SciFi
6/21/26 • 2 min read
Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L. Powell, is a cleverly plotted and thoroughly immersive alternative future in which you believe a monkey can fly a spitfire. With its well-drawn characters, page-turning intrigue, and clever plot twists—never mind, several neat surprises I never saw coming—it will have you chugging back the strong coffee way into the wee small hours of night, just to finish it.
This is one of those reads that, just when you think the stakes couldn’t get any higher, Powell dials up the adrenalin and ups the ante.
Continue reading →
6/19/26 • 4 min read
Oh dear, where do I start? Let’s get this one out the way first, billed as Kill Bill meets High Plains Drifter, RED NOISE is neither. It lacks the finesse, the heart, the emotion, and most importantly, the brutal action that peppered both Kill Bill and High Plains Drifter or any damn spaghetti western.
RED NOISE should be a cracking good read given its premise, a lone gunman who comes to town, get’s ripped off, and decides to clean out the bad guys and save the day.
Continue reading →
6/12/26 • 4 min read
First of all, let me start by saying I thoroughly enjoyed Velocity Weapon from beginning to end. And, like any good roller coaster ride, this one starts off with a few gentle reveals, and slowly—at first—builds up to a number of startling revelations, as you crest a peek, wondering what the hell is coming next and then? Suddenly you are being plunged head first over a dramatic cliffhanger, rolling at breakneck speed towards the next clever twist in the plot.
Continue reading →
6/10/26 • 3 min read
This incredibly short novella by Alastair Reynolds—all 176 pages of it—offers so much promise but, for me at least, it failed to deliver. I think if the author had bothered to write a full-length novel and added better depth to both the story itself never mind the characters, it might have been an over-all better read.
As it is, there is a total lack of credibility to the time travel aspect and theory, which, while an intriguing idea, is not expounded upon at any length or depth.
Continue reading →
6/9/26 • 3 min read
SPACESIDE follows on two years after the events that take place the end of Planetside without so much as missing a beat. And Mammay doesn’t play catch up, like some authors might do, but goes straight to Butler having to deal with the aftermath of his decision—having become the most infamous person in the galaxy. Both mentally and physically, he’s shaken, and he’s lost confidence in himself, and his decision making process.
Continue reading →
6/3/26 • 4 min read
In The Dark Spaces by Cally Black, is a totally immersive sci-fi adventure shaded with dark overtones. In some respects it’s also a fast paced, heart-pounding, cannot put it down thriller. And let me be the first to say, the pacing is enough to give you lactic acid build up in your muscles just sitting on the couch, reading this one. In The Dark Spaces is so well paced with each chapter smoothly flowing into the next, so that the story just sucks you along for the ride.
Continue reading →
6/2/26 • 2 min read
The first in a trilogy by Michael Mammay, Planetside melds the best in the military science fiction tradition with a murder-mystery, and a droll and somewhat jaded perspective of the lead protagonist, in the guise of Col. Carl Butler. Who, with a healthy dose of scepticism, in an action-packed plot infused with plenty of action, gets to the bottom of the odd disappearance of a young lieutenant.
But what should be a simple premise—find out what happened to Lt.
Continue reading →
5/26/26 • 3 min read
GLORY MAIN by Henry V. O’Neil is one of those books, once started, you cannot put down. Classic military science fiction, Glory Main harks back to the likes of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, Barry B. Longyear Enemy Mine, and David Weber’s Honor Harrington series of novels, and along with well fleshed out characters, clever world-building, and is a fast-paced gripping read.
Featuring a small diverse group of enduring characters who are thrown headlong into a life or death survival situation, Glory Main jumps right in at the deep-end.
Continue reading →
5/23/26 • 2 min read
I fell in love with this book right from the get-go. I mean, what could be better—it’s a wonderfully written western about a strong-willed woman set on the frontier. A frontier which just happens to be, yes, you guessed. Mars.
Mary Griffith is just the kind of character I love. She’s full of quirky foibles, piss and vinegar and, after being summarily dumped by the British Arean Company (a great name by the way) she’s reduced to making do and making ends meet by doing the one thing her Irish-ancestors were always good at: brewing ale and running a bar!
Continue reading →