CLYDE WISHAM
I have heard some good things about this series and I wanted to like it. However, this story didn't really work for me. The plot seems to jerk along. I would be reading a section and getting into the story and suddenly the story would move in time and space and something seemingly unrelated would happen. Also, I really couldn't develop any empathy for the characters – not even Jame the main POV character. This reduced my enjoyment of the story. Things did finally pull together ... but I really didn't care so much by that time.
I quite enjoyed this book. It is hard to categorize – it is SF for sure, but it is also a techno-thriller/mystery.
Erosion uncovered a structure in the Southwestern desert area of the US. It turns out to be an alien artifact, a gateway, first to the Moon and then to the Stars. The bulk of the book tells the adventures of the people who headed the investigation of the artifact. However, there is a geopolitical undercurrent to the story which comes out strongly in the climax.
Roberts says he wrote the base story some 30 years ago but was never able to get it published. The recent changes in the book business gave him the choice of bypassing the traditional publishing gatekeepers and self-publishing. He updated the story and did so. That took some courage, and I am glad he did. While the right professional editing might have improved the story (in terms of dialog and pacing), it reads quite well as it is.
Mr. Roberts, may we have a sequel?
Walter Jon Williams, one of my favorite writers, has a wide ranging imagination. All of his stand-alone novels are quite unique. Implied Spaces does not disappoint in that regard. In it, he takes on big subjects – the origin of the universe, the purpose of life, the meaning of identity, and basis of morality just to mention a few – and he wraps them in a damn good adventure story.
The main character, Aristide, is a scholar/scientist turned swordsman. While studying implied spaces, the unplanned consequences resulting from the architecture of universes, he discovers a truly evil plot. The entire human race and their AI creations are threatened. He journeys through man-made pocket universes with a seemingly magical sword Tecmesssa and his very special cat Bitsy while seeking to uncover what it is that is literally taking control of people's minds. The answer he finds is quite unexpected. Good book; read it.
In this novella length story, very special operative Chandler is given a mission to rescue a young woman from slavers. However, while carrying out her mission, she uncovers something even more sinister than human trafficking. Only immediate action will prevent disaster, and the stakes are about as high as they can get. Chandler is fantastically competent and improbably lucky – and she needs to be.
The action is practically non-stop in Exposed. Remember Daniel Craig's opening sequence in Casino Royale? String several of those together with barely time to draw a breath between and you have the pace of this story. I quite enjoyed it.
(Evidently, this is sort of a prequel to Flee, which now goes into my to-read list.)
John Rain hasn't killed anyone for four years. He gets recalled from retirement to stop an attempted coup against the US Government. But this job is too big for Rain. Under the guidance of a black-ops specialist and veteran, Colonel Scott ‘Hort' Horton, he puts together a four-man team of killers.
Eisler surprised me in this story. Of course it has lots of suspense and action, including some stone-cold killing – wouldn't be a John Rain story otherwise. But, just when I thought the story had settled in and I sort of knew where it was going, it changed direction. And then it changed direction again. The story ends in a satisfactory way with dead bad guys all around and a nefarious plot foiled.
Satisfactory but somewhat unsatisfying – I think because Eisler was not just telling a good story in this book; he also was weaving in some serious concerns he has about the direction of American politics and society. And, the plot elements involving those concerns just don't have known solutions at present. I'll avoid details, but do check out the list of references at the end of the book.
Eisler decided not to use a legacy (traditional) publisher for The Detachment, opting instead to publish as a Kindle eBook and by Amazon's Thomas & Mercer mystery imprint. This let him get the book out about a year earlier than it would have via a traditional route. I thank him for doing that. (Also, I think it is a good business decision.)
This is Crigger's fourth book about Boothenay Irons, time tripping gunsmith. The book takes its name not from a gun but from an Appaloosa horse named Six Shot.
This time a LeMat pistol with a bloody past sends her back to the 1870's. She and her fiance, Caleb, will be trapped there if they cannot find a way to stop an ancient curse. Boothenay and Caleb soon find themselves in deep trouble. She has to deal with a dangerous and sexually predatory sheriff. Caleb is captured by Nez Perce war leader Axe and faces death by torture. Boothenay with only her wits, Six Shot, and the trusty LeMat must attempt a rescue. Much violence ensues. Though this story is fairly short as novels go nowadays, it is quite enjoyable. (I do hope this isn't Crigger's final gunsmith book.)
I do love Boothenay Irons, C. K. Crigger's time traveling gunsmith. In this the third book in her gunsmith series, Boothenay gets kidnapped and taken for the first time into the future. Seems a customer needs help. Or rather the descendant of a customer. This book brings almost all the things I have come to expect from a Crigger story – lots of action, a tight plot, and a bit of romance. The only thing missing is the historical detail she usually provides; understandable as most of the action takes place in the future. Good story.
(Read in eBook format.)
In a dystopian future where the United States has collapsed and brutal regime has taken its place, young Katniss must participate in the Hunger Games. The games are a yearly spectacle, a televised fight to the death between 24 teenagers selected by lot. Think Gladiators + American Idol + Survivor. Katniss was forced to volunteer for the games in order to save her younger sister. It is basically a death sentence. This story is sad, violent, at times touching, at times even a bit humorous (in a ghoulish way), and often terrifying. I will have to read the entire series.
(One minor quibble with way the story is presented: From the description of the geography, the districts of the new country, Panem, are obviously the size of medium to large states or smallish countries. So why were both of the 12th District participants selected from just Katniss's home town. In fact, I got the feeling that the district consisted of just one town and surrounding lands. An artifact of viewpoint perhaps? Slightly annoying, but it didn't stop me from enjoying the story.)
Fast paced. Lots of action. Lots of violence. There are some really evil people out there and three teenagers are caught up in a struggle to survive. Alien agendas are at work and they and their lives and will never be normal again. This book seems better written and more fleshed out than the first book. (Perhaps because the story has developed more.) I quite liked it.
This is an amazing book.
Loren Hawn, Chief of Police in a small town in New Mexico, has a murder to solve. The problem is, it is an impossible murder, because he saw the same man die twenty years earlier. This is a mystery deeper than a small town policeman should have to solve, but solve it he must. Hawn is a strong man, quick tempered, and a fighter with a tendency to rage. But, he also has a strong sense of duty and some uncommon detecting ability.
I will avoid any spoilers. Suffice to say Chief Hawn's investigation into the mysterious murder leads him to a conspiracy involving a nearby research facility. At the same time, he has to deal with unrest due to the closing of the town's main employer, a nearby copper mine, and with escalating local criminal activity. The combination is volatile. The story has a truly explosive finish.
Enjoy.
(This review is of the ebook purchased from Smashwords.)
I finally got around to reading Sun of Suns, which had been setting in my to-read ebook stack for two years. I should have done so sooner as it was a very enjoyable read. The good news for me is that this is the first book in the Virga series, which is up to five books now.
Imagine Horatio Hornblower in a weightless environment and you will have some idea of what this story is like.
Highly recommended for SF and action fans.