science fiction author
The crew is back, and there is a new enemy that is actually the same as always: humanity. But this time the enemy is coming from beyond the ring gates. They have closed themselves off for 30+ years, and now are coming back to rule all of the 1300 systems. I was a bit shocked to find that this book took place 30 years in the future from the last one. A lot of the…
This is a novella that I preordered, it arrived several months ago, and it has just been sitting on my shelf since then. I have read several books by each of these authors previously so was quite looking forward to this one. I liked it. It reminded me very much (theme, not style plot or tone) of the Asimov novel “The End of Eternity,” which deals with stagnation of societies due to the creation of…
We’re back in the Expanse universe with book 5. This story was different from the others in the series in that James, Alex, Naomi and Amos split up and went their separate ways while the Rocinante is in dry dock for repairs. Amos heads back to Earth, specifically the city he grew up in, Baltimore. Alex heads to Mars to try to reconnect with his ex-wife. Naomi leaves James behind and tells him its best…
We return again to James Holden and his crew, this time exploring a world out beyond the ring. I’ve been super busy at work and so this one took me more than 2 months to read, but it was as enjoyable as the rest. Maybe I am getting used to the characters or the way this author plots, but there were a few places (that I won’t spoil) where I knew what the solution was…
This is book 3 in the Expanse series and it continues to follow James Holden and his crew as they travel around the solar system. There isn’t a lot I feel I can say about this book that you won’t find reading a review on Amazon, and I don’t want to give any spoilers. This series continues to be good quality hard SF and I really have enjoyed reading it. The authors are careful to…
I’ve heard a lot about this book. It was highly recommended and for me this book checked all the boxes. A new crew member joins a starship to take over record keeping but she has a complicated and secret past. The captain is a good man, trying to keep everyone happy with a firm but gentle hand, and yet he too has a secret… his girlfriend must be kept secret because the xenophobic race she…
Shards of Earth is a space opera that takes place in a future where the Earth has been destroyed. This is not a spoiler, as it is in the prologue. The Architects have come, giant moon sized entities who do not respond to our communication attempts, and they destroy settled worlds while leaving empty worlds alone. There is a rich cast of characters including heroes from that war, merchants, bureaucrats, religious cult leaders, several alien…
I really enjoyed the first installment of the Expanse series so I was looking forward to this one and I was not disappointed. The book follows the same set of main characters from Leviathan Wakes, Holden, Amos, Naomi and Alex, and introduces/focuses on some additional characters, such as Bobbie, a Martian marine, Prax, a botanist on Ganymede, and Chrisjen Avasarala, a high ranking member of the UN. The switching between the four PoV characters (Holden,…
I believe heard about this book I believe at the online Dream Foundry convention 2 months ago during a panel on AI characters. I started reading it a few days ago and it is not an exaggeration to say that this book has been inhabiting my dreams for the last few days. I couldn’t stop thinking about it! This is one of the best descriptions of what life onboard an ark ship would be like…
One of the people in my writing support group Discord server was begging us all to read this novella this week. I did a little research and found that it is very much a different voice for Scalzi. Since I really enjoyed his voice in Redshirts and the Old Mans War series, I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t like this so I downloaded the first chapter as a free sample. I was hooked.…
