Tag Archives: futuristic

FAILSAFE by Jeff Sylvester-a review

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FAILSAFE by Jeff Sylvester

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 3, 2024

The world runs on code, and not all code is safe. This is why Anna Flynn has a job.

Matter Manipulation Devices alter the physical world, turning dreams into reality. But some dreams are treacherous, and the streets are filled with mods that manipulate matter in illegal and dangerous ways.

As a seasoned MMD agent, Anna fights back against the criminals who misuse these devices and traffic in illegal mods. When she intervenes in a plot to assassinate one of the world’s most respected political leaders, her methods draw the ire of her superiors, and she finds herself under investigation from her own agency.

Increasingly isolated and unsure whom she can trust, Anna works to unravel a conspiracy that would unleash the worst potential of matter manipulation technology on the world.

•••

REVIEW: FAILSAFE is the first instalment in Jeff Sylvester’s adult, futuristic, sci-fi series focusing on Agent Anna Flynn, and the MMD agency

Told from several omniscient third person perspectives including Agent Anna Flynn, FAILSAFE focuses on the MMD Matter Manipulation Devices that can alter the physical world but when the ‘failsafe’ feature is removed, the MMD becomes a dangerous weapon. With many rogue agencies and cult-like groups struggling to gain control of the MMD for the masses, a mole or someone within the agency is working in opposition to the agency directive. With the help of her husband, tech genius Daniel Flynn, and her partner Agent Lisa Williams, Agent Anna Flynn battles the people in charge to uncover the truth, and the take down of a rogue group calling themselves A Better Way.

The world building is complex and detailed as Anna Flynn struggles to prove not only her innocence but the reality of what could happen and why. When the MMDs are modified and the failsafe removed, the world itself sits on the precipice of destruction

We are introduced to Agent Lisa Williams with the Matter Manipulation Device Agency; their boss Director Jada Davis; Director Elaine Guerrero; Agent Lucas Ward, Agent Carrie Yang; Mayor Delacruz, Councilwoman Savitri Shah; and Jennifer Zha aka Naomi White. Everyone is suspect, no one can be trusted.

FAILSAFE is a story of secrets and lies,power and control, betrayal and vengeance, manipulation and transactions, family and friendships. The character driven premise is captivating, entertaining and exciting; the characters are determined, dynamic and destructive. FAILSAFE ends on a bit of a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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2040: A Silicon Valley Satire by Pedro Domingos-review

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2040: A Silicon Valley Satire by Pedro Domingos-review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au / B&N paper /

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 20, 2024

The 2040 presidential election is unlike any in US history. The Republican candidate is an AI named PresiBot, created by a tech startup, KumbAI, who are in deeply over their heads. The Democratic candidate is a fake Native American chief seeking to abolish the United States. What could go wrong?

With PresiBot plummeting in the polls and tech giants like Happinet scheming to take over, KumbAI’s brash CEO Ethan Burnswagger and reluctant CTO Arvind Subramanian struggle to keep their company, their friendship—and their lives—under control. But the center cannot hold, and KumbAI, the campaign and America careen inexorably toward disaster.

Fast-paced and dialogue-driven, as befits our ADHD age, 2040 is a scathing critique of the current state of America—from the tech giants’ all encompassing empires and the fear and hype surrounding AI to the invasion of the mainstream by ever-kookier political ideas. Set in a dystopian San Francisco in a near future we can all too easily anticipate, it features characters, entities and incidents whose resemblance to actual ones may or may not be purely coincidental.

If you want to have wicked fun while discovering what AI really is, how the tech industry works, where our deepening polarization might lead us, and—most important—how to break out of this cycle, this is the book for you.

••••••

REVIEW:  2040: A SILICON VALLEY SATIRE by Pedro Domingos is a satirical look at American politics, specifically the past eight years. In 2040, KumbAI has developed a robot, an AI Republican candidate for president named PresiBot; The Democratic candidate is a fake Native American calling himself Chief Raging Bull. A televised debate sets the scene as the ‘puppet’ candidate goes off-script, and the ‘panic button’ is lost in the ensuing melee of rioting and anarchy. No longer able to control their candidate, KumbAI sells their company to rival tech giant Happinet but the result is another spiral into chaos leading up to the day of election, and the resulting win.

