The Word for World is Forest Review

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The Word for World is Forest ReviewOn the planet Athshe, there is no word for war, there is no concept of murder, there is no language of hate. The world is one vast, green, gentle forest full of people who live between the world-time and the dream-time, who resolve their conflicts by means of ceremonial singing. Then the Terran League discovers Athshe's existence and a pattern of "colonization"-very similar to the exploitation of "primitive" cultures on Earth-begins to destroy the planet and its people; and, eventually, one young Athshean named Selver learns how to hate. On reading the back cover of "The Word for World is Forest" the novel struck me as being somewhat simplistic: good aliens live in tune with nature, evil destructive humans rape their planet, revenge ensues with tidy moral at the end. I was pleasantly surprised. The contrast between humans and Athsheans is much more than good-bad or nature-machine; the story is about more than the forced loss of innocence. Over the course of the novel Selver, whose wife was raped and killed by one of the human officers, becomes a god: he is the means by which new concepts are brought into the culture, and the concept which he learns and then teaches is war. The book is as much about the irreversible exchange of truly alien ideas as it is about anything.
Despite its seemingly formulaic premise, "The Word for World is Forest" is a thought-provoking and somewhat disturbing short novel written in Le Guin's usual poetic prose. It begins with the beautiful trick of transplanting the reader into the mind of the aggressor-Captain Davidson, the rapist and murderer of Selver's wife-and letting the reader absorb first his attitudes about the planet and its natives, then presenting the action from Selver's point of view, so that the reader finds all Davidson's stereotypes about the Athsheans suddenly shattered: a very effective switch, especially since it is obvious that Davidson is an unpleasant fellow, but so far there has been nothing to contradict his assumptions. The rest of the book will continue to change viewpoints in similar fashion, presenting different aspects of the action until finally, at the end, some resolution and understanding is discovered. The last line is both heartbreaking and irrefutable; it closes the book with the same strength with which it opens, and leaves the reader thinking. The book may not be as well-known as other stories set in Le Guin's Hainish universe, but it's a strong read whose points are subtle enough to keep the story from hitting the reader over the head with the moral but clear enough to raise questions. Also, like everything else Ursula Le Guin has ever written, it's done in language that reads like a dreamscape; which, considering the Athshean lifestyle, is most appropriate. "It doesn't take an old man or a great Dreamer to recognize a god! Where you go, fire burns; only the blind canot see it...I dreamed of you before we met here."The Word for World is Forest OverviewThe award-winning masterpiece by one of today's most honored writers!

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Saga Review

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Saga ReviewEric and his new girlfriend are vacationing when a new computer game infiltrates the system of EPIC. Everything except Cindella disappears, and a new game is left in its place. The new game of Saga has similarities to the old game; it revolves around class and trying to improve one's standard of living.
However, Cindella begins to realize that this new game - is not really a game. She also learns that the mastermind behind the game put a little something extra into it that seeps out into New Earth, infecting the players so they become addicted to the game. Cindella could kill the Queen of Saga, but in doing so would have to kill two million of her people simultaneously.
With the help of Ghost, a girl who doesn't know her own power, Eric must find a way out of this disaster.
The twists and turns of life on Saga make this science fiction novel a quick and enjoyable read, especially for those who play video games.
Reviewed by: Jennifer RummelSaga Overview

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Avenging Fury (Fury and the Terror) Review

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Avenging Fury (Fury and the Terror) ReviewAlthough mortals see her as a freak even when she saves their lives and has the FBI psychopath assassins after her, Eden Waring proves time after time she is a caring Avatar; she uses her mental skills to keep people safe. Her recent efforts brought her into war against Mordaunt the evil one from another plane, who thought he could manipulate the twenty-something female as his pawn to bring chaos to this realm. He thought wrong as Eden defeated him and incarcerated his physical form inside molten glass (see THE FURY AND THE POWER).
However, Eden makes one key mistake caused by her inexperience as an avatar fighting non-human malevolencies. Part of Mordaunt's soul escaped the imprisonment just prior to the glass melting. Thus his female persona Delilah is not just out there; she goes to 1926 Georgia waiting to possess Eden's doppelganger Gwen when the latter arrives. Near Vegas just after the Mordant meltdown, in Eden's present, Delilah inside Gwen confronts the kindhearted Avatar with both using Dark Energy that will change the Universe.
The final "Fury" tale may have taken three decades to arrive, but fans will fully appreciate this strong horror suspense thriller as the climatic good vs. evil showdown occurs. The story line is hyper fast-paced from the onset and never takes a breather even when Gwen goes back in time as John Farris accelerates the velocity of his plot. Fans of the saga will appreciate the invigorating finish to an exhilarating epic quartet.
Harriet Klausner
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Time Storm Review

