Review : PARALLEL LIES by John Calia

PARALLEL LIES is both exciting and enlightening: exciting because the plot is non-stop adventurous and suspenseful, constantly pitting various of the characters in situations ranging from weird to outright dangerous, and enlightening as it interweaves Quantum Physics, Multiverses, Near-Future Science Fiction in a Dystopian setting. So while you're intent on the story, your brain is also subtly expanding, and your imagination is pondering "What If?"

PARALLEL LIES [Release November 7, 2023] is a sequel to THE AWAKENING OF ARTEMIS [Release September 2021].

SCI FI MONTH! November 2023

SCI FI MONTH

Artwork copyright:
Yosua Bungaran Cahya Putra

Is it November yet?!!
In some Probability,
it surely must be.

So, collapse that Wave Function,
and

Bring November On!!!

Review: THE NIGHT HOUSE by Jo Nesbo

Release October 3. THE NIGHT HOUSE is an amazingly complex fantasy/Horror/Psychological Thriller. I read it in one sitting and still am not sure which aspect to think is "fact" (in the context of the story). Jo Nesbo is quite a prolific author and I've enjoyed several of his novels, yet I've never read one like this.

Part One is contemporary Fantasy/Fairy Tale/Horror, and terrifying it is! Part Two spins Part One on its head, riffs on the nature of Perception and Consciousness, then ramps up the Horror meter and delivers par excellence. Then Part Three strolls in to convince readers (and Unreliable Narrator) "all this was just a Dream!" [Was it?]

No matter what, THE NIGHT HOUSE is a novel I'm going to spend a lot of my nighttime wakeful hours pondering. Thanks for that, Mr. Nesbo!

Review: OUT THERE SCREAMING ed. By Jordan Peele

I can't praise highly enough this remarkable, exceptional, Anthology of Black Horror! Spine-chilling, terrifying, enlightening: the authors of these special stories may well all be geniuses of the Outre!! My special favorites (I possess the frozen spine and rapid-beating heart to prove so) are the two tales from Nnedi Okarafor (terrifying!), one from Tananarive Due (scared me senseless), one by Rebecca Roanhorse (which elicited my "OH, Yeah!" reaction), and a compelling and thought-provoking tale from Cadwell Turnbull. But all are exceptional, without question, a perfect complement to Spooky October reading.

Included is a frightening "wake-up" introduction from curator of this Anthology, Jordan Peele.

BLOOD OF THE MANTIS

Few authors can manage Anthropomorphizing and make it believable, efficient, and amenable as does Adrian Tchaikovsky. (If you differ, please go read his CHILDREN OF TIME Trilogy!) He demonstrates this as well in the SHADOWS OF THE APT Fantasy Series, of which BLOOD OF THE MANTIS is the magical third in the Series. I read it without having read the Series ' first two novels, and though there is a catch-up explanation in the beginning, for continuity's sake, I intend to read the Series in order. Expect exciting, adventurous, and twisted.

Review: REDEMPTION'S BLADE (AFTER THE WAR BOOK 1)

I confess to not being a lifelong aficionado of Fantasy, as I am of Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Horror, and Mystery. However, reading Adrian Tchaikovsky's Fantasy is changing that, and thankfully he is as prolific in Fantasy as in Science Fiction.

REDEMPTION'S BLADE is Book 1 in the AFTER THE WAR Series. "After the War" refers to the era of change and clean-up after the slaying by Heroes of one of the most evil villains ever, "Kinslayer," who even murdered demigods. One of the Heroes who triumphed over him is Celestaine, literally a fierce and noble warrior, a woman of righteousness, who embraces as friends former sworn enemies and who pledges all that is in her power to right Kinslayer's wrongs.

TBR PILE CHALLENGE #9

Review: TRIDENT'S FORGE

TRIDENT'S FORGE is Book 2 of the engrossing Far Future Science Fiction Trilogy CHILDREN OF A DEAD EARTH. In Book 1, THE ARK, the Generation Ship flying to Tau Ceti star system over the duration of 2.5 centuries, prepares for imminent orbit over their chosen planet, and landing to found a new Colony. (I guess Colonization is intrinsic in human evolution, and apparently Manifest Destiny too.) In TRIDENT'S FORGE, the Tau Ceti Colony has been in existence now for 3 years; the Unbound, the group of independents on the Ark who concealed themselves on the lower levels, eschewing the prenatal brain implants the Ark's test-tube generations all received, have formed their own Village, then 6 months earlier migrated to a Village of a native tribe (yes, Virginia, a sentient species on a planet in Tau Ceti's system, called by the human colonists "Atlantians").

Our Feckless Hero, Bryan Benson, formerly Chief Constable on The Ark, is now Director of Recreation; his wife Theresa is now Chief Constable. A diplomatic mission from the humans' Colony to an Atlantian village (where the Unbound have emigrated) and a meeting with emissaries from other villages suddenly erupts in violence from without, fatalities, and the beginning of unraveling a conspiracy which reaches back in Ark's history and intends to permanently affect this entire planet.

This Trilogy is exciting, adventurous, and highly suspenseful, filled with creatively designed world-building, intriguing aliens, fauna, and flora; and plenty of satisfyingly constructed conspiracies to keep enthralled readers alert and guessing.

