Authors are often too passionate about the ideas they discuss. It is refreshing to find a writer who does not fall into the trap of first telling us all about the issues, and then putting characters in to show what they mean. This story ties together a great number of crucial issues: population expansion, the […]
“Mutation” by Nerys Wheatley
I’m always interested when someone takes a standard format and uses it in a new way. I mean, I read far too many zombie stories. But what about a tale of recovered zombies, who have become the latest visible minority to be trampled upon? And just to make it more interesting, drop the main character, […]
“The War of the First Day” by Thomas Fleet
If women ran a war, what would it be like? I am always impressed when a writer takes a stand and sticks to it. In the case of “The War of the First Day,” the whole book is about women. The only males are unnamed enemy soldiers of the cannon fodder variety. Interesting that the […]
Capture the Cover Contest: “Zoysana’s Choice”
Coming Soon: Zoysana’s Choice In September, Airborn Press will be releasing “Zoysana’s Choice,” a new book by Gordon A. Long. This is the first in a new series called the “Petrellan Saga,” which is planned to be a 7-book series of mostly stand-alone novels using a rotating cast of characters. Book 4 is the book […]
“A Hunt by Moonlight” by Shawna Reppert
When an author sets out to write a detective mystery that is set in Victorian England, she is joining an illustrious circle with such authors as Arthur Conan Doyle and Wilkie Collins, who lived during the period, thus giving them a leg up in the veracity of their world-building. One of my favourites is Anne Perry, […]
“The Last Bucelarii Book 2: Lament of the Fallen” by Andy Peloquin
There is an old theatrical maxim that watching a person try not to cry is far more moving than watching someone in tears. It is the same with “Lament of the Fallen,” the second book in “The Last Bucelarii” series. In the first book, there was far too much violence for no good reason. Killing […]
“As Wings Unfurl” by Arthur M. Doweyko
This is a modern paranormal story of the “Guardian Angel Becomes Mortal for the Sake of Love” variety. But the promised love story rather fades as the action progresses: a lost opportunity for more depth to the humanity of the characters. The plot involves the common people involved in the unraveling of a millennia-old conspiracy: […]
The X-Cure by Bruce Forciea
This international thriller/conspiracy theory/novel starts with a great action sequence, full of assailants in ski masks, early-hours careening through the streets of Beijing in an enclosed van, and a great deal of disorientation, pain, and unpleasant surprise. However, we then drop back to the real beginning, which contains a great deal of backstory and information […]
Trampling in the Land of Woe” by William Galaini
Despite its dark title and even darker cover, I must recommend this book. It’s actually a lighter take on the venerable “What Hell is Like” genre, started by Dante Alighieri with his “Inferno” in the 14th century, and picked up by a myriad of rock ‘n’ rollers and fantasy writers in the past few decades. Not […]
Inevitable Ascension by V.K. McAllister
Here we go again. Another novel in the new genre, “Video Game Plot.” This one in spades. This story is set in a dystopian steam-punk world where all the rules are broken, including most of the rules of novel writing. Violina and her sidekick, Lux, roar through the ruins of a destroyed planet, finding, using, […]