This novel is a classic example of Rebels-in-Dystopia Sci-Fi. It has multi-layered conflict, tightly related to the themes and to the emotions of sympathetic characters. It starts out with an attractive opening: evocative setting description teasing us with an interesting character puzzle that keeps us reading through those tricky opening pages. Then we are presented […]
“The Men of the Mountain” by Drew Harrison
Reading this novel is rather like putting together a complicated jigsaw puzzle made from colourful pieces. Similar fragments fit together, and each section grows slowly as new pieces are revealed. The development of the main character is of course the central block. Cade starts out as a simple rabbit hunter. The author stays true to […]
“Secrets of the Sky Gods” by Ryan McBride
This novel is Epic Fantasy in the most sweeping scope and style, but the book’s true appeal comes from the portrayal of the main character, Runa. Much of the conflict is internal. There are four ways to show personality: what the author tells us directly, what the character says, what the character does, and what […]
“Card Snake” by John Morey
This is classic Action Fantasy involving a large cross section of people in a society struggling against civic corruption. Set in a world equivalent to our late 19th century, it still echoes problems we have today. Authors take note; this story has used the marvelous technique of having an important backstory which is revealed slowly […]
“The Callista Alignment” by Steve Gay
This is a serious Science Fiction story about social change, dealt with at all levels of society. The cast of characters includes members from the lowest feral human to the highest ruling alien, and we see fragments of the story from the points of view of all of them. This presents a problem in the […]
“Miss Universe” by David M. Jones
Okay, don’t be fooled by the title; this is true Science Fiction. Don’t think, “Miss Congeniality.” Think “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy,” filled with thousands of alien races and myriads of inconceivable scientific and technical wonders. But, rich in technological and social setting though the story may be, it is the characters that drive the […]
“Traitor Son,” Empire of the Stars Book 1 by Melissa J. Cave
This tale qualifies as Epic Fantasy, but it wastes little ink on the machinations of the mighty. Just enough to demonstrate the pressure that politics exerts on the mere humans who must fit their lives into the mould of their heritage. Because this is really the story about two people who, despite their elevated titles, […]
“What Now?” by Joyce V. Harrison
This is a book of short stories about change. Change inside, change in fortune, change in life. In each case we are treated to the inner thoughts and feelings of a character who has reached a turning point in an existence that was already on the edge, and for most of them the only path […]
“Nabbuko” by K. R. Gadeken
This is not part of a series, as it is advertised. It is the first episode in a serial. It makes a difference. It is a YA Sci-Fi that takes place on an unknown planet, but the focus of the conflict is relationships and the emotions that affect them, which also places it in the […]
“Grace of Empire” by Christie Greenwood
This book is all about people. Most of the reader’s time is spent inside somebody’s head, being told exactly how and what that person is thinking. In the opening, at least, there is very little action. It is the tale of a 1984-type totalitarian society that masquerades as utopia, and a disparate group of rebels, […]