Review: THE ARK (CHILDREN OF A DEAD EARTH BOOK 1)

Exploration of Space and Colonization are two of my most cherished aspects of Science Fiction. So a novel that mostly is set on a Generation Ship two and a half centuries old, headed for a star system twelve light years distant, where there awaits a tremendous surprise....how could I not adore it? Plus: there's a significant cult whose leader is way charismatic but justifiably more insane than either Jim Jones or David Koresh or the Heaven's Gate cult? The suspense is tremendous, a fair-sized cast of characters is handled quite skillfully, and in first place stands a genuine Feckless Hero [who could model for The Fool card in Tarot], but he's really admirable because he just-won't-stop. (He is, also, the habitat Chief Constable.) A really Champion novel!

Review: FEVER HOUSE by Keith Rosson.

Release August 15, 2023

At times I am stunned by a novel; at other times I'm metaphorically head-scratching and mouthing, "Whattttt?" I've read a huge number of Weird books over many decades--but this one? I don't know what to say! These two days as I read, I've commented a couple times on social media as to how off-the-wall is Fever House. Reading this novel induced fever in me [as in its characters], thankfully not the same nor to the massive Apocalyptic extent that occurs in the Novel. I feel like I need to go read some simple, mundane, implacable Creature Feature in order to cleanse my stunned and speechless palate.

So here's what I think:

I am constantly shaking my head, because this book is SO bizarre, it's flat-out Weird, it's hard-core Splattery, and it's just so OUT THERE, because the geographical settings are realistic, the cultural background is in tune, Societal stuff resonates, yet beyond,below, and above all that is all-fired Occult Weird! Not that I necessarily think anything Occult is weird, I've been reading such all my life, but this? I think even Aleister Crowley might pale.

I certainly have. Beware before you even open this book: you, and these characters, will NOT emerge the same as you went in. Not at all, and not where.

Review: INTERSTELLAR by Avi Loeb

INTERSTELLAR is a tremendously inspirational, exciting, adventurous, forward-thinking work of Science nonfiction . Dr. Avi Loeb is a genius scientist, in my opinion, and even more importantly, his mind is open. Much of his convictions closely resonate with and encourage my own. (My only point of exception is his thought that Science Fiction as a genre has tended to be utilized as a backdrop to play familiar tropes. I think not, as there are a number of writers, past and present, who diligently explore "the big questions," which creates the most exciting kind of SF, I think.) In all other respects I have intense respect for INTERSTELLAR and I am eager to read his earlier work, EXTRATERRESTRIAL [speaking of mainstream publications rather than Scientific and Academic publications].

Review: RUSTED SYNAPSE by Elwood Stevens

Wow! Packed to the brim with exciting mecha-laden adventure, Near-Future Science Fiction, globetrotting (Future Phoenix, to a tech enclave community in Mexico, to Shanghai, to rural abandoned Japan, and back to Phoenix), this Cyberpunk Thriller is heart-in-throat engrossing! We have "full on borgs," AI, "Sentient Daemons," (basically, the Super-Advanced Supreme AI "everybody" seems to fear, sort of like HAL), partially cybernetic individuals, groups of humans who full-on embrace Cybernetics and prostheses [remember the latter 20th century craze for teeth filed into vampire fangs and drinking blood?]. I learned a lot about Quantum Computers, AI, combat synchronization, and geography and culture. But also I think I have seldom been as heart-touched as I was by Vivi, and her lifelong struggle to be deemed worthy by those who mattered most to her: my heart ❤ broke. What a sad existence in her perception, and yet she is so accomplished. It's amazing how deeply author Elwood Stevens delved into Vivi's character to reach "the heart of the matter," and also engrossing are the arcs and evolution of the other characters (and certain tricky, sneaky, characters I won't spoil by naming, who have a heap of nasty tricks up their sleeve). I could reread again and again. (And since AI and Quantum subjects are a fascination, I probably will.)

Review: EVOLUTION by Stephen Baxter

674 pages. 5 days to read. An incredibly detailed examination of genetics, mutation and adaptation, biology, geology, geography, from back before the Dinosaur Era up into the Near Future [2130 and beyond]. Author Stephen Baxter demonstrates by fictionalizing individually and in groups (tribes and species) various different eras as the planet and life on the planet evolved. I found the utterly detailed description of the destruction wrought by the Comet ending the Dinosaur 🦕 Era horrifying and painful to read; but "watching" the Evolution of Consciousness in humans was intriguing and educational. My other takeaway was how much the human species over all these millenia has to answer for: not just the fossil fuel consumption and thinning of the ozone layer in the 20th and 21st century: also throughout time, wanton wholesale destruction of species, burning entire forests as a routine method of hunting! True that climate change and geological change occurred apart from Humanity, but the human species has repeatedly failed to live in harmony with its only available Planet.