2040, set in a futuristic America, reflects upon much of the past eight years of American politics, the run for president, and the ensuing fall-out when a political dare becomes reality, and the people in charge lose control of their presidential candidate. A caustic, cynical and farcical look America’s current political machine, reminiscent of an extended SNL satirical skit, 2040 mirrors the spiral of respect; the growth of racism and discrimination; the sectioning off of the American people, and the narcissistic attitude of the people in charge.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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NOTHING IS PROMISED 1-4 by Susan Kaye Quinn-reviews

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NOTHING IS PROMISED 1-4 by Susan Kaye Quinn-reviews

WHEN YOU HAD POWER
(Nothing is Promised 1)
by Susan Kay Quinn
Genre: post apocalyptic, speculative fiction, Hopepunk, climate fiction

FREE ebook: Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 24, 2020

For better, for worse. In sickness and in health.
It’s a legal vow of care for families in 2050, a world beset by waves of climate-driven plagues.

Power engineer Lucía Ramirez long ago lost her family to one—she’d give anything to take that vow. The Power Islands give humanity a fighting chance, but tending kelp farms and solar lilies is a lonely job. The housing AI found her a family match, saying she should fit right in with the Senegalese retraining expert who’s a force of nature, the ex-Pandemic Corps cook with his own cozy channel, and even the writer who insists everything is stories, all the way down. This family of literal and metaphorical refugees could be the shelter she’s seeking from her own personal storm.

She needs this one to work.

Then an unscheduled power outage and a missing turtle-bot crack open a mystery. Something isn’t right on Power Island One, but every step she takes to solve it, someone else gets there first—and they’re determined to make her unsee what she’s seen. Lucía is an engineer, not a detective, but fixing this problem might cost her the one thing she truly needs: a home.

••••••••

REVIEW: WHEN YOU HAD POWER is the first instalment in Susan Kaye Quinn’s post apocalyptic, speculative fiction,hope-punk, series of interconnected story lines set in the year 2050. As a quick explanation, hope-punk is often about people fighting for a change in an dystopian setting such as a post apocalyptic society.

NOTE: Hope-punk is a genre that often focuses on people fighting for a change in a dystopian setting such as a post apocalyptic society.

SOME BACKGROUND: In the past thirty or so years, the world has been ravaged by several pandemics, ecological disasters, and global warming to the point that air quality is questionable, and food stocks are in short supply. The few remaining people are forced to apply for a ‘family’ and a place to live, often placing a number of people together in order to thrive. AIs are the norm; implants are used to communicate but someone is siphoning the power, threatening the few who survive.

Told from third person perspective (Lucia Ramirez) WHEN YOU HAD POWER follows power engineer Lucia Ramirez in the year 2050 on her first few days on the job at the Power Islands in California. Having walked away from her previous position at Oregon’s Power Island due in part to a toxic work environment, Lucia lands a coveted position in Southern California but our heroine may have gone from the proverbial ‘frying pan into the fire’. Unexplained intermittent power outages find our heroine on the hunt for the cause but Lucia is about to open a beehive of secrets that place a target on her back. As Lucia goes in search of an answer she will quickly discover all is not well at Power Island One.

Susan Kaye Quinn pulls the reader into a near future, post apocalyptic, hope-punk world where the planet is slowly spiralling out of control. Man has destroyed the environment, and the resulting fall-out is about to claim the few who survived. A dark but though provoking introduction to NOTHING IS PROMISED with a setting heavily immersed in scientific fact and fiction.

Own a copy

Reviewed by Sandy

_______

YOU KNEW THE PRICE
(Nothing is Promised 2)
by Susan Kaye Quinn
Genre: post apocalyptic, speculative fiction, Hopepunk, climate fiction

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 18, 2021

The choice you make is the future you create.
Climate-driven plagues haunt humanity, and it’s Regional Director Zuri Hill-Gray’s job to keep the clean-energy grid running.

Zuri has the perfect life—a beautiful home on the Hillstead, a loving family, and a powerful job keeping the LA Basin’s grid humming. If only she didn’t see the ghost of her dead twin in the mirror. Her grief-counselor husband understands too much, her Aunties Cora and Vivian smother her to excess, and her mother can’t look at her daughter without seeing the half that’s missing. Zuri can’t begin to face her sister’s little daughter—to Ruby, Zuri is the ghost.

Which is why she’s running away to work, again, on the anniversary of her sister’s death.

Then a power engineer walks into Zuri’s office and claims someone is stealing energy from Power Island One—and they’ve tried to kill her to cover it up. The more Zuri digs, the more it’s clear someone’s been tinkering in the shut-down fusion labs. They’re going to dangerous lengths to hide it, and it’s been happening right under her nose. Which is how Regional Directors lose their jobs.

