I’m currently rebuilding the website as the old one got totally messed up when i was playing around with things (no idea what happened).
So i thought that while it was a total clusterfuck mess of SQL, i would take the opportunity to give it a whole new life and everything.
So if you go clicking on things you might find that very strange things happen. Don’t moan, i know a lot of things are broken, i’m working on it, it takes time.
I’ve got tons of old posts and pages from three websites that i’m working through and will be gradually posting all the stuff i want to keep on here while fixing all the broken things as i go through, one post, one page, at a time.
On top of doing all that, i will, of course, be continuing to add more new content and my latest posts will always appear directly below.
Or, if you prefer, you can also follow me on Twitter and Pinterest where i put a link to all new posts.
Enjoy
The Crew Who Came in From the Cold — Kathleen McClure and Kelley McKinnon
To begin, i would just like to mention that i received a free copy of this book from Kathleen and Kelley to read and review.
I’ve always been a total fan of the Fortune series, always great writing, great characters, interesting relationships, with lots of action and shenanigans, and this story was more of the same.
This story follows on from Outrageous Fortune, so do read that first.
In this story Kathleen teams up with Kelley McKinnon once again and what the reader gets is another wonderful adventure with the crew of the Errant when they get a passenger job to carry some doctors to another part of Fortune (they’re like Fortune’s vesion of “Doctors Without Borders), but one of these passengers isn’t who he says he is. Anyway, when this passenger goes to meet up with an old friend all hell breaks loose and, once again, trouble soon finds the crew of the Errant and shenanigans ensue. Plus, we get an update on John and Jagati’s budding romance . . . awwww!
All in all, while not a big long book, it’s a very good little adventure within which we learn a lot more about our favourite airship crew and, also, a very good little adventure that’ll keep you awake reading at bedtime when you should be going to sleep. But who needs sleep, right?
A must read for all Fortune fans and if you’re not a Fortune fan yet then i would humbly suggest that you go to Outrageous Fiction and get a free copy of Soldier of Fortune and give it a read. Yes, the first book in the series is free to try, so what’s stopping you? The planet Fortune is a wonderful stage setting for these really good, character driven adventures that Kathleen and Kelly take us on. If you like lots of action with great characters and great writing you won’t be disappointed.
Bye for now.
Kathleen’s Page Kelley’s Page
#steampunk #kathleenmcclure #kelleymckinnon
Quantum Shift — Joseph R. Lallo
Fairly good, but this series is getting rather repetitive. I really think Joseph needs to go off on a different tangent with this story line. Lex really doesn’t need to be saving every universe in existence in every story, surely there’s something else he’d rather be doing?
I like the crazy Karter stuff with lots of Ma, just not saving the universes every time Lex gets in a space ship.
Bye for now.
Joseph’s Page
#scifi #josephrlallo
Home Again, Home Again — Cory Doctorow
Available in the collection, A Place So Foreign and Eight More.
A fun little story about coming home.
A human councillor on an alien world goes home to watch his childhood home be demolished. Along the way he reminisces about his childhood there.
It’s different and i quite enjoyed this: you might also enjoy it.
Next up will be Visit the Sins.
Bye for now.
Cory’s Page
#scifi #corydoctorow
Eddy’s Little Day — Joseph R. Lallo
If you enjoyed Joseph’s Book of Deacon side story The Adventures of Rustle and Eddy then you’ll love this little story.
Eddy borrows a few spells from his sister and goes off on an adventure to find Rustle, who hasn’t turned up for his latest visit.
Yes, those naughty fairy catchers are at it again, but they didn’t factor Eddy into their accounts.
I really enjoy the Rustle and Eddy stuff, so this was a very welcome sequel which i also really enjoyed.
Bye for now.
Joseph’s Page
#fantasy #josephrlallo
An Ivy Tale — Joseph R. Lallo
A nice little side story for all you fans of Joseph’s Book of Deacon series.
Ivy goes on a wander to cheer herself up when she gets a bored after saving the world and becoming an ambassador. One day, during her wander, she walks into an inn where Malthropes aren’t exactly made welcome.
A sweet little story.
Bye for now.
Joseph’s Page
#fantasy #josephrlallo
Eversion — Alastair Reynolds
Have you ever fell asleep in a dream and in that sleep you start dreaming, only to fall asleep in that dream and start dreaming again. But then you wake up from that final dream and a new day begins, but it’s just soooo fucked up you can’t understand what’s going wrong with the world: because you thought you’d actually woken up because you forgot you fell asleep within a dream within a dream and you haven’t actually woke up, woke up, you just woke up within the next dream level up, you’re still dreaming. And it takes a while to realise what the fuck is going on. If that’s never happened to you then you’re really missing out a wonderful mind fuck.