Review: DEVOLUTION by Max Brooks (2020)

I really was ecstatic at the premise of DEVOLUTION [Mount Rainier! Eruption! Covert Cryptids!] (I'm one who spends time pondering a potential Yellowstone eruption, so the quantity of active volcano potential [18] in the Cascades is really exciting--and terrifying! 😳) Anyway, the novel got off to a good start and kept my attention for the most part, although eventually it did seem somewhat overwhelming (this from a person who gleefully devours "Hard Science" Science Fiction). I can actually feature a sequel at some point: there's definitely some threads that could be picked up on, cultural, psychological, and In terms of evolution, both that of the cryptids and that of the human survivors. Also, I wish that the devolution and psychological and moral collapse of certain of the human party could have been expanded on. That would have really impressed me. I think there was a strong thread of that about which we just didn't learn enough. 🤔 In addition, the explication of the Cryptids as descendants of a prehistoric branch of evolution is fascinating. (Inquiring minds want more!)

Review: RED MOON by Kim Stanley Robinson. TBR Pile Challenge #9

Kim Stanley Robinson's RED MOON 🌙 [2018] is a complicated, complex, fascinating novel, very politically and scientifically aware. It also reprises some characters from his incredible 1997 novel, ANTARCTICA, including Chinese Feng Shui philosopher and poet (and "Cloudstar" for his Internet travelogue musings) Ta Shu, who is a perfect character: both Wise (intensely), calm, able to see more than one side of a situation, Poetic and accomplished in the study and practice of Feng Shui, a "geomancer." Yet he is also vulnerable and accountable: his age, his attachment to his mother, his physical ailments due to age and extensive travel, his compassion for the book's Feckless Heroes: American Neurodivergent Quantum Mechanic specialist Fred Fredericks and Moon-pregnant [Forbidden] "princessling" Chinese resistance leader Chang Qi. Although laden with political musings and cultural and historical references [China] and Geopolitics [particularly in China and the U.S.], RED MOON is also non-stop adventure...and the cliffhanger! ending left me longing for a sequel! (It's almost 5 years since Release of RED MOON!)

Review: ICEHENGE by Kim Stanley Robinson

An exciting novel, the first Martian novel by Kim Stanley Robinson, which commences and concludes with Space Exploration (Asteroid Belts to Pluto, not quite "A to Z"). Told in three segments, a few centuries separate, ICEHENGE has a strongly political/social foundation, reflecting not only the political/cultural climate on Colonized Mars (the story's baseline) but also that of the U. S. and Soviet Union in the 20th century. ICEHENGE showcases how readily human foibles and frailties persist, even in adventurous new frontiers. It also reflects on the importance of Truth, in the Sciences and in life, despite the human tendency to twist Truth according to greed, political or religious ideology. In some ways it is reminiscent of George Orwell's 1984, as the Powers That Be metaphorically turn themselves upside down to present their version of Truth and to conceal or to destroy all opposing versions.

Review: SUNSTORM by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter

CHALLENGE #7 I am reading the A TIME ODYSSEY Series by Sir Arthur C. Clarke in consecutive order, as the Cosmic foundational revelations unfold throughout the Series. Book One, TIME'S EYE, relates the folding of divergent strips of Time (from differing eras) and the presence of these self-supporting globes the humans term "Eyes." So we have 2037, 1885, astronauts from the International Space Station, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, sharing suddenly the same fold of Time and interacting; not so much on actual Earth, as on a proto-Earth onto to which Time has been folded, changing geography and geology. This world the humans (of 2037 and 1885) term Mir.

Book Two, SUNSTORM, continues to unfold the plans of the Firstborn, a species of Minds from a far distant Galaxy and from Untold Eons ago. Their plan is to stop humanity's energy consumption and was set into place before Homo Sapiens scarcely existed.

The consequence is a Sunstorm of inexplicable and unprecedented proportions, which likely will destroy ALL life on Earth (except heat-seeking extremophiles in the Earth's core) as well as farther distant planets in our Solar System.

Review: JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR [THE AFTERBLIGHT CHRONICLES] 2014

Reading this collection in mid-2023 is a total freakout; published in 2014, the book yet feels like the product, not of a throwback to England's mid-17th century Great Plague, but to Coronavirus, which commenced toward the end of 2019 and shook up civilization globally (and which is still affecting life and economy).

JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR collects three stories set during "the Cull," the tremendous pandemic that nearly wipes out humanity and definitely ends "the world as we know it."

"Orbital Decay": Isolation is a recognized psychological factor for the crew of the International Space Station. Worse occurs when all contact with Ground Control is lost, no one can check up on loved ones nor know when a resupply is scheduled. Even worse than that is paranoia and conspiracy and suspicion run rampant: who can be trusted? Then the deaths mount up...

"Dead Kelly": imagine a Mad Max scenario cranked to the max: when civilization collapses, only the soulless will rule.

"Bloody Deluge": And when civilization is gone and survival is all, yet there will be some determined to victimize according to their own skewed views. Why attempt to rebuild civilization when anarchy and murder are so much more exciting?

JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR is an entry in THE AFTERBLIGHT CHRONICLES Series.

HIGH SUMMER READATHON 2023

Sign Up Here!

