If you like a superbly written, sci-fi mystery drama then this should be on top of your lists! Though the immediate plot is resolved, it has opened up a new puzzles that made me look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy!
Dystopian
Review: Twenty-Five to Life by R.W.W. Greene
The wasteland is stark but wonderful. The road is long, it’s unforgiving, but there’s a lot of beauty we can find along the way. Welcome to the park!
Review: A Strange and Brilliant Light by Eli Lee
A Strange and Brilliant Light in the political, thought-provoking debut from Eli Lee that poses the question of AI in a dystopia where humans are losing their jobs in tech advancement and puts it to several vastly different but interconnected POVs that answer in the way they move through the novel and navigate this new world.
Review: Road Out of Winter by Alison Stine
Alison Stine’s Road Out of Winter is one of those rare books that hits the serendipitous sweet spot of right time, right place, right mood—right everything. Almost. It’s a fairly short read, so I fired up my Kindle and went for it, pulled the trigger, ‘cause why not? A couple of days blurred past, and Stine pulled me through a story of rural landscapes full of climate-wrought confusion and dread, human nature’s ugliest sides, heartfelt friendships, physical and mental adversity, and, to my pleasant surprise, genuine hope.
Review: Day Zero by Robert C. Cargill
(Terminator anyone?), you’re left alone to take care of an eight-year-old kid as his parents were both executed by a robot-nanny-turned-evil. But wait, there’s one more thing, you are a robot too. That is the premise of Day One by Robert C. Cargill. A dystopian story of survival and the relationship between an eight-year-old kid and his best friend who turns out to be a cyber-plush-tiger.
Review: Gone (Gone #1) by Michael Grant
Gone was one of those books where the premise, the buzz (I mean Stephen King on the cover—it must be good right!) and the book itself was exciting, engaging and stress-inducing until the last chapters. It literally was 10 stars until it got to the climax of the story where my rating deflated to an 8 like an untied balloon left flying.
Mini-Review: Hard Reboot by Django Wexler
Hard Reboot is a lot of fun, and I think it is really well-rounded for a novella. I was impressed at how author Django Wexler was able to incorporate so many different aspects of a story into only 150 pages.
Review: Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill
Day Zero is a prequel to Cargill’s 2017 release Sea of Rust (which I did not know until my cohort Justin pointed it out in his review). Though not a perfect read, I found this to be worthwhile: definitely entertaining and a little thought-provoking.
Review: Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill
Day Zero, as the name suggests, starts at the beginning — well, the beginning of the end — of the human race. See, technology has advanced to the point of true AI, with androids serving most basic functions in society, with the exception of a few that are solely left to the realm of man. For instance, teachers are still human, as are the military, which brings us to the laws of robotics.
Review: The Fall of Koli (The Rampart Trilogy #3) by M.R. Carey
The Fall of Koli is the third and final book in The Rampart Trilogy by M.R. Carey, and I am going to admit something right up front: I was crying from page one. If you have been following my reviews (if not, they can be found here: The Book of Koli; The Trials of Koli) you know this has really been an emotional journey for me. From being introduced to Koli and friends I have grown to care more and more about them with every line, with The Fall of Koli being the pinnacle of that relationship. This is my first Carey series, but it is easy to see that connection to the books comes from the author’s phenomenal writing.
Review: The Phlebotomist by Chris Panatier
Oh man, was this a breath of fresh air! The Phlebotomist started out as what I felt was a well-written but largely generic dystopian corporate thriller. However, at around ten chapters/80 pages in, there was a twist so well executed and unexpected that it changed the course of the entire book. I don’t want to give anything away, so I will be as vague as possible with my review.