Made in DNA
Living with his Kiwi fruit girlfriend, Charles has been working at the same bakery since his father (a former employee) abandoned him there as a boy. Now he struggles to understand the changes in world as two mafia fruit murder each other in his shop. However, he only manages to make things worse after he decides to dispose of the bodies the only way he knows how... by turning them into fruit-filled pastries!
Eric Hendrixson is a master of novella-length fast-paced fiction. Not a word is wasted and not a scene unneeded, Hendrixson punches out a bizarro novel with cool intent. Brutal, funny, fast-paced, smart and entertaining. Readers with a love of humor will ‘gobble' this novella up!
As an author of erotica/sex fiction myself, I can appreciate a title like “Fucked by the Lake Monster”. Truly, the very words intrigued me. Monster sex is usually regulated to the “furry” world (anthropomorphic) of werewolves or vampires, and so it's rare to see something as bold as lake monster sex.
And as I dove in (pun intended), I was immediately taken in by the characterization of both the female protagonist and the monster. Champy has been hiding along the shores of Lake Champlain for years, and as it gets harder and harder to find a female to mate with... well, a monster needs some sexual healin' now and then too.
A great build up and climax, and a teaser to keep us coming back for more.
Su-Lin Kelly is a clone, and yet, still a woman. With a mysterious past, she works with her partner-lovers to solve the mystery of missing chess masters. Stumbling upon a privately owned island, a self-made despot, and chess game to the death, she pits her incredible intelligence against the world's best.
Sexy, cruel, and as unapologetic as the first novel (THE GIRL FACTORY), KING'S MATE is a fantastic men's adventure novel with a female protagonist who uses her body and mind to every advantage.
If you love great pulp work, this last novel of Su-Lin Kelly's adventures is not to be missed. Out of print, you will want to search eBay and online used book shops.
A tedious read belabored by descriptions of scientific theory and explanation in both computer and neural sciences. Not for the casual reader who will find it difficult to get through the 100 pages that makes up this confusing narrative. I'm not even going to bother finishing it; I've forced myself to page 90, but that's all I can stand. And if I couldn't make it through the story, I'm not going to read through the research in the appendices. In my opinion, if you have to explain your work in the second half of the book, you didn't do a very good job of writing the book in the first place. Good books, like good jokes, need no explanation. The worst part is, the story has great potential, but it just never develops. Overall, I was just flatout disappointed. That said, I'm sure niche readers will love it.
A stunning, hard-hitting ending (which I will not give away) to a well-written, well thought-out book. Biopunk in the vein of Ribofunk by Paul Di Filippo. A scary world of mega-corporation domination, looming eco-disaster, and political backstabbing. A story that masterfully divides the narrative between several characters, none of whom are truly the protagonist, and none of whom are the clear epitome of good or evil, which is a breath of fresh air.
After I received the book, I was disappointed to see the cover blurb: I hope he writes 10 sequels – as I was fearful I had just purchased a novel that was going to require me to purchase a second or third to finish it. I'm not a fan of that. Yes, I like long work, but I like to know in advance that I will need to invest more so I can make an informed purchase. However, after finishing the novel, I couldn't agree with the cover blurb more. This is a novel set in a world that deserves to have more stories told. So I will definitely be picking up Pump Six and Other Stories (a collection of short stories set thus).
When an Aphrodite 9400 shoves a stiletto through a client's eye, the man's ‘bodyguard' calls Zendyne, the company who made the love doll. They send Lee, who designed the doll. What Lee discovers is an escaped combat AI who convinces him to help her further. Lee knows however that it is not going to be easy. Zendyne is going to lay blame for death of a client at his feet. That is the least of his troubles though when an all-but inhuman assassin literally knocks on his front door to kill him.