HIGH SUMMER Goals:

1. NEURODIVERGENCE in Science Fiction
2. 400 page+ SF
3. Second Chance: Time Travel

Titles Read:

1. JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR (2014) [THE AFTERBLIGHT CHRONICLES]. SF. APOCALYPTIC. PANDEMIC. 400 PP.
2. STELLAR CLOUD. Speculative Short Story Collection.
3. BLACK VAULT, Alma Katsu. UAPs, SF.
4. ROCKET AND ROVER. HOOPLA VIRTUAL. Children's: Rockets 🚀 and Space
5. . ANDRONE. KINDLE First Read August. SF. Future
6. AFTER THE BATTLE ON STARSHIP HILL. Mount TBR SF
7. TIME'S EYE. MOUNT TBR. SF. 2037.
8. SUNSTORM. SF. 2037ff.TBR PILE Challenge #7.
9. SUNSTORM. MOUNT TBR. SF. TBR PILE CHALLENGE #7 9. ICEHENGE. MOUNT TBR. SF. TBR PILE CHALLENGE #8
10. TAVERN OF TERROR VOL 8. SCARE STREET ARC
11. NONE OF THIS IS TRUE. LIBBY VIRTUAL.
12. RED MOON, KSR. TBR PILE CHALLENGE #9. SF.
13. DEVOLUTION. SF/Horror.
14. EVOLUTION.
15. WHAT HAPPENED AT HAWTHORNE HOUSE. Horror/Gothic.
16. GUESTS. WEIRD Horror.
17. RUSTED SYNAPSE.
18. THE BEAST YOU ARE (Short Stories). Horror, Speculative.
19. DEVOLUTION OF A SPECIES [2019]. Apocalyptic SF.
20. ARC LIGHT. WWIII, near Future SF.
21.2034: A NOVEL OF WORLD WAR III. Near Future SF.
22. NETHERSPACE1. Speculative Short Stories.
23. PAWS OF DEATH. COZY.
24. DEMONIC DEPARTURE. SS. UF.
25. THE SPECTRAL EXPRESS. SS. UF.
26. A HOPE CITY HALLOWEEN. SS. UF.
27. MEGALODON: BLOODBATH.
28. SHADOWS OF DECEIT. SCARE STREET ARC.
29. SUMMER BLOOMS. Author ARC.
30. SAVAGE SKIES. NG ARC Current/KU
31. DEEP SIX. HOOPLA. VIRTUAL. VIRTUAL SF.
32. TERRA UTOPIA. NG ARC CURRENT. SF/SPECULATIVE. NOT PROXIMA B.
33. ANCIENT SHORES . HOOPLA VIRTUAL SF
34. INTERSTELLAR. Science Non-fiction
35. HUMANITY'S LAST HOPE. YA SF.
36. BEFORE US. THE ABYSS BOOK 2. SF.
37. THE FRUGAL WIZARD'S HANDBOOK TO MEDIEVAL ENGLAND. LIBBY. SCRIBD. Virtual. SF
38. ARKANGELSK. NG MOUNT TBR and Scribd. SF.
39. X, Jack Croxall. Scribd Virtual SF
40. Z, Manuel Alves. Scribd Virtual SF
41. WHISPERS IN THE DARK. Supernatural Horror (Book 2 of 3)
42. FEVER HOUSE.
43. SURVIVOR ATOLL (STRANDED IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE BOOK 1)
44. SHADOWS IN THE DARK. SCARE STREET ARC. 45. FORSAKEN (STRANDED IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE) 46. ABANDONED (STRANDED IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE) 47. THE ARK (CHILDREN OF A DEAD EARTH 1). SF. MOUNT TBR . NG

Review: BELOW US (THE ABYSS BOOK ONE) by Nathan Hystad

Release July 11
I've read Nathan Hystad's novels for a few years now and have always enjoyed them; with BELOW US, Book One in THE ABYSS Trilogy, Mr. Hystad has batted straight out of the ball park! This novel has it all, for aficionados of Science Fiction, Apocalypse, and Lovecraftian Cosmic Terror. I was enraptured, and honestly, terrified: the danger here is nonstop. Even for readers who don't believe in deep-ocean or underground Horrors, there's earthquakes and sinkholes, there's human devolution as many individuals revert to something less than animals, in the face of hopeless desperation and literally unstoppable danger. Plus there's commutation of Nature and Nature's Laws, there's Genetic Mutation [of humans and animals], there's lemming-mob behavior, and excitingly for me, Mutated Fungi! I am anxious to read Books Two and Three! Yes, we have cliffhangers--multiple! Yes, we have multiple protagonists [remember, in an Apocalypse, too large a gathering attracts too much attention], and many of the protagonists are operating on their own skewed agendas....and the slap-in-the-face, what-just-happened twists! There's lots more, but I don't want to spoil: just read it!!

Review: THE DEVIL'S PROMISE by Celso Hurtado

Release: 26 September 2023

THE DEVIL'S PROMISE, a one-day read because I could not stop and sure didn't want to, left me speechless. Not at all surprising, considering my acclaim for Author Celso Hurtado's incredible debut novel, GHOST TRACKS [November 2021], which introduced a remarkable and wonderfully diverse Series Protagonist, seventeen-year-old Erasmo Cruz. This young man is without a doubt one of the most endearing fictional characters I've ever encountered [this in a character-pantheon that includes my all-time favorite Louis, Gay Black assassin and fashion plate of a certain extensive John Connolly Series!] Erasmo is so easy to identify with, so relatable, so eliciting of empathy. So I'm not him and I didn't live his exact life, but so what? We resonate. That's one of the perfect aspects of this Series.

Another is how giftedly Mr. Hurtado writes bullet-train paced Suspense! It's difficult to catch my breath reading his novels! Then the depths--the issues--the lives--the characters: to die for...