Zuri’s already lost her better half—she can’t afford to lose this, too.

••••••••

REVIEW: YOU KNEW THE PRICE is the second instalment in Susan Kaye Quinn’s post apocalyptic, speculative fiction, hope-punk, series of interconnected story lines set in the year 2050. YOU KNEW THE PRICE should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up two days after the events of book one WHEN YOU HAD POWER.

Told from third person perspective (Zuri ) YOU KNEW THE PRICE follows Zuri Hill- Gray, the Great Los Angeles Regional Director for the United States Energy Consortium (USEC) in the face of possible sabotage of the power grid on the Pacific coast. Power Island One engineer Lucia Ramirez (When You Had Power) has made it her mission to provide as much damning information about a possible saboteur but with it comes the knowledge that someone has taken control, and Zuri is unable to stop the people whose actions are about to hold the world hostage in a matter of days. As Zuri and Lucia mount an offensive in the face of betrayal, Zuri quickly discovers that to act means the possible destruction of life as they know it.

YOU KNEW THE PRICE is an intricately detailed story of possibilities and the potential for Earth’s destruction. As the pandemics ravage humanity, environmental and ecological disasters continue to destroy the air,water and ground quality leaving the world’s population dependent upon the powerful few. YOU KNEW THE PRICE is a thought-provoking, dark and edgy storyline heavily based in both scientific fact and fiction, a fiction that may be closer to reality than we could have ever imagined.

Copy supplied for review

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OF KINDNESS AND KILOWATTS
(Nothing is Promised 3)
by Susan Kaye Quinn
Genre: post apocalyptic, speculative fiction, Hopepunk, climate fiction

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play /

RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2021.

Humanity is trapped in a loop.
As the world heats, it takes more energy to keep humanity from dying—a feedback loop that makes net-zero carbon increasingly impossible to reach.

Akemi’s job on the Public Utilities Commission has its own daily disasters—making sure the infrastructure of civilization keeps running is the most thankless job on the planet. When a double event hits—heatwave plus viral breakout—keeping the power on is an all-out battle. It doesn’t help that he’s distracted by his elderly father, who was struck down and neuro-compromised by the same virus that killed his mother the year before. Now his father is living in Akemi’s attic. They’d never had a relationship before, and that was a fair description of the state of things now.

Then an old friend’s daughter shows up with a mystery of physics… and a tale of stolen kilowatts and deadly intrigue. He would dismiss it outright, except she’s also the Regional Director of the power grid. Something isn’t right, and the Governor won’t accept excuses when the power goes out.

Sometimes, you’re the right person in the right place, whether you want to be or not.

•••••••••••

REVIEW: OF KINDNESS AND KILOWATTS is the third of four instalments in Susan Kaye Quinn’s post apocalyptic, speculative fiction, hope-punk, series of interconnected story lines set in the year 2050. OF KINDNESS AND KILOWATTS should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up shortly after the events of book two YOU KNEW THE PRICE.

Told from third person perspective (Akemi) OF KINDNESS AND KILOWATTS picks up immediately after the events of book two. Public Utilities Commissioner Akemi Sato is struggling in both his personal and professional life having lost his mother one year earlier, while his father’s mind slowly deteriorated as a result of the same pandemic but a visit from Zuri Hill-Gray (You Knew the Price 2) pulls Akemi into the search for the truth. As another airborne virus begins to ravage Huntington Beach, Akemi must begin an investigation into the blackouts, power surges, and the people behind a possible act of treason against the American people.

OF KINDNESS AND KILOWATTS reads like a PhD dissertation; a detailed and complex physics lecture, in both science fiction and fact, often overwhelming the story line premise. With the help of Zuri, and her tech-savvy friends, Akemi sets a plan into action to take down the people involved.

Copy supplied for review

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YET YOU CRY WHEN IT HURTS
Nothing Is Promised 4
by Susan Kaye Quinn
Genre: post apocalyptic, speculative fiction, Hopepunk, climate fiction

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 9, 2023

When the world is drowning, diplomacy is more than handshakes and headlines.

Nitara Desai has spent her life negotiating international agreements, easing points of conflict, and averting disasters. Worst-case scenarios belong in her nightmares, not the IEC’s daily reports. On a calm day, being a director at the International Energy Consortium only requires fixing CarbonCon translators for flustered Brazilian delegates. A thankless job, but the world is still drowning in CO2—there’s no choice but to keep treading.

On a bad day, it’s not just the Brazilians acting up, but the Americans walking out, and now the Governor of Southern California insisting on a clandestine meeting. Then a text comes from Matti, her solid rock in the stormy seas: Guess what? We’re getting married!