I enjoyed the hell out of this book. It's a fantastic post-cyberpunk techno-thriller. The characters, moods, ideas, and environments were all well thought-out and executed. I hate to be as cliche as saying it was a page-turner, but it was. I finished it off in less than a week. It literally enthralled me. And after conversing with the author (he's an easily accessible on FaceBook), I was slightly disappointed to hear that he concentrates on non-fiction these days. However, I wish him the best. That said, I'll be the first in line to catch any new fiction he publishes.
Spellbinding!
Set in the far future after man and AI-kind have settled Mars, this is the story of a place called Desolation Road, a town started by one man, where nothing existed before, and nothing was EVER supposed to exist. Yet, as the city grows in size, the story grows in scope, to cover generations of the original inhabitants and their ancestors. Life, death, birth, war, deception, betrayal, religion, sex and love...
For lovers of cyberpunk, biopunk, and space opera.
Before “if you touch my junk” became an Internet meme, Matthew Revert published this gem about worlds where school authorities lend their junk to students for presentations; tiny, ejaculated builders cover their procreators in layers of tile; scientists try to reverse menstration in women; and earphones play nothing but the sounds of masturbation.
A MILLION VERSIONS OF RIGHT is a collection of “terribly unusual short fiction” that will burn in the reader's mind long after the book has been digested. And while not for the squeamish or the prudish, it is highly recommended for those who love the outlandish.
Witty and well-written, readers will be hard-pressed to find talent like Mr Revert. He sits clearly and proudly with the likes of Carlton Mellick III, D. Harlan Wilson, Gina Ranalli, and the other scions of the bizarro fiction tradition heralded by writers like Franz Kafka.
Written first in 1959, this Romeo and Juliet tale of forbidden love is set in feudal Japan when Ieyasu Tokugawa was making his last steps toward unifying the country.
The Iga and Kouga ninja clans have been at war for 400 years. Only a truce brokered by the famed Hanzo Hattori has kept the two clans from engaging in a bloody battle that would destroy one or both. Instead, they have been mixing the bloodlines of their most accomplished ninja for countless generations. The results are more mutant monsters than human.
When Tokugawa calls for an end to the truce so that he may use the two clans in a deadly battle of supernatural chess, eighteen of the twenty ninja chosen to play the game out are ready. The other two, the leaders of their respective clans, who hope to bring the clans together... are in love.
What follows is a mash of gore and corpses.
Great ninja fantasy. I took one star off because the writer spoke (albeit only very occasionally) to the audience directly from the year 1959 and make comparisons. But it was slightly annoying.
When Briar Wilkes' son sneaks off into the walled off section of Seattle to find evidence that his father was not responsible for the destruction of that part of the city, Briar must risk her own life to save him from the deadly gas inside that turns people into rotters (the living dead). Inside she encounters a cast of shady characters who seek to help her because of who her father was. But it's not going to be that easy. The fearsome Dr Minnerecht, who not only builds terrible weapons to combat the rotters but runs the drug trade in ‘sap', a derivative of the poisonous gas that engulfs that part of the city, also seeks her out. Is he saint or demon or perhaps just a shadow of a man she once knew?
An excellent story. It was really difficult to put this down. Well-developed characters inhabiting a believable setting of an alternate-history American West. Highly recommended for fans of all genres.
In the future the poverty line has risen to engulf the middle class, the oceans have risen to swallow the coasts, the US government is a puppet to multinational corporations, the police have been privatized, and super AIs known as semblants hold corporate shareholder meetings while their flesh-and-blood counterparts get laid.
This is the world of ex-cop Richard Candle who has just come out of an ‘UnMinding' prison term meant for his VR-addicted ex-rockstar brother. Unfortunately for Candle, the day of his release is just the beginning of his new life on the run from Grist, the powerful and maniacal multinational leader who tried to have Candle's brother incarcirated to begin with. Forced into the back alleys of the criminal world he once worked as a cop, he must dodge murderous AIs, flying guns and a nasty faux-sentient pollution plague dubbed the Black Wind to try and save himself and his brother.
An excellent read for cyberpunk, post-cyberpunk and science fiction fans.
