Simon MacDonald
Probably a 4.
If you are a computer nerd, a gamer, or a conspiracy theorist, then you will most likely love this book.
The story line is convoluted and intricate following the main character K, playing (or maybe not playing) what may or may not be a world spanning game.
Read the publishers blurb, because we are not allowed to talk about the game.
I didn't get on well with the last few Asher books - I actually gave up on Human as it bored me. This new trilogy is, so far, much better.
There is almost continuous unrelenting action/violence throughout the book as the main character fights for survival, and gradually awakens to who/what it is.
Interesting to see if this is a trilogy. and where the plot line goes
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I tried really hard to like this book. There were some interesting ideas here, but there did not seem to be much of a story around them.
I think the author was trying for humour in the story, but the unnecessary violence at the start of the book cancelled out any attempt at humour that I found.
The characters in the story were, in a word, characterless. Apart from Vain who was intensely irritating; perhaps that was the intention.
The plot was so flat and vapid as to be almost nonexistent. I struggled to read the book, but finally got to the ending, which was anticlimactic.
In summary, I have read many great SF and Fantasy books over the years and this isn't one of them. It's not the worst I've read, but close to it. 2* for effort.
I received an review copy from the publisher.
One of the best books I've read this year.
I know that this is RJs first venture into mystery/crime novels and it's a terrific debut.
Great off the wall characters, dark humour, and a plot that kept me guessing to the end.
And set in Yorkshire!
Mal and Jackie are two very unlikely friends, indeed when they were at school together they were more like enemies. Mal Jones is a reformed drug addict and alcoholic, who runs a business as a psychic medium. Jackie Singh Khattar is a ex special forces soldier who runs some very dodgy, perhaps criminal, businesses.
It's the variety of interactions, at different levels, between Mal and Jackie that make their relationship so interesting and enjoyable.
Can't wait for the next book.
I was given an ebook review copy by the publisher.
Factus is bleak, desert moon, out on the edges of human exploration.
It provides the setting for this rollercoaster paced space opera that has shades of Mad Max crossed with a Western style Dune.
Ten Low (aka Doc) is a medic with a mysterious past who wanders the lawless, barren wastes of this moon helping the sick and injured in the desolate communities .
Low comes across the wreck site of a military space ship and she helps the only survivor - an injured teenage girl. However, Gabriella Ortiz is no ordinary teenage girl. She is a genetically modified warrior, a General in the army of the Accord, winners of a recent bloody war, in which Low was on the opposing side.
Low decides to forget the past and help Ortiz, but it soon becomes apparent that the crash was an assassination attempt by the Accord against one of their own. They must flee across the lawless wastes to find safety for Ortiz, avoiding military hit squads, smugglers, robbers, black market organ dealers, and a strange alien presence. She enlists the help of crime boss Malady Falco and her all female gang of G'hals, and between them they fight their way across the moon.
A terrific cast of characters of which Malady Falco and her G'hals deserve their own book.
One of the most fun books I've read this year - can't wait for the next installment
I was pleased to receive an uncorrected proof.
I have been a fan of space operas for many years and this is one of the best that I have ever read. It's on a par with some of my favourite authors; Iain M Banks, Alistair Reynolds, John Scalzi.
Enter the world of Marca Nbara as she flees the Orphanage to become a junior officer aboard the massive, hundreds of years old, Greatship, Athens.
A roller-coaster journey across the Galaxy on a routine trading mission, that suddenly becomes fraught with danger and enemies.
Miles Cameron has created a unique, believable, universe. Great characters and their relationships are core to making this story enthralling.
I can't say more without giving too much away. Bring on the next volume of the story.
Just buy it!
I was lucky enough to get a ARC from the publisher.
The author Edward Cox has invented truly remarkable worlds. Separate, but joined, through a history where magic, and powerful beings, once caused a cataclysmic war.
After centuries of relative peace, once more, this peace is now threatened by the malevolent whims of some these beings.
Unlikely, and unwilling Heroes from both worlds, must try and help each other, to stop the encroaching darkness.
A great tale of myth and magic, juxtaposed with a modern world.
Initially I had difficulty engaging with this book but about halfway through it started to grip me. The World building and science are excellent, but I found that there was often too much detail in the descriptions. The characters were interesting, and the Quebecoise slang they use is great. I've learned new ways to swear! The plot is both and a physical and emotional storm. Bring on the second part.
