Antony Jones

Books reviewed by Ant (867)

  • Odd JohnOlaf Stapledon
    Odd John
    by Olaf Stapledon
    Science Fiction

    Odd John was first published in 1935 and was one of the very first novels to explore the theme of the super human, coining the term homo superior . It's being reviewed here as part of Gollancz excellent SF Masterworks series. Written from a narrator's perspective, Odd John is a pretty unique piece o...

  • PhalanxBen Counter
    Phalanx
    by Ben Counter
    Science Fiction

    The gargantuan star fort of the Imperial Fists, the Phalanx is to be the host for half a dozen Space Marine Chapters. Along with Inquisitors, Sisters of Battle and agents of the Adeptus Mechanicus they will witness a darkly historic event - the end of a Space Marine chapter. After the events of Hell...

  • String of PearlsMike McGee
    String of Pearls
    by Mike McGee
    Fantasy

    String of Pearls asks the question; what if Heaven turned out to be just as dangerous as Hell? Dayson Snow has spent most of his life fighting against the greed of multinational corporations and when he arrives in Washington DC with Yumi Mihara - the love of his life - he becomes embroiled in a race...

  • Gotrek and Felix - The AnthologyChristian Dunn
    Fantasy

    For those who have never met them, Gotrek and Felix are unsung heroes of the Warhammer fantasy Empire, the dwarven slayer* Gotrek Gurnisson and his human rememberer Felix Jaeger are the stuff of legend and have been featured in 13 novels, numerous short stories, the Warhammer fantasy Battle game and...

  • The Company of the DeadDavid Kowalski
    The Company of the Dead
    by David Kowalski
    Science Fiction

    The 15th April 2012 marks a century after the RMS Titanic (operated by the White Star Line) sank after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. 1517 people died in those freezing waters. It's as much a lesson in human arrogance as it is in maritime disasters (...

  • The Chosen SeedSarah Pinborough
    The Chosen Seed
    by Sarah Pinborough
    Fantasy

    Framed for Murder and on the run, Detective Inspector Cass Jones gets unwelcome attention wherever he goes, including being hounded by his former colleagues. As he works desperately to save his kidnapped nephew and gain answers he finds himself going up against The Bank and its sinister employees on...

  • Rise of the TaiGethenJames Barclay
    Rise of the TaiGethen
    by James Barclay
    Fantasy

    James Barclay is undoubtedly one of the finest heroic fantasy authors writing today, his Raven series are incredible novels with some really exceptional battles and fight scenes. Rise of the TaiGethen is the second novel in his series that feature those immortal forest dwellers, the Elves - and foll...

  • MineLin Sten
    Mine
    by Lin Sten
    Science Fiction

    Some time ago, I reviewed the novel Mine by Lin Sten and at the time I had mixed feelings about the book, there were some great ideas, a strong central premise and in parts great dialogue however this was all obscured behind some serious lack of editing, poor language and quite ropey running comment...

  • Dying Star: ExodusSamsun Lobe
    Dying Star: Exodus
    by Samsun Lobe
    Science Fiction

    The self-proclaimed Emperor Vas returns to stamp his will on the unsuspecting Virtues of Son Gebshu's moon. His inflexible will and iron determination manages to breed resentment which fast leads to an all-out civil war. Meanwhile on the dying planet below the temperature continues to plummet, freez...

  • Mountain manKeith Blackmore
    Mountain man
    by Keith Blackmore
    Fantasy

    Mountain Man introduces us to a world that is now mostly inhabited by the walking undead and Augustus Berry lives a day-to-day existence that is largely composed of getting drunk, foraging for supplies and preparing for the day when the Zombie horde will come up the side of the mountain and penetrat...

  • Anno DraculaKim Newman
    Anno Dracula
    by Kim Newman
    Fantasy

    I remember reading the short story "Red Reign" about 20 years ago, written by Newman and published in the Mammoth Book of Vampires. This short story formed the basis for the novel and it's been on my list of books to read for some time. The imminent re-release of the sequel "The Bloody Red Baron" ha...

  • Dangerous VisionsHarlan Ellison
    Dangerous Visions
    by Harlan Ellison
    Science Fiction

    Dangerous Visions was originally published in 1967 and was the brain child of it's editor Harlan Ellison. Anthologies rarely attract the kind of attention that this one has over the years but then most don't win major awards for more than half a dozen of it's stories either. Hugo award wins include...

  • The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled JackMark Hodder

    The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack won it's author the Philip K Dick award for best novel last year, what makes this acheivement even more remarkable is that it was also the authors début. The novel is a steampunk tale set in an alternative England where Queen Victoria was actually killed in t...

