Review_SPORES by Ike Hamill

Spores by Ike Hamill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: SPORES by Ike Hamill

I can't resist "fungi fiction" (it "stems" from my love of Lovecraft), so discovering Ike Hamill' s newest novel SPORES was a delightful experience. Indeed, the story proved quite involving, as it also interwove two more of my favorite topics, Maine and Winter (snow, ice, frozen lake, November, cabins). Mr. Hamill does a superb job of delineating a Narcissistic, superiority-complex driven, academic scientist (almost too superb), which truly increased my delight, and the mycologist' s foil character, Marie, who needs to be read to be believed--all the characters play off her refrain, which you will discover throughout the novel. Finally, there's a lot of science turned science fiction in this story--or vice versa--and if you remember/love/admire The Borg, you will understand exactly; plus "a heapin' helpin'" of human greed and cupidity--naturally {frown}. A lot to ponder, the novel will tickle your ingrained "What If--?"

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Review_THE MOURNER'S CRADLE by Tommy B. Smith

<center>Review: THE MOURNER'S CRADLE by Tommy B. Smith</center><p><p>

A strong heroine is always to be desired, and in THE MOURNER'S CRADLE author Tommy B. Smith offers us one of the strongest. Newly widowed Anne Sharpe, wife of an unfortunately discredited historical/archaeological researcher, is nearly indefatigable. Not a superman (in the Nietzschean meaning), but an individual who withstands far more than most in contemporary pampered culture could tolerate. I think she's become one of my idols. Like the Timex watch of the 1950's, she "takes a licking and keeps on ticking." And as long as she keeps her purpose in mind, she's unstoppable.<p><p>

From the US to the Peruvian Andes, on the trail of what might be one of the most startling and powerful archaeological discoveries of our time, Anne Sharpe, heroine extraordinaire, keeps her purpose in her mind and perseveres, despite the odds arrayed against her. Anne Sharpe rocks.<p<<p>

Review: BEFORE SHE SLEEPS by Bina Shah

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36544896-before-she-sleeps" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Before She Sleeps" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516413009m/36544896.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36544896-before-she-sleeps">Before She Sleeps</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/477277.Bina_Shah">Bina Shah</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2484724936">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Review: BEFORE SHE SLEEPS by Bina Shah<br /><br /><br /><br />BEFORE SHE SLEEPS is a work of feminist Dystopian futuristic science fiction. If this is the Future, I'm not going there. There is so much hubris in this story. The "Green City," constructed in a Desert (like the Hubris of Las Vegas and Dubai), the hubris of the patriarchs, thinking they can control women's bodies and lives (and do so all too efficiently), effectively utilizing women as breeders to propagate the populace {a common practice in Dystopian literature: see for example the science fiction of Pamela Sargent.<br />But always, always, there are rebels-dissidents--females who refuse to comply.
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Review_BLACK STAR RENEGADES by Michael Moreci

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35555969-black-star-renegades" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Black Star Renegades" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498811941m/35555969.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35555969-black-star-renegades">Black Star Renegades</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4611286.Michael_Moreci">Michael Moreci</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2384488220">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Review: BLACK STAR RENEGADES by Michael Moreci<br /><br />I love Feckless Heroes. I always have. (Perhaps I sense something of myself in them, though I'm probably yet to be a Hero.) Let me specify, Feckless Heroes are not Hapless Protagonists. Hapless folks are more like the Keystone Kops or Abbott and Costello, clumsily stumbling through life, luckless, sometimes Ill-fated, "born under a bad star." Fecklessness, on the other hand, indicates an attitude of irresponsibility, failure to adhere to society's rules and mores, an individual much like The Fool card in Tarot. Sometimes the feckless seem anachronistic or anomalous, born at the wrong time (or outliers). They're not ever in "the norm," but by golly, they are unforgettable. <br /><br />Quite often, the Feckless are successful (though again, not by Society's terms). Take our Feckless Hero, young Cade Sura. He's sure not anybody's idea of sturdy responsibility. But, he's going to save the Universe. Sheer fecklessness rocks.<br /><br />BLACK STAR RENEGADES is a roller-coaster-paced science fiction thrill ride, a novel I didn't want to see end and wanted to start reading again immediately. Cade's story is so much fun--even though I read heart-in-throat throughout. Never a dull moment!
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Review_REVOLT OF BLOOD AND STONE

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39304320-revolt-of-blood-and-stone" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Revolt of Blood and Stone" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1521284236m/39304320.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39304320-revolt-of-blood-and-stone">Revolt of Blood and Stone</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14586355.A_J_Norfield">A.J. Norfield</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2419510414">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Review: REVOLT OF BLOOD AND STONE by A. J. Norfield<br /><br />This Grimdark fantasy novella put me in mind of the science fiction thriller (and subsequent series) RED RISING by Pierce Brown (which itself reminded me of both Antebellum Era America, and South African diamond mines). Life under the Stone King's reign would be sufficiently harsh if it were only confinement to mines slavery, with the occasional whipping, short rations, and oh yeah, dangerous cave-ins. But this kingdom contains rulers who are monsters in human form...and when oppressed by monsters, the choice is slim, between escape--or death.
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Review_SPACE COWBOYS; THE STAR GATE by Dean C. Moore

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40228840-space-cowboys" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Space Cowboys: The Star Gate (Omega Force and Alpha Unit 2)" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1527531964m/40228840.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40228840-space-cowboys">Space Cowboys: The Star Gate</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7951313.Dean_C_Moore">Dean C. Moore</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2421740385">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Review: SPACE COWBOYS: THE STAR GATE by Dean C. Moore<br />(Omega Force and Alpha Unit 2)<br /><br />What can you expect from a Dean C. Moore novel? Guaranteed will be wild adventure, over-the-top action, characters whose personalities are larger-than-life (think superheroes if they were four-dimensional), not-too-futuristic advanced high technology, dialogue and narrative that, like the characters, are LARGER than life, almost over-the-top also! In SPACE COWBOYS: THE STAR GATE, you find even more: humour (often laugh-out-loud), secondary characters who are so out of the loop they function magnificently as foils for Our Heroes, spaceships, and ALIENS!! ALIEN ARTIFACTS!! GLOBAL DANGER!! I ask you: What's not to love? I can readily visualize this long novel as a long movie--but I can't think of anyone suitable to play these folks. So I guess I'll just imagine my movie version, in my head. Meanwhile, go carve out a block of time, turn off the phone and TV, disconnect the doorbell, and settle in for the wildest ride of your life. (Hope the premise never comes true!)<br />
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Review: DISCARDED by Michael J. Allen

Discarded by Michael J. Allen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: DISCARDED by Michael J. Allen
(DUMPSTERMANCER BOOK 1)

A charmingly witty and delightfully engaging alternative-near future urban fantasy, this first in a
new series by a prolific author of both science fiction and fantasy is set in the Pacific Northwest, in a time of commonplace magic. Not common due to talent, but common because corporations subsume technology welded to magic, at a cost designed to make it accessible, while wielding ridiculously inflated profits. From the corporate standpoint, sales is the goal, not service, and consequences are no concern. The few with hearts who acknowledge the dangers either are wrongly accused, with long imprisonment, like mage Eli; or cower down to maintain employment, like Darrin. But stubborn Eli, determined to make his own non-magical way upon his eventual release, might just become a force to contend with after all. Thoth Corporation, beware!

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