Eden, by Martin Roy Hill Book Review

It's a bit of a shock to find someone who can tell his story in 100 pages flat. Usually it's a trilogy at least. But Hill pulls it off.  Sequels are possible, but I liked it well enough to hope he doesn't. I think of Against the Fall of Night / The City and the Stars (and sequel), 2001:  A Space Odyssey (and sequels), and "With Folded Hands" (expanded into a novel, The Humanoids, with sequel), and hope he doesn't.

Eden is an Ancient Aliens and the Origins of Humanity story, which is not a spoiler, because Hill tells us this in a note at the beginning.  More points to him for not trying to use this used theme as a Big Reveal and Punch Line.

Eden is set in southern Iraq, "northeast of Basra", a "sun-scorched landscape" that is not many people's idea of Eden. Conditions have deteriorated since Adam and Eve. 

Eden, by Martin Roy Hill Book Review

The Shadow Throne, by Django Wexler - Book Review

The King of Vordan is dying, and his daughter, Raesinia, is destined to become the first Queen in centuries -- and a ripe target for the ambitious men who seek to control her. But politics knows no loyalties, especially for Duke Orlanko. He will bow his knee to no Queen. Freshly returned from their recent victories abroad, Colonel Janus, Marcus d'Ivoire and Winter Ihernglass must defeat the Duke using muskets, magic and every weapon at their command.

Wexler has been smart in completely changing the backdrop to this adventure, thus immediately giving it a different tone and feel. While the first book was set in a dry, desert country where our protagonists were the outsiders, this volume has them back home, grappling with palace politics.

The Shadow Throne, by Django Wexler Book Review

The Death House, by Sarah Pinborough Book Review

Looks like my streak of reviewing the best books ever in one year is continuing. I loved The Death House even if it is a Young Adult book. I will also throw this out there. I think it is the best young adult book I have ever read. In fact it is so good, parents might hold off on giving this one to their kids until they are a little older. Perhaps the 16+ range. Although I would have devoured it at age 13 myself. 

This novel revolves around Toby who, along with a few dozen other children has been sent to a cold island located off the shore of Great Britain. These children were removed from their families because they have a deadly disease that will eventually kill them. The author keeps the world and the disease vague and focuses more on the children and their lives.
The Death House, by Sarah Pinborough Book Review

Aurora: Eden, by Amanda Bridgeman Book Review

When I selected this book from the latest releases on Netgalley, I wasn't too concerned that this was Book 5 as I have a long and dishonorable tradition of crashing halfway into an established series while still enjoying the experience. However, with this particular book it was far more of an issue.

In the wake of the tragic events in Centralis, Captain Saul Harris stands with the weight of the world on his shoulders. With the truth of UNFASP revealed, he realizes that he must embrace his ancestry if he is to survive the coming onslaught. But how far will Harris go to protect the future? Will he sacrifice life as he knows it and become a Jumbo? Or can he face the future as a common man? Meanwhile Sergeant Carrie Welles has been left devastated by what has happened. Uncertain of the future ahead, and with her nemesis, Sharley, on the brink of control, she struggles to pick herself up. But she is left surprised when help comes from the unlikeliest of places. As her life veers off in a direction she never expected, Carrie soon understands that she is running a course with a destiny that lies far beyond her control.

Aurora: Eden, by Amanda Bridgeman Book Review

Human for a Day, edited by Martin H. Greenberg, Jennifer Brozek Book Review

The Mainspring of His Heart, the Shackles of His Soul by Ian Tregillis:  The anthology starts off with a steampunk story and tick tock automaton who, in cohoots with his human best friend, hopes to find the key that would free him from servitude and give him a soul.  All he has to do is escape the ship he works on while in New Amsterdam and find the Underground Railroad.  A cool, touching story to start of the anthology.

The Blade of His Plow by Jay Lake:  In this story, we get to see Longinus, cursed to live forever as punishment for his role in what happened that "one hot morning in Judaea."  He's drawn to battle and sees many horrific sights as penance before someone arrives and makes him mortal for a day, his punishment over.  An interesting take on Longinus and the many stories surrounding his name.

Human for a Day, edited by Martin H. Greenberg, Jennifer Brozek Book Review

Shadows, by Paula Weston Book Review

In response to the recent release of the final book in The Rephaim series, Netgalley offered reviewers a chance to read, Shadows, the start of the series. As I'd heard a fair amount about this YA Fantasy series, I took the opportunity to download it and judge for myself.