  • Know no FearDan Abnett
    Know no Fear
    by Dan Abnett
    Science Fiction

    I can't really imagine a more exciting sounding Warhammer 40K novel, a battle during the Horus Heresy conflict that depicts the Ultramarines (my favorite Legion) against the Word Bearers - told with energy and grace by that master of battles Dan Abnett. The Primarch of the Ultramarines - Roboute Gui...

  • Black HaloSam Sykes
    Black Halo
    by Sam Sykes
    Fantasy

    Tome of the Undergates was a fun, bloodthirsty and action packed novel with a young and yet confident voice and Black Halo promises more of the same, picking up where the first book ended. These mismatched and grumpy souls that make up Lenk's rag-tag band manage to get themselves shipwrecked on an i...

  • TribesCarmen Webster Buxton
    Tribes
    by Carmen Webster Buxton
    Science Fiction

    Hob is a slave, abandoned as a baby to be brought up with no hope of freedom or any chance of a normal life. On the world of Tribes any male babies born without a father figure to welcome him into his tribe becomes enslaved. Eventually Hob manages to escape and is rescued by a woman from a fighting...

  • KultusRichard Ford
    Kultus
    by Richard Ford
    Fantasy

    Meet Thaddeus Blaklok, mercenary, demonist and down right violent thug-for-hire who uses his fists the way most people use punctuation. He is dragged out of semi-retirement to "retreive" a very mysterious key for his equally mysterious benefactors. He isn't the only one after the artefact however an...

  • Gentle RemindersMartin Perry
    Gentle Reminders
    by Martin Perry
    Science Fiction

    Regular visitors will be aware that Gentle Reminders is being serialised right here on SFBook courtesy of the kind author Martin Perry. It therefore only seemed fair that I read and review the book that some of you good readers are indeed reading. The novel is the first in a series that is part of t...

  • Songs of the EarthElspeth Cooper
    Songs of the Earth
    by Elspeth Cooper
    Fantasy

    There has been a lot of good things said about Songs of the Earth and a consummate amount of praise given to the author of this debut novel. It has even been described as the "fantasy debut of 2011" when it was first released in hardback last year and has been on my list of books to read for some ti...

  • Rogue MoonAlgis Budrys
    Rogue Moon
    by Algis Budrys
    Science Fiction

    Rogue Moon is the disquieting story of what happens when aberrant scientific ambition is matched by human obsession. Shortlisted for the 1961 Hugo Award (losing out to the quite wonderful A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr), Rogue Moon is one of the few genre novels that Algis Budrys w...

  • Hell TrainChristopher Fowler
    Hell Train
    by Christopher Fowler
    Fantasy

    Anyone who remembers those old Hammer Horror films (or indeed still watches them) will just adore this book, along with anyone else who loves a good story. In their hey-day between the 50's and 70's the Hammer films starred such great screen actors such as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee with film...

  • Legion of the DamnedRob Sanders
    Legion of the Damned
    by Rob Sanders
    Science Fiction

    Berserker chaos marine chapter the World Eaters are blazing a path of destruction across the galaxy, following in the path of a weird, blood-red comet which holds portents of doom. The small cemetery world of Certus Minor is one such planet along this celestial bodies route and the Excoriators chapt...

  • The Inosculation SyndromeDB Reynolds-Moreton
    The Inosculation Syndrome
    by DB Reynolds-Moreton
    Science Fiction

    Another novel being published by those good people at Scifi Cafe, The Inosculation Syndrome is something of a surprise. The book tells the story of the astronaut Kal who becomes stranded on an alien planet due to a series of errors after losing touch with his star ship while charting regions of spac...

  • GhostmakerDan Abnett
    Ghostmaker
    by Dan Abnett
    Science Fiction

    The second novel in the Warhammer 40k Gaunt's Ghosts Series and written by that insanely talented author Dan Abnett, Ghostmaker acts as a reflection on the history of the Ghost's and focuses on telling the story of the major characters within the regiment. This is done through the use of connected s...

  • Autumn - The CityDavid Moody
    Autumn - The City
    by David Moody
    Fantasy

    Autumn - The City is the follow up to the sensational zombie novel Autumn, promising the same power and subtle horror of the first. It takes a lot of guts to start a story again right from the beginning but told from a different perspective - a brave move that could have gone horribly wrong. Instead...

  • BlackbirdsChuck Wendig
    Blackbirds
    by Chuck Wendig
    Fantasy

    Blackbirds follows the life of Miriam Black who has a singular gift (or curse) that means each time she touches someone she knows when and how they will die - vividly reliving their final moments. Still in her early twenties she's seen sights most people couldn't even imagine along with countless he...

  • Blue Remembered EarthAlastair Reynolds
    Blue Remembered Earth
    by Alastair Reynolds
    Science Fiction

    There are very few authors alive today that can quite match Alastair Reynolds vision of future space and Blue Remembered Earth is the beginning of possibly his most ambitious future vision yet. At the same time it's also one that also feels much closer to home than any novel he has written before. T...

