SCIENCE FICTION READATHON!!

I'm thrilled to participate in the second annual Sci-Fi Summer Readathon, hosted by champion reader-blogger Michelle Miller at Summer Sci-fi Readathon Follow my Readathon progress at: June Sci-fi Readathon Shelf Readathon runs June -7. Rock your Sci-Fi love!

Day One Post

I haven't completed a book, but I have read portions of several. Last Sunday, in just a few hours time because I couldn't stop turning pages, I read NOMAD, Book 1 of the NOMAD Series by Matthew Mathers, a science fiction near-future apocalyptic thriller (and very terrifying). So I decided to read the next two books in the series (I don't yet own the newly-released Book 4) during Sci Fi Readathon (which I wish was two weeks or a month in duration {smile}. So on Day One I started SANCTUARY (Book 2).

I also started PARABLE OF THE SOWER by Octavia Butler (included in the EARTHSEED Duology). Wow! Octavia Butler was a tremendously talented author. But reading this novel is seriously depressing; I keep reminding myself how much more despairing to live in the near-future Dystopiana Butler recounts. I plan to read both PARABLE OF THE SOWER and PARABLE OF THE TALENTS during this Readathon. I already know Butler's vast imagination will stretch my own.

I also began reading Jason M. Hough's THE DARWIN ELEVATOR, a futuristic sci fi thriller set in Australia (2283). This one has invisible aliens who built a space elevator and disappeared, a worldwide plague, “immunes,” and space smuggling (shades of C. J. Cherryh!). I plan to read both books in this Duology as well.

In addition, I expect to read (or at least to commence), Greg Bear's EON Series (LEGACY, EON, ETERNAL).

Day Two-Day Three Update:

Day Two, I completed SANCTUARY by Matthew Mather (Book Two in the NOMAD Series), and read a sci fi short story, PROJECT SNOW, by Cherita Smith.

Day Three I was on a roll, completing THE DARWIN ELEVATOR by Jason M. House (Dire Earth Duology #1), and reading THE DARWIN EFFECT by Mark Lukens, a super novel all around which will receive a glowing review. I started FALL OF ZONA NOX by Nicholas Woode-Smith. I also commenced DARWIN'S RADIO by Greg Bear, Book 1 in a duology (I will also be reading Book 2, DARWIN'S CHILDREN, during this readathon). Greg Bear is such an exceptional author, and his work exemplifies why I read science fiction. He is an intellect, extremely knowledgeable, a true Renaissance man. For instance, he demonstrates a vast breadth of knowledge in geopolitics, history (global, not just his native region), current events, languages, and of course, Science! He is fast becoming one of my favorite sci fi authors, along with Peter F. Hamilton.

Day Four-Five

Quality, not quantity, this time: 4 novels, 1 short story, so far. Yesterday I read a fantastic new release, Resurrection America by Jeff Gunhus, which is near future and science-based, small-scale engineered apocalypse. Great book.

WRAP UP:

I've read 5 novels plus one short story, all science fiction:

SANCTUARY

THE DARWIN ELEVATOR

THE DARWIN EFFECT

RESURRECTION AMERICA

DARWIN'S RADIO

and a short story, PROJECT SNOW.

I also read about 20% of DARWIN'S CHILDREN, the sequel to DARWIN'S RADIO.

Tour: SHIFT OF SHADOW AND SOUL by Hilary Thompson

This is the blog tour for author Hilary Thompson's new YA Epic Fantasy novel, organized by Itching for Books. Check out the awesome teasers and enter to win a hardcopy of the book. 

Release date: May 22nd 2017
Series: Soul Shifter #1

Publisher: Star Shadow Books

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

Synopsis via Goodreads:

There are three kinds of magic in the world, and Corentine has the wrong one.

Long ago, the Restless King forced Corentine’s people into hiding as he scoured their blood for the SoulShifter. When Corentine learns she possesses some of the forbidden Shifter magic, she must hide her power or risk the same death her twin suffered.

