Shroud is an epitomical example of Tchaikovsky’s ingenious world building and memorable non-human characters.
Science Fiction
Review: Thrum by Meg Smitherman
Synopsis Ami awakes from years in stasis to find she’s at the edges of deep space, and the only surviving member of her crew. Utterly alone and unable to contact Earth, she sends out a distress beacon, not expecting a response. When she gets one from a being who calls himself Dorian, she’s welcomed onto […]
Review: Countess by Suzan Palumbo
Countess re-imagines The Count of Monte Cristo as a queer anti-colonial sci-fi novella.
Review: Thrill Switch by Tim Hawken
Synopsis Detective Ada Byron is pumped to be assigned her first murder case–until she sees the crime scene. Someone has been killed exactly the same way as her father was seven years earlier. But, impossibly, he died using VR and the programmer responsible is still in prison. To see if this is a copycat or […]
Review: The Fall of Cadia by Robert Rath
The Fall of Cadia is a must read for all Warhammer 40,000 fans, a book I think should be read by sci-fi enthusiasts in general, and it’s a book that has skyrocketed to becoming one of my favourite 40K books I’ve ever read!
Review: Acceptance (Southern Reach #3) by Jeff Vandermeer
This is the final book in the original trilogy and I think my second favourite after the first book. Acceptance doesn’t give answers but does give a little bit more context to the possible creation of Area X and a bit more of a look at Area X in the present day.
Review: The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville
Synopsis There have always been whispers. Legends. The warrior who cannot be killed. Who’s seen a thousand civilisations rise and fall. He has had many names: Unute, Child of Lightning, Death himself. These days, he’s known simply as ‘B’. And he wants to be able to die. In the present day, a US black-ops group […]
Review: Time’s Agent by Brenda Peynado
Synopsis Following humanity’s discovery of pocket worlds (hidden offshoots of our own reality, sped up or slowed down by time), teams of academics embarked on groundbreaking exploratory missions, eager to study this new technology and harness the potential of a seemingly limitless horizon. Archaeologist Raquel once dreamed the pocket worlds held the key to solving […]
Review: World Walkers by Neal Asher
Synopsis An exhilarating standalone novel set within the Owner universe. He can jump between worlds. But can he save his own? Ottanger is a rebel and mutant on an Earth governed by a ruthless Committee. But after its Inspectorate experiments on him, he discovers the ability to reach alternate worlds. The multiverse is revealed in all its […]
Review: Extremophile by Ian Green
Synopsis Charlie and Parker are punks by night, biohackers by day, living in the stuttering decay of near-future climate-collapse London. They pay for the beer they don’t steal with money from their sketchy astronomy site Zodiac Code, while Charlie’s bio-bespoke augments equip the criminals, punks, and eco-warriors of London. They have to deal with disgruntled […]
Review: Is it Real? The Loch Ness Monster by Candace Fleming
Synopsis Put on your detective hat and prepare all your investigative tools, because you’ve been assigned a new case to solve: the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster! Follow along as award-winning author Candace Fleming uses all of her nonfiction tools and storytelling prowess to investigate the enduring mystery surrounding the existence of the Loch […]
Review: Authority (Southern Reach #2) by Jeff Vandermeer
One of the reasons I’ve always wanted to read the Southern Reach series is because it inspired my favourite game ever, ‘Control’. This is the book where I went ‘oh I can see exactly where they took inspiration and this is awesome’. Pretty much the entirety of Authority is set within the Southern Reach agency building, as we follow John aka ‘Control’ as he joins the Southern Reach and tries to unravel the mysteries. It also features a character from the first book and it was nice to have that link back to the book I’d just finished.