Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Hook Me: Mind: The Beginning by Jenn Nixon

Title: Mind: The Beginning
Author: Jenn Nixon
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press (September 1, 2013)
Genre: Science Fiction

Book Description: After Dina Ranger loses telepathic contact with her brother, she breaks into his apartment and stumbles onto a special government unit responsible for monitoring the psychic population. She's offered a job where she can use her psionic gifts to help people. Stranded on earth over a hundred years ago,

Liam of Shria is searching for a metal needed to repair his ship when he finds Dina, a telepathic investigator, and narrowly saves her from an exploding alien pod. Together, they uncover a plot to rebuild an ancient weapon and discover the truth behind Dina's abilities while unlocking dangerous secrets about the alien presence on earth.

Can they stop a powerful weapon meant to enslave the human race? Can their relationship survive the secrets of the past or will it tear them apart?


First line: The taxicab pulled up to the curb, squeaky breaks announcing its presence.
Last line read: He had to get out.

Overall Impressions: I love stories about psionics, so Nixon's novel grabbed my attention. Dina is a kick-butt heroine, and Liam is very mysterious. The abilities they have such as telepathy and the like are fascinating. The sample was well-paced and left me wanting more.

Would I keep reading?: Yes!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Book Review: A Flock of Ill Omens by Hart Johnson

Title: A Flock of Ill Omens
Series: A Shot in the Light, Part I
Author: Hart Johnson
Published: September 5, 2013
Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller

Format Read: Ebook
Length: Novella
Source: Purchased from Amazon

Deadliest virus in a century, or a social experiment gone awry?

Every year they warned about the flu and more often than not, it amounted to nothing. Sidney Knight, a young freelance reporter had certainly never written on it. But a trip to Lincoln City, Oregon cut short by a beach full of dead seagulls and a panicked warning from her brother the scientist catch her attention. This batch is different. Deadlier. And the vaccine doesn't seem to be helping. It almost looks like it's making it worse...

A Flock of Ill Omens: Part I is the first episode of A Shot in the Light, an Apocalypse Conspiracy Tale about what happens when people play God for fun and profit. There will be approximately ten episodes, each the equivalent of about 100 pages.


Teasers: “Stop! The éclair can’t be beat! I will forever be your cream-filled, flaky goodness ... wait. You did that on purpose.” [17% Kindle. This just had me snickering and craving an éclair.]

“Praying to God is one thing. Spreading him around like butter is using him,” he said. [93% Kindle. So true!]

Review: A prick of a needle may be so much worse than the virus it’s trying to prevent in Hart Johnson’s A Flock of Ill Omens, Part I of A Shot in the Light series.

No one wants the flu, but the cure seems to be killing off more people than it helps. Told from the point of view from several characters, A Flock of Ill Omens examines how each person is touched by the flu or knows someone who has died from it. From a journalist who searches for the truth to a nurse who fears for her job if she doesn’t get the flu shot to a southern bell watching her father’s slow decline to a military man, possibly the last of his company, Johnson brings these characters’ stories to life. I have a feeling their paths will cross as well as the series goes on.

For me, the pace at the beginning felt a little off. I struggled to connect with the characters in that first chapter as they find the dead seagulls on the beach. Maybe I wanted to know more what was going on and wanted a faster jump into the story, I don’t know, but the slow pace didn’t stay that way for long. By chapter two, I was getting into the story and full-speed ahead. Each new development answered a few questions and raised more. I wanted to know what was going on as much as the characters. At the end, I was left craving the next part.

If you haven’t gotten the flu shot yet and plan to, then you might want to hold off on reading this novella until afterwards. Hart Johnson takes governmental conspiracies to the next level in A Flock of Ill Omens. I look forward to reading Part II.

 Four Bookworms = I really liked it!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Teaser Tuesdays: CASSASTAR by Alex J. Cavanaugh

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 
CassaStar by Alex J. Cavanaugh
Kindle 12%

Byron felt a dismissal on the first day of flight would've been too harsh a judgment regardless. He liked to think that Bassa was not so coldhearted as to send a team home this early and dampen everyone's spirits.