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Time Storm ReviewGordon Dickson's "Time Storm", first published in 1977, is an excellent post-apocalyptic novel concerning the catastrophic after effects caused by on-going time storms (or time lines that appear as, and are called in the book, `mistwalls') that continually sweep across sections of the Earth, as well as throughout the universe. As a time storm passes, a large swath of land becomes forever changed in time. A side effect is that for most of the population these time sweeps are deadly.
Luckily (or you would have no story), a small percentage of the population (including a few animals) seem immuned to the deadly effects of the time storms. The three main characters; the protagonist (Marc Despard), a young teenage girl (known as `Girl'), and a leopard (called Sunday), are all richly defined. Those who have read "Wolf and Iron", another good post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel by Dickson (published thirteen years after "Time Storm"), may see a pattern here (a leopard instead of a wolf, the protagonist searching for his ex-wife instead of his brother, and a young teenage girl whose personality is remarkably similar to the teenager in "Wolf and Iron"). However, that's where the similarities end.
This story begins with the three unlikely partners traveling across country where they cross area after area that has been changed in time. The people (and/or creatures) that have been `deposited' into the effected areas (if there are anyone at all), are either from some point in the future or from the past, but like any post-apocalyptic story, few are friendly. Even the survivors of his own time can be, and usually are, extremely dangerous. Unfortunately, a couple of the time-changed situations the group run into aren't treated very deeply by Dickson, thus leaving this reader a little confused and wondering why he mentioned them at all.
However, the heart of the story is the Despard's single-minded goal of understanding the time storms, and maybe even doing something about them. He is sort of a freak of nature, being almost a human calculator whose mind will not stop until a problem is solved. And because of this, he is also a man that has extreme difficulty with his emotions toward others, especially those he loves. And whether he likes it or not, his small, motly band soon grows to a community, and the cast of characters are handled quite well. These are not stilted, cardboard characters by any means. Dickson did a wonderful job creating believable characters.
Dickson also does a masterful job involving the reader in Despard's attempts to expand his mind and search out the patterns of the time storms so he may understand them. This becomes almost mystical in nature and leads him to reach out to the stars and beyond. I found this particularly fascinating and was quickly drawn into this strange world of the mind, space, and time. There is also the standard (but interesting) sub-plot concerning the "Empress" who wants to control what little is left of the world. And ever present is Depard's inner conflict with people, any people, especially the `Girl', creating and heightening the tension for the reader.
"Time Storm" is one of my favorite reads in this sub-genre (actually two sub-genres; time and post-apocalyptic). If you like either of these sub-genres, I think you will really enjoy "Time Storm". I consider it a "page-turner". Between 1 and 10, I give it a solid 8.Time Storm OverviewAccompanied by a leopard and a nearly autistic young woman, Marc Despard sets out to locate his wife, who, along with the rest of humanity, was swept away by a time storm. Reprint. AB. PW.

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Midworld Review

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Midworld ReviewNo one intended to settle the nameless planet covered by seven levels of steaming tropical forest. A colony ship wound up orbiting it by mistake, giving the stranded passengers no other option except to land and try their best to survive. A few of them did that for long enough to have children. Now, generations later, their adapted descendants include a hunter named Born. He's a curious young man, so much so that his people call him mad. For what good is curiosity, in a place where seeking to see the sky involves going to a place called Upper Hell?
When two giants drop out of the sky, only Born cares enough about the mystery to climb down through the trees and rescue them from their crashed flitter. Although they know less than the smallest child about surviving in this perilous place, Born manages to keep them alive long enough to reach the relative safety of his Home Tree. His tribe thinks it's seen him for the last time when he sets out to guide the strangers to the "station" from which they say they came - no one ever traveled that far before. As Born learns more and more about these fellow humans whose thinking is so very unlike that of his own people, and as he discovers how they mean to use the awesome power they've brought to Midworld, the young hunter's curiosity turns to horror. These invaders have to be stopped from carrying out their plans. But how?
The world-building in this book amazes me. Parable and adventure tale, it works well on both levels; and it ends with a chilling twist that turns what had looked predictable squarely onto its head. Followers of Foster's Flinx books - the more recent ones, especially - will find some delicious foreshadowing in that twist.Midworld OverviewBorn was a child of the rain forest that covered Midworld, part of the primitive society that the peaceful jungle planet had sustained for hundreds of years. He was wise in the ways of his world, and he knew well the precarious natural balance that governed all things.Then one day the aliens came. Giants. They knew nothing of the Upper or Lower Hell -- and they cared less. Born had risked his life to save them, to guide them through the myriad tangled boughs, past unseen, unsuspected dangers lurking in the underbrush. But worse than their ignorance of how to survive, the aliens had plans for Midworld, plans that could utterly destroy the globe-spanning forest that his people called home.As the days passed, Born realized his mistake. And as he had once hunted only to live, he knew now that he would be forced to live only to kill...

