Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley was my first big introduction to spec-fic and I’m so excited every time she releases a new book. Three Eight One is a fascinating mix of far-future and past (or maybe present, or recent past??). The bulk of the story is a coming-of-age heroes quest style tale following a girl named Fairly, and there’s also interwoven in, by the way of footnotes and a prologue, a far-future narrative where it seems that people’s consciousness’ are interwoven and you can choose to be ‘born’ into an organic body.
Soft SciFi
Review: The Key to Reality by F. Ted Atchley, III
Synopsis: An Elite Cybersecurity Analyst. A Desperate Rebellion’s Best Hope. Brandon thought the assignment was just another standard security assessment. Wrong. As he peels back the layers of a deepening conspiracy, he discovers everything he thought he knew about his reality is a lie. And he’s the only one who can save it. Exiles from another […]
Review: The Arid Lands by Kate Kelly
Synopsis: The Tyrhennians struggle to survive in the dried out basin of an ancient ocean. Inez knows no other world than this endless cycle of heat and brine, but listens to the stories of a distant land of great cities and endless seas. She never believed them, until the day her brother is injured by […]
Review: The Inn At The Amethyst Lantern by J. Dianne Dotson
Synopsis Long after a climate catastrophe, when a utopian future faces an unearthed evil from our present, Gentian “Gen” Lightworth and her friends in the night-living town of Glimmerbight must stop the past from repeating itself by using all their wits and talents…and perhaps a bit of magic. Review When genre-mashes work, they really work. Such is […]
Review: Purgatory Mount by Adam Roberts
Summary: An interstellar craft is decelerating after its century-long voyage. Its destination is V538 Aurigae ?, a now-empty planet dominated by one gigantic megastructure, a conical mountain of such height that its summit is high above the atmosphere. The ship’s crew of five hope to discover how the long-departed builders made such a colossal thing, […]
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 […]
The Diamond Device (Accidental Capers, 1) by M. H. Thaung
This is a review in conjunction with the 2023 Self Published Science Fiction Contest (SPSFC2 for short!) The Diamond Device is one of six semi-finalist that the judging team, Team Escapist, is reviewing as they seek a finalist to move forward in the competition. Synopsis After diamond power promises to replace steam, an unemployed labourer […]
Review: Have You Decided On Your Question by Lyndsey Croal
Synopsis If you could live your life over again, what would you ask to change? Something big? Something small? A single moment? Have you decided on your question? Zoe has. Tired of feeling alone and lost, Zoe seeks out an experimental virtual therapy experience from Alternative Reality Tech, which offers patients the opportunity to explore […]
Review: Light Bringer (Red Rising #6) by Pierce Brown
SPOILERS for the entire Red Rising series (besides Light Bringer) included below, even in the synopsis. Read at your own peril. Synopsis Pierce Brown’s New York Times bestselling Red Rising series continues in the thrilling sequel to Dark Age. “The measure of a man is not the fear he sows in his enemies. It is the hope he […]
Book Review: New Yesterday by Frasier Armitage
Synopsis Find your past. Save your future. What if you could change everything in your life you wish you’d done differently? Fix regret? Unlock the potential of your past? That’s what Adam Swann did in New Yesterday, a city where events in the present can alter history. He’s living the life of his dreams, yet he […]
Review: World Running Down by Al Hess
There’s a huge amount of love in this book. WRD was meant to be a palette cleanser for me in the all-you-can-eat buffet of space opera sci-fi out there at the moment but it shone as a wonderful book in its own right.
Review: Quantum Radio by AG Riddle
Synopsis At CERN, a scientist has just made an incredible discovery – a breakthrough that may answer the deepest questions about human existence. But what he’s found is far more dangerous than he ever imagined. Dr. Tyson Klein is a quantum physicist who has dedicated his entire life to his research. At CERN, he analyses […]