Raised to trust no-one, she rejects the General’s son Sy, until she realizes his family secrets might be the key to unlocking hers. When his brother turns against them, they are forced to fight family to save what’s left of their home, or accept banishment to find a new future.

If Coren and Sy can’t convince their people to accept the light of Shifter magic, the growing Shadow will ruin everyone’s chance of freedom.

Travel this richly imagined world with a diverse cast that readers have compared to fantasy favorites like Sarah J Maas and Leigh Bardugo.

Sulit Witch

Weshen Shifter

Umbren Shadow

When dark meets light, will all become Shadow?

The boy leaned closer. Coren risked another glance at his face, expecting to find the widened pupils, the swollen lips of desire and anticipation.

But it was worse than that.

He stared at her intently, gray-blue eyes narrowed and full lips slightly upturned in conquest.

Claim them with a kiss. The hunt’s opening speech echoed in her mind.

He pulled her closer, and she stopped moving entirely, going limp. Playing dead. He thought this was a game, like all the others did.

Then she allowed her lips turn up in a grim smile. It certainly was a game. The boy just didn’t realize that her rules were different, and he was about to lose.

Her tongue reached into the cavity of her cheek and retrieved the plump goshen berry hidden there. As his lips neared, Coren broke the berry against her teeth, bracing for the instant burn. Then, tongue searing, she shoved the pulp past his opened lips, preventing the claim.

He burst away, the shock of the acidic berry sending him stumbling backward, swiping drool from his slack jaw.

And she ran, darting around him and ignoring the pain and the blisters that were already bubbling and popping on her tongue and lips. Reaching the cliff, she hazarded a glance over her shoulder. He was tougher than expected, for he was crossing the plain too, moving quickly through the sandy grass.

“Stop!” he yelled hoarsely. Strangely, he was grinning widely, lips blackened with goshen juice and bright blood. Coren had no more ground left, but out of curiosity, she paused to watch as he approached. He walked softly now, as though she were a beast he was cornering. Perhaps he was a real hunter, after all.

Even so, the berries had stopped him, making the kiss forfeit. She could claim he hadn’t actually caught her.

“So…goshen berries?” he asked, wiping away more blood with the hem of his white shirt. “I must be the first hunter ever to receive that treatment.”

Coren’s brain nagged at her to escape, but something in his grin made her ask. “Why the first?”

“Because surely no one has ever caught you before. And I can’t imagine another girl willing to martyr her own lips just to avoid a small kiss.”

He was very close now: not quite near enough to grab her, but mere steps from it. She stepped back carefully, heels nearly hanging off the edge of the cliff.

“Nothing is small when it is against your will.” She watched his eyes widen as he processed the words, and then she bent her knees and pushed away from the earth, arcing back and out into the void, then straight as an arrow toward the water below. His shout was erased by the wind rushing past her ears, and then the water closed over her head with a crash.

Under the surface of the sun-warmed water, Coren somersaulted quickly and reversed directions. She surfaced only to locate the face of the cliff and gulp a breath, and she didn’t dare look up to see if he had spotted her. Ducking back under the waves, she stroked hard against the current, finally feeling rock. Her lungs throbbed as her head bobbed up again, but she was safely inside the hidden sanctuary.

About the Author

Hilary used to be such a practical girl. Then she let the stories out.

Now she creates worlds, people, and problems that are grounded in real life, if you accept that real life has magic around every turn.

Hilary was born to parents who made a habit of taking roads less traveled. But she was also a first child, and an independent, willful child, so she's made a habit of taking a few roads on her own.

Now she teaches Creative Writing, English, and AP Literature, writes whenever and wherever she can, and reads as much as her eyes can handle. She plays superheroes and dress up games and reads books in bed with her own independent, willful children, and plays at homesteading and world traveling with her wonderful soulmate of a husband. She tends to ignore laundry and dirty dishes.

www.hilarythompsonauthor.com | facebook.com/hilarythompsonauthor

May 22nd ~
CBY Book Club
Mythical Books
Reading for the Stars and Moon
Book Lovers Life
The Mistress Novelette