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Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda: Waystation Review

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Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda: Waystation ReviewI began WAYSTATION without high expectations, since spin-off novels from video series or films are rarely masterpieces. I was pleasantly surprised. The novel shows some surprising quality in places. It really had me turning pages and enjoying myself. Too bad that, overall, it lacked a satisfying ending and -- at the end -- just sort of twittered out into limbo.
At first I was a bit put off by the constant flip banter between the characters. However, this constant banter became more familiar by the second chapter and I started to flow with it. Perhaps because I came to enjoy the characters. I have seen the Andromeda TV show and expected the characters to be cardboard cut-outs from the show, but the author did a surprisingly good job of bringing them to life. The best developed character by far was Trance Gemini, that peculiar little elfin woman whose role I never understood in the TV series. She becomes the focus of this book, and carries it. I need to give Mr. McDonald a gold star for developing her into an interesting character for the reader, given that I am not sure the TV show provided him with much to work with in this regard.
The novel also helped me to understand some riddles of the TV series that never made sense to me. Like, why there are TWO Andromedas -- one a hologram and one an android. Turns out they are two different characters. At times they even begin to argue with one another.
The plot started so well. The ship Andromeda Ascendant has been badly shot up in a battle with defense forces of the planet Kantar; she escapes, limping, into Slipstream drive, but is forced to drop out of hyperspace when systems fail. The ship thus defaults into a very bad location, a quadrant with little but empty vacuum. No planets, no moons, no asteroids. However, by good fortune Andromeda's star charts reveal an old waystation, built centuries earlier to service starships in the early days of exploration. The plot centers on a desperate effort to (1) travel to the waystation, (2) find materials necessary to effect repairs on the Andromeda Ascendant, and (3) return.
Here's where the book runs into major problems. At least three-quarters of the book (roughly 200 pages) has concluded before members of Hunt's crew even REACH the waystation. Thus the author has only about 65 pages to roll out most of the plot and wrap up the book. Scene follows scene in a rush, blurring past the reader as the author tries to tie everything up in a few tens of pages. Even with all this haste and compression, a lot is left hanging as the book ends.
Perhaps the author might have had more room to conclude the book if he did not devote so many pages to Trance Gemini's dimension doors and encounters with quantum alternates of herself. While this element worked well for a while, and was genuinely interesting when first introduced, it eventually got to be very repetitious and overworked. I kept asking, "oh, no, not again -- haven't we been there before-- like four times at least?" A sub-plot that got out of control?
To wrap this up -- this novel had many elements I liked a lot. The characters, plenty of drama, great sense of humor, and a fast-moving action plot that takes us to about page 200. At that point structure seems to break down. The ending is compressed, cursory, and disappointing.
This book is too good to pan, but too weak to praise.
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Fallen Host Review

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Fallen Host ReviewI closed this book with a silent moment of thanks to the founders of the United States who insisted on the separation of church and state. In Lyda Morehouse's dark, dystopic future religion causes more harm than the devil and the only freedom is to be outside of the law one way or another.
Told from multiple view points, that of Morningstar (Satan); Emmaline, a papal Inquisitor; and Page, an artificial intelligence, the reader is swept into a complex world of hackers, mutant creatures, musicians and organized crime. There are so called smart cookies that trigger personal hologramic advertisements, superstar fusion polka bands and the fabulous Dragon of the East. Themes from pagan myths twine through Christian and Muslim theology.
The author, Lyda Morehouse has an interesting web site in which she says that her first book, Archangel Protocol was written and rewritten over a period of years, this book was written in a relatively short period of time, but I definitely felt that this book was the more demanding of the two, chock full of pleasurable moments and treasures for the reader to discover.
Oh, yeah, and it's real scary. I'ver redicated myself to that Separation of Church and State thing.Fallen Host Overview

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Warren Ellis' Strange Kiss Review

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Warren Ellis' Strange Kiss ReviewThis is amazing storytelling, wholely original, terrifying, and entertaining. I have never read another comic more disturbing, disgusting, surprising, overwhelming, amazing, and downright brilliant. This is not for the lighthearted, as it contains many disturbing incidents. It takes an awful lot to terrify me, and I was literally clutching my face in terror while reading the end of the opening sequence. The black and white illustrations match the world of death and mayhem. This is the introduction(wow!) of William Gravel, combat magician, a character who is relentless, violent, charming, and a complete pr**k-- a great character. A must-read for anyone interested in horror/crime comics and/or Warren Ellis' writing. His additional Strange Killing series' involving William Gravel are highly recommended as well.Warren Ellis' Strange Kiss OverviewA horrific murder/suicide takes place in the middle of a busy city street at midday, while an old man rots in a hospital bed nearby, bloated with something sick and reptilian gestating inside. In a darkened place close by, people scream, impregnated and doomed. Something beautiful and awful is trying to reproduce, and its strange kiss is only to be feared... A mystery and horror thriller by comic book luminary Warren Ellis, featuring the introduction of soldier-turned-mystic detective, William Gravel!