Suddenly, an earthquake is slow-rolling through her personal life as well.

She waited too long: to tell Matti how she feels, to quit the unwinnable race to net zero, to grab hold of the things that make life worth living, not just trying to stay afloat. When the governor reveals an impossible technology that could save the planet, but it’s in the hands of a murderously ambitious man, it’s a catastrophe she can’t turn away from. And it’s almost enough to distract her from everything falling apart. Work first, always.

And maybe that’s been the problem all along.

•••••••••

REVIEW: YET YOU CRY WHEN IT HURTS is the fourth and final instalment in Susan Kaye Quinn’s adult, near future NOTHING IS PROMISED post apocalyptic, speculative fiction, Hopepunk, climate fiction series of interconnected story lines set in the year 2050. YET YOU CRY WHEN IT HURTS should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up shortly after the events of book three OF KINDNESS AND KILOWATTS.

Told from third person perspective YET YOU CRY WHEN IT HURTS follows one man’s determination to take control of the world’s power supply. The people of Earth are struggling to find or make a clean, renewable source of power-Miller Zendek and James Ellis have developed something called zero point energy or ZPE, a system that opens up the universe and extracts energy, but in an effort to take control, Miller Zendek is ‘auctioning’ off the rights to the D-10 countries (think G7), hoping to become the world’s richest trillionaire. Nitara Desai, international treaty negotiator, is determined to stop Miller Zendek, at all costs, placing herself in the direct line of fire, a line that is quickly leading to her death. With the help of her team, and her best friend Matti, Nitara releases all of the specs and information about ZPE to the world, effectively destroying Miller’s quest for domination in the process.

Author Susan Kaye Quinn is a rocket scientist and an environmental engineer, and like the previous instalments YET YOU CRY WHEN IT HURTS reads like a PhD dissertation; a thought-provoking, detailed and complex physics lecture, in both science fiction and fact, often overwhelming the story line premise with copious acronyms (I had to keep a list), numerous people and culturally-specific names, as well as scientific terminology (again, both fact and fiction). The premise is well written, edgy and dramatic but often confusing and complicated; the characters are numerous, energetic and determined. The NOTHING IS PROMISED series is a cautionary tale of what ifs and whys.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

 

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Sweetest Awareness (Cruelest Oblivion 2) by MA Heard-Review Tour

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Sweetest Awareness (Cruelest Oblivion 2) by MA Heard-Review Tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 19, 2022

Over the past four decades, the dome over our Ecocity has protected us from the deviants living in the forbidden territory. Since the great war ended, our lives have consisted of virtue and order.

Once a year, seven people are sent out to the forbidden lands to see if there are any deviants worth saving. None have returned, only increasing people’s fear of what lies beyond the safe border of the dome.

When I’m chosen as a crusader, the world, as I know it, is ripped from under my feet. In the forbidden territory, I learn things I never dreamed existed – a world I’ve been totally oblivious to. I meet people who freely show emotion and affection. People who dare make their own choices.

It’s frightening and the opposite of everything I’ve ever known.

Suddenly, I have to fight for my life. I’m thrown into chaos where time is running out to become a skilled fighter who will be an asset for the coming war. But my mind’s bombarded with questions – who’s right and who’s wrong? Which side should I fight on?
I don’t belong in this world filled with cruelty and depravity.

Then there’s Chance, my reluctant trainer. The man is the definition of deadly and so attractive I struggle to think straight around him. I’m also pretty sure he would love nothing more than to snap my neck. Cruel, impatient, and harsh, he’s a brute who seems annoyed by my existence.

Honestly, I’m not sure I will survive living with the deviants, never mind fighting in a war. Unless I find my courage and learn to fight for myself, I fear this new world will crush me.

••••••

REVIEW: Sweetest Awareness is book two in the dystopian romance series by M.A. Heard.

Book one left us on the edge of our seats with an amazing cliff-hanger.

This book continues the story of Chance Daniels and Jasper “Jai” Matthias.

