July 23, 2008
The Host by Stephenie Meyer, 5
Book description: Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.
Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves-Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.
Review: The Host starts out a little on the slow side. So slow that I read the first few pages and then let it sit on my shelf for a few months. I’m so glad I picked it up again because it was amazing. Having two people occupying one body was really strange because I wasn’t quite sure who to root for at first. Wanderer seems slightly villainous early on but seeing her emotions and opinions change, as wells as those of the people around her, is was made this book so great. This is Stephanie Meyer’s first adult book but there is very little adult content here. If a book this good is what Meyer can accomplish when she writes stand alone novels, I hope she writes many more like this one. I highly recommend this, even to people who don’t read science fiction.
Category, Sci-Fi|
Link this entry? | Comments (5)
April 07, 2007
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold, 3 1/2
Book description: First novel in the popular series that begins with the inauspicious meeting of Betan astrocartographer Cordelia Naismith and Barrayaran Captain Aral Vorkosigan during a treacherous war. As captor and prisoner on an abandoned outpost planet, the honorable captain and the resolute scientist must rely on each others' trust to survive a trek across dangerous terrain, thus sparking a relationship that shares the struggles of culture and politics between their worlds.
Review: Shards of Honor has all the elements that usually make me love a book. Great main characters, an enjoyable romance, and interesting world building. However, the book was way too fast paced for me to really enjoy it. Every time I started to get into a scene, the book would jump ahead months in time. I normally love Bujold’s writing so I hope the pacing issues were just a first book fluke. I do plan to continue with the series.
Category, Sci-Fi|
Link this entry? | Comments (0)
March 28, 2005
Sunrise Alley by Catherine Asaro, 
Book Description: When the shipwrecked stranger washed up, nearly drowned, on the beach near research scientist Samantha Bryton's home, she was unaware that he was something more than human: an experiment conducted by Charon, a notorious criminal and practitioner of illegal robotics and android research. The man said his name was Turner Pascal - but Pascal was dead, killed in a car wreck. Then she found that Charon was experimenting with copying the minds of humans into android brains, implanted in human bodies to escape detection, planning to make his own army of slaves that will follow his orders without question." Samantha and Turner quickly found themselves on the run across the country, pursued by the most ruthless criminal of the twenty-first century. In desperation, Samantha decided to seek help from Sunrise Alley, an underground organization of AIs that had gone rogue. But these cybernetic outlaws were rumored to have their own hidden agenda, not necessarily congruent with humanity's welfare, and Samantha feared that her only hope would prove forlorn.
Review:I’m really starting to like Catherine Asaro. I enjoyed the story and all the twists in this book. This topic has been written about many times before so there isn’t anything new here but the book is executed well. The characters weren’t anything new either but I liked them and cared about what happened to them. I look forward to finding out what happens in the next book.
Category, Sci-Fi|
Link this entry?
March 12, 2005
Metallic Love by Tanith Lee, 6 1/2
Book Description: As an orphan growing up in the slums, Loren read her clandestine copy of Jane’s Story over and over, relishing every word. But Loren is no Jane. Savvy and street-smart, Loren could never be stirred by a man of metal, her passion never ignited by an almost-human–even one designed for pleasure.
Still, when the META corporation does the unthinkable and brings back updated versions of robots past–Loren knows she must see Silver. And just like Jane, it is love at first sight. But Silver is now Verlis. If he was perfection before, he is now like a god. Yet he is more human than his creators think–or fear. While Loren doesn’t quite trust him, she will follow her twice-born lover into a battle to control his own destiny–one that will reveal to her the most astonishing illusion of all.
Review: This book is the sequel to The Silver Metal Lover which is one of my all time favorite books. I wasn’t expecting it to be a lot like the first book since it was written so long afterwards. It was much more focused on questions about the robots which was an aspect of Metallic Love that I enjoyed. However, I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters and that was a huge disappointment. It’s not a bad book by any means but it just doesn’t come close to being as good as the original. Fans of the first novel will probably find something to like in the sequel but you’ll probably enjoy this more if you haven’t read The Silver Metal Lover.
Category, Sci-Fi|
Link this entry?
February 19, 2005
The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro, 8
Book Description: Kamoj Argali is the young ruler of an impoverished province on a backward planet. To keep her people from starving, she has agreed to marry Jax Ironbridge, the boorish and brutal ruler of a prosperous province. But before Argali and Ironbridge are wed, a mysterious stranger from a distant planet sweeps in and forces Kamoj into marriage, throwing her world into utter chaos.
Review: I figured it was about time I read something by Catherine Asaro since I enjoyed a short story of hers. I’m glad I picked this one up. It was the perfect blend of romance and sci-fi. The characters and romance were especially unique. This is the sixth book in her Skolian Empire series. I haven’t read any of the other books in the series but I didn’t have much of a problem following the plot. I’ll be reading more books from the series.
Category, Sci-Fi|
Link this entry?
December 20, 2004
Electric Forest by Tanith Lee, 7
Book Description: Children were the most overtly cruel. They would chase after her, gleefully screaming taunts... pulling at her hair, jabbing her with small, sharp objects, pinching or tripping her, so that she would have scramble awkwardly and painfully to her feet again. But the children weren’t her only tormenters. Strangers on the street would stop and stare, or look away until she had passed, or change their course to avoid brushing against her.
For Magdala Cled was horribly disfigured— a human monstrosity forced to live in a society of regular features and well-formed bodies. On Indigo, her home world, as on all the planets of the Earth Conclave, foetal conception was supposed to be the controlled result of selective artificial impregnation. It was an excellent way to ensure that all children were born healthy and at least reasonably attractive. Magdala, however, had been conceived biologically... an error in conception which her mother, a licensed prostitute intent on trade, had been too busy to correct with an abortion.