May 23rd ~
YA Book Divas
My Book Addiction

May 24th ~
Jump Into Books
Sassy Book Lovers

May 25th ~
My Nook, Books & More
bookblogarama 
Rabbit Ears Book Blog

May 26th ~
Into the Abyss *Review
books are love

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Shift of Shadow and Soul by Hilary Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review of Shift of Shadow and Soul (SoulShifter #1)
by Hilary Thompson

A truly engaging YA epic fantasy with a heroine readers can be proud of, this novel introduces a world which has been divided and subdivided, most of which is ruled over by the megalomaniacal and always land-greedy Restless King, who governs according to his own lights and without mercy or justice involved. Corentine is a young girl living on the Weshen Isle, the “rejected” population, but she never lets her caste status overrule her own immensely strong will. Her desire above all is always freedom, and she refuses to submit to what others will for her or for her people.

SHIFT OF SHADOW AND SOUL is exciting and engrossing, and Hilary Thompson creates a world that is different, yet realistically possible, a world that inspires even non-fantasy lovers to enjoy this novel and the series to come.

PEOPLE OF THE SUN by Jason Parent_Review

ed with hope and driven by fear, four would-be heroes are driven from their home planet in a desperate bid to save their civilization from extinction. But survival takes on a whole new meaning when a malfunction sends their ship plummeting toward Earth.

Surviving the crash is only the first obstacle on their path to salvation. The marooned aliens soon discover that Earth’s beautiful exterior masks an ugly foundation, a place inhabited by a warrior race that’s on a path toward self-destruction.

Brimming with action and intrigue, People of the Sun is sure to entice fans of dark fantasy and sci-fi thrillers such as Watchmen and I Am Number Four.

Jason Parent, Biography

In his head, Jason Parent lives in many places, but in the real world, he calls New England his home. Formerly from the Southeastern Massachusetts region, he recently moved to Rhode Island to be near his work.

In a prior life, Jason spent most of his time in front of a judge . . . as a civil litigator. When he finally tired of Latin phrases no one knew how to pronounce and explaining to people that real lawsuits are not started, tried and finalized within the 60-minute timeframe they see on TV (it's harassing the witness; no one throws vicious woodland creatures at them), he traded in his cheap suits for flip flops and designer stubble. The flops got repossessed the next day, and he's back in the legal field . . . sorta. But that's another story.

Praise for People of the Sun

"Jason Parent has penned a thought-provoking, gripping scifi thriller. This isn't your grandma's alien invasion. My own world stopped the moment I stepped into People of the Sun. Lovers of science fiction, horror and even super heroes will revel in this roller-coaster of a tale. A true must-read!" -Hunter Shea, author of We Are Always Watching and The Jersey Devil

“With his own indelible blend of tension and dark humor, Jason Parent’s latest page-turner reminds me of what you’d get if you crossed Isaac Asimov with Kurt Vonnegut. In addition to being fast-paced and wildly entertaining, Parent’s novel also offers the occasional flash of insight into the human (and not-so-human) condition, and displays Parent’s talent for turning a given genre on its head.” -Michael Meyerhofer, author of The Dragonkin Trilogy

Purchase Amazon
Available on other online retailers as well such as Barnes and Noble, Kobo, etc.

Want to Feature?
If you’re a book blogger or media site and would like to feature Jason Parent or review People of the Sun, contact Erin Al-Mehairi, publicist, at hookofabook@hotmail.com.

Review of PEOPLE OF THE SUN by Jason Parent Jason Parent has a vast imagination, demonstrated in everything he writes. In PEOPLE OF THE SUN he has given us a contemporary science fiction thriller demonstrating the fallibility of humans (as well as of “aliens.”) I couldn't help but be reminded of my beloved science fiction films of the 1950's, in which human narrowmindedness and inability to accept anything beyond received facts are thoroughly demonstrated. PEOPLE OF THE SUN focuses on a virtually new concept in science fiction, as the reader will discover in perusing this thriller. “Alien” meets “human” and discovers shared background, while most of humanity (in authority) either wants to destroy, or at least sweep the “problem” away and out of sight. Readers will come away from PEOPLE OF THE SUN with an intensified appreciation for “the other,” for scientific open-mindedness, and for the wonders of the universe. This novel is guaranteed to provoke thoughtfulness and contemplation.

