I avoid reading books in a series if I’ve missed the first entry. I also don’t read reviews before selecting books because I don’t want to read any spoilers. That did not serve me well in deciding to read The Blue, Beautiful World. Imagine my surprise when I discovered thisContinue Reading
It is hard not to compare new science fiction plots to all that have gone before. On Earth as It Is on Television is much more about the characters’ individual reactions to the first alien arrival than humanity’s overall response to it. It reminded me of the beginning of IndependenceContinue Reading
The author of The Passage has written a standalone door stop of a novel called The Ferryman. The plot is part science fiction, part fantasy and part mystery. For someone who loves genre mashups, did the entire book thrill me as much as its blurb? The Plot Prospera is aContinue Reading
I selected Momenticon because of its post-apocalyptic science fiction plot within an Alice in Wonderland setting. I chose it even though I had been disappointed by Alice books before. I didn’t have to worry. The world-building is fantastic here! In a future horrifically ruined Earth, two insanely rich families scrapContinue Reading
Mickey7 is back but he has the Antimatter Blues. Despite being an Expendable, who was previously just painfully regenerated whenever his missions were too much for his frail human body, he has been accepted into the colony on planet Niflheim. However, some of his actions to achieve that status (madeContinue Reading
Three groups of people are trapped on a stopped sky cable car, an overturned chartered bus, and at a rural resort working on a secret science project. While the snowstorm is not helping, the raging pandemic making huge swaths of the population both epically contagions and into modern zombies isContinue Reading
I was expecting a science fiction thriller and received an in-depth literary fiction look into San Fran tech startups. I think Please Report Your Bug Here would be a great choice for aspiring teen tech billionaires. It was written by one of the first Instagram employees. However, mystery and thrillerContinue Reading
The Arcadia is a cruise ship carrying hundreds of passengers. The passengers and their ancestors have been stuck on the ship for over forty years. War and a pandemic forced The Stranded onto a destination free voyage. It is survival but at what cost? Teenagers Esther and Nik both hopeContinue Reading
Wormhole is a police procedural set on a world far far away and also an almost ruined Earth. Cold case detectives on Earth must solve an eighty-year-old case that was recently revived after a spaceship thought lost arrives at a new planet. The spaceship sets up a quick path toContinue Reading
Four oddballs meet on a website called Black Paradox to plan for their mass suicide. When that doesn’t work out for them, the comedic horror turns into a bat poop crazy science fiction plot. It’s definitely not a boring twist, but not entirely comprehensible either. I think Black Paradox wouldContinue Reading
If This Book Exists, You’re in the Wrong Universe is the fourth book in the John Dies at the End universe. And it is a wild, witty, nerdy and thoroughly intellectual ride! Dave, John and Amy are authentic ghostbusters with The Conjuring worldview. They are trying, and failing, to controlContinue Reading
In the cold windswept North, a doctor has come to replace a fallen comrade. But the doctor is not alone. She is hosting a Leech, an organism living in a multitude of physicians simultaneously in this eerie future world. The organism was also within the fallen doctor. But it cannotContinue Reading
Imagine a world where gene editing had gone too far and caused famine and death. Then picture life ten years later, when gene editing is mostly illegal and highly regulated by the world’s governments. That is the near-future world of Upgrade, the latest novel by the author of the WaywardContinue Reading
You are anticipating the best steak dinner you have ever had. Your mouth is watering picturing your first bite. Then, the server puts a large cheeseburger in front of you with an explanation of how the restaurant is out of steak. Sure, the burger looks juicy—but it is no steak.Continue Reading
Locklands is the thrilling conclusion to the Founders Trilogy. An evil being is trying to control the world in this excellent computer programming-based fantasy tale. Just as Lord of the Rings depicted the menacing pre-WWII world at the time of its publishing, so this series depicts our QAnon blockchained worldContinue Reading
Black Tide begins with a romance that quickly turns into an apocalyptic horror tale. Beth and Mike meet over their garden wall and quickly get drunk together. When Beth wakes up alone in Mike’s bed, she has dreamed of an alien invasion. However, it turns out it is not justContinue Reading