Science Fiction Book Reviews

Smoke Eaters by Sean Grigsby

Fire fighter Sean Grigsby’s near future debut sees the world infested with dragons risen from beneath the ground. The wingless wyverns rise up to destroy cities and take lives, leaving only the shadows of people - ‘wraiths’ - behind. It’s up to the ‘smoke.

Cole Brannigan, a patriotic, hard-working fireman who’s spent 30 years in the force and is on the verge of retirement, lies at the heart of this story. But just before he puts his feet up for good, he discovers he’s ...

Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I don't know how he does it, but Adrian Tchaikovsky manages to get inside the heads of different creatures and allow us to see through their eyes. Last time I read one of his books it was Spiders, this time it's Dogs, Bears, Bees and Lizards.

Dogs of War imagines that we've got to grips with bio-engineering to the degree that we can create powerful, loyal, obedient soldiers by taking a big dog, making it bigger, smarter, providing a voice and integrating it with smart ...

From Distant Stars by Sam Peters

From Distant Stars is the follow-up to Sam Peter's impressive debut From Darkest Skies. Detective Keon Rause has mostly come to terms with the death of his wife five years previously and his illegally created AI Liss has gone - presumably destroyed.

He's tasked with investigating the death of military officer Jared Black and three "Fleet" officers ordered to question him at Mercy Hospital on Magenta (a gravity heavy planet where Keon lives). The case stinks of a conspir...

Fictional Alignment by Mike French

Mike French returns to the world of An Android Awakes with this initially more conventionally presented sequel. Fictional Alignment is not the same animal as its predecessor – an oversized picture story book anthology of the attempts of Android PD121928 to create fiction that can be accepted by its publishers. By comparison, Fictional Alignment is more of a conventional paperback on the cover, clearly demonstrating its connection to its predecessor with the art style inside and out.

Embers of War by Gareth L Powell

A new space opera story from an author with a strong legacy in SF is a nice treat. Powell’s work on Ack-Ack Macaque has always intrigued me, but never enough to go out and read it. Whereas this, a more conventionally presented science fiction novel with comparisons to Ann Leckie and Iain M. Banks emblazoned on the cover, seemed more appealing.

Embers of War is a good, lean, first person science fiction story that makes use of all of its component parts. The prologue, describing a ...

Acadie by Dave Hutchinson

I've always said that Hutchinson is an under-appreciated author. His Europe series not only being an accomplished trilogy, but also somewhat prophetic given the UK's current realtionship with the EU.

Acadie is a step away from his near-future,alternative fiction series, instead set in the far-future where mankind have reached the stars. This journey hasn't been easy though. A small part of humanity began playing with editing the human genome, led by the visionary Isab...

The Silenced by Stephen Lloyd Jones

Mallory Grace had been successfully hiding out in London for some time until she met Obadiah in a seemingly random encounter. Now she's just had to kill someone and if she wants to survive the next few hours she'll probably have to kill again. To survive the night she'll need a miracle.

Obadiah Macintosh is a recluse working at a remote animal sanctuary by the coast of Cornwall. Obadiah has his own secrets and when the dogs in his care alert him to intruders - he knows ...

Zero Day by Ezekiel Boone

Zero Day features a return to those creeping, swarming and skittling spiders that were introduced in The Hatching and Skitter.

The world is a quite different place and the realisation that there is some co-ordination to the vast deadly swarms of arachnids raises the difficult question of what the US government should do about them. Do they carry out a "cleansing" mass erradication using "tactical nukes" that will ineviatably take as many lives as it saves? Or do they trust in Profes...

One Way by S J Morden

People have been imagining life on Mars for hundreds of years but it seems to becoming an increasingly popular destination at the moment. We've got a growing number of films, games, VR "experiences" and of course books. NASA has it's own "Journey to Mars" program of sending humans there in the 2030's while SpaceX has a much grander plan - having a viable, permanent and self-sustaining colony on the red planet within the next 50 - 100 years.

It all has to start somew...

Black Star Renegades by Michael Moreci

Cade Sura finds himself in the unenviable postion of having within his hands the galaxies ultimate weapon. A weapon that promises to bring about peace from the Evil Praxis Kingdom and it's fantatic overlord Ga Halle.

Cade never wanted such responsibility and would do anything he can to get away from it. But with Ga Halle about control every star system in the galaxy, Cade doesn't have a choice, he's going to have to fight.

While most novels try to break away fr...

The Seventh Decimate by Stephen Donaldson

A new fantasy series from Stephen Donaldson, the author of the Thomas Covenant chronicles and the two Mordant’s Need novels. The first book, The Seventh Decimate tells the story of the war between the nations of Amika and Belleger that has raged for generations. Its roots lie in the distant past, beyond memory. Sorcerers from both sides rain destruction down on the battlefield, wielding the six deadly Decimates of fire, earth, wind, water, lightning, and pestilence.

Prince Bifalt ...

Forest of Eden by Elizabeth Counhan

An interstellar expedition, tracing an anomalous signal back to its origin. Three men on board a ship called the Fargo, all returning dead, two hundred years later, but with the cargo hold full of an unknown mineral that makes the fortune of the company that sent them into the unknown.

Twenty-five years after that our story begins just before a ceremony to commemorate the adventures and the dead heroes. One journalist decides to dig a little deeper and finds out one of the men is st...