What is the essence of humanity? When we meet something strange, do we try to understand it, or do we whack it with a stick? In “The Enemy Within,” seventeen-year-old Max gets all sorts of chances to find out. He has always felt separate from his fellow humans, and as the story progresses he finds […]
“The Sons of Brabant,” Book 1 of the Devil’s Bible Series by Michael Nolan
“The Sons of Brabant” is a strange meld of two different genres of book. The heroes and the villain part company in the first chapter and never meet again (at least in this issue of the serial). Thus I am forced to write a split-personality review in response. The Heroes: The story of the heroes is close-up historical […]
“Christmas at the Contraband Café” by Liberty Bell and Scarlet Brodie
I you’re a fan of English Sitcoms like Doc Martin and Heartbeat, you’re going to like this one: definitely written with a TV contract in mind. Picture a small, close-knit village in Yorkshire. Picture a wannabe fashion journalist from London whose life is falling to pieces, suddenly transferred there by a series of coincidental events. […]
“The Whizbang Machine” by Danielle A. Vann
This novel revolves around a girl’s relationship with her grandfather, Jack, who left her in the wake of a family tragedy when she was eight years old. He returns when she is fifteen, bringing back their old, special relationship, along with a mysterious antique typewriter with a mission of its own and a tendency to shoot […]
“The Chronicles of Henry Harper” by Jacen Aster
This book is not quite a novel, but it’s close enough to be treated as one. It is a series of short stories closely knit together by the main character and many of the supporting cast. It is a standard Space Opera: slightly melodramatic, often humorous, not overly realistic. For example, alien species are mammalian enough […]
“Madam Tulip and the Knave of Hearts” by David Ahern
In this second book of the “Madam Tulip” series, Derry, the starving actress, continues to fight (but not very hard) against taking up her crystal ball and making financial use of her on-again-off-again psychic abilities. Once again, the story is filled with interesting characters, witty dialogue, a good deal of suspense (courtesy of Russian Gangsters […]
“At the Bottom of the Stairs,” a Blackfriar Mystery by M’lissa Moorcroft
Cozy Mysteries: crime stories in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community. Well, the community in this case is an old mansion-turned-apartment building on the California coast near the Bay Area. As we expect in this genre, the building is […]
“The Furies’ Bog” by Deborah Jackson
Writing a Science Fiction novel is a touchy balance between technology and humanity, between “telling” the setting and “showing” the characters. Since different readers like different levels of tech description, it is very difficult to strike a balance that will appeal to a broad audience. The Near-Future subgenre, using technology that is close to what […]
“Once Lost Lords” by Stephan Morse
If length and complexity are any criteria, “Once Lost Lords” is certainly an epic work. Stephan Morse has created highly involved society of humans, wolves, elves and vampires, with each race having a distinct set of rules, often in conflict with those of the others. The power of the story resides in our sympathy for the main […]
“Rim rider” by A. L. Kelley
If you’re looking for rollicking Young Adult Science Fiction, this is your book. It has all the required elements: a fleet of independent space traders being squeezed by a suppressive multinational corporation, a pair of orphans taken in by a welcoming spaceship crew, and even a cute extraterrestrial creature with telepathy. There is also an […]