The Paranormal/Supernatural: no need for suspension of disbelief here, nor for any skepticism concerning the depths of the abyss of Human Evil. Mr. Hurtado lays it on the line. On.the.Line. Erasmo's Encounters are...simply incredible.

I found the Denouement a little (a lot) shocking....but realistic. And the ending: just glorious. I ended the book turned inside out--shocked--dismayed--frightened--yet ultimately happy. [How often does that happen?]

In my review of the author's debut novel, GHOST TRACKS, back in 2021, I presciently wrote:

"May debut author Celso Hurtado have a long and creatively productive career, because this author is an exceptional wordsmith!"

I'm extraordinarily thankful this hope is coming to pass!

SCI FI SUMMER READATHON JUNE 2023

Sci Fi Summer Readathon

June is SciFi Month AND Pride Month!

Currently Reading:

Wormhole.

My Science Fiction Titles Read:
1.THE SCIENCE FICTIONARY by Robert W. Bly [reference guide] Release 2 June
2. ROOK by Graham Masterton. SF/Occult Horror (#1 in Series)
3.THE MARIGOLD by Andrew F. Sullivan. Near Future Dystopian SF-CliFi Toronto. with Occult Horror.
4. AMAZING OCTOPUS. Explorations of Space and Ocean for children. German-English
5.SNEAK PEEK PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING. LGBTQ+/OWN VOICES
6. WHY I'M AFRAID OF THE DARK. Author Request. SF/Horror Mount TBR.
7. LOST IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE
8. SAINT JUNIPERS FOLLY. NG ARC CURRENT LGBT Supernatural/Witchcraft Release June 6
9. SEW INTO YOU. KU. VIRTUAL LGBT. Release June 5 Reread
10. QUEEROES KU VIRTUAL LGBT
11. FOUR FOUND DEAD HOOPLA VIRTUAL
12. THE EYES. GUTENBERG. JUNE 1910.
13. WHAT YOU HIDE. Hoopla Virtual and NG Mount TBR 2018
14. THE SLUMBER PARTY KU Virtual
15. VOLCANIC ADVENTURES. NG ARC Current . (+ Author Request)
16. HARVESTING EVIL. NG ARC Current.
17. SHE STARTED IT. NG ARC Current. Release June 13.
18. THE HANDYMAN METHOD. NG ARC Current
19. THE DONUT LEGION. Release March 2023.
20. THE HORROR AT PLEASANT BROOK. NG ARC.
21. GOOD TOUCH BAD TOUCH. Children
22. MY LITTLE SISTER. Children
23. GRANDMA AND HER MISSING GOAT. Children
24. TAKE ONE MORE STEP. Children
25. THE MONKEY WHO WANTED TO BE A DEER. Children
26. DADDY DONKEY. Children
27. HELL'S CITY (BOOK 2) 28. HELL'S VENGEANCE (BOOK 3) KU VIRTUAL
28.MORAL LESSONS Children.
30. THE MÖBIUS DOOR KU Virtual
31. IT HAUNTS THE MIND. CLP ARC
32. THE FIREBUG KU VIRTUAL
33. THE DROWNING WOMAN. NG ARC MOUNT TBR
34. YOU CAN TRUST ME. NG ARC. Current
35. HOUSE OF ROT. Own. New.
36. CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD. NG ARC. Mount TBR.
37. WORMHOLE. Hard SF.
38. THE ONLY ONE LEFT. Psychological Thriller/Suspense/Generational. Virtual
39. PENUMBRA. Hard SF. Virtual
40.THE DEVIL'S PROMISE. Supernatural Horror/YA/OwnVoices.
41. DRAGGING MASO COUNTY. YA. PRIDE.
42. ELI OVER EASY. MG/YA. PRIDE.
43. SCORPIO. SPACE SF.
44. "HOW IT UNFOLDS." SF.
45. "THE VOID." SF.
46. "FALLING BODIES." SF.
47. "THE LONG GAME." SF.
48. "Just Out of Jupiter's Reach." SF.
49. "Slow Time Between the Stars." SF
50. THE EIGHT CONTINENT. SF.
51. HAVE YOU SEEN HER? Psychological Thriller. New Release.
52. UNEXPECTED HORROR 3: DARK RAINBOW RISING. Anthology. LGBTQ+
53. NEWTON'S WAKE. SF.
54. THE COUPLES TRIP LIBBY VIRTUAL
55. INVERSIONS. EDELWEISS. SF.
56. THE ALTERED MOON. SF. NG ARC CURRENT
57. BINARY SYSTEM NG ARC MOUNT TBR IN PROGRESS to 34% SF

Review: THIS DELICIOUS DEATH by Kayla Cottingham

This is author Kayla Cottingham's second novel, a Sapphic YA Horror with strong LGBTQ+ Rep, including a protagonist who is Lesbian/Bi, her best friend who is a Trans Internet influencer, and their two other close friends. Not only are they bonded by friendship; they are fellow sufferer/survivors of "the Hollowing," a mysterious viral disease which struck the planet without warning, affecting some of the population but not all. This brings in the theme of "outsiders," as [just as German-Americans were ostracized and Japanese-Americans confined to interment camps during World War II, while brilliant American minds sociopathically plotted Eugenics strategies] many of the unaffected populace shunned even their own family members and demanded that the "ghouls" be transported to isolated areas, such as deserts, far away from the untouched. For safety's sake, of course. This condemnation of "outsiders" is of course also reflected in the lives which our protagonists live, as individuals and friends who don't always adhere to the views of the majority. Compounding this is their status as sufferers of "the Hollowing," so that their tight-knit unending friendship is a bulwark and foundation against "normalcy."

