Category Archives: Review

Review

Home: Interstellar

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homeI’m a sucker for space opera. When I saw this title pop up I thought it was the book that movie was based on.

Yeah. Pretty sure that’s not the case.

The yarn starts with a family ship that gets captured by pirates. Only the children survive and only because of Meriel Hope. I’ll have to stop here to avoid spoilers.

Ray Strong creates a tight, beautifully formed universe that’s equal parts grit and grind. Muriel carries deep scars from her tragic childhood, but works to keep them from ruining everything even as she fails to control their pull. The story plays a lot of double-crossing against a skeptical cast. I was pretty sure I knew where the story was going from about the one-third mark, but Strong did a masterful job and kept me guessing until the end.

This ain’t your normal pirate space opera. The characters feel real and relatable. The world building is superb. If you’re looking for a fun read that doesn’t take the normal paths through death and destruction, you might grab a sample and see what you think.

About the reviewer:

NathanLowell_150x150Nathan Lowell has been writing science fiction and fantasy most of his life. He started publishing in 2007 and has no intention of stopping any time soon.

Learn more about Nathan Lowell and his works at http://nathanlowell.com

[Note: You’re seeing more reviews from me because fellow authors aren’t sending reviews of the books they like. If you’re an author, consider the submitting a review about an indie book you loved. The submission guidelines link is at the top of this page.]

Review

Creation

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creationGreg Chase has created a unique vision of near Earth civilization. Starting with an almost clichéd vision of a climate changed Earth, he takes us on a strange, fever dreamed, wish-fulfillment ride through pirate held space into a broken ship. I’ll confess I was ready to toss this one several times before I found myself hooked into a story that explored ideas like what it is to be human, how we relate to each other, and how unintended consequences can trip up the best of intentions.

There are aspects of the book that gave me the Stranger In A Strange Land vibe. His vision of a human culture not tainted by the historical concepts of love and possession, of sexuality and morality, of consumption and acquisition carry an echo of Heinlein without – I think – the stridency. He’s built believable, consistent world of people, places, and things that swirl together in a richly flavored stew.

This is one of those books that has made me think. Why not grab a sample and see what you think?

About the reviewer:

NathanLowell_150x150Nathan Lowell has been writing science fiction and fantasy most of his life. He started publishing in 2007 and has no intention of stopping any time soon.

Learn more about Nathan Lowell and his works at http://nathanlowell.com

[Note: You’re seeing more reviews from me because fellow authors aren’t sending reviews of the books they like. If you’re an author, consider the submitting a review about an indie book you loved. The submission guidelines link is at the top of this page.]

Review

The Freezer

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the-freezerThe Freezer is a science fiction story offering a fascinating glimpse into a complex future. The book opens with the reader as confused and disoriented as the main character, Jack Taggart, allowing us to discover what has happened to his life at the same time as he does. What is revealed is a world that is both inspired and troubled, combining utopian, dystopian, and post-apocalyptic elements. There are political and military machinations, as well as some interesting ideas regarding relationships and how they are thought of in a society that must be far more pragmatic than that which Jack left behind.

Mr Kersten perfectly wove together these elements to keep the story moving forward, introducing us to new characters, situations, and ideas along the way. The more I read the more I wanted to read, and I found myself mourning each time I had to stop. My only complaint is that it ended too soon, so I look forward to the next chapter, which I hope is just around the corner.

About the reviewer:

bl-alleyAs a boy I escaped the real world by reading everything from The Hardy Boys to darker tales by Poe and Jacobs. Even with such diverse literary tastes, my primary interest has always been science fiction. I also created my own stories in high school and college, but never considered writing anything long form until 2006. That’s when an abandoned roadside attraction called Twin Arrows sparked an idea for a story.

With my passion for storytelling rekindled I wrote when I could, and in early 2014 Arbor Day was published. During that time I came up with other ideas for novels, including a ghost story titled The Diamond, and one involving time travel, titled Relative Age. I also developed the remaining notes for Arbor Day into a pair of follow-up novels, Titan Mine and Plan B, and The Arosil Series was complete.

I currently reside in Northern Arizona but can be found online at http://writerblalley.wixsite.com/home

Review

Pay Me Bug

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pay_me_bugCaptain Grif of the Fool’s Errand is brash, foolhardy, and lucky to be alive. He’s also unlucky enough to have pulled off the kind of score that attracts the wrong attention. When the powers-that-be want him to pull it off again, he has no choice but to hope for luck again. Luck had other plans.

This is a fun space opera romp with a ship and crew from the wrong side of the space station. The title comes from the fact that Grif’s crew commonly make side bets on their various success or failures, with Ktk (the bug of an unpronounceable race of an unpronounceable planet) often taking bets against their success. The crew and denizens vary across several races, so this is not a human-only setting, with some like Ktk much less human than others. But they were all quite fun.