In book one Jai was cast out into the forbidden territory where she met Chance. Chance became the one person she could trust and the one person that protected her. This story continues with Jai and Chance entering the main ward. Their purpose of going there was to continue their training for war. But the war comes to them. The ward falls under attack by the insensates (a person who has been genetically modified not to feel any emotions and obey the commands of the emissaries) sent to kill them all. The loss and devastation of the attack is too much for Jai to handle and she decides to leave the ward and the love of her life, to return to the ecocity and take down the emissaries. This is the only way she knows that she can protect the ones she has come to love within her ward. On her way back to the ecocity she realizes her ally Kenzo has followed her. There is no way Kenzo will allow her to take on the ecocity by herself. They enter the ecocity under the darkness of night and head straight to Jai’s old house. After a quick shower and change of clothes she soon realizes that Chance and all she has come to care for has followed them and they decide that this is the time to take on the emissaries. To declare war.

Jai heads straight to the lab where her father works creating the insensates, she hopes to kidnap him and take him with her back to the forbidden territory.And they seize the opportunity to take down the ecocity, They retrieve Jai’s father, who in turn shuts down all the insensates. After that they decide to take on the emissaries. Once the war is over, they all must decide how to rebuild the ecocity as they know it. No longer will there be the virtuous and the deviants. They must come together to create a new world, a better world. One where women have a voice and say.
One where they can all live in harmony. Will they be able to rebuild their lives in a new world?
I loved how quickly this story progressed. I could not put it down.

I had to know if they were able to defeat the emissaries and bring about a one nation of those who remain. The bonds of friendship ran deep in this book, making me truly care for the characters. The book ended too quickly, I wasn’t ready to leave. I hope somewhere down the line there will be more books in this dystopian world. Wonderful storytelling and world building. Highly recommend it.

Click HERE for Erin’s review of book one CRUELEST OBLIVION

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Erin K

Michelle Heard is a Bestselling Romance Author who loves creating stories her readers can get lost in. She might have a slight obsession with alpha heroes who are not afraid to fight for their women.

Want to be up to date with what’s happening in my world? Sign up to receive the latest news on her alpha hero releases, sales, and great giveaways →http://eepurl.com/cUXM_P

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Siege by Robert DeSimone Jr-Review & Guest Post

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SIEGE by Robert DeSimone Jr-Review & Guest Post

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Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 14, 2022

Year 2096. Earth is at war with a reptile-like alien race known as Architects who have invaded the planet alongside their android armies. Rain Tessio and his brother Jax are drafted into the war and assigned to an isolated military supply depot called The Krag. Their sleepy assignment soon turns into a full-scale conflict when a small Architect army surrounds The Krag. To make matters worse, when one member of the unit is mysteriously killed, they discover that the killer is one of their own.

••••••

REVIEW:  SIEGE by Robert Desimone Jr is a post-apocalyptic, sci-fi thriller set in the year 2096.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise including graphic violence, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from third person perspective SIEGE focuses on Unit 27 Romeo, a group of 19 nineteen humans conscripted to protect an isolated military supply depot called The Krag. With very little experience between them, and hundreds if not thousands of androids surrounding the depot, the rag tag team of unskilled and non-miliary fighters are forced to defend something they know nothing about. One by one, each member of Unit 27 Romeo is plucked off and killed, and some begin to suspect a killer from within. A war between the humans and the aliens reveals a secret hidden deep within the Earth’s surface, a secret that may threaten the existence of the rest of humanity.

SIEGE is a quick read; a story focusing on an alien invasion of Earth wherein the inhabitants of Earth are struggling to survive, struggling against an enemy who themselves are battling to thrive. The fast paced premise is dramatic, imaginative and tragic ; the characters are energetic, ill-fated but determined.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

The Many Sides of Morality in Siege by Robert DeSimone Jr.

Probably the most important part of writing any story for me is having likeable characters you can get attached to. To know their histories, wants, fears, etc. One important theme that goes into most of my stories is morality. As something of a goody-two-shoes since I can remember, I love exploring the idea of morality in my characters. And it is the main theme I try to (and hopefully) convey in the science fiction/mystery novella Siege.

What’s interesting about morality is that it is completely subjective based on the individual and/or the culture. Some say that there are universal truths regarding morality including not killing or stealing, however, if you consulted a Viking raider from the 9th century, he may disagree based on the norms of his culture. Regardless, when I wrote the characters of Siege, I installed some of my own ideas on right and wrong.

The four aspects of morality I explored was separated into four characters: Rain, the serial killer, Sofia, and Binder. Rain, as the de facto protagonist, is a character who has a strict black-and-white sense of right and wrong and generally follows the universal truths of morality. After finding the alien infant Crocadelia, he spends a great deal of time making sure she is safe and fed despite some of his teammates voting to have her killed. In this instance, his teammates argued that because she was the same species as their enemy and because she may one day, far in the future, be a threat, she should be killed, but Rain chooses to advocate for her life because she has done nothing wrong and is an innocent regardless of her species. To him the decision is easy: she’s innocent so she must be protected. Nothing else matters.

