I’ll be reading and reviewing every semifinalist for the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest! Check out my list with blurbs, covers, links, and first impressions for all the semifinalists here. Please let me know what you think of any/all of these books! I love comments, and love talking about books.
Hammer and Crucible starts with a mystery- what happened to Danny Andela and her family? When questions begin to arise about her son, she gets thrown in with her granddaughter to solve a mystery that might have much wider implications than they realize.
What follows is a slow burn that builds up as Cooper peels away layer after layer of the complex world that’s been created for this series. One of the great joys of reading this book was how Cooper integrates technology into the story. One of the great joys of science fiction is seeing how authors manipulate existing ideas and tech to come up with new uses of existing technology or extrapolating new technology and inventions entirely, and I loved how Cooper used this to great impact throughout the story. Whether it was the anti-aging treatments or the extremely fun nanotech-driven spaceship later in the novel, the technology felt seamlessly real in this futuristic story and continued to impress upon the reader the setting.
The novel is driven by its plot, which goes through a fairly step-by-step journey to solve the central mystery. Since the characters don’t have much to work with at the beginning, they basically just follow a logical path of chasing the one lead they have, following the lead that one gives, etc. until the end of the novel. Again, this plays into the slow burn nature of the story. While the impact of the story is big, the way it plays out is quite intimate and even plodding at points. I would have liked to see perhaps a quicker lead in to the major events of the novel.
I enjoyed that we had a main character who wasn’t a teen or twenty-something. There’s nothing wrong with people that age as main characters, but they seem to dominate a lot of speculative fiction, so having a grandma as the main perspective made for a refreshing difference. I also thought the main story was well-done. The characters grew into relationship with each other through the book, and I thought that was a great way to bring dramatic tension and resolution about.
Hammer and Crucibleis a solid read with big implications, interesting plot points, and great tech. I recommend it for fans of story-driven space opera.
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Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
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I’m reading and reviewing many books from the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest as a judge. Check out my many posts from the SPSFC (scroll down for more).
Zoe Antos is a scientist working for a corporation whose goal is to help reverse and prevent the spread of climate change. When she heads home from work after a strange encounter in a parking lot, she is kidnapped and thrust into a web of conspiracy that she hadn’t even suspected existed.
That description might lead you to suggest the book is a thriller, and you’d be right. While there are plenty of sections to slow down and think about things, much of the plot revolves around Zoe, her fiancé, Cole Wilborn, and his family and the corporation. Zoe begins to discover more about a conspiracy happening and she suspects that she may have been deceived. It keeps building from there.
There’s not much I can say about the rest of the plot without revealing too many spoilers. What I will say is that it is a compelling narrative, and I especially enjoyed the way that Holly Ash wrote the interaction between the two main characters. I appreciated the directions she took the plot.
The book was submitted as a science fiction novel, and it is that, but only in the lightest terms. At its core, this is an eco-thriller with science fiction trappings. And to me, that’s fine. I don’t believe in gatekeeping genre lines, and this one definitely qualifies as sci-fi in my opinion. If there’s a downside to the book, it’s that I thought some of the way the police interacted related to Zoe’s kidnapping stretched credulity a bit.
Cleansing Rainis a captivating, hyper-focused read. Ash provided me with an audio version of the book for review, and I’m happy to report the reader does a fine job capturing the characters and the intensity of the plot. I listen at a fairly accelerated speed (2-2.5x) and was quite satisfied with the audio performance. The book is recommended for those interested in eco-thrillers or thrillers more generally.
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
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Glenn Parris’s Dragon’s Heir guides readers into a vast universe of imagination that starts with a simple question. What if humans weren’t the first civilization to come from Earth?
When dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the Efilu made a huge civilization and fled to the stars before a potential extinction event. They’ve returned to Earth searching for a powerful object, but it appears as though Earth may have just been another setup. Questions about galactic-spanning plagues, the relation of advanced civilizations–and what it might mean to be advanced–and more abound in this novel.
The book reads like it is just scratching the surface of a massive world Parris created. There’s a glossary at the back which I constantly turned to. In some works, this could be annoying, but in this case I found it interesting. There’s so much information there about the people groups populating the pages of the novel, different words and phrases unique to the vocabulary therein, and more. Parris has made a big world with quite a bit of ground to play with.
