Cage of Souls is a captivating work of speculative fiction of the highest order. A standalone that felt like an entire series in scope and imagination. Adrian Tchaikovsky’s world building and storytelling is off the charts in this outrageously entertaining story.
Dystopian
Review: Far Removed (The Apidecca Duology #1) by C.B. Lansdell
Synopsis: On the moon of Knyadrea, the sea yields intelligent life. For a species shaped by tides, change is the only constant. Little can be hidden in the glare of a spotlight. Charismatic and innovative, Oklas Sayve has risen to prominence in Apidecca, the moon’s capital city. A politician and college director, he has the […]
Review: Metal by J.F. Lawrence
Synopsis: Terrance Mathison, a veteran turned bioengineer, returns from a camping trip to find that a widespread pathogen is quickly rusting important metals once they’re touched. Amid the crumbling downfall of our technological society, he assembles a team of super-nerds and elite soldiers to find and secure a lab in hopes of developing a cure. […]
Review: Grievar’s Blood (The Combat Codes #2) by Alexander Darwin
Synopsis The second book in an action-packed science fiction trilogy set on a far future world where the fate of nations is determined by battle-hardened warriors who are trained to compete in brutal single combat. In a world where single combat determines the fate of nations, the Grievar fight in the Circles so that the […]
Review: Battery Life by Brennan Gilpatrick and Gregory Lang
Summary: Equal parts Z for Zachariah and Mad Max, Gilpatrick and Lang’s darkly funny debut follows a girl from outer space and an aging scavenger who must learn to trust each other in order to survive. Welcome to the Junkyard, a toxic wasteland where humans, machines, and everything in between fight for survival among the […]
Review: The Hand of God (Dark Legacies #1) by Yuval Kordov
Synopsis The world ended—twice. Once at humanity’s hand and a second time at God’s, according to legend. Only Esther, the Eternal One, saw it all happen. Chosen by the Messiah to redeem humanity, she heads a holy sisterhood that rules Cathedral, the Last City. Except Cathedral isn’t the last city, and the source of the Revenant […]
Review: I AM AI (A Novelette) by Ai Jiang
Synopsis If you have the opportunity to give up humanity for efficiency, mechanical invincibility, and to surpass human limitations. . . would you? Ai is a cyborg, under the guise of an AI writing program, who struggles to keep up with the never-blinking city of Emit as it threatens to leave all those like her […]
Review: One of the Boys by Jayne Cowie
A thought-provoking and humbling novel about what we would do if we were given the opportunity to test our sons for a gene of violent predisposition.
Review: The Ferryman by Justin Cronin
Synopsis The archipelago of Prospera lies in the middle of a vast ocean. Created by a mythic genius known only as The Designer, Prospera exists in splendid isolation, forgetful of whichever untold horrors inspired its creation. Citizens of the main island enjoy fulfilling and privileged lives, attended to by the obliging support staff who live […]
Blog Tour Review: The Combat Codes (The Combat Codes #1) by Alexander Darwin
Martial arts inspired fantasy with science fiction elements.
Review: Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace
Summary: One young woman faces down an all-powerful corporation in this “profound…resonant” (NPR), all-too-near future science fiction debut that reads like a refreshing take on Ready Player One, with a heavy dose of Black Mirror. New Liberty City, 2134. Two corporations have replaced the US, splitting the country’s remaining forty-five states (five have been submerged under the […]
Review: Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin
A stunning novel about motherhood, community, herd mentality, and finding what we have lost.