Tag Archives: Science Fiction

Review

Saving Mars

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I had the privilege of beta reading this book before Cidney Swanson published it. The thing that made it stand out for me is the characterization. I’m sucker for good characters and Cidney delivers. The main character – Jessamyn Jaarda – has all the spunk and fearlessness of youth which she has to tame and temper in order to succeed. Her brother, Ethan, adds an interesting counterpoint with his autistic spectrum savant skills. Every character has something that adds to the whole and brings the story to life.

While the characters shine, the universe pulls no punches either. The notion of a Mars isolated from Earth for generations lays a solid foundation for the conflicts that arise – starting from being able to leave Mars, visit Earth, and return without dying – or being killed.

This series pulled me in and kept me coming back for more. It’s listed as YA but don’t let that put you off. There’s a story here for all ages. I can’t recommend it highly enough, but grab a sample and see what you think. I think you’ll be glad you did.

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

Courtesan

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As I wander through my earliest ebook purchases, I’m finding more and more of these books that impressed me. Courtesan was the first book I read from D. A. Boulter. There are others – Pelgraff, Ghost Fleet, and The Steadfasting – and I’m pleased to see he’s kept going going while I’ve been distracted.

Courtesan has all the potential of a really bad story about prostitutes in space but Boulter does a masterful job of not telling that story. Instead he tells a story of a scientist in a bind, a spacer with a bunk, and a bit of family drama when the spacer takes the scientist home to meet the folks. I liked the “every day” feel of Boulter’s fiction. While there’s an inevitable amount of overt conflict in the tale, his ability to make the two main characters engaging in their own ways pulled me right into a well-crafted plot.

But don’t take my word for it. Grab a sample and see for yourself.

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 Scrapyard Incident

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I read this back in 2013. When I saw it in the list, I thought “Oh, yeah!” This book!

This is a straight-up space opera. Intergalactic empires at war. Space navies doing battle. The works. This series is total popcorn. I’ve read the first two and just noticed there’s a third book which I’ll have to grab. There’s also an omnibus edition. The basic casus belli for this book happens when the bad guys shoot up a junkyard – no spoiler there – but there was enough here to keep me turning the pages and looking forward to digging into book three – even years after reading book one.

I found some fun storytelling behind those covers. Grab a sample and see for yourself.

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

Stranded On Haven

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Way back in 2015, before the recent Troubles, I remember reading William Zellman’s Stranded On Haven. I don’t remember how I found it but my Amazon catalog lists a few of Mr. Zellman’s works.

Stranded On Haven isn’t high literature, just a cracking good tale of some poor schlub stranded in a ship full of goodies that he doesn’t really know how to deal with. They find a colonized planet and hi-jinks ensue. Yeah, this is pop-corn-lit. The story might have too many breaks that go in Jerd’s favor. He might be a little too good to be true. There may be plot holes and handwavium, but these days a feel good story might be just what the doctor ordered.

Two years later and I remember it as a fun read and good enough to keep me reading on in Zellman’s oeuvre. You might grab a sample yourself 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

Princess Of Wonders

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princess-wondersI have a warm spot in my heart for alternate universe stories. Princess Of Wonders punched all the right buttons for me. Granted she’s an exiled half-breed who gets shanghaied back to the homeworld. Sure there’s steampunk airships there, but the story of the princess is what kept me turning the pages.

Daniel has this title listed as “Galactic Empire” but I think it’s definitely more in the line of “Alternate Universe” or even “Family Saga” as Kathy Pennington unravels a mysterious family secret and earns the respect of those whom she never knew existed. If Daniel leans a little too much on cliffy endings (and still hasn’t written the last unit), I had to forgive him because – even in my fit of pique – I had to go back to the well and get the next book.

Yeah, I’m a sap for this kind of story, but don’t take my word for it. There’s a sample waiting with your name on it.

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

Into The Dark

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into-the-darkPeople have been recommending the Alexis Carew stories to me for a very long time. I think the combination of sailing spaceships and a young main character helped forge that link. I’ve tried samples a couple of times but – like many books – I just needed to be in a better head space to enjoy them.

J.A. Sutherland and I – along with six other authors – will be appearing together in a “first in the series” promotional anthology later this month (shameles plug: Rogue Stars now available for pre-order). Because I got a copy to make sure that Quarter Share merged nicely with the other players, I had the chance to revisit Alexis Carew. I’m very glad I did.

