Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky | Science Fiction | SFReader.com Book Review

Tchaikovsky's fascinating insectile epic fantasy series Shadows of the Apt has made him a major name in Fantasy circles -- and rightly so. See my review of Empire in Black and Gold here. So when I encountered a book with his name on the cover featuring a spacescape, it was a no-brainer that I'd scoop it off the shelves. Would I enjoy it?

The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age -- a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But guarding it is its creator, Dr. Avrana Kern with a lethal array of weaponry, determined to fight off these refugees. For she has prepared this pristine world seeded with a very special nanovirus for a number of monkey species to be uplifted into what human beings should have turned into -- instead of the battling, acquisitive creatures who destroyed Earth...

That's the tweaked blurb -- unusually because I felt the book jacket version was rather a vanilla description of the really intriguing conflict Tchaikovsky posits in this generational ship odyssey. For Kern's plans go very awry and the species that actually becomes uplifted isn't Kern's monkeys, at all...

Read more at Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky | Science Fiction | SFReader.com Book Review

Vicious Grace, by M.L.N. Hanover | Dark Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review

For those of you who are interested, M.L.N. Hanover is also the prolific and best-selling author Daniel Abraham of the Long Price quartet and is part of the writing duo responsible for producing The Expanse series as James S.A Corey, see my review of Leviathan Wakes. I also reviewed the first book in The Black Sun's Daughter, Unclean Spirits. So when I came across Vicious Grace nestling on the shelves, it was obvious I'd scoop it up and take it home.

Even if she routinely risks her life to destroy demonic parasites that prey on mortals, she now has friends, colleagues, a trusted lover and new-found confidence in the mission she inherited from her wealthy, mysterious uncle. Her next job might just rob her of all the above. At Grace Mrmorial Hospital in Chicago, something dark is stirring. Patiends are going missing and research subjects share the same sinister dreams. Jayné is primed to take on whatever is causing the nightmares -- but the greatest danger lies much, much closer to home.

Read more at Vicious Grace, by M.L.N. Hanover | Dark Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review

SFReader Review of the Movie Ant-Man

Ant-Man? Yep. Ant-Man. I know, I know.. but Marvel hasn't turned out a stinker yet, right?

In 1989, scientist Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) resigns from S.H.I.E.L.D. after he learns about them trying to replicate his shrinking technology. Pym thinks the technology is too dangerous and decides to keep it secret. Flash ahead to present day. Pym's daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Pym's former protege Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) now run the company Pym started, and Cross is close to duplicating Pym's shrinking technology.

Enter Scott Lang (Paul Rudd). Lang is an ex-thief fresh out of prison who's finding life on the outside harder than he anticipated. Unable to find a decent job, Lang falls in with some old associates and agrees to perform a burglary. Said burglary finds him in possession of Pym's old Ant-Man suit. Now the real adventure begins as Pym leverages Lang into his plan to stop Cross from selling the miniaturization technology to the highest bidder.

I left the theater feeling a mixture of two main thoughts. I enjoyed the movie. Great effects, lots of action, likable characters, funny wisecracks.. there a lot here to have fun with. But I also left thinking that the whole thing was sort of dumb. My issue wasn't with the concept that a man can shrink and control ants, but rather the inconsistent way the science is treated....

Read more at SFReader [Movie Review] Ant-Man

Take the Star Road, by Peter Grant | Science Fiction | SFReader.com Book Review

I wanted an enjoyable, entertaining read to while away a long train journey, so opened this up. Would it sufficiently draw me in and take me away from the over-enthusiastic air conditioning?

Nineteen-year-old Steve Maxwell just wants to get his feet on the star road to find a better homeworld. By facing down Lotus Tong thugs, he earns an opportunity to become a spacer apprentice on a merchant spaceship, leaving the corruption and crime of Earth behind. Sure, he needs to prove himself to an older, tight-knit crew, but how bad can it be if he keeps his head down and the decks clean? He never counted on the interstellar trade routes having their own problems, from local wars to plagues of pirates. Steve's left a world of troubles behind, only to find a galaxy of them ahead...