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The Unincorporated Man (Sci Fi Essential Books) Review

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The Unincorporated Man (Sci Fi Essential Books) ReviewImagine this: Asia is obliterated. Space travel is possible. Cars fly (finally!). There is no war. There is no unemployment. And while you are imagining all of this, add in the fact that you are incorporated at birth, and that in order to get a job or an education, you must trade stock of yourself. Imagine also that you likely do not own the majority of your own stock, thus your investors decide where you can work and even where you can live.
Is this slavery? Or does it encourage a person to invest in others as a way of improving the whole? That is the question raised in THE UNINCORPORATED MAN.
Justin Cord is a brilliant businessman in the early 21st century, and his success is only matched by his sorrow to hear that he has cancer. Using his vast wealth, Justin constructs a cryogenic tomb and freezes himself.
When he awakens, slowly coming to realize that the cryogenic act was a success, Justin finds himself 300 years into the future. Although there are cosmetic and some technological changes as one would expect, he is more concerned by the future incorporation of mankind. After being bullied (but refusing) to sign an incorporation agreement, thereby no longer owning himself, Justin becomes a central figure in a sinister and complex political machine in the new incorporated world.
THE UNINCORPORATED MAN is a stunning debut. Truly. Forget the genre clichés of laser guns, spaceships, and journeys through black holes and the like. This book is part Heinlein, part Bradbury, and part Asimov. This is no space adventure but a socio-economic envisioning of the future. As such, it would easily fit alongside, say, 1984 or BRAVE NEW WORLD as a chilling and thought-provoking treatise on possible futures.
Brothers Dani and Eytan Kollin have crafted a world here that is at times technologically stunning and exciting and sometimes frightening. Throughout the pages of this novel, you will encounter well-detailed environs peopled with wholly lifelike people --- some are wonderful, others are downright villainous. They have deftly designed a book that will have you questioning the economic principles and the very nature of personal freedom and individuality.
Even if you are not a fan of science fiction per se, THE UNINCORPORATED MAN stretches beyond that genre and brings a hauntingly possible future to life.
--- Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard
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Beyond Olympus Review

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Beyond Olympus ReviewI just finished reading your book Beyond Olympus and really enjoyed the story. Usually I don't read books that big because it seems they do not keep my attention or I just don't have the patience to get through it. Your book kept me moving and interested, by pulling me into the story. Being able to relate to the characters and feel what they were feeling made me want to keep turning pages. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. The way you developed the two story lines and brought them together at the end was great. Adam and Eve in the garden, with the father, son and holy spirit for a new beginning for the planet. All my questions got answered about where, when, why etc. Nice work.
D Scott Ayars
Beyond Olympus OverviewWhat if, in the not-too-distant future, the world's wealthiest and most powerful man learned that civilization was virtually certain to collapse within the next 20 years?And what if that man built a great new city called Olympus as part of a mighty effort to change the course of history?Yet what if the best efforts by the people of Olympus proved futile in the end? What if civilization indeed fell, leaving only the remnants of Olympus's own society to carry the flickering torch of a once proud civilization? What then?Beyond Olympus imagines the answers to those questions in a cautionary tale that is thoughtful, exciting and epic in scale. It is a story that might have seemed farfetched just a few years ago, yet perhaps might seem uncomfortably plausible today'

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The Eternal Prison (Avery Cates, Book 3) Review

