stretches so far.

First of all, the pacing. I was 15% in when I threw the towel, and the plot hadn’t even started yet. We had a long prologue that kinda sorta introduced the main protagonist, along with a huge infodump about the world he lives in. Then we get this long and drawn-out heist where the author tries his best to introduce all the characters on Gray’s crew, along with their backstories. Do we really need the whole backstory of the Crest Knights right in the middle of what is supposed to be a high-stakes heist? Why do I need 3 pages of her backstory while they are crawling along a ventilation shaft in this super-high security facility? Any tension and anticipation I had for this just died on the vine.

And this tendency to overexplain, infodump, then summarize it again for good measure a few pages later, continues throughout the portion of the book I read. Why? The readers aren’t stupid. We do not need everything spelled out and summarized for us. 

My other issue is the characters. Yes, they are likable. They are also so overpowered from the very start that there is no tension to the confrontations, and the seemingly high stakes fall flat. I mean, you have what is supposed to be an edge-of-your-seat scene in the beginning with two of the protagonists pinned down in a small room by twenty highly skilled soldiers with only one way out… But this is barely an inconvenience when Gray’s companions seems to be a one-woman army who dispatches those “highly skilled” soldiers in less than 5 minutes without either of them taking any damage. 

Also, those “highly skilled” soldiers have never been taught how to clear a room properly? No, I mean, they forgot to check behind the door when they stormed into the room (which has one entry point). Then they conveniently turn their back to the door (all three of them) and let the Crest Knight kill them like the idiots that they seem to be. 

So the fact that the characters are so overpowered that you don’t feel worried about their survival, added to the fact that their enemies are morons, just makes me not give a s&*t about this story from the get-go. 

There are also some plot and description inconsistencies that could easily have been avoided if a good content editor had given the draft a pass, like that scene in the vault. The author says that one of the protagonists closes the door once the three soldiers rush in… Yet in the next paragraph, both protagonists are exchanging fire with the remaining soldiers through the open door… It’s one or the other. It can’t be both at the same time.

I was fully willing to give this debut a chance, but I value my time too much to have to drudge through 500+ pages of this.

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

books, Reviews, science fiction, Space opera

The Tangled Stars by Edward Willett

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Stars: 5 out of 5

That was a delightfully entertaining story! I haven’t read anything else by this author before, but seeing how much I liked this book, I’m inclined to check his other works as well.

This is part heist, part mad adventure in space, part exploration story. It’s fast-paced and full of twists and turns, and it keeps you engaged throughout. 

I think the biggest draw, at least for me, was the characters. I love good character-driven stories, so this was right up my alley. You can’t help but like Coop. Yes, he is a crook and a conman, but he had this earnestness about him that just makes him so endearing. Laysa is also a great character with her own motives for joining this mad capper. And she and Coop play really well off each other. I could truly believe that they used to be partners in crime and lovers before. There is this easy understanding they have when push comes to shove, and the situation goes sideways.

As far as villains go, Galioto is on the heinous side of the spectrum. A little overboard at times. Though his motivation for pursuing Coop to the edge of the solar system and beyond is well laid out and makes sense. He is a megalomaniac who wants more money and control when this adventure starts, and is forced to see it through because his empire is in shambles and he has no other choice but succeed in the end. You could argue that his undoing is entirely of his own making, though. If he hadn’t gambled everything to pursue Coop and his mad bid to steal the only MASTT-equipped ship in the system, he wouldn’t have been betrayed and sidelined from his own criminal empire. So he is getting exactly what he deserves in the end. 

But the best character in this story by far is Thibauld, the AI-uplifted cat. Where can I get one of those? He cracked me up with his Star Wars and Star Trek references that nobody else in this century understood. His relationship with Coop is hilarious at times. The whole idea of AIs going rogue and what that would spell for humanity is also very well done. 

And I loved how all of their plans would inevitably go awry, almost from the get-go, and they would have to scramble and pivot. Fast thinking and smooth talking (and a little bit of coercion at times) got them out of the frying pan and into the fire on more than one occasion.

The ending hints at the possibility of a sequel, but it doesn’t look like it’s been written yet. I really hope that the author comes back to this world in the future.

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

books, Horror, Reviews, science fiction

An End to Potential by Emily Swiers

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Stars: 4 out of 5

This was a surprisingly good read, even though it turned out to be a completely different story from what I had expected when I started reading this book.

Yes, this is a quest and a mystery to unravel, but more than that, this story is about coping with trauma and piecing together tattered bits of yourself in the hopes of becoming a better (and healthier) person.

I admit that I didn’t particularly like Kana at first. She seemed like the typical spoiled rich brat who always gets her way without even once stopping to consider the lives she wrecks in the process. And admittedly, she is all that, but there is also so much more that meets the eye. Frankly, with all the abuse and trauma she’s been through in her short life, I’m surprised she isn’t a raving lunatic most of the time.