Despite all of this, so long as the reader stays aware of the (admittedly many) threads interwoven with various species and terms, they’ll find that Parris’s plot here is fairly tight. Aliens (kind of) come to Earth to try to investigate something, are swept into some broader events, and find a resolution. It’s a well-paced story that serves the hefty world-building well. As readers juggle the various species and players involved in the world, the plot moves along at enough a clip to make it never feel like it’s dragging despite all the content.
Dragon’s Heir is a must-read for fans of space opera. Parris deftly guides readers on a story that has big implications for the massive world he’s built. Recommended.
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Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
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The Self-Published Science Fiction Contest exists to elevate interest and readership in indie science fiction. I’m excited to announce this year’s semifinalists to you, dear readers! I hope you’ll find something to read among this diverse array. I’ll end with the semifinalists from my own team, and I’ll be starting with the semifinalists my team was assigned to read to determine finalists. My plan is to read and review every semifinalist, regardless of whether it was assigned to my group or not. I’ll have quotes around sections from blurbs I posted, and my own thoughts, along with links to the books to buy on Amazon.
“When Jossey was ten, the creatures of the aboveground took her brother and left her for dead, with horrible scars. Now, years later, she’s a successful solar engineer, working to keep her underground city’s power running, but she’s never really recovered. After she saves dozens of people during a second attack, she is offered a top-secret assignment as a field Engineer with Patrol, but fear prevents her from taking it…until Patrol finds bones near where her brother disappeared.”
Initial Thoughts
Aestus is the chonkiest book our group received, and I’ve already started. The first chapter was gripping, and it appears to be shaping up to an intriguing, mysterious adventure.
“Some starship captains explore strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilisations. Some lead missions of discovery through wormholes to the other side of the galaxy. Then there’s Captain Iridius B. Franklin, someone who spent too long seeking out strange new bars and new alien cocktails. After graduating bottom of his class at Space Command Academy Iridius Franklin hasn’t had the glamorous career he envisioned, instead he hauls cargo ships full of mining waste, alien land whale dung, and artificially intelligent toy dogs across the stars.”
Initial Thoughts
Okay, I could get into this. I don’t know why but I’m reminded a bit of the scenes in Titan A.E. where the main character is down-on-his luck and not doing much near the beginning. This one clearly is more humor bent and less save the universe bent… maybe? We’ll find out when I review it! This is another book our group was assigned.
“The Fourth Carinad Empire stretches across hundreds of settled worlds and stellar cities, and thousands of light years. The Empire’s people and data are linked by a space-folding gates array controlled by the Emperor and his cohorts. When the array evolves into a sentient entity, it recognizes the Emperor as its foe.”
Initial Thoughts
Okay, this sounds like a big, epic space opera starting off, and I just… I’m so here for it. Our group was assigned this semifinalist.
“Childhood therapy cured Stephen Fisher of disturbing visions and the delusion of having come from another world. But when his daughter obsesses over a star in the night sky, he fears that his genetic legacy may have burdened her with the same illness. His sanity is then shattered when he loses his child and the military abducts him claiming that she recorded a song broadcast from another world.”
Initial Thoughts
I gotta say, this sounds like it’s going to be a sad read for at least parts of it. I am ready to get hit in the feels by this intriguing premise. Our group has this as an assigned semifinalist.
“From her six foot four inch height to the uniform white dots that peppered her skin in perfect geometric patterns, Ellie Whitmore was certainly unusual, but an alien from the other side of the galaxy? Of course not. That’s just what the tabloids said to sell papers.”
Initial Thoughts
Oh, she’s definitely an alien. I wonder what’s going to happen with this space girl from Earth. Our group was assigned this book as a semifinalist.
“A scientist in hiding. An admiral on the brink of treason. A man who has lived hundreds of versions of his life across the same number of dimensions. Three paths converge in one dimension. Their actions will affect them all.”
Initial Thoughts
I’m curious to see how the disparate elements in this blurb will come together. The cover reminds me of another book, but I can’t remember which one. This is the final semifinalist we were assigned.
“May’s humdrum life is flung into hyperdrive when she’s abducted, but not all aliens are out to probe her. She’s inadvertently rescued by Xan, an “I Love Lucy” obsessed alien with the orangest rocket ship in the universe.”