  • Spirit's DestinyKen Dawson
    Spirit's Destiny
    by Ken Dawson
    Science Fiction

    Spirit's Destiny follows the path of one Ella Bland, who having just finished a degree is looking forward to living on earth (a right for attending 4 years of university). The very last thing she ever expected was to become embroiled in an ancient, bloody and quite secret war between a genocidal art...

  • VivisepultureAndy Remic
    Vivisepulture
    by Andy Remic
    Fantasy

    Vivisepulture is an ebook collection of weird tales from some seriously talented authors, edited by the singular Andy Remic. (According to the online dictionary Vivisepulture is the act of burying someone alive by the way and you get some odd articles looking that one up on Google I can tell you!)....

  • Cat's CradleKurt Vonnegut
    Cat's Cradle
    by Kurt Vonnegut
    Science Fiction

    Cat's Cradle is my first foray into the world of Kurt Vonnegut, I have heard his name mentioned over the years but for one reason or another I have never actually picked up one of his novels. My youngest brother recommended his works (specifically siting Slaughterhouse five) and I have been picking...

  • Zombies: A CompendiumOtto Penzler
    Zombies: A Compendium
    by Otto Penzler
    Fantasy

    Brains, Brains, BRAINS!, you just have to love those lurching, decaying animated corpses. The living dead make a great enemy and here we have wall-to-wall flesh eating monsters, ghouls and things that go bite in the night, brought to (un)life by some of the best horror and fantasy writers in the wor...

  • Floating WorldsCecelia Holland
    Floating Worlds
    by Cecelia Holland
    Science Fiction

    The only science fiction novel that the immensely talented Cecelia Holland has written, Floating Worlds is taking it's rightful place within the halls of Gollancz SF Masterworks collection. The novel tells the story of humanity 2000 years in the future where capitalism has been overthrown and anarch...

  • In the Mouth of the WhalePaul McAuley
    In the Mouth of the Whale
    by Paul McAuley
    Science Fiction

    I first read one of Paul J McAuley's novels over 20 years ago, picked up completely at random for reason's that are shrouded in the midst of time. The book was Secret Harmonies and it became one of the most memorable novel's I have read before or since, managing to evoke a powerful feeling of travel...

  • Storm FrontJim Butcher
    Storm Front
    by Jim Butcher
    Fantasy

    Storm Front is the first novel introducing the wizard P.I. Harry Dresden to the world, a gritty urban fantasy that manages to captivate right from the start. We join Harry as he's going through a bit of a slow patch and so when the Chicago PD asks for help with a double homicide he jumps at the chan...

  • Out of OzGregory Maguire
    Out of Oz
    by Gregory Maguire
    Fantasy

    I must admit that I missed the first 3 novels in this series although I have heard a lot about them (all good) and remember hearing about the (Tony winning) Broadway musical that was based on the first book "Wicked". The books themselves are inspired by Frank Baum's childrens classic "The Wonderful...

  • Legends of Marithia: Darkness RisingPeter Koevari
    Fantasy

    Back in May last year I reviewed a novel by Peter Koevari, a promising new Indie author who has been creating an epic fantasy series known as Legends of Marithia. This is the second novel in that series and follows straight on from the events of the previous book - Legends of Marithia: Prophecies Aw...

  • Who Goes ThereJohn W Campbell
    Who Goes There
    by John W Campbell
    Science Fiction

    "Who Goes There?" is the novella by John W Campbell on which John Carpenter based the classic film "The Thing", its presented here with another 6 short stories by the same author, mostly published within Astounded magazine in the 1930's. John W Campbell is widely regarded as being highly influential...

  • Theme PlanetAndy Remic
    Theme Planet
    by Andy Remic
    Science Fiction

    Andy Remic has managed to carve out his own particular niche within the science fiction genre, deliberately pushing the boundaries and not holding back in the slightest. Finding a new Remic book is very much like finding a new Tarrantino film - you just know it's going to be an irresistible action p...

  • Empire StateAdam Christopher
    Empire State
    by Adam Christopher
    Science Fiction

    Empire State is the début novel of the talented author Adam Christopher, combining a superhero tale with an alternative reality prohibition era noir-esque New York. Throw in gangsters, private investigators and a rogue robot and even a slight nod to steampunk then you have one daring mix. The parall...

  • PureJulianna Baggott
    Pure
    by Julianna Baggott
    Science Fiction

    I do so love a post apocalyptic tale and they often seem not very far from the reality in these times of economic turmoil. It therefore gives me great pleasure to inform you dear reader of another tale of survival after a world altering cataclysmic event. Pressia can barely remember a time before th...