Review: IT LOOKS LIKE DAD by Jason Krawczyk

How can I encapsulate my intense enthusiasm for this special novella? How to categorize? Mostly, just read it! I adored it and I think all Horror geeks should groove on this, especially those who also love science fiction, Multiverses, parallel Earths, time travel, wonderful riffs on the enduring Lovecraft Mythos [let me tell you: this author has NAILED the Cosmic deities, in my opinion, in their ineffable characters and complete indifference to humble useless humanity. He's really driven that point home, and then hammered it in.]

IT LOOKS LIKE DAD is also extraordinarily efficient Aversion self-therapy for both Thalassaphobia and Arachnophobia (the story is SO VIVID that I had to Google geographic distance to be certain I was far enough removed from danger!).

If you adore Apocalypse, Lovecraftian Horror, time travel, Multiverses, "super-hero/villains," body-crafting (wait till you read this!), race to read IT LOOKS LIKE DAD.

I read it yesterday and I want to go reread it already. I have one immensely favorite adorable character but I won't identify because I don't want to spoil the intense experience waiting on every new reader of IT LOOKS LIKE DAD. I'll be standing in line for each future offering from Jason Krawczyk and the illustrious Little Ghost Books.

No electrons were harmed in the making of this Review.

Review: CARMILLA by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

CARMILLA is remarkably Sapphic, in my opinion, for a book whose initial serialization occurred in 1861-1872, in the midst of the mostly repressive Victorian Era. [The also sensual DRACULA by Bram Stoker was published in 1897, a full quarter-century later.] Amazingly after many decades of Horror, I had not until now read CARMILLA. If I had as a child, surely I would have missed the sensuality and the obviousness of Carmilla's seduction of Laura, and her recent seduction of the General's niece, his ward. I noticed that her beauty is apparent to and acknowledged by these older men (one a father, one an uncle/guardian) but (thankfully) her beauty does not incite their lust, but only a sort of distant fondness and protectiveness, as a considerate shepherd might for his sheep. Also, CARMILLA is primarily a female-character story: Carmilla and Laura, Carmilla's earlier "incarnations" and her female victims, the older woman (chaperone) who purports (in every one of Carmilla's manifestations) to be the "young girl's" mother. Even the "secondary" victims (peasants and villagers) are primarily women. And of course, for whom is the story named? The deadly, unforgettable, CARMILLA.

Remarkable, I think, for a published mid-19th century story by a Western European (Irish) male author. For who holds the Power in this tale? WOMEN!!!

Note: I gave CARMILLA a 4 star 🌟 rating when I finished it, but a day later while pondering my review, I elevated it to 5 🌟. See my concluding paragraph!

Review: TELL ME WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

5 🌟 TELL ME WHAT REALLY HAPPENED by Chelsea Sedoti is a Super-Wow novel, YA Horror/Thriller/Psychological Thriller, which figuratively glued me to my seat while gluing my eyes open. I couldn't stop reading, and I'm still thinking about it, asking myself, "Well, do we REALLY KNOW the entire story yet?"

The novel is entirely contained in the format of police interrogation interviews (mainly responses)! So right away you realize, "Ohoh! Something really bad's happened here!" Just as Science and Sociology and Psychology has taught us that eyewitness accounts aren't always accurate: people see what they want to see, or what fits their conditioned perspective, plus the human brain automatically slides stimulus input into a framework, because it can't abide a puzzle: everything has to fit. Add in several individuals with their own disparate agendas, acting out of Character, all afraid to reveal the "truth," and the consequence is a hot mess of personality clashes, danger, wild arguments, and of course, two major themes: Internet Influencers...and Bigfoot. Yes, this is the Pacific Northwest, this is camping in a very scary woods, over the century-plus there's been lots of disappearances and deaths.

I appreciate the author's inclusion of both LGBT rep and the viewpoint of an adolescent Black male living in a small, predominantly Caucasian, community. These themes distinctly improved and intensified the story.

Release April 4 2023

Review: PARADISE-1 by David Wellington

Release April 4 2023

I was enrapt with this fascinating Science Fiction novel from the very beginning. I'd read and enjoyed earlier novels by this author, but PARADISE-1 is just special! Amazingly, the farther I read the more engrossed I became ! So happy this is just the first of a Series, as there are so many themes and occurrences yet to be unraveled: some science-fictional, some metaphysical (AI's achieving self-awareness; at what point is humanity no longer human but solely living creature), some-yes-paranornal (about the persistence of life after death, and of psychic manipulation). So very much to delve into, and there is not one spare minute to breathe! Total fascination throughout, and I am rabid for the sequel!