Initial Thoughts
You know who else is obsessed with “I Love Lucy”? Me, as a kid. I have absolutely no idea what to make of this as the driving point in a sci-fi novel, but I’m eager to find out.
“Does she like her job? No. Is she good at it? Also no. She can’t afford to be too good. The last time she got curious it cost her a job, a limb, and almost her life. But when a seemingly simple case takes a gruesome turn, and Bubbles discovers a disturbing connection to the cold-case death of an old friend, she is driven to dig deeper.”
Initial Thoughts
Based on the cover and title, I was not expecting the blurb to sound like a murder mystery. But hey, I love the mash-up of mystery and sci-fi. Let’s find out what Bubbles does next!
“When Alex and Ozzie read their grandfather’s latest “death” letter, they barely blink. Dying six times in two years has to be a record, even for an explorer as incompetent as Sir Quidby Forsythe III.”
Initial Thoughts
Incompetent Explorers, you say? Sounds like a Disney movie waiting to happen! I’m excited to see where this steampunk-looking explorer-drama will take us.
“After diamond power promises to replace steam, an unemployed labourer and a thieving noble unite to foil an international plot and avert a war.”
Initial Thoughts
Steampunk is the name of the game this year, it seems. We’ve already got our second book in the subgenre, and I think there is at least one more in the mix–10%! I love steampunk as a concept, but haven’t found many books I love in that type of setting. Here’s hoping The Diamond Device will be one to add to that collection!
“Kenzie Washington, fourteen-year-old girl genius, signs up for a two-week tour as a cadet on the spaceship of her idol, Captain Dash Drake. Too bad Dash, who once saved the galaxy from the evil Forgers, is a broke loser and much less than meets the eye.”
Initial Thoughts
Does this mean the cover is Kenzie closing her eyes in exasperation? Maybe! I love the cover here, and I know you shouldn’t judge books by them, but I’m interested in the premise, too. We’ll see.
“In the near future, a stellar collision with a rogue planet destabilizes the sun’s fusion output, turning it into a ticking time bomb. With the ever-increasing heat, earth will become uninhabitable within a decade.”
Initial Thoughts
Hey! A hard sci-fi book in the mix. I have a lot of fun in that subgenre in sci-fi, so consider me ready to tackle this story that looks to mesh science and plot.
“A troubled young woman is recruited by a race of ancient alien explorers to be their emissary to save the human race from extinction. The problem is that not everyone believes the world is doomed, and not everyone trusts the aliens’ motives. Holly Burton will have to overcome opposition from world leaders, attacks by religious zealots, assassination attempts, intractable bureaucracies, and her own fears and doubts if she is to save the human race, not just from the coming apocalypse, but from itself.”
Initial Thoughts
Well that sounds like an easy enough job, right? I anticipate a lot of flustered conversations between alien and emissary as they try to figure out why humans can’t er… figure it out.
“Jason Sietinen lives in the shadow of greatness. He’s worked hard to become a TSS officer in his own right, but having war heroes for parents is hard to top. When Jason is assigned to investigate a mysterious attack, he finds evidence of powerful transdimensional beings never before seen. Or so he thought.”
Initial Thoughts
Space opera with forgotten aliens? Sometimes, I’m a simple man, and I just want that. Hoping we’ll see some awesome twists and galaxy building in this first book in a series.
“When man and machine are one and the same, there are many crimes but only one sin: psyche-wipe. The secrets it has buried could lead to a civilization’s salvation, or to its doom.“
Initial Thoughts
Cyberpunk on a grand scale is often a challenging feat. I will be interested to see where Jennsen takes this one.
“Leo MacGavin is not the brightest specimen of humanity. But when he inadvertently rescues a flirty alien heiress, he’s promoted from second-rate lounge entertainer to captain of the galaxy’s most sophisticated cruise ship.”
Initial Thoughts
We’ve got another read that seeks to blend comedy and sci-fi, which is a tentative combo for me. We’ll see how it goes, but I do love the cover on this one–and the “your old pal” to introduce the author.
“When the Home worlds finally achieved the technology to venture out into the stars, they found a graveyard of dead civilizations, a sea of lifeless gray planets and their ruins. What befell them is unknown. All Home knows is that they are the last civilization left in the universe, and whatever came for the others will come for them next.”