This coming of age book takes young Steve from his job as a busboy to managing to get a berth on a merchanter off Earth. I enjoyed the world and Steve's gritted determination to succeed no matter what. Grant clearly has spent a great deal of time fine-tuning his world, which mostly works well. While the writing style isn't particularly smooth and at times the dialogue clunks, there is nevertheless an engaging charm about this book that meant the obvious flaws in the writing was more than compensated by the conviction and energy Grant displays.

Read more at Take the Star Road, by Peter Grant | Science Fiction | SFReader.com Book Review

The Knight of Swords, by Michael Moorcock | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review

The Knight of Swords, by Michael Moorcock is a book that I actually have read before. Sometime during my early years of high school, I got my hands on it. In fact it was one of the first strings of books I read for pleasure and not because I had too for some school assignment.

I grew up with profound dyslexia. I had to attend special 'Learning Center' classes and was always years behind in writing and reading. What helped me overcome this limitation... well, Dungeons and Dragons. I loved the game and wanted to be as good a player as I could. So I figured one way to improve would be the read all the books Gary Gygax said helped influence his creation of the game. I started with Lord of the Rings (not an easy choice for a guy that can barely read). Then I moved on to Jack Vance. But then Elric filled my head with blood, chaos, and doom. I couldn't get enough, so I quickly moved on to another Eternal Champion series, Corum the Prince in the Scarlet Robe.

So when I received Titan's reprinting of these novels, part of me thought, I have read these before, I should focus more of this backlog of things I have not read. But then I thought, screw that, these books are beyond fantastic and it will give me an excuse to be able to enjoy them again. Boy, I like it when I make smart choices!

Read more at The Knight of Swords, by Michael Moorcock | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review

The Museum of Extraordinary Things, by Alice Hoffman | Dark Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review

I saw the cover and read the first page, liked what I read, so scooped this offering off the shelves in an impulsive moment. Would I enjoy it?



New York City, 1911. Meet Coralie, circus girl, web-fingered mermaid, the shy, only daughter of Professor Sardie and raised in the bizarre surroundings of his Museum of Extraordinary Things. And meet Eddie Cohen, a handsome young immigrant who has run away from his painful past and his Orthodox family to become a photographer, documenting life on the teeming city streets. One night by the freezing waters of the Hudson River, Coralie stumbles across Eddie, who has become enmeshed in the case of a missing girl, and the fates of these two outcasts collide as they search for their own identities in tumultuous times.



And there you have the slightly tweaked blurb. This story is told in through the viewpoints, both first and third person, of the two main protagonists, Coralie and Eddie.

Hoffman has certainly done her homework and there is plenty of dense description of the early days of New York City as she pulls away from the immediacy of the first person viewpoints and into more a more panoramic, diffuse overview of their lives and the lives of those around them. However, I have to say that I found this switch from first into third person point of view for the same characters rather jarring and would have far preferred the immediacy and punch of the story if it had remained within the heads of the two fascinating characters caught up in this Gothic tale. Much of the initial creepiness and isolation was diluted by packing in quite so much of the historical detail in the third person viewpoint.

The Museum of Extraordinary Things, by Alice Hoffman | Dark Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review

Pandora's Gun, by James Van Pelt | YA Science Fiction | SFReader.com Book Review

There's a special kind of garbage dump in the woods near Peter's school. He and his friend Dante have spent many hours sifting through the broken but interesting stuff. What's even more interesting is that the contents of the dump seem to change. Different things appear and disappear without any clue as to how and why it happens.

Lately though, Peter and Dante have drifted apart. They used to be inseparably, but now it seems as though Dante is more interested in having a good time with newer friends, and has even taken up some unsavory habits Peter disapproves of, the same things both of them swore they would never do. And Dante's incessant interest in and vocal observations about the opposite sex are getting tiresome.  

So this afternoon finds Peter alone at the dump, rooting through a newly appeared pile of refuse. Underneath a large metal panel, he comes across a black duffle bag. Inside the bag he finds several dozen bricks, made  of what looks to be plastic and laced with golden circuitry. He also find something that appears to be a gun, even though it's unlike any gun he's ever seen. It's oddly shaped, with a rounded mass where the barrel would normally be and a grip that looks as though it was made for six fingers.

