I’m a big Adrian Tchaikovsky fan. Children of Time is a modern classic and stands as my favorite sci-fi novel of all time while Cage of Souls is a vastly underrated and incredible novel. Tchaikovsky’s works are always incredibly innovative and creative. From Elder Race (a fun novella which mixes fantasy and sci-fi) to his Shadows of the Apt series (a fantasy book with insect type races which I need to read more of) there’s always some interesting worldbuilding and fascinating ideas going on – and Shards of the Earth is no exception.
Space Opera
Review: Eyes of the Void (The Final Architecture #2) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Many sci-fi fans speak of the Golden Age of Science Fiction as something that has long since passed. Whether it’s the 1930’s, ‘40s or ‘50s, the days of Asimovs, Heinleins, “Doc” Smiths, Bradburys and more are a forlorn memory… right? From my perspective, the answer is “Hell no!” The last decade or two has seen a stunning resurgence of sci-fi and space opera that recaptures the magic of far-flung galaxies, grand ideas, scientific marvels, strange aliens and more, but at the same time delivering fast-paced, engaging narratives and characters who are actually relatable. One author who stands at the forefront of this modern movement is Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Tchaikovsky showed his natural talent for the genre with the 2015 novel Children of Time. Since then, he has honed his craft with every release (and he releases a lot of books with unbelievable frequency), and his new series The Final Architecture, starting with last year’s Shards of Earth, is space opera at its very best.
Review: Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings
Synopsis Fleeing the final days of the generations-long war with the alien Felen, smuggler Jereth Keeven’s freighter the Jonah breaks down in a strange rift in deep space, with little chance of rescue — until they encounter the research vessel Gallion, which claims to be from 152 years in the future. The Gallion’s chief engineer […]
Blog Tour: Stringers by Chris Panatier
Bug sex, aliens, and pickles.
Review: Six Gun Shuffle (Black Sun #2) by David Dixon
Synopsis: Snake and the boss have made a lot of enemies, but up until their trip to Yaeger, they’ve never had any beef with Michael Ver, the galaxy’s most bankable popstar-mainly because they hadn’t met him before. After the boss teaches Ver a lesson about the difference between looking tough and being tough, he finds […]
Review: Resilient (Book #2 of The Fractal Series) by Allen Stroud
Synopsis AD 2118, Earth. The world is about to change as a terrorist strike obliterates the planet’s biggest solar farm. AD 2118, Mars. Phobos Station is ready to receive an emergency shuttle full of wounded miners, but when those miners turn out to be insurgents, Doctor Emerson Drake realises he’s trapped and must fight to […]
Review: Dead Star (The Triple Stars #1) by Simon Kewin
Top notch sci-fi read. A true epic space opera that brings multiple sci-fi elements from religious Zealotry, Oppressive Overlords, Ancient civilizations, FTL travel and Lost mysteries all together into one sublime piece of sci-fi brilliance!
Review: Zero Day Threat (The Ungovernable #1) by R.M. Olson
Zero Day Threat is a semi-finalist in the SPSFC! This is my personal review and does not reflect the thoughts of the rest of my team.
Zero Day Threat has a trope that we all love, found family. R.M. Olsen takes a ragtag group of criminals and turns them into a family, who might fight at times, but ultimately work together to perform a heist to steal a piece of technology. We mainly read from Jez’s point of view, an incredible pilot who can perform every manoeuvre possible with her arms tied behind her back, literally.
Review: Stars and Bones (Stars and Bones #1) by Gareth L. Powell
In the canon of modern space opera, Gareth L. Powell has stood out as one of the genre’s most accessible stalwarts. His work is consistently engaging and continues to improve book after book. With his latest novel, Stars and Bones, Powell kicks off a brand-new space opera series with a bang. Not only was this book a pure joy to read, gripping me from the get-go and never letting up until the final page, it was also full of relatable characters, clever humor and the relentless optimism of the human spirit. This book is unputdownable, popcorn sci-fi that explores big ideas with an equally big heart.
Review: Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
Barnes’ shithousery makes for an entertaining and likeable protagonist, the premise is original and excellent, plus the fact I had to scrabble to find two comp titles should give a good indication of what a breath of fresh air Mickey7 is to read!
The Cruel Stars (The Cruel Stars #1) by John Birmingham
Combat Intellects, mechs with humans written from a source code, old family dynasties, more advanced tech than you can throw a stick at, and that’s just in the first chapter. It’s a smorgasbord of everything that’s cool about modern science fiction; it’s bonkers in all the right ways. It would definitely suit fans of explosive space battles in series like the Expanse and the body-switching, souls uploaded into chips, and other weird tech of Altered Carbon.
Review: Leviathan Falls (The Expanse #9) by James S.A. Corey
A good closure to one of the best sci-fi series of all time, but not really a satisfying read.