Initial Thoughts
I love the campy cover combined with the epic description. What kind of book is this going to be? Will it hearken back to 1950s-60s sci-fi? We’ll see!
“One day, Jyosh will climb the heavens and slay a dragon god. Though nothing could seem less likely for a slave, especially one whose body is too broken to cycle sunshine into destructive magical energy. Until he meets a woman who can secretly teach him the lightblade, an energy sword transmuted from sunlight, capable of changing size, shape, and performing incredible magical feats according to the wielder’s skill level.”
Initial Thoughts
The blurb reads a bit like LitRPG or gamelit, and the author appears to write a lot in that subgenre. I haven’t read much of it as a subgenre but basically loved everything I have read therein. Consider me excited to get to this one!
“Troy carries more secrets with him than most. A test subject for experimental surgery, a clone gengineered from modified lab mice, an addict. He tells himself that his past is behind him, but he’ll never escape his childhood in Lake North’s labs. What was done to him there, what he was made into, what he did.”
Initial Thoughts
Dat cover tho. It’s so beautiful. Malcolm F. Cross was the author of Dog Country, possibly my favorite book from last year’s contest (my review here). It’s safe to say that I am eagerly looking forward to devouring this read. Cross writes haunted characters with deep backstories and realistic motivations. I can’t wait.
“The colonization of Mars has begun. Following a rapid expansion of the manned space program due to the discovery of a potentially catastrophic Earth-crossing comet, Zubrin Base has been established on the Red Planet to oversee the capture of the rogue object.”
Initial Thoughts
Possibly terrible comets are a legitimate fear for the long term health of humanity on Earth. Night Music‘s blurb reads like another hard sci-fi novel dealing with that threat, and I want to know where Cabral takes it.
“Nothing is what it seems in this speculative thriller about a quantum computer scientist, virologist, podcaster, venture capitalist, and assassin coming together to untangle a twisted enigma that will change the course of future history. Everyone has something to hide, and every transgression is a portal to discovery.”
Initial Thoughts
You had me at “quantum computer scientist” and then just piled on more interesting threads. I am here for it. Let’s see where Reap3r takes us!
“The kid disappeared two days ago. Missing. Abducted. Murdered. What have you… Just another in an endless line of indigent kids wrung from the dregs of the Machine City. And it’s my job to find him.”
“Professor Kilmer, a renowned historian of war and diplomacy, is collected from his home and whisked off to Washington. Thrust into the highest levels of government as an adviser to the President, the young historian must come to terms with the seemingly impossible, figure out how to navigate a world where not everything is as it appears, and use all the skills and knowledge he has acquired in his life to help save humanity from a conflict of truly epic proportions.”
Initial Thoughts
I like history and therefore am rooting for this historian to do whatever it is he needs to accomplish.
“In 2050, the United States of America finally crumbled. Jake Weintraub’s family fled the burned-out ruins of Chicago for the safety of the artificial island steading of Pono. Now grown, Jake works as an independent journalist, but the horrors of the Chicago River Riots still haunt him. As Pono watches, safe in the Pacific Ocean, the West Coast nation of Cascadia collapses under a further series of catastrophes. Thousands of desperate refugees arrive on Pono’s shores – homeless, stateless, and hungry.”
Initial Thoughts
Okay, this is a great setup for questions of colonialism, empathy, and more. I can’t wait to see what happens.
“Time is running out for the people of New Pallas. Nobody knows that better than Alvera Renata, a tenacious captain determined to scout past the stars with nothing but a handpicked crew and a promise: to find a new home for humanity. But when a perilous journey across dark space leads to first contact with a galactic civilisation on the brink of war, Alvera soon realises keeping her word might not be as easy as she thought.”
Initial Thoughts
I love that it’s not just humans running into a totally intact civilization and having to deal with them either rejecting or helping us but rather that it’s a civilization with war breaking out. That adds some wrinkles to what would otherwise be a premise I’d read several times before.
“Born talentless, Iro has all but resigned himself to a life of drudgery, watching his sister hop across to the massive space titan for supplies. But when the titan explodes and his sister is killed, Iro finds a new determination to take her place. He’s not about to let weakness prevent him.”