The score they have to pull off turns into an involved heist at the behest of one government against another. They’re essentially after a McGuffin, but that doesn’t diminish the fun. Plenty of things go wrong, and they can almost never catch a break, but in the end, Grif and his crew are able to turn even the worst hand into a winner.

Think Firefly with more dirt.

About the reviewer:

dan_thompsonDan Thompson started writing fiction at the age of ten. Luckily for the world, all copies of that early Star Wars rip-off have been lost to time and Sith retaliation. Moving on from that six-page handwritten epic, he has self-published two books with more on the way – honest!

He lives near Austin with his wife and three children, drives old police cars, wears kilts when the weather permits, and is generally considered to be the weirdo next door. Fortunately, the neighbors don’t know how weird he really is.

Find out more about Dan at http://www.danthompsonwrites.com

Review

Matryoshka Blues

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matryoshka_bluesOnce in a while, I get outside my comfort zone and read something I’d normally pass up. I’ve been doing that a lot lately. Some of the stuff? Let’s just leave it as “not my cuppa” and move along without recriminations.

Then there are stories like Shawn Harper’s Matryoshka Blues. This is Shawn’s first novel and the amount – and quality – of work he demonstrates in this book made it shine for me.

The first in what I hope will be many stories in the Average Joe series sizzles with a kind of foul-mouthed, self-deprecating wit. It recaptures the kind of raw, noir detective feel from earlier masters and layers on a complete disregard for their language sensibilities. It’s what Mickey Spillane might have written if he could have dropped a few f-bombs.

No, I’m not saying Shawn’s the new Mickey Spillane and “Average Joe” isn’t Mike Hammer. Yet. If he keeps at it, he might be.

This is a fast read that kept me delighted as I dug out the nuggets of the narrator’s backstory from the barrage of cynical commentary on modern life that drives a relentless push to find the puzzlebox and keep himself out of jail for murder.

Want a clever mystery? Grab a sample of Matryoshka Blues and see if you can resist clicking the buy me link when you get there.

[Transparency: I met Shawn Harper at the Colorado Gold Conference last month. He was second runner up in the simile contest with an entry that referenced “…like a chimpanzee’s fuzzy kumquats without the pleasing after taste” (I’m probably paraphrasing because my memory is not that good.) TBH, that’s the only reason I know about the book – or the author – but I just had to share.]

About the reviewer:

NathanLowell_150x150Nathan Lowell has been writing science fiction and fantasy most of his life. He started publishing in 2007 and has no intention of stopping any time soon.

Learn more about Nathan Lowell and his works at http://nathanlowell.com

[Note: You’re seeing more reviews from me because fellow authors aren’t sending reviews of the books they like. If you’re an author, consider the submitting a review about an indie book you loved. The submission guidelines link is at the top of this page.]

Review

Command Decisions

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command_decisionsAs a reader, I have to listen to the narrated stories of Terry Mixon’s The Empire of Bones Saga. Listening to them is wonderful. Waiting for them to come out is painful and slow. The audio book’s narrator, Veronica Giguere, bring extra life to the story and its characters that make the waiting for the next in the series bearable.

From his biography, I know Terry Mixon is a Texas writer and former NASA subcontractor at the Johnson Space Center and his life experience brings extra life to the third book in the series Command Decision. In this story, the protagonist has found help from an ancient ship, but they still have to survive those from their past. The author knows how to keep the story flowing and the pace is perfect for those who are trying to survive so far from their home.

Mixon has published the fifth book in the series, and I will have to wait for them to come out on Audible. When the next book becomes available, I will happily use one of my Audible credits to purchases it when on the first day.

About the Reviewer

ceanderdson
Charles Eugene ‘Chuck’ Anderson lives in Colorado. He’s been lucky enough to be published in many publications for the past twenty years. When Chuck isn’t writing, he likes muscle cars, running, and baking. Find out more about him at www.charleseugeneanderson.com

Review

How To Climb The Eiffel Tower

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eiffel_towerThis is a difficult book to explain at first. It’s about cancer, but it’s neither saccharine nor depressing. It’s about transformation, but it’s not a lifetime channel inspirational tract. The best I’ve come up with so far is that it is an unusual Cinderella story, in which cancer is the prince. Whatever it is, it was a moving and powerful read, that also made me laugh.

Lara Blaine isn’t easy to like at the beginning of the story. She’s had a rough early life and it hasn’t left her friendly, approachable, or all that interested in others. She’s driven when it comes to her work, and impatient with incompetence in others. She has trust issues. She’s prickly.

So, when she gets a diagnosis of cancer, she isn’t very well equipped to deal with it. She doesn’t have a circle of family or friends around her, and her personal resources are limited as well. But, in dealing with her illness and her treatment, Lara grows, makes friends, and finds herself.

In that way, it’s kind of like a post-apocalyptic story, where a character is burned in the crucible of severe life challenges and their true self is formed or revealed.

I recommend this one to readers interested in stories that focus on the main character’s inner journey.