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The Eternal Prison (Avery Cates, Book 3) ReviewWhile I thought that The Electric Church was one of the best recent science fiction works I've read, I felt that the follow-up book, The Digital Plague, was less than fulfilling. Jeff Somers has returned to form, however, in the third installment of the Avery Cates series, The Eternal Prison.
Avery Cates is back in The Eternal Prison, which takes place soon after end of the digital plague from the second book. The cops and the army are fighting it out for control of society. Cates, the anti-hero hitman, gets pinched by the cops and thrown into Chengara, a prison specially developed for "people of interest" like himself. Cates has to use all of his wits to stay alive, and staying alive means breaking out.
The action moves along briskly in The Eternal Prison and avoids most of the exposition that slowed down The Digital Plague. Cates always has a new set of associates, since being a Cates associate tends to dramatically reduce life expectancy, but some old familiar faces also are in the mix. The new characters are woven into the story well and are, for the most part, more interesting than most of the new faces from The Digital Plague.
Probably the best thing about this entry in the series, apart from Somers' pacing, are the changes in Avery Cates. He's famous, he's tough, but as things continue to slide downhill, Cates begins to wonder if fighting is even worth the bother, especially if things look like they'll turn out the same way in the end. Or, if he goes on, for what purpose? Cates works through the questions in Cates fashion, simply but directly, without Somers turning him into some fountain of metaphysical mess.
It's a great installment, a return to the tight pacing of The Electric Church, and the central character is revitalized as something more than a stereotype. The Eternal Prison is definitely worth your time and money.
The Eternal Prison (Avery Cates, Book 3) OverviewAvery Cates is a wanted man.After surviving the worst bioengineered disaster in history, Cates finds himself incarcerated - in Chengara Penitentiary. As Chengara has a survival rate of exactly zero, the system's most famous gunner must do some serious plotting. And a betrayal or so later, he achieves his goal. At a price.All he has to do now is defeat some new personal demons, forge some unlikely alliances, and figure out why the people he's killed lately just won't stay dead.

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The Choice (Virtual War Chronologs) Review

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The Choice (Virtual War Chronologs) ReviewThis is Skurzynski's fourth book in the Virtual War Chronologs. While it's possible to read each book as a stand-alone book, you would lose an incredible amount of the story. I would highly recommend starting with "Virtual War: The Virtual War Chronologs" and then continue with "The Clones," "The Revolt," and lastly "The Choice." In this story Corgan is now 16 and has matured quite a bit. The book is rated for grades 5-8, but he faces many problems and decisions that adults would have trouble with, and I found myself totally immersed in the different dilemmas. As an animal lover, I also love the way animals are incorporated into the story. I don't want to give anything away to someone who has read the first three books, but if you are a SciFi fan you'll love this series! The conclusion will keep you on the edge of your seat. The books are well-researched and have good scientific detail. They're also pretty easy to read and are incredibly fast-paced. A perfect weekend would be to get all four books and read them start to finish, especially if you're snowed in and sitting by a fire!The Choice (Virtual War Chronologs) Overview

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The Unincorporated War Review

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The Unincorporated War ReviewI read the first book in this eventual trilogy and was very impressed. "The Unincorporated Man" is the story of Justin Cord, a businessman with terminal cancer, who gets himself frozen in the 21st century and is eventually revived in the 24th. Here he finds himself in a world where everyone becomes a legal corporation at birth and spend their lives trying to attain a majority of their own shares. The human race has by now expanded to inhabit the whole solar system all the way to the Oort cloud. The concepts are very well thought out and the science fiction is definitely of the hard variety with sound extrapolation of today's science several hundred years into the future. There is also a good villain, the evil Hektor Sambianco. This book reminded me in some ways of "The Space Merchants", the classic fifties novel by Frederick Pohl and C M Kornbluth of a future world dominated by big business.
The first book ends with Justin refusing to play the incorporation game, seeing it as slavery by another name. He is exiled to the outer solar system where he becomes somewhat of an anti incorporation messiah in the outer planets which leads to a war with the incorporation dominated inner solar system. This is where The Unincorporated War takes up the story and it's quite a different book in many ways being mostly dominated by epic space battles which I have to admit became a bit tedious after a while. It's also more verbose with plenty written about religious philosophy and I think could have been shorter. Interwoven in the story are the attempted manipulation of humanity by the avatars, self aware artificial intelligences who inhabit the future internet. Still, it's refreshing to see a well researched hard science fiction story like this and the authors deserve a lot of credit. The Unincorporated War has a cliffhanger ending and it's not clear how the story will conclude. Regardless of my slight reservations, I will definitely be buying the third book.
I've decided to give this four stars but if fractional stars were allowed it would probably be a strong 3 1/2. I didn't write a review for The Unincorporated Man but if I had it would have been a 5.The Unincorporated War Overview

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Warren Ellis' Scars 1st Printing Review