Dumped on the State at birth, Magdala had grown up surrounded by people who hated and feared her, or at best ignored her. Yet she survived, hiding her pain and fury from those who caused it and, when possible, even hiding it from herself.
It was in Blue, the season before Fall on Indigo, that Magdala met the man who would change her life.
She saw him first on the street— as supremely handsome as she herself was repulsive... a passerby who, like so many others, flinched at the sight of her grotesque form. But Claudio Loro was different from all the rest because, for reasons of his own, he pursued her.
Magdala found him waiting to talk to her in the dark, out-of-the-way booth she customarily chose in the public cafeteria near her home. There was something about him that frightened her, yet when she fled the cafeteria in confusion, Claudio broke into her apartment, callously demonstrating how helpless she was against him.
She was terrified by the man’s ruthless persistence, and begged him to leave her alone. But in the end Claudio had his way— because he offered her the one temptation he knew she could never resist.
“How would you like, “ he said distinctly, “to be beautiful?”
And with those words, lonely, frightened, ugly Magdala Cled became Claudio Loro’s property— in ways she could never have anticipated.
Review: I had liked some of Tanith Lee’s older sci-fi stuff in the past. So I decided to give one of her out of print novels a try and I wasn’t disappointed. Electric Forest is a Frankenstein inspired psychological mystery that is as thought provoking as it is entertaining. There were, perhaps, one too many twists at the end but other than that, this is a book that any sci-fi fan would enjoy.
Category, Sci-Fi|
Link this entry?
January 07, 2004
Archangel by Sharon Shinn, 8 1/2
Book Description: Set in a society founded as an egalitarian utopia but now tainted with vices and inequity, Sharon Shinn's love story is plotty and calamitous. Rachel and Gabriel have nothing in common beyond wishing that the god Jovah had ordained they wed other people, yet they must cooperate in singing a mass to the god on the occasion of Gabriel's elevation to Archangel. Upright Gabriel has enemies among both mortal and angelic peoples who prefer to risk world destruction over his restoration of the old order.
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It's one of the best fantasy novels I've read in a while. The heroine was strong but still very human. The world was intriguing and there was a great cast of supporting characters. I even enjoyed the romance which has been rare lately. If you like fantasy novels at all this book is worth a go.
Category, Sci-Fi|
Link this entry? | Comments (1)
November 29, 2003
Jenna Starborn by Sharon Shinn, 7 1/2
Book Description: From the award-winning author of the Samaria trilogy-a classic story of a woman with the will to rise above the darkest secrets... A baby harvested from the gen-tanks on the planet Baldus. A girl scorned by the only family she has ever known. A woman brave enough to follow her heart-wherever in the universe it may lead her.
Review: Jane Eyre is probably my favorite book ever so when I heard there was a sci-fi retelling of it I snatched it up right away. However I had recently read Jane Eyre when I started this book so it felt a bit like reading the same book twice. So after a few months I picked it up again and I really loved it. It was interesting to see how much of the story changed (or didn't change) in a vastly different setting. Even if you haven't read Jane Eyre I highly recommend this book and the original.
Category, Sci-Fi|
Link this entry?
June 08, 2003
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, *****
The Eyre Affair is set in a parallel world where time travel is commonplace and literature is held in high regard. Thursday Next is an operative in the Special Operations Network's Literary Division. When Thursday is recruited to help capture high profile criminal, Acheron Hades, she's thrilled at the chance for career advancement. However, Acheron comes up with a devious plot to kidnap literary characters and forever change the novels they come from.
I picked up this book because Jane Eyre is one of my absolute favorite books. I couldn't pass up the chance to see familiar characters in new situations. I was pleasantly surprised that the entire book, not just the Jane Eyre parts, were highly enjoyable. The setting is quirky and interesting and Thursday is a heroine I'd gladly keep reading about. Fforde could certainly get a lot of mileage out of this series before it gets stale. The writing is witty and full of literary jokes. A good portion of the book is purely Sci-Fi so people who can't stand that genre may want to skip it.
Category, Sci-Fi|
Link this entry?
March 26, 2003
The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee, *****
This one's about a rich teenage girl who falls in love with a robot. I really loved this book. It was kind of disturbing at first but before I even noticed I was rooting for those two crazy kids to make it. I was hooked on every word and it flew by fast. The book is pretty much a stand alone but there's suppose to be a sequel coming out. I can't wait for it but in the meantime I'll certainly be reading more Tanith Lee.
Category, Sci-Fi|
Link this entry?
March 20, 2003
Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee, *****
Biting the Sun is made up of two novels, Don't Bite the Sun and Drinking Sapphire Wine. Don't Bite the Sun familiarizes us with with the young, mostly female protagonist (we never learn her name) and the world in which she lives. In this world you can change bodies and genders as often as you want, all you have to do is kill yourself. You can marry and divorce in the space of an afternoon and there is no such thing as crime. Our protagonist becomes increasingly unhappy with her meaningless life of pleasure and sets out to find something that makes her happy, and in her pursuit she rebels against society. Finally in Drinking Sapphire Whine she commits an act that cannot go unpunished and her life is changed forever.
Biting the Sun is one of the best sci-fi novels I've ever read. It's everything a sci-fi novel should be. Tanith Lee creates a world that fascinates you and characters you genuinely care about. The plot is very ambitious and it's successful in that it says something important about the meaning of life. Even if you aren't fond of sci-fi you should give Biting the Sun a chance.
Category, Sci-Fi|
Link this entry?