About The Reviewer:

BRYANT-CroppedSamantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her Menopausal Superhero series is available on Amazon or can be requested at your favorite book store: Book 1: Going Through the Change, Book 2: Change of Life, and (upcoming in 2017) Face the Change.

Learn more about Samantha and her work at http://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/

Review

Sticks And Stones

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sticks_and_stonesI met Shawn McGuire online when I joined the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s indie author group. I knew she wrote YA fantasy and let it go by. I ran into her again at the awards event at the BookBar when I was named finalist in the Independant Writer of the Year award. Again, I knew she wrote YA fantasy but let it go by. I ran into her several times at the annual convention earlier this month and decided I really needed to read more of her work.

Yeah. I’m kicking myself for not digging into this series sooner. The books are not published by an indie press in California but by her own imprint that just happens to have the same name.

First, yes. She’s promoting them as YA. They’re YA. The characters are all mostly under twenty — except those who might be over 200 because it is fantasy after all. I think the YA tag kept me from digging in. That was a serious mistake on my part — and I knew it when I did it that I shouldn’t be looking too closely at that.

Second, holy cow. These books are amazing. The stories may be a bit stripped down for a YA audience but the richness that remains, like a nice pan-glaze reduction, carries these stories. I got the three-book omnibus edition and screamed through it in about three days and went looking for the rest. I think the series is complete at five books and it was the best investment I’ve made in a while.

Third, McGuire knows how to tell a story that doesn’t depend on people being stupid. Okay, Desiree has a serious blind-spot or two, but it only makes her feel more real – and having a genie (Kaf hates that word) feel as real as the mortals she’s helping is no mean feat. It goes beyond and I found myself questioning my own decisions, wondering what I would wish for, and what I would do if I got it.

I found this to be a touching, satisfying series. Grab a sample and see what you think … and think twice before you make your next wish.

About the reviewer:

NathanLowell_150x150Nathan Lowell has been writing science fiction and fantasy most of his life. He started publishing in 2007 and has no intention of stopping any time soon.

Learn more about Nathan Lowell and his works at http://nathanlowell.com

ETA: Shawn contacted me to correct the press. It’s hers and not the California one. I corrected the review above.

[Note: You’re seeing more reviews from me because fellow authors aren’t stepping up with reviews of the books they like. If you’re an author, consider the submitting a review about an indie book you loved. The submission guidelines link is at the top of this page.]

Review

Starship’s Mage

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starship_mageI don’t remember who turned me onto this series. Probably Deb Geary. Glynn Stewart’s ability to blend science fiction and science fantasy floored me when I read this volume. Like many writers starting in recently, he tried the serial approach and, I assume, learned – as most do if they keep at it – that people will wait until the serial is complete before picking up the first one. Once burned, twice shy.

The omnibus edition holds all five serial episodes and does a good job of sweeping the reader along in a breath-taking vision of starships powered by magic and the toll it takes on those who must fly them. It hooked me immediately and kept me turning pages thought this volume and every volume since.

Stewart has just published the fourth book in his series and it’s just as good as the rest.

If you’re looking for a different take on interstellar navigation, you might want to grab a sample of Starship’s Mage and give it a try.

About the reviewer:

NathanLowell_150x150Nathan Lowell has been writing science fiction and fantasy most of his life. He started publishing in 2007 and has no intention of stopping any time soon.

Learn more about Nathan Lowell and his works at http://nathanlowell.com

Review

A Sip Of Fear

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sip_of_fearGordon Greenbough is one of the Illuminated. That means that he is bonded to a familiar spirit and gifted with extraordinary powers. Being Illuminated can take a lot of forms. Gordon is a biomage linked to the spirit of life itself, Ela-Tu. This gives him power and influence over living things including the ability to heal, but it also makes it hard for him to keep love in his life as his connection to life makes him promiscuous. When trouble comes in the shape of Shadow, the bogey-man of the Illuminated world, Gordon has to rise to a whole new level if he’s going to survive.

In Sip of Fear, Brian Rush created a fascinating contemporary fantasy world and peopled it with engaging and sympathetic characters. From the very beginning I was intrigued by the world and by Gordon. The story is well paced and, while somewhat predictable in some aspects, quite well written. Rush’s prose flows well and pulled me through the more philosophical moments that might have had me skimming in another book.

I especially appreciated reading a male character who was comfortable with himself and with love and was cheering for his success throughout. The other characters were well developed and real, especially Rose, Gordon’s love interest. Rush gave his characters real-life struggles alongside their magical ones, which is a mixture I’ll fall for every time.

I recommend this one for readers who love magic and mystery, especially when they butt up against each other in a story with great characters.

About The Reviewer:

BRYANT-CroppedSamantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her Menopausal Superhero series is available on Amazon or can be requested at your favorite book store: Book 1: Going Through the Change, Book 2: Change of Life, and (upcoming in 2017) Face the Change.

Learn more about Samantha and her work at http://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/