A brilliant book of well-rounded characters and a lavish dystopian world. All at once it manages to be urban fantasy, science fiction and fantasy.
When the protagonist takes on an unusal job from an even more unusual client, he unleashes a terrible evil upon the city that can siphon dreams from sentient beings, leaving them a shallow husk. Engaging the aide of friends and associates alike, and enraging both the city government and a powerful drug lord (for whom which his girlfriend has secretly gone to work), he must race against time to save them all.
John McPartland has crafted an excellent story of mystery and deceit in Occupied Japan circa 1952. As an expat living in Japan for the past decade, I found this work of a rough and tumble Tokyo teetering on the edge of a nightmare situation, a real thrill.
Mate Buchanan, an ex-Army captain in the Korean War, is thrown into a world of espionage when he is recruited by mysterious men, claiming to work for the US government, to retrieve what they claim is a miracle cure for atomic radiation poisoning. It is obvious not is all as it seems when the TOKYO DOLL, a beautiful blonde singer for the armed forces radio steps into the picture. Suddenly Mate is being chased by elements of the military, gangs, and “Red” spies as they all race for what each one believes to be either a cure, or just possibly a world-ending virus!
A pulp novel at its best, this book is pure fun! An though I don't think it was necessarily intended, the idea of the virus-cum-miracle cure, gives the story a slight science fiction atmosphere that will tickle SF fans without turning off non-fans. (Or perhaps it was just the SF-fan in me taking liberties.)
The only demerit is the fact that this is a reprint by a now defunct(?) company called blackmask (their URL emblazoned on the back), and there are at least thirty different punctuation and spelling mistakes (such as the word “not” becoming “riot” – look carefully and the r and i look like an n). It seems to me that this book was scanned possibly with a reader and the computer couldn't make out all the print properly. So if you can overlook these mostly insignificant mistakes, you will have no problems enjoying the work, as there is no detraction from the story.
What would you do if you were confronted with a serial killer? Go to the police? Are you sure?
This short 180-page novella is perfect for quick reads between whatever you have going. Dead on in its characterization of both American and Japanese characters, its vivid scenery, its execution, and its portrayal of the Japanese society at this current point in time.
It's a realistic, grisly read that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.
Nightmare in Silicon is the tale of one woman's struggle to shake off her gender-identity while running away from reality by drowning herself in sex and drugs and like-minded individuals. But she betrays her body and her body returns the favor; instead of taking the route of oblivion (the only true way to run away from yourself), she chooses immortality.
Told in very plain, yet crushing, language, NiS is a cult classic story that doesn't try and force your mind around philosophical or metaphorical questions or postulations, and instead, invites you to understand Ymo (the protagonist) through her own language and actions.
Well written, vibrant, and scary, NiS (and I hate to use cliched terms like it) is a page-turner.
When I first heard of this book, I preordered and awaited it breathlessly. When it came earlier than I expected, I was thrilled. After I opened the pages, I found myself emerged in a dry, difficult-to-follow, academic book that is full of more quotes from other books than it has original text.
I am not saying that Takayuki Tatsumi isn't knowledgeable on his subject, quite the opposite. I think perhaps he is too close to the subject to be able to write to a layman audience and it shows.
My difficulties with the book ranged from it's style to references. Perhaps it is more for the academic minded; it was definitely published via an academic press, and definitely reads like a dissertation. I believe the author is somewhere between 10 and 15 years older than myself, creating a gap in the information streams in which we were exposed to. He makes reference to far too many movies/books/relevant figures (authors, playwrights, directors), etc, that I am simply not familiar with. And while normally this is not a problem, he fails to explain to my understanding who these people and their works are. I felt in the completely dark throughout this book.
But perhaps the worse part was, it was a slow, painstaking read for the 200-odd pages of half-page text that graced the pages. It didn't help that I would have to stop again and again to consult online references to who people or their works were.