Rain’s biggest moral dilemma, perhaps, is the perceived temptation of the beautiful electrical engineer Sofia. Because Rain has a girlfriend named Annabelle back home, the question is: will Rain betray Annabelle in favor of Sofia or will he stay loyal? While I present this dilemma to the reader as if it is a possibility, Rain never actually considers betraying Annabelle. He simply admits to himself that he’s attracted to Sofia and that’s as far as he’ll ever take it. Because he has a cookie-cutter sense of right and wrong, he sees everything in black and white and would never betray someone he made a promise to. And he would never delve into the world of grays to satisfy his lust because that’s not in his moral programming.

Sofia, on the other hand, represents the gray area of morality. Partway through the story, it is revealed that Sofia is afflicted with a disease that will kill her by her mid-fifties and there is no cure in sight. Because her life will be cut almost in half, in her I explored morality mixed with mortality. She has a clock that is constantly ticking in the back of her mind, which is further exacerbated by the threat of being killed at any point during the siege, which leads her to make decisions she may not normally make if she were completely healthy. While she is empathetic, caring, and very protective (especially towards Crocadelia), she is more than willing to steal Rain away from Annabelle because she feels she may not have the time a healthy person would have to find a partner she truly loves.

The serial killer lurking within the walls of The Krag represents amorality. After the serial killer’s childhood and upbringing is explored, it is revealed he suffered trauma, lacked a mother figure, had a non-existent social life, and murdered his first person at a young age. Due to this, he grew up without morality being a factor in his life. Morality, in a practical sense, serves as a buffer to keep people from engaging in horrible

Immorality was explored, mainly in the character of Binder, but also in a few other minor characters as well. Binder is presented as a selfish person with little sympathy towards anyone but himself. This is shown in his treatment of Osman, one of his subordinates. He also has no empathy towards the animals he paralyzed during his time as a research assistant. He remarked that he preferred paralyzing the test subjects from their necks rather than their backs because it was more convenient for him. It didn’t matter to him that he would cause extra suffering to the animal who would no longer have use to any of its limbs.

I enjoyed being able to explore these themes in Siege. When writing the immoral and amoral characters in Siege, I tried to present them as cautionary tales to those who have no regard for others because I can’t imagine one can have a fulfilling life without empathy towards others and no moral code whatsoever. Consequences usually follow bad deeds.

And while these are my opinions on morality, others may find that people who do the right thing simply use morality as  the excuse for being a coward. Another may not think animal experimentation is an immoral act, rather a practical one to obtain data. What importance do you think morality plays in a story or life for that matter?

 

Follow the Author: Facebook /  Website/ Goodreads

Robert DeSimone Jr. was born in Long Beach, CA on June 9th, 1987. He is the second of six children. His first job was as a computer technician before he began working various jobs in the fire service including as an EMT, fire cadet, and finally fire inspector.

Robert published his first short story in 2021. His favorite book is Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy. He spends much of his free time building his business as a writer and spending time with his wife and two dogs.

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Mind Bender / Dueling Timelines by Dean C Moore-reviews

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Mind Bender / Dueling Timelines (It Takes Two 1 & 2) by Dean C Moore-reviews

MIND BENDER
(It Takes Two 1)
by Dean C Moore
Genre: adult, futuristic, sci-fi, speculative thriller

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Globetrotting assassin, Amy Farr, and her ex-Navy SEAL partner, Trevor Hunter—the good guys—cross one continent and one country after another in an effort to retrieve a scientist’s formula.

Once injected with the mind-bending substance, ‘mind over matter’ stops being a catchy saying and becomes a reality.

In the right hands, it’s the stuff that new generation soldiers are made of. And in the wrong hands? When you think that few have the mind control of a Zen master, empowering the average joe’s imaginings, well . . . The formula is Armageddon in a bottle.

To get their hands on the substance, Amy and Trevor must face off against their counterparts: Curt Hammon, a sadist and Delta Forces commander with more than one team at his disposal; and Lara Lietoman, a mastermind and corporate head of a transnational empire of crime.

There’s nowhere to go in this world where Lara and Curt can’t track you. And the only one more tech-loving than our assassin Amy Farr, with her hands on even more cutting-edge stuff, is Lara.

It’s a clash of titans grown small in a world where each new tech breakthrough makes yesteryear’s giants seem like today’s roadkill.