WORLDS BETWEEN MY TEETH by Tim Meyer_Review

Worlds Between My Teeth by Tim Meyer

Publicist/Marketing: Erin Al-Mehairi

Contact: hookofabook@hotmail.com

Follow along the tour with these hashtags:

#WorldsBetweenMyTeeth

#WBMT

#shorthorrorstories

Worlds Between My Teeth, Synopsis – Print Length: 218 pages

Publication Date: June 10, 2016

A dream you can't wake up from. A cruel game you never wished you played. An enormous shadow living beneath your lake. An invasion of your world.

Worlds Between My Teeth collects TWELVE short stories designed to keep you up past midnight. Strap in. Tim Meyer, author of IN THE HOUSE OF MIRRORS and SUNFALL: SEASON ONE, grants you access to the portals in his mind. Welcome to his WORLDS...

TRACK LISTING:  1. The Dream Eaters 2. The Lemures  3. The Cherry Collectors  4. Worlds Between My Teeth 5. Gingerbread Death Machine 6. Under New Skies 7. The Ice King 8. Box Game 9. Armala's Hunt 10. The Old Church 11. The Pumpkin Tree Giveth, The Pumpkin Tree Taketh Away 12. The Man Who Never Frowned 

BONUS NOVELLA: "The Organ Harvest: An October John Novella"

Tim Meyer, Biography

Tim Meyer dwells in a dark cave near the Jersey Shore. He’s an author, husband, father, podcast host, blogger, coffee connoisseur, beer enthusiast, and explorer of worlds. He writes horror, mysteries, science fiction, and thrillers, although he prefers to blur genres and let the stories fall where they may.

You can follow Tim at https://timmeyerwrites.com where he has great content and features author interviews and you can sign-up for his newsletter! Like his Facebook page here:

www.facebook.com/authortimmeyer and you can also find him on Twitter as @timmeyer11.

Praise for Worlds Between My Teeth “Tim Meyer proves once again that he's an up and coming author to watch. His latest, a collection of horror shorts and two novellas, will tickle every horror hound's terror bone. There's a little bit of everything in here, from 80s inspired horror, to a dab of Twilight Zone and a dash of Tales from the Darkside. I especially enjoyed The Lemures, melding a Mafia tale with the supernatural, showing that revenge ain't always that sweet. It reminded me a lot of the old EC horror comics I loved...and still love. The novella, The Thin Veil, is a gripping coming of age tale told against the backdrop of an inter-dimensional takeover. And now I hate butterflies. I devoured all of the stories in Worlds Between My Teeth like a zombie on a freshly torn limb. Pick this bad boy up, then treat yourself to his novel, House of Mirrors. You'll be hooked on Meyer.”
–Hunter Shea, Author of We Are Always Watching and Savage Jungle

“The twelve tales collected here range in length and tackle a wide variety of subject matter, such as an insidious, otherwordly force infecting the residents of a common American town; a brother and sister on the run from a mobster harboring a terrifying supernatural secret; a security guard who stumbles upon an inter-dimensional crossroads; a childhood game with a decidedly diabolical adult twist and a student who learns the hard way hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. As is always the case, Meyer's prose is for the most part crisp and on point and he moves the stories at a solid clip. The level of creativity and ingenuity on display here is astonishing.” –D.S. Ullery, Author

“Here there are the horror and speculative thriller mainstays, comeuppance, monsters, dimensions, even dragons. Very Twilight Zone. Very Outer Limits.” –Unnerving Magazine

Purchase Amazon

Want to Feature? If you’re a book blogger or media site and would like to feature Tim Meyer or review Worlds Between My Teeth, contact Erin Al-Mehairi, publicist, at hookofabook@hotmail.com.