Initial Thoughts
Billed as a progression sci-fi, this one also has inspiration from gamelit/etc. written all over it. Basically, the notion behind progression fantasy/sci-fi is that the main character trains hardcore throughout to overcome some challenge. It should be interesting to see where this one goes.
“They call it the Kera: a secret Eden, far from the overcrowded Earth where the air is clean, and summer comes every afternoon at the touch of a button. A new wilderness, deep in the asteroid belt where Kade Morton, teenaged migrant from Earth, can start over.”
Initial Thoughts
Nothing could possibly go wrong in paradise, right? We’ll find out.
The first of my group’s semifinalists, Heritage is space opera on a grand scale. Galaxy-spanning war, massive consequences, and a focus on the crew of a ship make this plot move quickly. Group members loved the scale of it, the characters, and the story. The most obvious comparison to the book would be The Expanse series. I plan to re-read it for the competition later, but for now I hope this has whet your appetite enough to check it out.
I don’t often go for books that lean into comedy, especially when that’s a sci-fi novel. But Drew Melbourne perfectly captured the blend of humor and plot that makes such books work when they do work. And Percival Gynt er… works. That’s what made this our second semifinalist. Tongue firmly planted in cheek, Melbourne throws all kinds of hilarious hijinks at the reader, but the hijinks actually matter on a large scale and are placed within a universe that is, despite being an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink experience, somehow meshes into an intriguing backdrop. I was won over by the tone of the story and stayed to enjoy the characters and evolving plot. An obvious comparison would be Douglas Adams.
A computer whiz uses VR and other technology to become a wizard in this strange story that has elements of gamelit and cyberpunk. What surprised me here was the tonal shift from what read initially like a happy YA adventure to a much more serious read within the span of just a few pages. The ride ends up being a wild one, with twists and turns that reveal more to the reader about the world and characters. Is everything as it seems? Read the book to find out with our group’s third semifinalist.
The inaugural Self-Published Science Fiction Contest is over, but I am reading and reviewing every single semifinalist! Follow along to see what I think of the judges choices for the top 30 out of 300 books!
A theocratic government dominates known space as Selene, sole survivor of a planet that was completely destroyed seeks a new life. She meets up with Ondo Logan and together they begin an adventure that leads them to seeking out a mythic paradise planet that could be the key to what went right–or wrong–in the universe.
As plot setups go, this one has an epic one. Selene and Ondo experience quite a bit of adventure as the story goes on, too. Selene is doubtful of Ondo’s belief in the lost planet, even when presented of evidence. Over time, more and more events come together to point them in a certain direction and send them on a grand adventure.
The adventure is a good one, too. The characters experience quite a bit of growth, though one sometimes wonders whether Selene shouldn’t be more emotionally distraught by her loss of… basically everything. The worldbuilding is quite well done, too, as the malevolent theocracy that dominates their lives feels genuinely foreboding at times.
The main problem here is that the novel reads very much like the first part of a story rather than a complete adventure on its own. It leaves off almost exactly at the point where readers will most want to know more about what’s going to happen next. That makes it feel a bit of a letdown when it ends, though it certainly whets the appetite for the next book.
Dead Staris an intriguing space opera with good worldbuilding and strong characters. Recommended, so long as you’re willing to dive into more to find out the end.
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
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We’re now in the round of semi-finalists for the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest (SPSFC), and I’m reading and reviewing all of the semi-finalists! Check out my SPSFC Hub for all my posts and reviews for the contest.
After the Terminal Plague, humanity left Earth behind. Those left behind turned into a devolved species of homo sapiens. Now, those who have been living in orbit have decided to come back, training with simulations to be ready for the challenges back on Earth. Liam Stone is one who is training on the simulations to go back to Earth. Now, after his sister is chosen instead of him, he’ll give anything to get back.
Following Liam’s story gives readers a kind of survivalist story that reminds me of the survival video game subgenre. Liam is thrown together with several other characters on this adventure, dodging hostile pseudo-humans and trying to figure out how to live on an Earth depleted of resources… at least ostensibly. The characters develop quite a bit, though in mostly predictable ways. The survivalist plot is also predictable. Realistically, my biggest complaint is that everything feels kind of bland. Everything about the novel, whether the characters, plot, or world, felt average. It’s all “okay” but doesn’t really rise above that level.