••••••••••

REVIEW: MIND BENDER is the first instalment in Dean C Moore’s adult, futuristic IT TAKES TWO speculative/science fiction series.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise including graphic violence, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told in five acts, from several third person perspectives MIND BENDER focuses on the hunger for power; the ultimate control of the human psyche, and the world at large. Many of the world’s population are transhuman, injected with powerful nanobyte technology creating a humanistic cyborg but a scientist has developed a formula that when administered has the potential for biological warfare including the ability for humans to use thought projections turned into reality. From telekinetics, telepathy and manifestation, assassin Amy Farr, and ex-Navy SEAL Trevor Hunter find themselves in the jungles of Mexico, as self-administered guinea pigs when Amy ‘disposes’ of a vial of futuristic powers. Hoping to build an army of super soldiers, already genetically enhanced with nano technology, CEO Lara Lietoman and Curt Hammon, go in search of Amy and Trevor, in an effort to take back what doesn’t belong.

MIND BENDER is a story of what ifs? Of psychobiology in a world with a sentient AI reaching for singularity, at the expense of humanity and the world, at large. Dean C Moore pulls the reader into a fast paced, graphic, violent, complex and detailed adventure of science fiction and potential fact.

Copy supplied for review

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DUELING TIMELINES
(It Takes Two 2)
by Dean C Moore
Genre: adult, futuristic, sci-fi, speculative thriller, satire

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 1, 2022.

He’s the perfect assassin. He’s never failed. It doesn’t matter what the resistance is; he cuts through it like Kerry Pure Irish butter. Some are saying he’s enhanced; he’s gotta be. Android maybe. Nano-enhanced maybe. Genetically altered possibly.

But Amy Farr, the trained assassin sent after him, and her partner, Trevor Hunter, former Navy SEAL, fear something far worse.

They fear he isn’t enhanced at all.

So, either he’s some super-powered Zen monk China flushed out of a monastery in Tibet when they should have had the good sense to leave those poor people alone. Or, he’s an extraterrestrial. Those are about the only two options left.

It doesn’t help that Agent X has a penchant for taking out the most politically corrupt, highest-ranking string pullers on the planet; people whose every decision affects billions of lives for the worse. He gives them a choice: confess your crimes on tape, or eat the bullet.

That creates a moral dilemma for Amy and Trent. They see themselves as the avengers. And he’s definitely making them look like slackers on the subject of holding the really bad and entitled accountable to the really needy and disenfranchised.

But that’s what romantic relationships are for, to drive each other absolutely crazy second-guessing their every decision, in between all the smooching and ripped-through Spandex.

As Agent X gets one deep state operative to confess after another, their shocking testimonials are broadcasted into another timeline as part of the experiment. Does the truth set us free, or is too much too soon too detrimental, if people are jumping out of windows out of the sense of horror?

Tired of an era of endless deep state overreach, of false flag events and psyops run against the many peoples of the world, Amy and Trevor are eager to prop up The Truth Shall Set You Free Timeline with the right strategic moves. But which timeline truly serves the greater good?

•••••••••

REVIEW: DUELING TIMELINES is the second instalment in Dean C Moore’s adult, futuristic techno-thriller IT TAKES TWO speculative /sci-fi series. DUELING TIMELINES is a stand alone, not connected to book one, but a stand alone with the same lead characters as MIND BENDER-Amy Farr and Trevor Hunter. You do not have to have read MIND BENDER to understand or comprehend the current timeline.

Told from third person perspectives DUELING TIMELINES is a satirical look at real-world conspiracy theories come to life in a futuristic time. Earth is now occupied and controlled by a serpent-like species known as Draco, and assassin Amy Farr, and her now husband, former US Navy SEAL Trevor Hunter work for an organization called Earth Command. Nano-byte technology has improved such that reanimation, cloning and molecular transportation are the norm but the people of Earth are unaware and oblivious to what’s going on.

DUELING TIMELINES is a satirical tale blending as many modern-day conspiracy theories into a sci-fi adventure of dueling timelines, fallen angels, God and spirituality. From the ultimate control by the world’s oligarchs-Big Pharma, Industry, Financial, Military and Technology to the ascending knowledge of the Dark Web, Deep Web, Deep State and ‘Dark ET’ powers, the conspiracies turned reality asks the questions: Are we all actors on a giant stage controlled by a higher power? Or are we all watching a fraudulent play from the false comfort of our homes as the world implodes?

