Science Fiction Book Reviews
Iron Gold by Pierce Brown
Being an author there are hard decisions to be made. Do you stick with the same characters or try to be someone who writes about different times and places in each book? After the original Red Rising trilogy, author Pierce Brown had the option to stop writing about Darrow’s rise and instead concentrate elsewhere. However, as most people know, once you are at the top there is only one direction to go. Iron Gold is the start of a new trilogy that may jus...
Batman: The Court of Owls by Greg Cox
Batman stalks the villains of Gotham and for many he is their worst nightmare. Bats may be inherently scary to some, but in nature they are not the top of the food chain and several animals like to eat them for a snack. One such animal is the Owl, a natural enemy of the Bat. This being Gotham dressing up as an Owl and harassing Batman is not beyond the realms of possibility, but with the Court of the Owls this is more than just a masked menace. For centuries a cabal of the richest Gotham deni...
The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau by HG Wells
Illustration ©Grahame Baker-Smith from The Folio Society edition of The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
The work of H. G. Wells is both seminal and formative to our current interest in Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy. The collection of these two novellas in one volume is a common publication format. However, The Folio Society has descended upon these texts with its customary panache and produced a gorgeously illustrated edition. This edition does tend to focus on The Time Machine,...
Star Trek Prometheus: The Root of all Rage by Bernd Perplies
What makes a great trilogy? Three stories that combine to make one, but are themselves also valid. Each book should have a start, middle and end that combine together to make a longer narrative. There are not many things worse for a fantasy or science fiction reader than getting their hands on a ‘filler’ second book. That awkward book in the middle that just continues the story and adds little. We already know who the characters are from book one and look forward to the conclusion...
Our Child of the Stars by Stephen Cox
I read a lot of science fiction and one element I am not duly bothered about is feelings. I prefer the imagery of cold steel roaring through space over the relationship between two characters, but without emotions what is the point of a story at all? Our Child of the Stars by Stephen Cox is a departure from my normal reading as it takes the concept of adopting an alien and makes the entire book feel very human.
When a meteorite hits the sleepy town of Amber Grove it brings with it mor...
Books to look out for in 2019
No matter what else happens, 2019 sounds like it's going to be a good year for books. While we haven't heard whether George RR Martin or Patrick Rothfuss will actually release their eagerly, long awaited novels, there are plenty of other books to get our teeth into. Some from established legends of the genre such as Alastair Reynolds, Tim Powers, Gregory Benford, Tad Williams, Guy Gavriel Kay, Pat Cadigan, Margaret Atwood (with her long awaited sequel to a Handmaids Tale) Ian McDonald and eve...
Shadow Captain by Alastair Reynolds
I've been reading Reynolds books since he began writing them and have seen him grow over the years from a seriously talented writer to one of the best in his field. Revenger was one of his finest works to date, Shadow Captain eclipses it easily. It's the second in a planned trilogy but manages to avoid any "second book" syndrome.
Revenger follows the sisters Adrana and (Arafura) Fura Ness as they sign onto the good ship Monetta’s Mourn under the captain Rackamore,...
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 ...
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...
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...
Science fiction book reviews are available here from stories that have been written by the great science fictions like Arthur C Clarke, Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury to the new breed of classic writers such as Allen Steele and science fiction book reviews of the independent and self published authors...
There are so many truly outstanding scifi books out there that it can be very difficult to choose them apart. Listed here are some of the more popular or most read worthy novels available, however if you know of one you would like to see added, let us know, or better yet send us your review and we will see it included on the site.