Life on Planet Earthwill deliver what one expects: a post-apocalyptic survival story. While it didn’t wow me, fans of the subgenre will likely feel right at home, with many things to enjoy with the plot.
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
The inaugural Self-Published Science Fiction Contest is over, but I am reading and reviewing every single semifinalist! Follow along to see what I think of the judges choices for the top 30 out of 300 books!
Crucial Larson has been summoned to the elitist utopia on Mars to solve a missing persons case. The missing person is his sister, and her capture somehow evaded the all-seeing, all-knowing-ish AI known as Halo. Halo starts interrogating Crucial after he also manages to get off the grid for a little bit on Mars, desperate to know what happened to defeat its monitoring systems. That’s where the story begins in this hard-hitting mystery.
The plot hook is fantastic. I was all in on the story of Gates of Mars from the get-go. Of course, a hook isn’t all that makes a good story, so the question that lingered in my mind was whether it would be able to maintain my interest throughout its 350-ish page length. McFall and Hays add wrinkles throughout the book to keep it going. Many of these are highly successful–such as the lingering thread about what happened with some giraffes on Mars (truly!). Others sometimes read as a bit deus ex machina. The most egregious of these were some of the ways Halo’s detection was avoided, which started to make it feel as if it were the simplest thing rather than an insanely stunning achievement.
When the plot trajectory changes around the 55-65% mark, there are some bigger highs and lows. I found some of it a bit long–possibly in need of editing down. However, at that point my investment in the characters was strong enough to sustain me even in the parts I thought might drag a bit. The conclusion was satisfying, bringing the story to a conclusion that felt like a natural end point despite clearly being ready for the rest of a series.
Gates of Marsis a great noir-sci-fi combination that I would highly recommend to fans of that genre mashup. I found it nearly un-put-down-able at times. The narrative voice, characters, and worldbuilding are quite strong.
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
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I’m a judge for the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest (SPSFC), and I’m reading and reviewing a bunch of books besides the semi-finalists and finalists! Check out my SPSFC 2021 Hub for all my posts and reviews for the contest.
I saw copies of Bloodlines on multiple bookshelves in booktube-type videos or pictures of favorite books on a shelf and felt a distinct sense of FOMO. While the book wasn’t in my group’s reading, I threw it on my list of books to read because I wanted to be sure I got around to it. I’m glad I did. Bloodlines merges genres deftly, borrowing inspirations from Blade Runner and Jim Butcher’s “Dresden Files” while carving out its own space in a somewhat crowded cyberpunk field.
Bloodlines follows Tom “Doc” Holliday (love the Wild West reference) as he gets a chance to be part of a secret detective unit dealing with crimes that appear to be impossible based on mundane reality. It quickly appears the first murder he needs to solve may have been from a vampire. But these vampires and the setting of the book push the boundaries of science fiction and fantasy, meshing them together in some surprising ways.
There are a good number of characters here, and the chase to find a mysterious killer gets more exciting as the novel goes on. While there possibly are a few twists and turns too many–the novel could have used a bit of thinning down–the story remains satisfying and has enough action to sustain the reader throughout. Characters are interesting, and while many only get a surface-level outline, others grow and develop throughout the story.
I realized at one point deep into the novel that I genuinely had little idea of “Whodunit.” It wasn’t that the novel wasn’t well written enough to give hints; instead, it’s well written enough to conceal the big reveals quite well–basically until Hartog is ready for the reader to know. It makes the mystery that much more satisfying and certainly delivers a solid ending.
The setting is done well, with a kind of inter-dimensionality setting up the possibility of seemingly magical creatures showing up in our own reality. This leads to, among other things, the possibility for near-humans from alternate timelines and realities to show up–one of whom ends up as a kind of partner for Holliday. I quite enjoyed the worldbuilding, even though it is admittedly a bit hand-wavey about some of the details. You aren’t reading this book for comprehensive scientific accuracy, though, you’re reading it for fun; and Hartog provides fun in droves.
Bloodlinesis a great read that fans of the inspirations and subgenres it emulates should go run and grab as soon as possible. I found it to be a fun read, and I’ll definitely be grabbing the next book in the series. Recommended.
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter for discussion of posts, links to other pages of interest, random talk about theology/philosophy/apologetics/movies/scifi/sports and more!