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Warren Ellis' Scars 1st Printing ReviewWarren Ellis is one of those very special comic book writers. He's a guy who makes one proud to stand up and say, "Hell Yes! I read comic books!" His skill transcends the medium. I've always like the way Ellis deals with very human horror...the way he nurtures and grows it, like bacteria in a Petrie dish. "Scars" is just such a book. You think you've seen the most horrific part in the opening few pages but then Ellis gets to work, probing and plumbing for something darker and even more sinister.
Detective John Can and his partner are called in to investigate the site of a grisly murder. Someone has dropped off three boxes at a local charity office. But inside is no product of good will. The boxes contain the remains of a young girl, just eleven years old. The medical examiner determines that nothing was taken from the body...no macabre souvenir. This killer seemed to have taken what he wanted, and he liked it. It's up to Cain to break the news to the parents, promising them he will catch the man. This is personal to Cain. His own pregnant wife was gunned down and killed in a drive-by shooting and it's haunted him ever since.
All signs point to the girl's teacher but John has no hard evidence and he's making things worse by punching out the cop who originally investigated the girl's disappearance and then by stalking the suspect. He even comes to blows with his own, by-the-book partner over the case. So what do you do? What recourse can you take when you know a killer is on the loose, and is working day after day with children. Who will be next? That single acid drop of fear is what drives Cain to take matters into his own hands.
"Scars" was powerful because it did hit on real life horror. This could be a story right out of the daily headlines. While it deed seem to be influenced by films such as "Seven" and others, Ellis successfully made it his own and was complemented by the solid art of Jacen Burrows. At the end of each chapter in the book, Ellis provides valuable commentary and insight into what went into the making of the story. Ellis continues to prove why he is one of the best in the genre!
Reviewed by Tim Janson
Warren Ellis' Scars 1st Printing OverviewJohn Cain has been working Homicide long enough to get hard to pretty much anything; even wrenching personal loss. Today, it all gets too much. Today, he gets assigned something that finally breaks through his defenses, a child killing that hits horribly close to home. Until now, he's been a good cop, a cop who goes by procedure because it's the best way to ensure that scum go to prison. Today, he makes the parents of the victim a chilling promise. He will find the killer using any means necessary. And the killer will not get away with it. Whatever happens. How much of a monster do you have to become to hunt monsters?

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Nanovor: Hacked Review

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Nanovor: Hacked ReviewThis Is A Great Book But You Have To Be Into Nanovor To Get Somethings. I Like It A lot. I Will Read This Book Again. Its Hard For Me To Read A Book Unless Its Great.If You're A Nanovor Fan Check It Out You'll Like It.Nanovor: Hacked OverviewIt's science-fair time! In a room filled with volcanoes and lab-grown rock candy, Lucas' old-fashioned Fortune Teller is a big hit. Everyone is lining up to find out what the machine can tell them about themselves. But the fun almost comes to an end when the Lab Rats discover that someone has tapped into the data stream and is collecting very personal information. Now Lucas and his friends must dive into the nanosphere, find the source of the trouble and stop the hi-jackers. Will they be able to defeat the enemy nanovor swarm and get back in time for the end of the fair?

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Slabscape: Reset Review

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Slabscape: Reset ReviewSlabscape: Reset had me hooked from start to finish. It explores life aboard an interstellar spaceship and the peculiaralities that occur there. The characters are believable and incredibly well thought out. Dielle's struggle with coming to terms with a new world is the central theme of the book and plays out in a hitchhiker's style comedic fashion. Baker adds humour and whimsy to all aspects of the story and uses it to bring his unbelievably well thought out world to life. And I mean well thought out! The attention to detail in creating the parts of "Slab" (the interstellar spaceship) and the society that lives within it is quite astounding and demonstrates the author's love for his world. He imagines the future of entertainment and the reality TV genre and the futuristic system of government and even how people shower and purchase food.
The second main story thread follows Louis Drago who is a holographic version of a business mogul from back on Earth. He has a traditional cut-throat attitude towards people and business and he makes a wonderful addition to the story as you can see how society has changed, being protected by a the benevolent AI overlord that is Sis.
Slabscape brings all the whimsical comedy of hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy in a refreshing and intriuging setting that is sure to captivate your imagination. I for one am eagerly anticipating the sequel.Slabscape: Reset OverviewTake the most sophisticated A.I. designed mind that has ever existed, encase it in over fifty million cubic kilometres of diamond nano-rods and send it off on a twenty-thousand-year odyssey towards the centre of the galaxy. Then screw it all up by allowing thirty-two million humans to go along for the ride...