Do you have a teaser? Please share in the comments.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Book Review: CASSASTAR by Alex J. Cavanaugh


Title: CassaStar
Series: Cassa Series
Author: Alex J. Cavanaugh
Publisher: Dancing Lemur Press (October 19, 2010)
Format: Kindle eBook
Source: Purchased from Amazon
Genre: Science Fiction

Description: Slated to train as a Cosbolt fighter pilot, Byron is determined to prove his worth and begin a new life as he sets off for the Moon base of Guaard. Haunted by a past tragedy, Bassa eventually sees through Byron's tough exterior and insolence. When a secret talent is revealed during training, Bassa feels compelled to help Byron achieve his full potential.

Review: Alex J. Cavanaugh’s CassaStar is a moving portrayal of sacrifice and friendship set in outer space.

Bassa, a senior officer on Guaard, waited for a chance to train a pilot like Byron, an arrogant but highly skilled pilot from the planet Cassa. While Bassa keeps an eye on Byron’s safety, Byron does everything he can to prove he’s the best damn pilot in the fleet. With war on the horizon, both men know they have to do their best. But when Byron’s secret leads Bassa and him to a new ship, they must find a way to work together before all of Cassa falls to the enemy.

CassaStar starts with a surprising prologue that drew me in. Bassa and Byron’s characters hooked me. The struggles within their quest for friendship were touching. This novel isn’t all about spaceships and fighting, but the relationships around us from colleagues to enemies to friends. The glimpses of the world building kept up the fast-paced read without bogging the reader down with too much description. The writing style isn’t perfect and uses too much repetition, but the story won me over. I often forgot I was reading as I was flipping through the pages to see what happened next. Cavanaugh truly excelled in creating an intense and well-paced novel.

CassStar by Alex J. Cavanaugh engaged me as a reader with a spectacular storyline featuring friendship at its core. I look forward to reading the next in the series: CassaFire.

Five Bookworms = I loved it!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Teaser Tuesday: SLIPSTREAM by Michael Offutt

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 
Slipstream by Michael Offutt
Paperback ARC page 220

Dylan pulled out his gun and pressed it to the guy's throat. "Vamp scum," he said, eyes narrowing.

Do you have a teaser you would like to share? Post it in the comments.

And for an interview with Michael Offutt, please head over to my other blog here.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Book Review: A MILLION SUNS by Beth Revis


Title: A Million Suns
Series: Across the Universe, #2
Author: Beth Revis
Publisher: Razorbill (January 10, 2012)
Format: eBook Novel
Source: Purchased from Amazon
Genre: YA Science Fiction

Description: Godspeed was fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.

It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to enact his vision - no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.

In book two of the Across the Universe trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis mesmerizes us again with a brilliantly crafted mystery filled with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.

Review: A Million Suns by Beth Revis blasts off from the page and will keep you reading until the very end.

As chaos threatens Elder’s tentative rule over Godspeed, Amy grasps hold of a puzzle set in motion by Orion to keep her fears at bay. But when the ship is plagued by strange murders, Amy and Elder must unite to figure out what Orion was trying to tell them and who is killing off citizens who don’t follow the leader. The only thing they really know, though, is they have to get off this ship.

A Million Suns, to put it in their terms, is frexing brilly. The plot is fast-paced, so the reader will be tearing through the pages as fast as possible. Revis excels at creating tension in every chapter, on every page. I felt like I was holding my breath the entire time I read it. Since this is book two of the series, the characters are familiar, but we go deeper into their psyche, their hopes, their fears. The mystery surrounding the ship and people keeps readers of the edge of their seats. The romance is messy, awkward, passionate, everything a teenage romance should be. The political undertones and philosophy add another dimension to this novel very familiar to our own times. I love how the reader can follow along with the clues in the main mystery, although Revis keeps some surprises to the very end.

I’d give Beth Revis’s A Million Suns a million stars, if I could. I love this series in a “stand in line at midnight on opening night at the movie theater” way.

Five Bookworms = I loved it!
 Other books in the series: 
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Read my review here.