The further I read into this book, the more I came to sympathize with her. Yes, she is capricious and always wants to have her way. Yes, she can be cruel and has a total disregard for the safety and well-being of others. But would you blame her? She learned from a young age that a nanny could kidnap you or sell you to kidnappers. The bodyguard assigned to you might be the one handing you over to people with a grudge against your mother. The doctors who treated your injuries would turn around and sell your medical records to the press to turn a quick profit. No wonder she is paranoid and doesn’t trust anyone. Or have any friends or romantic interests.

The story itself is a bit convoluted with a lot of flashbacks that, though useful to paint the picture of Kana’s life, sometimes bog the narrative down. It felt like it dragged at times. Also, some of those flashbacks raise more questions than they provide answers. Like the postcard referenced at the very beginning of the story. What was that about? And the incident that left Kana disfigured. It’s mentioned in the beginning, but never expanded upon. Why talk about it if it doesn’t have any impact on the story?

My other issue is with Bexley. Who is she? Kana treats her like a close friend during that one phone call at the beginning of the book, yet Bexley isn’t present in any of her other recollections of her childhood or teenage years. She isn’t mentioned at all for most of the book, apart from one other time. What are her ties to Kana and the Amobrose family? Why is she in California and not wanting to come back? The lack of any mention of her in Kana’s past makes her seem like a figment of Kana’s imagination rather than a real person.

The other question that is left unanswered is why Rabid Sinthies were attracted to Kana. What makes her so special? There are hints to it, but nothing is fully explained. 

All in all, I really liked this book, and I am looking forward to reading more books by this author. And if there is a sequel, I will definitely pick it up.

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

books, Reviews, science fiction, Space opera

Stars and Bones (The Continuance 1) by Garreth Powell

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5

My mind is divided about this book. On one hand, I liked the idea behind it, the symbiosis between humanity and the intelligent ships they live on. On the other hand, it was all a bit too… simplistic, I’d say?

In this story, humanity didn’t earn anything they have. All they did was try to self-destruct in a final conflagration of atomic fire. One person made a breakthrough in space travel and got the attention of a cosmic being so advanced it might as well be a deity. Heck, they even call it the Angel of Benevolence in the book. Nothing of what happens after that was earned. The arks the humans live on? Created by the Angel. The artificial intelligences that pilot and run them? Also created by the Angel. All food and shelter is provided to everyone involved. Oh, and humanity is pretty much condemned to roam the cosmos in these arks for all eternity without ever setting on another planet. 

Doesn’t the author realize that this would literally be the end of our species? Slow death by apathy. If there is nothing to aspire to, nothing to invent or better ourselves for, then there is really nothing to live for. It reminds me of that experiment researchers did with a mouse colony back in the last century – they provided them with ideal conditions where food and shelter was abundant… and the colony died out. They just stopped reproducing or even interacting with each other. They ate, they slept, and they slowly gave up on life.

I would understand if there was something to strive for – get a good education, and you will be taught how to pilot a ship. Continue scientific research into space travel, study alien ruins or something else. But when everything is provided, and all the decisions are made for you… I’m not sure this is a future I want to live in.

My other issue is the characters. They are barely developed enough to be more than cardboard cutouts. Heck, the different ship envoys have more personality than the human characters. Which, seeing what I talked about in the previous paragraphs, kind of makes sense. Eryn was the only more or less fleshed-out character in this book. The rest were labels. Lee is the love interest. Then there is the annoying teenager whom she has to care for because she is her sister’s child. Then there is Frank, the genius who discovered warp travel… and who is pretty much useless for the rest of the book. I barely remember any of the other character names because they were introduced only to advance the plot and then die off-screen, like the wannabe reporter Tessa.

The story would have been more interesting if the characters had more agency. As it is, Eryn is sent on a wild goose chase to find a McGuffin (who is Frank in this case), even though the McGuffin is useless to this particular problem. Then the deus ex machina that is the Angel puts something into her brain and sends her on another quest to deliver this payload to the enemy. And that wins the day. End of story. Never mind the fact that over three-quarters of the arks had been corrupted by the time it’s done, which means the Continuance is a ghost town with critically low population. None of that is addressed at the end of the book.

In summary, I went into this book looking for a space adventure that would keep me entertained and characters I could root for. I was rather disappointed instead.

books, Reviews, science fiction, Space opera

The Relentless Legion (The Divide 3) by J.S. Dewes

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Stars: 3 out of 5

I loved the first two books in this series. In fact, I rated both of them 5 stars, so I was both excited and apprehensive to pick up the final book in the trilogy. Would the author be able to stick the landing? Will the ending be a satisfying payoff for having invested so many hours into this story? Would the characters I grew to love get the futures they deserved? Would all the plotlines be tied up neatly (or messily, I don’t care, as long as they are not left hanging)?

The answer is meh… kind of?

The biggest issue with this book is the pacing. The first two books were characterized by an almost breathless pacing where action was non-stop, and things went from bad to worse, yet the characters still persevered and somehow managed to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. This made for very tense, but also immersive reading. I remember finishing each of the first two books within 2-3 days of starting them. This book, though… let’s just say that it took me two weeks to get to just over 50%, after which I put it down and didn’t touch it for half a year (set aside in June, and finished end of November).