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The Bloodlight Chronicles: Reconciliation Review

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The Bloodlight Chronicles: Reconciliation ReviewI'm not sure where to start with this one - probably because I was very lost at the beginning. I thought that perhaps I had picked up a second in a series, but I could find no reference to a first book anywhere. The book in a nutshell is vampires meet cyperspace, but this isn't clear at first.
The Eternals are somehow "chosen" to become immortal in a non-aging sense. People can link to cyberspace by hooking up with a cord coming out of their head which seems to be connected to microchips they have had implanted in their brain. Ok - so far I'm following, but then come the strange references to levels and ranks in the cyberworld with no real explanation of what they mean.
Now, if you take the Eternals and the cyberworld somewhat out of the equation, the realtionships between the people are fascinating. The story revolves around a father, mother, and son. The parents are both Eternals and are trying to find a way to "infect" their son as well. They travel to the ends of the known universe (literally) to try and find this virus. However, beyond this the relationship was rather odd. Perhaps as a result of being so virtual based, the family's responses to each other seemed overly strained and impersonal.
2/5The Bloodlight Chronicles: Reconciliation OverviewDespite its futuristic technical trappings, enduring family bonds are at the core of this riveting techno-thriller. An alien virus that prolongs life has infected a couple, Zakariah and Mia Davis, and made their blood a valuable black-market staple due to its rejuvenating effects. The "eternal virus" has not affected their son Rix, and Zakariah is consumed with the search for an active sample to inoculate the teenager against mortality. To succeed, Zakariah surgically wired his brain for the global computer network, a virtual cyber-economy controlled by avatars. Busted for transporting grain without a permit and on the run from the government and the Eternal Research Institute, Zakariah must travel off-planet through a commercial wormhole alongside his new business partner and surgical cyber-twin, Helena Sharp, who is seeking the source of immortality for her own purposes. In the Cromeus colonies, on the other side of time and space, Zakariah will risk everything to give his son eternal life.

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Evolution's Darling Review

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Evolution's Darling ReviewEvolution's Darling is one of the most interesting science fiction novels I've read in the past year.
Evolution's Darling is a 'bootstrap', an AI who has achieved sentience despite frequent downgrades by its last owner. Under the laws of the Expansion, any machine that reaches a Turing Quotient of 1.0 legally becomes a person, rather than legal property - and needing to replace the shipboard computer would wipe out a year's profits for Darling's owner, Isaah. Darling is also the tutor and companion of Isaah's fifteen-year-old daughter, Rathere, and after Isaah disconnects Darling's sensors, Rathere re-connects them to save her friend, who then becomes her lover. He buys himself a humanoid body, then he and Rathere leave Earth together.
Two centuries later, Darling has become one of the Expansion's most astute dealers in artworks, collecting originals and ideas and sex-related body modifications. When a new sculpture allegedly done by fellow bootstrap Vaddum comes onto the market, years after Vaddum's disappearance, Darling and many other dealers rush to see it. While some are prepared to murder their rivals to own the piece, Darling is more interested in its origin. Is Vaddum dead? Can robots actually die? Can intelligent software be copied, and if so, is the copy a forgery or the real thing?
Evolution's Darling contains some wonderful inventions: as well as the Turing Quotient as a solution to the ethical questions of owning intelligent machines, Westerfield gives us a wide range of very individualistic robots, from the fiercely competitive hyper-intelligent starships writing anonymous academic papers on passenger service when they're not hurling insults at each other ("Number-cruncher!" "Intuitionist!"), to Vaddum, the robotic laborer turned sculptor, to the sub-Turing Wardens, cunning but rigid justice machines. I also loved the lithomorphs, alien statues on a thousand-century-long migration towards their breeding grounds. Along with this sparkling inventiveness comes a beautiful prose style: the only flaw, and that a minor one, is the erratic pacing, with two-hundred-year jump cuts and a fistful of flashbacks disguising a very simple and straightforward plot.
Aldiss and Wingrove's Trillion Year Spree defined science fiction (in part) as "the search for a definition of mankind and his status quo in the universe which will stand in our advanced but confused state of knowledge". By this definition, Evolution's Darling is uncommonly pure science fiction, because of the questions it raises about the nature of humanity. When machines can score higher than biological humans on Turing tests, which is really human? Are two beings with identical Turing ratings actually the same person, and is the art they produce equally authentic? Is there a difference between justice and aesthetic considerations? What is alive? What is dead? What is original? What is a copy? Will any of these concepts still be relevant in a few centuries? Westerfield quotes Wilde's essays frequently - and it's Wilde the philosopher, not just Wilde the wit - as well as Wittgenstein and Locke, plus sly nods to Alfred Bester and Samuel Delany... but the book sparkles with ideas and questions, rather than being weighted down with pontification. It manages to combine character-driven and ideas-driven science fiction, and even begs the question of whether there's any real difference between the two.Evolution's Darling Overview