It's almost a year since Gaby Winters was in the car crash that killed her twin brother, Jude. Her body has healed in the sunshine of Pandanus Beach, but her grief is raw and constant. It doesn't help that every night in her dreams she kills demons and other hell-spawn. And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he look exactly like the guy who's been appearing in Gaby's dreams—he claims a history with her brother that makes no sense. Gaby is forced to accept that what she thought she knew about herself and her life is only a shadow of the truth—and that the truth is more likely to be found in the shadows of her nightmares. Who is Rafa? Who are the Rephaim? And most importantly, who can she trust?

Shadows, by Paula Weston Book Review

The Flaxen Femme Fatale, by John Zakour Book Review

This is the sixth book in the series, and the fact that I'm still reading tells you something. The books are about "the last PI on Earth," set in a very tongue-in-cheek future with a definite old-style pulp/detective noir feel.

In this book, Zach, the last remaining private eye, is hired by the government to find and retrieve the "flaxen femme fatale," a genetically-engineered woman named Natasha. She's escaped from her training ground and the military fears her powers, which are extensive, and the fact that Natasha isn't really trained in how to control them. If she gets angry or annoyed or even peeved, her thoughts can kill. So Zach and his trusty holographic sidekick HARV (hardwired into his brain) and enthusiastic intelligent gun Gus head off to investigate and bring her back. 

But, of course, not everything is as it seems.

The Flaxen Femme Fatale, by John Zakour Book Review

The Iron Ghost, by Jen Williams Book Review

There was a time not so long ago when I'd open up an epic Fantasy tale half-expecting to abandon it before the end of the first chapter, as yet another turgid trek through a medieval landscape with a bunch of charmless Tolkien wannabes trudged across the pages. But that was before I encountered the passionate writing of Sophie E. Tallis, the vivid characters depicted by Sammy H.K. Smith, the intelligent plotting of Joanne Hall. And Jen Williams' The Copper Promise. So does this sequel sustain the high standard Williams set in her success debut?

After their defeat of the dragon-god Y'Ruen, the trio of mercenaries who call themselves the Black Feather Three find that demand for their services as swords for hire is high, and it's the lure of money (the copper promise) that entices them to the northern city of Skaldshollow, high in the mountains. They have been asked to retrieve a stolen artifact, but this relatively simple job takes on multiple levels of complication as our sell-swords find themselves embroiled in a war between the stone-crafting Skalds and their neighbors and rivals, the cold-blooded Narhl. They are fighting an ideological war for the very soul of the mountains, in a land steeped in ancient magic, while below the surface of the earth something even more ancient, more magical, and more evil, is stirring...

The Iron Ghost, by Jen Williams Book Review

The Rebel Within, by Lance Erlick Book Review

This is a dystopian near-future novel and the start of a series with at least one sequel.  It's told in present tense, which isn't my favorite.

Sometime in the early 21st century, either right-wingers tried to turn back the clock, or hard-core feminists staged a coup. Either way, the Second American Civil War resulted and was won by the hard-core with the help of mech warriors. These are like Heinlein's Starship Troopers, but all women. Space and the rest of Earth seem not to exist. 

Seventeen years later, men and boys have been forced from power, and from most areas by zoning commissions. They aren't wanted, but are hunted down and killed or imprisoned if they try to escape. Most of the United States is the Federal Union, though traditional society, more or less, holds out in the Outlands (Appalachia, the southwest border, possibly elsewhere). 

The Rebel Within, by Lance Erlick Book Review

Sexbot, by Patrick Quinlan Book Review

I'm not sure who came up with Sexbot for the title, but I think it does the book a disservice, as does the over-the-top cleavage-based cover. Not because I'm some sort of prude, but because it might lead potential customers to shy away, since it screams "erotica" to anyway who even glaces its way.

The problem that creates it two fold:

1. Anyone attracted to it by the lure of the title and cover is going to be disappointed. While there are some sexy bits, it's not as explicit as one might be led to think by the title and cover. Erotica it's not.

2. On the flip side, Anyone avoiding it for the same reason as above will miss out on a pretty good near-future action thriller. And that's too bad.

Martin and Susan are hotshot computer and artificial intelligence scientist working for Suncoast Cybernetics. In the course of their research to build an ever better and more human artificial intelligence (which their company uses to build realistic androids to sell as sexual companions), they stumble across a method that allows the "uploading" of a person's mind to a machine intelligence. This, combined with the ever advancing androids they are able to build, offers potential immortality... to those who can afford it of course.

Read the rest at SFReader.com: Sexbot, by Patrick Quinlan Book Review