Read more at Pandora's Gun, by James Van Pelt | YA Science Fiction | SFReader.com Book Review

Darwin's Watch, by Terry Pratchett | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review

This is not a novel. It is an overview of certain aspects of actual (more or less: read the book) science, directed against anti-evolutionists, but also against certain misapplications of mathematics and science.

The title is from a book, Natural Theology (1802), by William Paley. He describes a man walking across a heath (uncultivated area). He sees a rock, and may imagine that it has always been there. But if he sees a watch, he knows that watches have not always existed, therefore there must have been a watch Maker. This leads to what has since been tagged "intelligent design."

The authors [and I] do not agree with this. They note two very different uses of the word "theory." One is a misleading equivalence with "hypothesis," which is a question or statement proposed for testing, to see if it can be falsified, that is, proven to be false. The other is an idea about which considerable evidence has accumulated, which has not been falsified. It may not have been nailed down in all particulars, but a heavy preponderance of evidence says that it is true. 

Read more at Darwin's Watch, by Terry Pratchett | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review

Storm and Steel, by Jon Sprunk | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review

Storm and Steel, by Jon Sprunk, is part two of The Book of the Black Earth. Despite not having read part one, and despite having a somewhat slow start, once I got a few chapters into it, things picked up and the story gained enough inertia to start pulling me along.

There are two main stories here: that of the ex-slave Horace Delrosa, and the second of Jirom, a homosexual ex-gladiator and mercenary. Horace, the former slave, turns out to possess a very powerful and innate ability to work the magical energy of Sprunk's world, called zoanii. When Horace's ability reveals itself to the Queen and her advisers (in part one), he suddenly finds himself a member of Queen Byleth's court, and a powerful and unwelcome one at that. Also present in the court is Alrya, a Horace's love interest, with whom he struggles to establish the boundaries of their relationship based on his new status.

Read more at Storm and Steel, by Jon Sprunk | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review

Terminator Genisys - SFReader Movie review

I entered the theater to see Terminator Genisys with trepidation. I was disappointed with Max Max: Fury Road. Would the new Terminator movie run roughshod over my nostalgic memories as well?


I was there at the true genesis -- the first Terminator was released in October 1984 while I was a sophomore in college. Some friends and I gathered our meager funds (I think movie tickets were $3 at the time) and saw it at the local theater. Time travel, killer robots, an apocalyptic end of the world, who could ask for more?



Now that the statute of limitations has expired, I'll admit to stealing the movie poster out of the frame in front of the theater on the way out. It hung proudly in my dorm room until it caught the attention of an even bigger geek than myself. I'm ashamed now to say I traded it for two cases of Milwaukee's Best. It seemed like a good deal at the time....


So, 31 years later, it was with no small amount of sentimental longing or wistful affection that I settled into my seat to see the latest Terminator offering. Where does the time go?

Read more at Terminator Genisys - SFReader Movie review

Dragon Princess, by S. Andrew Swann | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review

This is the first book by S. Andrew Swann that I've read, continuing my attempt to read new-to-me authors this year. And it was a blast! Definitely a fun romp through fantasy tropes with a twist.

Premise: Frank Blackthorne is a not-so-great thief on the run after accidentally disrupting a virgin sacrifice to a Dark Lord. After rescuing the virgin, he finds himself in need of an escape from an entire kingdom. When a wizard approaches him with an offer to help save a princess from a dragon in exchange for the princess' hand in marriage, he's rightfully suspicious, but also out of options.

Of course, the rescue goes horribly wrong and suddenly he finds himself trapped in the princess' body and deposited in the middle of nowhere. Now he has to find his way back, find the wizard, and hopefully get his own body back!

Again, this is intended to be a fun, glorious romp through all of the fantasy tropes you've grown to love and it's exactly that. The twist, of course, is the body swapping, which S. Andrew Swann handles wonderfully.
Read more at Dragon Princess, by S. Andrew Swann | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review