Made in DNA
Japanese hard scifi is hard to find in translation. This is a true gem. Excellent story; believable, relatable characters; a decent translation; brilliant ending. Highly recommended. Truly five-star material, but loses one star for using fonts that don't mesh well with e-readers (at least on Play Books anyway) causing huge gaps between the comma and the next letter (i.e. don' t), and because I think the editing could have been a bit tighter considering the quality of the publisher.
Infinite Lives: (Infinite Lives Online Book 1) is a GameLIT (LitRPG) novel is in the world of virtual fantasy roleplaying. Our hero, DeadPixels, clad in nothing but crack-revealing armored speedos, cloaks himself in smarmy, smart-ace remarks as he makes his way from (just barely) defeating Gauldark the Grimm, a powerful necromancer/pyromancer who has set the hero's netherbytes on fire.
But that's not the worst part of his ordeal. Truth be told, he's been online for... good question; he thinks it could be weeks; in which case, he's a little worried that he might just be a disembodied version of his digitized mind. (GULP!)
Pacing and action are fairly good, but I might have hoped for a little more action, maybe even some of the end fight with Gauldark the Grimm in the beginning. That said, action is not the focus of the novel, so it was never a problem. The pacing is strong, keeping the goals of the characters clear and moving the story along.
The POV of the story switches between two main characters online, and the chat or email between several event-determining characters. The email/chat might seem as if its fluff at first, but the author Elven Steele is clever in his buildup of plot. Much of half takes place before the protagonists' adventure, so it's important to follow them closely as they give clues to what's happening.
To put it all together, this is a book for those who loved Bored of the Rings or any parody based fantasy novel. I, myself, loved the first book so much I pre-ordered the second, and have begun reading it now that launch day has passed.
Contains adult themes and language, so it's clearly not for the YA crowd.
6 in the Styx is a collection of 6 vivid stories of ultra-suspense cum personal horror with an slick varnish of weird as well. What would push a person over the edge of sanity? Are there personal definitions of “hell”? Who are the “skeletons” in our closets? With 6, rising author Brad Carl (Gray Areas, Craft Beer Burning, 5 Dead or Alive) explores the consequences of our actions. Bizarre and twisted, the collection allows you to enjoy a smattering of Carl's literary prowess in as little as 15 to 30 minutes (depending on your reading speed). This is an extreme plus for busy folks like myself who find reading relaxes them after a long day at the office. (I work an afternoon shift and get home late. Reading lulls me into a relaxed state.) In a literaryscape of trilogy novels that often span into 1000s of pages (I do love them but as you can see, it takes me time to read), Carl's work can be enjoyed in a short span without losing where you are in the novel, or who such and such character is. Highly recommended.
I am not a fan of YA fiction, but after I saw the preview for the upcoming Jackson movie version, I decided I needed to check out the original. I was pleasantly surprised I did, and I even bought the second book in the series. (Thankfully all the books are stand-alone stories, as I can't stand having to read 3 to 4 books just to get the full story.)
Set in a future distant from our own on a post-apocalyptic Earth devastated by war, the young protagonist, Tom who is on the cusp of becoming a a man, discovers all that he believes in and idolizes, is a thin veneer of lies by adults who wish to keep himself and the rest of his beloved city-on-wheels, London, in the dark. An assassination attempt literally throws his world into chaos as he discovers, first-hand, pirates, slavers, the enemy of the state, and death at every turn.
What really shook my foundation of belief that YA books are “childish” was the death and destruction in the novel. Not only was there death, but there was violent death. Not overly descriptive, but told straight-forward enough and well enough that there was no question as to what was happening. This may be simply my own inexperience with YA novels, but it was refreshing in a way, and I will be reading the series in complete. Kudos to the author on such beautiful world and character creation.
Arthur Graham is an author and the sitting Editor in Chief of Horror Sleaze Trash, a publication of mixed genre fiction all flagrantly injected with sexual elements. Tanuki Tango Overdrive (TTO for short) is a collection of three short stories revolving around the Japanese tanuki (sometimes referred to as a “raccoon-dog”), an animal with the appearance cross between a badger and a raccoon. In Japanese mythology, these animals are purported to have supernatural powers which allow them to trick human beings, and in Arthur's collection, they use these powers to get jiggy with an assortment of famous Hollywood stars, each other, and even a bullet train. Over the top comedy and sexual situations are the hallmark of this original work. Not for the faint of heart, strong sense of humor a must. A quick read, but something you'll be recommending and lending out to your friends over and over again.