The Self-Published Science Fiction Contest (“SPACEFIC”) is underway, and my group is going through one of my favorite parts of the contest: sorting through a slush pile. Basically, we get a stack of books and need to sample them all to narrow down our selections for quarter- and semi-finalists. Here, I’ll be going over my first impressions of some of these books. Please note my “Yes,” “No,” or “Maybe” vote is only indicative of my opinion and may not reflect the opinion of our whole group. Since we advance books as a group, it’s possible a “Yes” from me may end up a “No” overall and vice versa. Let me know what you think of the books in the comments!
A foster child whose best friend is an illegally upgraded AI robot deals with… a lot in this intriguing novel by Brian Terenna. I kept thinking I’d settled in and figured out what the novel would ultimately be about and then a major twist or shift of the rails would hit and I’d find myself wanting to push forward to find out what would happen next. Fae Luna, our hacker-teenager extraordinaire, lives in a New America with a new set of heroes, new constitution, and newly found freedoms. So they say, anyway. What feels like a clear setup for a YA dystopia isn’t that. Or it’s not only that. Or… well, there’s so much more going on here than one would think. Even the first 5-10% hits with some super unexpected vibes. Terenna constantly subverts expectations, but doesn’t ever make the reader feel cheated for having done so. I ended up finishing the book. It’s a yes.
On Venus, if you believe lies, you’re subject to be an underclass. Here, we have two main characters–Hix, who has risen from the underbelly of Venus to become a star, and Neeva, whose fate seems destined for greatness. I was into the vibes at the beginning of this one, but also was hoping for more than a kind of generic-feeling space opera. So far, it didn’t hit me hard on either the action or plot, but I am intrigued enough by the setting and characters to want more. I’m putting it down as a tentative maybe, and I’ll need to circle back to it to read more.
I’m not sure what to make of this one at 20% in. It’s got a well-developed, real-feeling world. It has quite a bit of political court intrigue. There are vibes of stories I’ve enjoyed quite a bit. So far, though, it reads like a fantasy court drama, not like anything set on another planet. If I could describe it at this point, I’d say it’s like a story of Anastasia, but with a few twists. I am intrigued enough to want to keep going, but confused enough to not say a firm “yes” quite yet. I have it on my “maybe” stack to circle back to when I have time for final determination.
Conclusion
Another 3 books, and no firm “no” in the bunch. I am excited that our slush pile is so strong. Have you read any of these, or did these reviews make you want to check them out? Let me know in the comments.
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We’re now in the round of semi-finalists for the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest (SPSFC), and I’m reading and reviewing all of the semi-finalists! Check out my SPSFC Hub for all my posts and reviews for the contest.
Otpor is a city that seems ripe for rebellion. The execution of a rebel leader some time ago lingers over the city, and people are starting to question the Orthodoxy. The Orthodoxy is the teaching that all humans reflect an elemental core.
Readers follow some of these elementals as they deal with some of the day-to-day goings on in Otpor, including tracing and putting down Heterodoxy, any beliefs and actions that go against the seemingly harmonious existence in the society. Indeed, much of the central plot here isn’t about some oppressive government that the young and likely good-looking main characters must take down. Instead, it’s about interpersonal conflicts and how the beliefs we have about others and ourselves can divide us.
I thought that the idea of humans reflecting elements was awesome. It had a kind of Divergent series set up in that regard, but with a wider focus and seemingly more possibilities. Indeed, in the sense of world-building, this book goes beyond some other YA dystopias in having what’s clearly a deep lore and backstory from which readers get tantalizing glimpses throughout the book.
That said, the downside here is that readers only get those tantalizing glimpses and not much more in this first entry of the series. It’s like there’s a huge amount of questions and you know there are answers there, but the answers are horded rather than being doled out in satisfying portions. Only near the end of the book do we finally start to see the world with more open eyes, but at that point it reads as a bit too little, too late.
Resistanceis an intriguing first entry in a series. It plays on the dystopia genre in different ways than I’ve seen before. That said, it doesn’t resolve enough of the plot tension or give enough a view of the world to make it feel the payoff is all there.
Science Fiction Hub– I have scores of reviews of Hugo nominees, Vintage Sci-Fi, modern sci-fi, TV series, and more! Check out my science fiction related writings here.
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Eclectic Theist 