Normally, I would give this kind of book only 1 star, but it covers two subjects I am very fond of: Japan and cyberpunk. So it gets an extra star, for anyone NOT deeply interested in these subjects, I recommend to steer clear away. This is not a casual read by any stretch of the imagination.
When dael receives a package via courier from his long-dead brother, little does he realize it contains code that will change his life... and body... and mind.
Step into the world of Ray Ogar (aka demo), a fringe sci-fi writer with style, class, and a whole new way to look at the way fiction is written. Ray Ogar takes you to a future that is embedded in technology and technology is embedded into the human body. Fast-forward William Gibson's Neuromancer 200 years and you have Techno.
Well thought out, well written, exciting, and new. It will blow your mind with outlandish visions you never thought possible. Ahead of his time in every way, Ray Ogar is an indies author who takes great risk in delving into a world that would probably scare many. Do not miss this book if you want to expand your ideas on the future, as well as the future of writing.
Hammer's Slammers is a world of military SF created by the brilliance of David Drake, who wrote many of the stories during the Vietnam War (though the stories themselves remain undated). This fictional universe pits high-tech machinery, such as the Slammers' hovertanks against men, machine and alien alike.
Set in the far future, the Slammers are a group of mercenaries who sell their talent for destruction and unwavering loyalty to the highest bidder. Intrigue, alien cultures, humanity and good ol' excellent, no-nosense military action combine to make a book that is hard to put down.
This edition is the COMPLETE collection of all the books in the way that David Drake intended them to be read (see his site for proof). A thick book of perfectbound quality that will sit as a trophy on your bookshelve. Not to be missed.
I am sadly disappointed by this collection of work. I was (mistakenly) expecting science fiction, which this book is NOT. It's more literary reading, something I do not enjoy. This is my own fault perhaps as I believe now that misunderstood the title.
That however is not the extent of my disappointment with the book. While it did have a couple of excellent stories (perhaps 5% of those included), some work was far to esoteric for my enjoyment. Still others, I didn't understand at all.
This was supposed to be a collection of stories that describe ‘apocalyptic situations' but, I felt like I was reading a collection bad poetry disguised as short story work.
I can't recommend it, but there are obviously people out there who enjoy this sort of work.
While this book gives an interesting insight into the lives of those who are born on ‘the other side of the tracks' and tells a compelling story, it suffers from a lackluster narrative. (Which is not the fault of the localizer.) Description is minimal and sophmoric even at the best of times. Those with no experience living in Japan or with Japanese culture (especially Bubble Era culture of the 80s) will be lost. SPEED TRIBES is a much better book on the same subject. Though I praise Ms Tendoh for her efforts and certainly wish her well in life as it seems she got the short end of the stick, I can only recommend this book to expats who have lived in Japan for an extended period of time.
This book, while an interesting, well-thought out, deep tale suffers from a lack of knowledge of Japanese culture (on which it is 90% based) on the part of the writer.
Touted as set in a “magical fantasy Orient” (a word I personally despise), it tells the story of Brother Shuyun (from The Initiate brother), Lord Shonto (governor of the province of Seh) and a large cast of others as they discover and fight off a massive invasion by desert clans who live to the north. Claiming to the be the saviors of the Empire of Wa (via dethroning the Emperor), the desert warriors mount an attack in Seh first.
A tale of war, deception, trechery, bravery, battle, and mystic intrigue, it is a well written tale. Colorful and vivid, it will leave an impression on readers. Too bad it's marred by the lack of knowledge or disgarding of knowledge by the author. For this, it loses 2 stars.
A stunning look at Japanese society, economy (consumer lending culture in particular), culture and more in the 90s. Eye-opening and extremely well-researched (without being heavy or boring) by Miyuki Miyabe. Fiction that tells a very real story of one woman trying to disappear, and the police investigator trying to find her.
Riveting, well-written contemporary fiction by one of Japan's most popular and prolific female writers. I've heard this book is even used in some Western universities to study Japanese literature. Well worth your time. You'll race through the 300 pages in no time and want more!