The reason is that it’s boring. Almost nothing happens for Rake or Cavalon for the first 50% of the book. Yes, we get some action in Jackin’s POVs, but… let’s just say that he is not having the best of times, so those passages are quite heavy, and with nothing to compensate for it in Rake and Cav’s POVs, it makes for a long read. They are basically stuck in that ancient fortress, twiddling their thumbs and talking circles around what they could/should/might do. And when the action finally picks up, it’s not because of a decision that Rake made, but because it was forced on her by Augustus. 

And then in the last quarter of the book, the pace suddenly revs up to 100mph, and everything careens towards the ending like a car without brakes. The ending is a jumbled mess. Too many deus ex machina moments and wins that are literally handed to our heroes on a silver platter. Why spend over half a book trying to find the cure to the mutagen, when it will be handed to them on a thumb drive in a parallel universe? Why portray Augustus as the big bad for three books just to resolve this situation in less than a chapter? Everything feels rushed and half-baked in the ending. I would have rather the author sped up through the first slogging part of the book and took more time bringing all her plots to the resolutions they deserved.

The biggest strength of these books has always been the characters. I love Rake, and Jackin, and Cavalon as our protagonists. I grew to dearly care for them, as well as the side characters like Mesa, Griffin, Puck (oh, Puck)… So as far as the characters go, this book does a good job with them. 

Cavalon especially gets a huge boost in character development. He finally overcomes his fear of abandonment, his impostor syndrome, and realizes that just because he is Augustus’ clone doesn’t mean he will become another Augustus. I loved watching him grow a spine and take charge of his own destiny.

Jackin gets a good send-off as well, though I feel like the horrors he went through in captivity weren’t addressed as thoroughly as they should have been. There is no way he would be this okay after all this, as he is portrayed to be. I know the author wanted to have a happy ending for everyone, and I really want that as well, but it’s just not realistic. He needs therapy. He needs rehab. His road to being physically and mentally okay would be a lot longer than it is portrayed to be.

My biggest disappointment, though, is what the author did with Rake. She was such a driving force in the previous two books! Yes, she had moments of doubt and despair, but she always knew when to act and get shit done. And it feels like the author took all of her agency in this book. She isn’t acting, she is reacting. She is reacting to Jackin being back, she is responding to Augustus attacking the fortress, and she is reacting to the information Kaize gives her about the generation ships. In fact, the only time she seems to act on her own is when she takes Jackin to get his implants removed and when she decides to strike at the heart of Augustus’ empire at the very end. 

Other than those instances, she is just spinning her wheels for three-quarters of the book, and it seems like everyone around her is trying to push her to do something, anything, and she just… procrastinates, is not the right word. Overthinks everything, maybe? And because of that, the final promotion Lurgen tosses at her doesn’t feel earned. She is portrayed as this great leader who is able to galvanize people and persuade them to follow her into a literal insurrection, but nothing in her actions in this book supports that. The previous books? Yes, absolutely. This book? It’s like she is a different person. And that’s so disappointing, because she has always been my favorite character.

I am, however, glad that we avoided the dreaded love triangle. I loved her friendship with Cav. They really felt like siblings more than colleagues or friends. 

So in summary, this is an okay ending to an otherwise great series.

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

books, Reviews, science fiction

The Reinvented Detective by Cat Rambo

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5

I honestly expected more of this anthology. I mean, stories about detectives set in the far future, solving cases using technologies we can only dream of? That’s right up my alley! The cover is gorgeous as well, and contributed to my requesting this book from NetGalley. The contents were rather disappointing, though.

I think I liked maybe three stories out of the whole anthology. Murder at the Westminster Dino Show by Rosemary Claire Smith was a fun short story that made me chuckle a couple of times. I mean, pocket-sized dinosaurs? Humanity would be crazy enough to fall for that trend. The downside of this story was that the protagonist wasn’t particularly bright. Heck, it felt like her pet dinosaur brought her all the clues she needed.

In the Shadow of the Great Days by Harry Turtledove was also fun enough to read, even if it presented a rather bleak image of the future.

The Unassembled Victims by Peter Clines was the highlight of this anthology for me. It was well-crafted, and I loved the characters. It set up the tone and the world effortlessly. It made you care about what was happening. More importantly, both detectives were actually smart people who did some detecting. I wouldn’t mind reading other stories set in this world, because there is so much to explore there.

The rest of the stories in this anthology fell rather blah to me. The biggest issue is that in many of them, there wasn’t much detecting or unraveling of clues. I also either didn’t connect with the protagonists or the writing styles. And I will admit that I don’t particularly care for poetry. Some of the stories also felt half-baked, as if the author had a word count to meet and didn’t particularly care about aspects like worldbuilding or characterization.

All in all, this is more of a miss for me, with one excellent story and two okay ones.

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