Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft

Arm of the Sphinx is the second in the Books of Babel series by Josiah Bancroft and follows on from the events of Senlin Ascends.

Tom - who is now going by the name of Captain Mudd, continues his search for Marya. He has help, with the airship The Stone Cloud and it's motley crew. Since the events of the previous book, the crew of The Stone Cloud have become adept and moderately successful pirates, using guile and intelligence to overcome more powerful airships. His success as a ...

Star Trek Prometheus: Fire with Fire by Bernd Perplies

It is feels increasingly complex to be a Star Trek fan. Things started off being about Kirk and co, then Picard, then Sisko etc. By now there are various TV shows that have been and gone, but also films that are set in parallel universes and I have no idea what is happening in Discovery half the time. Even if you are on top of the TV and Film versions of Trek, you may not know what is happening in the books. Star Trek Prometheus: Fire with Fire by Bernd ...

The Bad Neighbour by David Tallerman

Ollie Clay is a supply teacher who inherits fifty thousand pounds and spends it on a house. It turns out the house is next door to a neo Nazi called Chas Walker. Walker’s anti-social behaviour contributes to Clay’s life spiralling downhill, until he tries to take matters into his own hands and forces a dangerous confrontation, stepping into a terrible situation that he was never prepared for.

The Bad Neighbour is a deceptively written domestic thriller that captures the mo...

Across the Void by S. K. Vaughn

On our first trip to Mars I hope that they send the best equipped, those with the skills and temperament to handle any situation that may occur. If disaster struck I would hope that these men and women would tackle the challenge dispassionately in an attempt to survive the oncoming end with as little wasted energy as possible. This is great for the real world, but a little dull for a book. Why not send someone up who has more personal demons than that bloke who mistakenly signed 4 Faustian Pa...

2001 an odyssey in words by Ian Whates

2001: An Odyssey in words is a collection of twenty-seven stories, all exactly 2001 words in length and written to honour the late, great author Arthur C Clarke. The anthology is a collaboration between The Arthur C. Clarke Award and NewCon Press which began life as a kickstarter project, exceeding it's target goal in just over a month (SFBook was one such backer).

Those contributing include some of the biggest names writing science fiction today - ten of whom have...

Happy New Year 2019

SFBook would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

2019 looks to be an important year for science fiction. There are some promising stories on the horizon while we are hoping that the science fiction genre should continue to be accepted more broadly. We may even see some work from George R.R. Martin or Patrick Rothfuss, although I wouldn't count on it. There are a few big films coming out - not least with Star Wars Episode 9, Avengers End Game and Alita Battle Angel.

Blade R...

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft

Senlin Ascends is the ground-breaking debut of Josiah Bancroft and the beginning of the Books of Babel series. Originally self published in 2013, the book was picked up by Tor / Orbit when it became clear just how special the novel really is. Since then the series has continued with Arm of the Sphinx and The Hod King, which is released this month.

The story begins when Headmaster Thomas Senlin and his new wife Mayra take the train to the fabled tower of Babel. It is the greatest marve...

Mecha Samurai Empire by Peter Tieryas

Mecha Samurai Empire follows on from the United States of Japan, an alternative history novel which continues the story of Philip K Dicks seminal novel The Man in the High Castle (now an established TV series). For those who are aren't aware, the idea is that the "Allies" lost World War two and as a result a large part of the planet is shared out amongst the victors. America is split with the west coast becoming the United States of Japan, while the east-side is occupied by the Nazi's. T...

Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils by James Lovegrove

Sherlock Holmes and his creator may be long dead, but this has not stopped the master detective living on in the works of others. James Lovegrove has written several stories that have expanded on Arthur Conan Doyle’s legacy, but The Cthulhu Casebooks offer something very different by blending in the works of another classic author, H. P. Lovecraft. This mash up of Doyle and Lovecraft comes to a conclusion in Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils as Holmes finally gets his chance to ...

The Tourist by Robert Dickinson

The Tourist (not to be confused with the book and film of the same name by Olen Steinhauer) is a story of time travel, imagining a future where people can take holidays to the past and experience the genuine 21st century in all it's glory.

There are three main tour operators offering holidays to the past and our protagonist Spens works for the least expensive. A simple excursion to a 21st century shopping mall should be just like the previous boring trips he's made for the c...

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

Illustration ©2018 Chris Samnee from The Folio Society edition of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

It is 1939. Forced to live together in a small New York apartment, two young men, Samuel Clay and Joseph Kavalier bond over their shared interest in comic books and cartoon art. Together, they create ‘The Escapist’, a Nazi fighting Superhero who journeys across the world to fight for the oppressed.

Right from the title, Michael Chabon’s episodic story of these...

Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinlein

Illustration ©2018 Stephen Hickman from The Folio Society edition of Starship Troopers

The Folio Society has produced a beautiful, limited edition of Robert Heinlein’s classic book, Starship Troopers, first published in 1959.

In 1998, aged 22, I went to the cinema to see Paul Verhoeven’s adaptation of Starship Troopers. Like many other science fiction fans, I had been starved of a cinematic space opera since watching Return of the Jedi (1983).

At the time, t...

The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

A Question. If something hurts, does that make it true? With this intriguing opener of a question begins Seth Dickinson’s The Monster Baru Cormorant, the first of three planned sequels to 2015’s The Traitor Baru Cormorant. Dickinson burst onto the fantasy scene with Traitor, a geopolitical epic which introduces Baru Cormorant of the island of Taranoke. After the ruling Empire of Masks, or Masquerade, ransacks her homeland, Baru is chosen by the devious Cairdine F...

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher

It's difficult to write a review of Ghost Story without giving spoilers away about the previous book, Changes. Having said that, I'd recommend reading Changes before attempting Ghost Story, while any of the Dresden Files novels can be read individually, read this one without knowing the history will spoil it for you a little if you want to read the previous books.

As the title implies, in Ghost Story Harry Dresden has become a spook, without his powers and unable to affec...