BLECH - Great cover, horrible book. Steer clear.
This book proves that you can sell ANYTHING with a great cover. And that's exactly WHAT and ALL that this book has going for it. Terrible plotting that explained NOTHING as to the existence of the titular character or why the villainous corporate schmuck wanted her, horrible characters who had no redeeming value to them whatsoever, swearing for the sake of swearing (and swearing doesn't bother me). I read this book 2 years ago, and all the disgust I felt over reading it the first time hit me like a sack of bricks when I happened to catch sight it here at Amazon again by accident. I was perfectly happy to forget I set fire to money when I purchased it, and frankly, I'd rather set fire to my own head before I bought anything else by this author.
NOT SO FANTASTIC - A little pedestrian
86 pages of full-color photos of the titular “Cyberpunk” young woman on the cover. First and foremost, while the description states “women of adult age (18+)”, there is ABSOLUTELY no nudity involved, nor anything “adult” about the book. It's clean and safe for work as there are zero provocative shots (though there are perhaps five to six shots that come accidentally close to being somewhat provocative. So if you've come for sexy images, this is not the book for you. That said, I'm glad the photographer and “author” (there is no text in this book whatsoever) decided on using a young woman instead of a preteen like is so popular in similar books in this vein.
Unfortunately, I wasn't as impressed by this book as I wanted to be. It's rather dull and amateurish. Is it bad? No. But Julie Watai's work with Hardware Girls puts this to shame. This is just a young woman in several different cyberpunk-ish headgear pieces, a gas mask and VR headgear. I flipped through the whole 86 pages in less than five minutes. There wasn't anything to hold my attention. And sampling (via Amazon's free samples) shows that this “8 Book Series” gives the same treatment to the same young women in subsequent titles.
Hopefully the “author” and photographer decide to spread their wings a little in the future and really get a little wild and crazy with the settings. This series does NOT need to be sexy to be good, it just needs to work on settings, and perhaps, clothing choices for the model a little more.
What happens when the world breaks down and the teens take over and then grow up? BE NICE. An interesting premise for a novel, and certainly one that has both strong roots and presence in our own world. This was not a difficult read, but some readers' mileage may vary as it didn't click perfectly with me.
I think the narrative “failed” me as a reader though were the extremely short “battle” scenes where action was too quick. Granted real fights and action are probably very similar to the book (over in a minute or so), but in a novel, readers expect a slow blow-by-blow description that is more like a movie.
I did enjoy the overall messages of the book; the biggest being: There is no one answer to the world's problems. So the book is not without merit, it might actually make for a great young adult novel if some of the violence were toned down. There wasn't too much of it to begin with, but there is a smidgeon.
To be honest, this was a tough read. There points at which I thought it was a little too long-winded, especially the last chapter and the epilogue. There were points at which I really didn't know what was going on. There were other points I couldn't remember which character (Gary and Jim) was which (actually, I'm still a little confused). I'm not a fan of fiction where one friend's the jerk and the other is the nice guy; it just turns me off. This book starts off that way, but fortunately, it doesn't last the whole book.
Is the book bad? No, I don't think it's bad, but it just wasn't my thing. I thought it was going to be as the premise is interesting, but it just went in directions I couldn't fathom. Some readers will enjoy this of course, because, most definitely, it doesn't follow the pattern of normal zombie novels. In fact, it turns “reverse” zombie near the end where the zombies are the ones in danger from live humans. (Not a spoiler.)
I think people's mileage is going to vary on this one.
A Song of Death in a Multicultural Dystopia
Samuel Pointe is a high-tech, deadly mercenary living in the class-divided ruins of a dystopian Los Angeles where the rich watch stoically from on-high while the squalid masses rip each other to pieces in gang wars for the simplest of needs. A master of martial arts, his edge over his over-pumped, battle-addled, blood-crazed opponents is his calm, which allows him to read them, and move to a song of death.
While hired by a corporate magnate to become the chief marketing personality for a learning machine manufactured by the Mitsu Corporation, Samuel has business to conduct in the name of vengeance and justice for his murdered family and old compatriot.
The first book in series of four, LOM Book One is a no-holds-barred slaughter fest of martial arts and car duels along the highways and streets of the Los Angeles basin's most popular destinations. This is old-school cyberpunk written by an old school author native to the SoCal area. Bringing to it his intimate knowledge of martial arts, gritty street life, multiculturalism, and LA, Frank Lechuga's debut novel will not disappoint.
This isn't high brow Chicano literature, this is mean street-machine, bullet-riddled Xicano science fiction!