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Look to Windward Review

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Look to Windward ReviewLook to Windward is the seventh book in Banks' science fiction universe based on a utopian society of advanced artificial intelligences and the humans (and other organic life forms) that originally created them, loosely termed the Culture. With each book, Banks has built his plots out of the interstitial area where the idea of this utopia fails, typically in its dealings with other, different societies, through its para-military/intelligence arm called Special Circumstances. This time, the Culture has interferred in the "advancement" of another society, failing miserably, and then must deal with the diplomatic fallout from their actions. That the other society, the Chelgria was a predator-based race with a rigid class structure and a warlike demeanor, makes this all the more difficult.
On this backdrop is placed several interesting characters: the Chelgrian Ziller, a composer who has ex-patriated himself because of his support for the rebels who attempted to overthrow the class structure, and wishes to have nothing to do with his old society or race; the Chelgrian emissary, Quinlan, whose despair over losing his wife in the war between the traditionalists and the rebels will drive him to commit the unthinkable; and the orbital Mind known as Masaq', who has hosted Ziller for years and asked the composer to create a new symphony based on the fading light of two suns--suns that went nova two thousand years ago when Masaq', as a warship, set off a chain reaction that destroyed them and the two orbitals around them.
As in his other novels, this one has several storylines to follow that eventually come together by the climax. Each storyline is given its own chapters, which some people find difficult to follow but I've always enjoyed, although it makes keeping track of the story much more difficult when the time spent reading the book occurs over weeks rather than hours.
It's not that Banks brings anything new to science fiction in his Culture novels; even the Culture itself can be found by looking at some mixture of Cordwainer Smith and Isaac Asimov. His ideas are culled from the classics as well, as in this book the orbital is roughly Larry Niven's "ringworld" mixed with John Varley's world-mind Gaea from his Titan trilogy. But what Banks can do better than those four, and a host of other published SF writers, is create believable characters whose motivations mesh with the unlikely locations and situations he sets for them. There's a reason why this type of SF is called space opera, but in Banks' hands it refers not to the televised soap operas but the sturm und drang of classical music. Yes, there are exaggerations here, but when a Banks' character has amnesia, it becomes a thematic device, not just a crutch to get you from one chapter to the next.Look to Windward Overview

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Surface Detail (Culture) Review

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Surface Detail (Culture) ReviewIt is perhaps appropriate for a book that centres around the battle for the afterlife to begin this review with a confession: this was my first encounter with Iain M Banks' Culture series of science fiction novels. At first, I worried that this put me at a significant disadvantage as for the first 100 or so pages, I spend most of the time being completely confused about what was going on. However, as the strands started to come together, it became apparent that this is partly Banks' style and indeed it's one he uses in his non-science fiction books too. Keep going, it does come together.
As in his non-sci fi works, Banks juggles stories and characters with dazzling effect. He takes a number of characters whose stories may or may not ultimately come together and switches between their stories. And just when you think one line of story is not going anywhere in particular, he twists it round and it all makes perfect sense. The confusion is compounded by the fact that he is covering both the `Real' and `virtual' worlds, and particularly in the virtual worlds, characters may take on different roles and identities. Sound confusing? Well, it is at first but it's also highly entertaining, not to mention clever.
To the uninitiated, the Culture is a fictional interstellar enlightened, socialist, and utopian society operating amongst other, less benevolent and lesser civilized civilizations. This is at least the eighth book to feature the Culture, which first started with Consider Phlebas featuring the Culture's religious war against the Idiran Empire. We are told that the events of Surface Detail occur a millennium and a half after this war.
Surface Detail begins when Lededje Y'breq, a tattooed slave (surface detail, you see?) is attempting to escape from her evil owner, the rich and powerful Veppers who has made his family fortune in virtual war games. He's like an evil cross between Bill Gates and Hugh Heffner.
Meanwhile, in another part of the galaxy, a war rages over the right for Hell to exist. At first the Culture is not directly involved in this war being fought out in a virtual environment with the antagonists agreeing to abide by the outcome in the Real, which strikes me as a very good way of settling disputes. But that will change as the virtual war spills over into the Real.
This is terrifically bad news for the galaxy, but great news for the reader as it brings into play the Culture war ship `'Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints'` and it's avatar Demeisen introducing that classic sci fi fall back of entertaining computers communicating with humans. It maybe a well-used trick, but it affords great opportunity for humour. And if you think that ship's title is good, how about the `'Sense Amidst Madness, Wit Amidst Folly'`. I know that in the current economic climate cuts are likely in Defence spending here on Earth, but surely we can put something aside to re-name some of our Navy with these names!
There's double-crossing aplenty, action, revenge, love stories, virtual and real action, tech and humour and some terrific characters. But what sets this book apart is the quality of the writing and the depth of the author's imagination. Amongst all the mayhem, Banks raises some interesting questions about identity, death and the whole point of Hell.
Fans of the Culture series will need no encouragement to grab this latest installment. Sure, it can be confusing at times and Banks does rather leave some stories hanging (although he presents a little potted outcome of the characters at the end) but it's a wonderful trip and I for one will be eagerly diving into the earlier books.Surface Detail (Culture) Overview

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