This is a space opera, swashbuckling tale featuring a precocious 15-year-old who finds herself plucked from the comfort of her family’s estate and plunked down as a midshipman in the Queen’s Royal Navy. The story owes much to the classic tales of sailing ships and war – from the shipboard organization to the questionable food, from the class struggle to the politics and on to the actual fighting with smugglers and pirates. Into The Dark pays back that debt to bygone ages with interest. Carew is entirely sympathetic, not overly glamorized, and prone to the self-doubt and failure anyone in her position might have. The universe is well thought out with a delicate balance between science and fiction. I’m looking forward to the next book – Mutineer – with a great deal of anticipation.

As always, don’t take my word for it. See for yourself by grabbing a sample.

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

Ambassador 1: Seeing Red

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seeing-redI can’t believe nobody’s reviewed this series from Patty Jansen yet. This first in the series title sets up an amazing universe, rich in intrigue and politics.

The main character – Cory Wilson – escapes Earth only to find that the fire he’s hopped into might be a tad more dangerous than the frying pan he was in. Newly minted ambassador to an interstellar entity, he must find his way through the physical, emotional, and political dangers to save Earth. His struggles take him deep into the alien psyche as he tries to reconcile what he knows with what he finds out.

I’ve enjoyed all the books in this series. Cory is satisfactorily clever and only occasionally does dumb things. What I liked most was that the dumb things – while serving the plot – weren’t dumb because the plot needed it. Jansen does a great job in keeping Cory grounded, believable, and just likable enough to keep the pages turning. But, as always, never take my word for it. Grab a sample and see for yourself.

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

MindTouch

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mindtouchI “met” Maggie Hogarth when I joined SFWA. I’ve followed her on twitter for years and find her quirky, sometimes off-beat, sense of humor quite intriguing. She’s an artist in many media–including words.

After talking with Maggie online for a while, I wanted to try some of her fiction and I picked this one. When I first saw this book, I dismissed it as “cute.” The cover has these furry, anthropomorphic critters, you see. I found them to be tragic and daring, wondrous and wondering. But they’re not cute. Not even.

Maggie has a gift. She can take humanity out of people and show it to us through different lenses. In the Dream Healer series (MindTouch is book 1), she takes empathy and compassion, fear and foible and blends them into a breath-taking froth that hooked me from the first few paragraphs through this series and across space-time into a very different universe ruled by – for lack of a better term – dragons. Not cute. Bloody, clawed, sadistic dragons who were just as human as the guy in line at the coffee shop.

But my journey with Maggie Hogarth started here. With MindTouch and the Dream Healers. I can’t recommend it highly enough. 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

Dark Horse

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dark-horseMichelle Diener has combined alien abduction, rogue AI, intergalactic civilization, and a love story all in one tight package with Dark Horse. I read this some time ago and I still find myself pondering the story, the collection of seemingly disparate entities bound together in a tapestry that just works.

Part of the charm for me is that the aliens doing the abducting are the bad guys and much of the story is told from the perspective of a completely different set of aliens. The rogue AI is just icing on the cake which lets the good-guy aliens “capture” – sort of – one of the most closely guarded secret warships in space.

Rather than spoiler the heck out of a nicely told tale of derring-do set in the farthest reaches of space, let me just suggest you grab a sample and see what you think. I enjoyed the heck ouf of this one and grabbed book two in the series as soon as it dropped. In writing this review I just noticed book three is out there as well, so if you like a series, this one might be the next one on your TBR pile.

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

A Chronetic Memory

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chronetic_memoryGenerally I’m not that much of a fan of time travel stories. Too often the stories treat time travel as a bridge from some arbitrary now to another arbitrary then so that the story can happen then instead of now. In short, they become an unnecessary appendage to the beginning of the story. They add a frame where the countdown ticker consists of “how long the window will be open so we can return” instead of being integral to the story.

Kim O’Hara doesn’t fall into this plot hole. Her main character, Intern Dani Adams, finds herself trying to make sense of a world that only she remembers. Her struggles lead her to a show down with shadowed figures operating at the highest level of the research institute where she works, while she tries to find a way to restore the river of time to its rightful banks.

If anybody can actually say which are the rightful banks to begin with.

It’s a clever story told well. O’Hara is one to watch and this book is just the first in what I hope will be a long and storied career. 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.]