Lucas Thorn's first book in the Nysta series gut-punches both the reader and the protagonist right off the start. Though punctuated with chuckle-worthy pop culture references and humor, the book is a nasty, bile-flavored read through and through. True to the title, it is a tale of revenge; death following Nysta as she single-mindedly focuses on destroying the jackwagons who murdered her husband.
This is a fantastic indie novel: well-written, well thought-out, and well-edited. Fantasy lovers will be hard-pressed to find a better work. On par with the Elric novels, Game of Thrones, the Drizzt novels and the other legendary tales of swords and sorcery.
Take note though, adult violence and language are used copiously, but are well-warranted within the world of the work.
The story of Oscar and Doug, two life-long friends since kindergarten, Beer Craft Burning is a slice-of-life thriller with a microbrewery aficionado touch. As with Carl's other work, the novel concentrates heavily on the characters and their relationships with the others. Human to the core, they are flawed, giving the reader exactly whatever reader needs to connect and invest in them.
While revolving around the microbrewery scene, the book does not force the reader to understand any complicated “lingo” or processes to understand exactly what is going on. As a non-beer drinker myself, I found the information on beer crafting and the brewery scene to balanced perfectly to the point of being inviting.
Finally, as he proved with his first series, Gray Areas, the author proves that he not only knows the beer crafting scene intimately, but he's a native of the area he's writing about. Born in the Midwest, Carl knows the people, places and culture he's writing about. This isn't researched writing, this is a living perspective.
Queen Kegel is a Naked Lunch-esque dive into alternate dimensions and a deep mystery of epic proportions. While working as a standalone piece of fiction, the author uses metafictional devices to whip the protagonist (Callie, herself) and her jack-of-all-trades/cohort Sarchasmo across fiction timelines of her own production. Tying much of her work together into a grand narrative while keeping the reading experience both enjoyable and thrilling. Liberally laced with sex, drugs and adult language, QK is a fantastic work of fiction for those tired of the same old schlep the big publishing houses tout and the smaller places are too chicken to touch. Bizarro smutpunk!
Old-school, high-concept space opera. Really dug it, but as a lot of people remark, the stories of the aliens get a little redundant after a while. I wonder if the time spent on telling their tales couldn't have been better spent on exploration of the planet and its deadly inhabitants in the latter half of the book. Looking forward to the second and third books, but not without slight trepidation that they might not live up to expectation (as this book did not for some).
When I first read these as a kid, I was enthralled. Reading them again as an adult, and I was excited all over again. Not only does Daley touch the heart of the Star Wars universe with his writing, he imbues with with an innate understanding of adventure.
All three interconnecting stories are family-friendly fare that can make reading nights with the kids enjoyable for all, or just provide some awesome thrills for those in love with SW. Thrills, battles, bad guys, lost armies of robots, and thugs abound, what's not to love about the roguish Han Solo and his faithful companion Chewbacca?
Clean transition from paper to digital copy.
If you ever enjoyed the Hammer's Slammers series, then BBDC is a fantastic short title for you. Sentient battle tanks slug it out with alien menaces from beyond the stars. Plenty of action and realistic character development that goes a long way toward revealing the real threats to humankind (and machinekind). In a century when thinking machines are still in their infancy, this work will give you good reason for pause, to consider the consequences of putting machines on the frontlines of tomorrow's battles.
Space Vampires by Colin Wilson is a NOT-TO-BE-MISSED science fiction classic from 1976. As the source material for the “erotic” science fiction movie Lifeforce, it starts off with the discovery of a fantastic starship that has traveled tens of thousands of years, and is discovered by the human race in 2080. The derelict carries a cargo of supposed corpses of (at least) two types of aliens – one squid-like and the other humanoid (supposed humans from Earth). Unbeknownst to the British space agency explorers, it also harbors a third alien – space vampires.
Not all is what it seems, and three of the vampires are unleashed upon the fertile playground of Earth. It soon becomes a race against time to find them. (This is where the novel and the movie depart. Pleasantly so though as each of the two mediums becomes a brilliant work of its own.)
The characters, setting and plot are all plausibly written and properly motivated. The fantastic turn of the book is the engagement at which author Colin Wilson tackles the idea of not just vampirism in general, but in fact, energy vampirism (i.e. “lifeforce”), and eventually what he dubs “benevolent vampirism”. Seemingly well-researched (or at least well thought-out), Colin discusses it through the characters and plot like a chess master almost as if he is delivering an extremely engrossing college lecture, without being pedantic or speaking down to the reader.