Review: SURVIVOR SONG by Paul Tremblay 2020

Review:
SURVIVOR SONG released in July 2020, so surely it had been written prior to the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Yet it is a remarkably prescient tale; even though the contagious virus is different (a mutant variation of a common already existent virus) and even though the transmission vector diverges (and is this case is far more violent than breathing in the virus), the novel provides an all too familiar look back at the recent past. I felt that the story's length could have been reduced by 20-25%, as toward the conclusion it seemed to go on and on (primarily the final experience of the two female protagonists), and I haven't reached my mental conclusion about the postlude, as to whether that additional material helped or hindered. However, I acclaim the remarkably strong female characters: there are two protagonists of equal weight, both female, and at least 4 other strong, determined, female characters, each of whom noticeably impacts the story. The riffs on friendship (the two protagonists especially, but also a pair of secondary characters later in the story) are inspiring and hopeful. There's also a riff on the extreme to which anti-vaccination conspiracy conviction and refusal of scientific thinking and logic can run.

Review: MERCY (THE LOST WARSHIP #2)

Review: MERCY
What a knock-out Reader's Hook! I've never encountered a Daniel Gibbs title I didn't enormously enjoy, but I believe MERCY may be my favorite yet! Mr. Gibbs is supremely talented at balancing imagined Alien traits and culture and religious and sociological systems as against the backdrop of human culture, society, military, and numerous religions, and placing all this against the vast backdrop of Space, known and alien. Plus for those devotees of military SciFi there's that continuing underpinning to elicit and to maintain intrigue. I can't wait to continue THE LOST WARSHIP Series!

Review: URANUS by Ben Bova

TBR PILE Challenge #4!

URANUS by Ben Bova is Book 2 of his OUTER PLANETS Series, which commences with NEPTUNE. It didn't quite meet my admittedly high expectations: I wanted more Astronomy, more Science Fiction; less I guess human nature, human villainy. I had hoped for more why's of this anomalous planet. Now Dr. Bova does design an intensely puzzling mystery, I admit. I also grant full kudos for his ability to delineate a Villain in extreme detail, so that I spent most of the novel in fury at the depredations and machinations of the human evil plotter [in this, not much different than real life]. >p> I also would have liked more detail, development, and background on the spiritual leader of the Habitat, who conceived the idea of implementing a refuge orbiting Uranus to house the poor and downtrodden of Earth and to provide new lives. He exemplifies the intent of the Statue of Liberty, and expansion on that would be intriguing.

Review: CHURN THE SOIL by Steve Stred

Release Feb. 17
Somewhere deep within the Canadian North Woods is a small, generally peaceful, community of off-gridders and others wishing to remain apart from the world. Functioning quite like an Indigenous tribe, The Border is mostly cohesive, directed when essential by a group of five, called by their numbers (Number One, etc.) The sole essential stricture relates to a clearing: during the Spring and Summer, it must be tended, cleared of weeds; but with the first snowfall, it becomes Verboten, for this is the contract made generations ago by the first people in the area, with the constantly devouring "Forest Guards." But suddenly and inexplicably the contract has been annihilated. Now no protection, no peace remains.

Review: FROZEN SOLID (Hallie Leland #2)

Exciting, enigmatic, suspenseful intriguing, dangerous, conspiratorial, global, circumscribed, paranoia-inducing, fatal: FROZEN SOLID is rip-roaring adventure at the Frozen South Pole. Antarctica at the end of Summer: from dangerous to super-dangerous. If the extreme temperatures, massive eight-months darkness, hurricane winds, dangerous ice sheets, Polar madness don't get you, a terrifying global conspiracy will. South Pole Station is no more than a laboratory for the trio of planners who have conceived and introduced a destructive plan they call, simply, "Triage." 5 Star Excitement!!

Review: ANTARCTICA by Kim Stanley Robinson

First of all, Kim Stanley Robinson is a STORYTELLER, in the classic sense of the word. Remember, for example, Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES, and think also of Classic Greek plays.

Second, he has a deep and wide-ranging background in the Sciences, and a deep understanding of Science and how it frames politics, culture, sociology and Society. So reading anyone of his books is an education in disparate avenues of Science, and also in the Scientific Mindset. Even for those who aren't into that, each novel is an exquisite Story whose characters are exposed down into their deepest, even unconscious layers.

I absolutely cherish ANTARCTICA: not only is it about my favorite Continent/Lifelong Dream, but the story is enrapturing, and at the end I intensely longed for continuation, for a sequel, so I could continue to follow these characters! I actually stewed for a while trying to decide what to read next ...because the novel I wanted to read I had just finished. That's how powerfully affected I was.

Review Tour: THE GREEN PANTHERS by Tom Vater

Review:
THE GREEN PANTHERS is riproaring Ecoterrorism adventure, on Earth and in Space, and is akin to gazing through a telescope, from an Environmentalism viewpoint, towards the destruction of the planet and the unthinking and uncaring ravages effected by an ultra-wealthy few upon the only world we have on which to live. Cast against the unthinking depredations are a tightly knit cadre calling themselves The Green Panthers, well-funded, who won't scruple to perform whatever acts are necessary to save our precious home world. Set in the very-near future (2029), THE GREEN PANTHERS whirls us across Europe to Siberia, Bangkok, UK, and even into space in a mad wild race to stop wanton destruction of our Environment and Wildlife.