It’s just like what happens in the film Inception, they go to sleep and dream, then go to sleep and dream and then go to sleep and dream, in order to get so far down the rabbit hole in order to get the thing they want.
And yes, you can fall asleep in dreams and then dream in that sleep and so on. It’s freaky!
Why am i telling you this? Because Silas Coade, our protagonist within Eversion, appears to be doing the same thing. So if you liked that idea in Inception you might just really like this one as well, because this is just as good but in a much different way. I can’t tell you why it’s different because it would totally ruin the story, you just have to believe me that it’s really good and read it for yourself.
This is currently Alastair’s last published novel and i’ve read everything else he’s written apart from the young adult, nonsensical, Revenger trilogy, which i just couldn’t cope with. So now i sit eagerly awaiting the next great story from this master of science fiction: let’s hope it’s not too long in appearing.
Bye for now.
Alastair’s Page
#scifi #alastairreynolds
Plague Music — Alastair Reynolds
Available in Belladonna Nights and Other Stories.
And here’s me thinking that i’d read all the Revelation Space stories, and then i find this one. Admittedly, it was published after i had read most of the Revelation Space series, so i’ll forgive myself for not reading it in the chronological order of Revelation Space.
But, anyway, it’s always nice to get another Revelation Space story thrown into ones life now and again.
This one takes us back to Chasm City, after the plague has mangled it, following a clean up crew on the lower levels. I really enjoyed it. Once again, as most things by Alastair, extremely well written and brilliant sci-fi.
Now all i have to do is wait for the next Revelation Space story, which i hope won’t be too long in coming. I love this series.
If you haven’t read Revelation Space then i suggest you follow it in chronological order and read everything — it’s really, really good.
Bye for now.
Alastair’s Page
#scifi #alastairreynolds
Permafrost — Alastair Reynolds
A super good time travel novel without all the annoying paradoxes within which some writers seem to get themselves messily tie up in knots.
I can’t really say much more without ruining the story. So i’ll just say, even if you don’t usually enjoy the temporal sci-fi stuff, read this, it’s good.
Next up in Alastair’s literary journey is Polished Performance.
Bye for now.
Alastair’s Page
#scifi #alastairreynolds
Polished Performance — Alastair Reynolds
Available in Made to Order: Robots and Revolution — Anthology.
A really good story set aboard a sleeper ship that is flown and managed by robots while all the wealthy humans sleep the long cold sleep.
But something goes wrong with the cooling system for the sleepers and the robots become worried that they’ll be core wiped to cover up the mess when they get to their destination. Thus begins the cunning plans of the robots to avoid annihilation.
Next up in Alastair’s literary journey is Plague Music, which is actually a Revelation Space story set in Chasm City.
Bye for now.
Alastair’s Page
#scifi #alastairreynolds
What Lot’s Wife Saw — Ioanna Bourazopoulou
I read this soooo many years ago and decided to put it away for a few years before reading it again. But the years came and went and finally i jumped in and did it.
And yes, i enjoyed it totally again.
It’s a rather strange book dealing with authoritarian rulers and their lackeys, but what happens if the lackeys decide to do something unexpected?
Set in a colony on where the Dead Sea used to be before it overflowed and flooded all the Mediterranean’s surrounding countries. The colony now mines the special, addictive, purple salt that was sealed down beneath the ground and sells it to the rest of the world.
The authoritarian 75, based in Paris, own the colony and have a global monopoly on the salt it produces. They have sealed it off from the outside world and only keep in contact with the governor via a green box delivered by a special ship. the governor, in turn, instructs his 6 lackeys to do his bidding.
And then, one night, things all change. The governor’s 6 lackeys send 6 letters to the 75 explaining what happened and they in turn bring in Phileas Book, a constructor of strange crosswords for The Times to decipher the chaotic letters and to work out what the truth is and what really happened in the colony.
It’s a really strange story and quite unlike anything else i’ve read, but it is totally enjoyable and has a great ending.
Bye for now.
Ioanna’s Page
#fantasy #ioannabourazopoulou
Fiction
. . .me thinks it’s a good time to re-read Asimov.
Fiction
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