The only drawback to the book itself (and this is small) is the slow pace of how the characters discover what is happening, and the lack of perhaps some traditional “action” that readers may expect in such a book. Make no mistake on two point though, 1) this is a fantastic book if you love SF that makes you think, and 2) it has several sex scenes which though are rather “plain” in their description in the book, are played up in the film version. So if you are looking for titillation, I recommend enjoying the book and then enjoying the movie after for full effect.
If you're a fan of 80s and 90s B sci-fi sexploitation movies then you're going to dig Moctezuma Johnson's Triangulum Stain. Utilizing male human body fluids against humanity as a weapon of replication, aliens invade the small town of Beaver Lick, Arizona. Fortunately, a group of hot female government agents are ready to do what it takes to save the planet.
Tongue firmly in cheek, Johnson penned this short work, to give readers a good laugh. Don't let that fool you thought, there are plenty of hardcore scenes, sexy honeys and manly man.
I look forward to this author's next sexploitation sci-fi work.
Rich, diverse, and cunning characters face off in a deadly world of endless war and scheming to solve the mystery of a dead comrade.
As a first time reader of Ms Hurley's work, I was stunned by the thought, care and ingenuity that when into devising this world. It stands out as a superior example of transhuman science fiction. I became an immediate fan. I WILL be picking up the GOD'S WAR trilogy after reading this.
Lyrical and dream-like, the narrative is atypical, choosing to steer well clear of most plot devices and characterizations one might expect from the science fiction or vampire genres. Delightfully refreshing and imminently immersive.
Notably “missing” here, too, is the gore-filled splatter one might expect from a vampire novel. However, while the vampires do kill, it all happens in the background, and there is more humanity in the vampires than in the world around them. Trapped in a never-ending loop of time, the vampires must learn to escape their assumed fate while simultaneously promoting it.
This is not an action novel, it's not exploitation, and it's not horror. I would call it experimental literature bizarro.
Enter a young couple trying to have a child; a hidden, dark past; and psychological trauma that one cannot run from – combine it all for a creepy, on-the-edge-of-your-seat read.
I'm a not a fan of psychological-trauma horror to honest. It sits on that level that disturbs and makes me uncomfortable. That, however, is the power of Shane McKenzie's writing. It is what also kept me turning page after page, reading to an inevitable ending that I knew I could not escape with this short story.
Dark, haunting and not for the faint of heart.
FIVE STARS - The space opera genre has always had a place in my heart. It represents that dashing, daring knight-in-shining-armor side of my ego that hopes someday I'll dive headlong into an adventure of epic proportions. Raygun Chronicles is a masterpiece by editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt featuring twenty-five fantastic new tales by both familiar and indie authors alike to tickle the space-exploration-adventure ego. This isn't your father's sci-fi (exciting as it was), this is a grand new take on all that fun with room to boot to surprise readers.
A virtual smorgasbord of who's who in this anthology of space colonization, but you shouldn't just look at the authors, take special note of the amazing editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt as well. Smart and savvy, Bryan seeks out work that defines the enthusiasm that still resides in the hearts of many folks around the world (but that many space programs have forgotten about). The human spirit is want to drive itself forward, to “seek out” potential. Beyond the Sun is exactly that, and it is more. It is an anthology of mostly new work (just three reprints) that represents the new and open-mindedness of the current generations – their thoughts, fears, loves, desires and lifestyles. This anthology is not just amazing for its authors, but for the fantastic vision of the editor who brought it to fruition.
A civil war rages in Hell over the publication of a book that tells the true story of love between a demon and human. Demons and humans fighting together against Hell's overlords to create something new... a place where they can be free to love each other.
Set in the Biblical Hell, this novella is an autobiography of the protagonist, Frank Lyre (as told in third-person). Frank, a man sentenced to eternal damnation for being an atheist, witnesses the descent of God in to the realm of demons; through this event, he comes to understands something very big is happening. When he sees his former wife is among God's entourage, it is a bittersweet reunion as he is torn between his growing love for a demon who has shown him favor, and a chance to make it into Heaven.
Beautiful Hell is not the book you think it's going to be. It isn't preachy or anti-religious or blasphemous, and in fact, leaves religion out of the picture for the most part, showing instead, a ‘human' side to EVERY SINGLE character in the book. It was poetic and extremely thoughtful, even during the scenes of violence and sex. In my opinion, the author took great care to create the world of The Creator (of the story) and what steps The Creator might take to understand and quell a rebellion in Hell.
Great entertainment from the author of PUNKTOWN.