Release: September 7, 2022

Review: VOSTOK STATION by J. D. Huff. TBR PILE CHALLENGE #1 2023

Acquired 09/02/2017. TBR PILE CHALLENGE #1 2023

I chose VOSTOK STATION because it promised to slot into one of my favorite Horror subgenres, Frozen Horror, and because I cannot resist anything set in Antarctica [or in the Arctic]. As it turned out, the Freeze is non-stop, the Horror is present and constant. But in contrast to John W. Campbell's classic Science Fiction novella "Who Goes There?" (filmed by John Campbell as THE THING), the Horror in VOSTOK STATION is primarily Biological [although the author delivers very human, living, monstrosities, towards the end, providing terrifying spine-chilling moments...because sometimes, Humanity is the most terrifying of all experiences].

Biology gone radically wrong (because of course scientists must always persevere to the end) and in this case, governmental intervention, inevitably leads to unstoppable destruction. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had read it prior to the 2019-20 onset of Coronavirus, because by January 2023 inescapable Plague and governmental machinations just seem...all too real.

I granted VOSTOK STATION 4 Stars for plotting, wonderful setting, and character (although by the conclusion Professor Feckless Hero's antics and humour were wearing thin). If I could, I would deduct .5 Star for lack of sufficient proofreading [including using nouns for verbs), so ideally this would be 3.5.

Review: CORE RULESET by Timothy Bryan

Release January 15, 2023

First off, let me start at the end, and shout THAT ENDING!!! THAT ENDING!!!
[NO! Do not turn immediately to the end to see what I mean!!] On the surface, CORE RULESET is a novel about a downtrodden "David" vs. a multitude of unstoppable "Goliaths," from overbuilt bullies, to snooty self-centered, to the "Big Billionaires" whose octopus corporations seem to control the economy. Author Timothy Bryan elicited my empathy for this "feckless hero," whose life seems doomed to rejection and repulsion at every turn, the "guy who just can't get a break." Next level is a story of Supernatural Villainy vs. Police Procedural, as individual after individual--some connected, most disparate--are struck down in unlikely but unstoppable ways, ensuring not only their imminent demise but also their punishment. Third level: what you think is happening is just the facade. Life-changing AND life-ending: but HOW? and WHY? and WHOM?

The classic confrontational Denouement of Law vs. Villain is startling and amazing, then Anticlimax, then THAT ENDING!! 5 Stars for Implacability!!!

WINTER RESPITE READATHON

February 2023

WINTER RESPITE:

1. ALL HALLOWS own new 5
2. NINTH HOUSE Reread own Mount TBR 5
3. HELL BENT Virtual Libby 5
4. A FLICKER IN THE DARK Virtual Libby 5
5. SHE WILL RISE KU 5
6. ONE LAST BREATH Author ARC -5
7. THE MISSING FILE own 4
8. ALL THE DANGEROUS PLACES Libby 5
9. BENNY ROSE THE CANNIBAL KING KU 5
10. CHURN THE SOIL 4
11. THE RESIDENCE Scribd 5
12. TEN YEARS GONE HOOPLA 5
13. WHO MOVED MY GOAT CHEESE? HOOPLA 5
14. HOT PINK SATANISM 4
15. THE FAVOR 4
16. STEEPED IN SECRETS HOOPLA 5
17. WASPS IN THE ICE CREAM 4
18. CHLOE CATES IS MISSING Libby 5
19. VANDAL: STORIES OF DAMAGE 5
20. EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE LIBBY 5
21. LETTER TO THREE WITCHES LIBBY 5
22. WITCH HITCH 5
23. THE WRITING RETREAT 5
24. DARK INVASION 5
25. ADRIFT 5
26. TRAIL OF THE GHOST BUNNY 4
27. WE WERE NEVER HERE LIBBY 5
28. UNDER ONE ROOF [LOATHE TO LOVE YOU] LIBBY 5
29. BELOW ZERO [LOATHE TO LOVE YOU] LIBBY VIRTUAL 4
30. STUCK WITH YOU [LOATHE TO LOVE YOU] LIBBY VIRTUAL 4
31. THE MONSTERINOS AND THE CHATTERING RABBITS 5
32. LOVE ON THE BRAIN 4
33. LADY'S MAID'S BELL SCRIBD 5
34. MR. NIGHTMARE KU 5
35. THE FEAR 5
36. THE COPPER MAN 5
37. THE SHADOW KING 5

Review: ESCAPE FROM YOKAI LAND [THE LAUNDRY FILES 7.5]

I've read many of Charles Stross's THE LAUNDRY FILES Series, finding each suffused with wry British (perhaps Scottish) humor, combined delightfully with Urban Fantasy in an overpopulated modern London metropolis, set into the Lovecraft Mythos . Possibly the Master himself might even approve. As good fiction often does, THE LAUNDRY FILES enables the author to examine contemporary Society and its many themes and foils. In ESCAPE FROM YOKAI LAND, author Stross takes on the hefty topics of Japanese Folklore and mythology, current Japanese society, the Japanese workplace culture, sexism, corporate profiteering at the expense of Innocence [and innocents], and the friction of Japanese-British political relations since 1931.

One needs look closely though, to discover these themes, as agent Bob Howard of the British government's Capitol Laundry Service is immensely occupied with battling severe jet lag, cultural dissonance, and an intense incursion of entities previously encountered only in Japanese Folklore.