Review of WORLDS BETWEEN MY TEETH

by Tim Meyer

An amazing and outstanding story collection from an eclectic author who deserves a wide readership, WORLDS BETWEEN MY TEETH will expand a reader's imagination and perceptions. I don't think my mind will ever return to its previous dimensions. (smile) I was first introduced to Tim Meyer's writing with the incredible novel SHARKWATER BEACH, a horror/sci-fi thriller about the perils of both genetic engineering under the direction of a megalomaniac, and alien incursion. That was a non-stop, terrifying, and ultimately satisfying read.

WORLDS BETWEEN MY TEETH is the kind of reach-for-the-stars reading experience, in each story. For example (and only one of many wonderful ones!), the eponymous story involves an empty mansion on a normal suburban street, a house which encloses multiple portals to other worlds.

I classify WORLDS BETWEEN MY TEETH as speculative fiction: some horror, some fantastic, some science fictional. No matter how one categorizes it, this is an experience to be savoured.

THE GHOST LINE Review

The Ghost Line by Andrew Neil Gray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review of THE GHOST LINE
by Andrew Neil Gray and J. S. Herbison

What an exciting novella! I hope this universe will be expanded on, as I totally enjoyed the characters and the convoluted plotting, not to mention the advanced reason behind the events on the abandoned vessel, THE MARTIAN QUEEN. In many ways I found this story particularly special and engaging.

A married couple who explore abandoned asteroid habitats and space vessels are hired by a woman who claims to be acting on behalf of a corporation, to hack The Martian Queen, a ship which three decades ago flew between Mars and Earth, providing an upscale experience The Titanic and The Lusitania might envy. When the company went bankrupt, new ownership shut down the ship and left it in orbit. Now the ship is to be hacked and sent out of orbit—supposedly. In actuality, what Wei intends is far from anything Saga and Michel or their pilot Gregor could possibly expect; and even stranger is the ship's intention.

THE GHOST LINE is a riveting science fiction experience, but I think it will be enjoyed just as much by readers of other genres. It's just that excellent.

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WITCH LIGHTS by Michael M. Hughes_Review

Witch Lights: Book Two of the Blackwater Lights Trilogy by Michael M. Hughes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review of WITCH LIGHTS
by Michael M. Hughes
(BLACKWATER LIGHTS #2)


After the shocking events of BLACKWATER LIGHTS, Ray, Ellen, William, and Mantu travel undercover to Latin America, where the first three live itinerantly, continuing to try to hide out from Ray's wanted status in the U.S. Refusing to move into The Brotherhood's jungle compound, Ellen and William are abducted from a carnival by soldiers of a wealthy and megalomaniacal drug capo. Meanwhile Lily continues to hunt all three, knowing William has developed otherworldly abilities and powers.

Like BLACKWATER LIGHTS, WITCH LIGHTS is non-stop action, without a moment to breathe, as Ray, Ellen, and William struggle to escape and even to survive, and terrorism strikes North America.


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BLACKWATER LIGHTS by Michael Hughes_Review

rBlackwater Lights by Michael M. Hughes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review from 2013
A very, very terrifying book, suffused with that feeling one gets of danger too near-at-hand, of approaching perils too insurmountable. You won't forget it--so don't.miss it!

May 15 2017:
Review of BLACKWATER LIGHTS
by Michael Hughes
{Blackwater Lights #1}

A horror-thriller that is especially electrifying because of the implacability of its horror, both human, and inhuman, BLACKWATER LIGHTS is the first of a trilogy. Set in a seemingly unassuming tiny, almost backward (or frozen in time) isolated community in the mountains of West Virginia, the novel focuses on a forty-something school teacher, Ray Simon of Baltimore. The experiences he and his childhood friend Kevin endured at a “camp for gifted children” outside Blackwater, West Virginia, in the seventies, were so horrendous and outre that both had blocked all memory. At the end of the school term, Kevin, now a wealthy porn magnate, begs Ray to visit and to help Kevin, who claims nightly disturbing nightmares. Ray travels there against his better judgment, and events prove he should have heeded his intution.
What the boys experienced at that “camp” is almost beyond belief, abusive, traumatizing, and nearly world-ending. Now an incredibly wealthy “philanthropist” wants to summon those memories, and to summon something from beyond.



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