Copy supplied for review

Reviews by Sandy

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Printed People (Elektra 1) by Dean C Moore-Review & Excerpt

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Printed People (Elektra 1) by Dean C Moore-Review & Excerpt

 

Release Week ONLY 99¢ USD Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 17, 2021

Come face to face with the breakaway science that spreads humanity throughout the solar system in record time, from its humble beginnings as a means to rescue one man from locked-in syndrome, so he could pursue his lady love.

The Printed People technology rapidly finds many other applications, all alarming.

But none so much as the birth of a solar system empire and war machine—as much the greatest purveyor of peace and enlightenment ever, as of wanton death and destruction.

Meet Elektra, a product of CRISPR engineering with a four-digit IQ, the general in command of the space fleet that goes toe-to-toe with far more evolved alien empires—even as the solar system infrastructure is still being set up.

Meet the Printed People and androids who will hold both the Athenian, peace-loving, and the Spartan, war-loving factions together.

And meet the detectives who unravel the mysteries whose hidden truths neither side wants found out.

•••••••

REVIEW:PRINTED PEOPLE is an adult, sci-fi, space opera by Dean C Moore that focuses on the fall-out of one brilliant but mad man’s desire to reunite with the woman he once loved but in doing so set into motion a series of events that would result in a catastrophic, universal tsunami of death and destruction.

Told in eleven acts, following several time lines, using intersecting and connected paths PRINTED PEOPLE focuses on immortality in the form of ‘ printed people’. In the early twenty-first century, genius Gunter Friq designed bioprinters that could be configured to ‘print’ hybrid lifeforms both silicon and carbon, in which one’s mind could be uploaded for a longer if not immortal life but Gunter’s earlier trials were a disastrous failure, claiming the lives of a billion people in a matter of days. In an effort to stop Gunter Friq, and the future fall-out of an inter-stellar war, womb-crawler, CRISPR modified warrior, engineered and omnipotent Elektra returns to the past to warn Bella, her younger self, that all is not well in the distant future, and the future of the universe is in the literal hands of two humans who must uncover the truth, and stop a madman before he destroys the world.

PRINTED PEOPLE is a complex, detailed and lengthy ‘space opera’ with a very large cast of characters including the 1000 IQ or four-dij wizards of brilliance and genius: a tale of technology, physiology, biology and of philosophical conundrums but moreso a look at the sociological theory of ever evolving interactions and patterns at both the macro and micro levels. PRINTED PEOPLE prompts the reader to ask questions of how, why or should we, resulting in a conflict between worlds in a war for power and control. Sentience, or consciousness not only of the biological but of the silicon based lifeforms, AI, avatars, spaceships, otherwordly aliens, the ether and more. By referencing historical philosophers, mathematicians, geniuses (including Elon Musk), PRINTED PEOPLE asks the question …what if?

Prepare to have your mind blown…

My only complaint is the overall length of book one. I think perhaps a three-part trilogy may have been easier to digest than all at once.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

 

 

            He gulped. This time there was plenty of spit to spare. He’d spouted a regular Niagara, as his screwy nervous system, on overload for some time now, continued to overreact to his every thought.

            “War with whom!” he blurted.

            “There’s no one in Sol worthy of a four-dij general of her caliber, certainly not the other secret space programs, individually, or combined. That means she’ll be seeking something a bit more stimulating.”

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While action-packed sci-fi/techno-thrillers set in the near future are my forte, I also stray into other genres from time to time, such as space operas, paranormal fantasy, and detective stories. All my novels can be described as action-thrillers, no matter the sub-genre.

You can sample my writing with a free sci-fi e-book set in the near future by visiting my website https://deancmoore.com and signing up for my email list.

I live in the country where I breed bluebirds, which are endangered in these parts, as my small contribution to restoring nature’s balance. When I’m not writing, or researching my next book, I may also be found socializing with friends, or working in the garden.

If you’d like to know what compels me to write, it’s simple. I write as a force for peace. Fiction has a way of engaging our whole minds, not just our intellects, but various layers of our conscious, superconscious, and unconscious. Novels also encourage our left and right cerebral hemispheres to get in sync and, with just enough magic and wizardry, can help to transform people into more enlightened souls (the writer included) better than a hundred years of therapy or rational arguments to the same ends.

I’ve remained a lifelong student of philosophy, spirituality, psychology, science, and the arts.

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Beasts of Sonara by Shawn C. Butler-Review & Guest Post

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Beasts of Sonara by Shawn C. Butler-Review & Guest Post

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 12, 2021

They can save millions of lives, if she doesn’t kill them first

Tourist Raymond Molina finds the body of a young biologist in a Costa Rican bay—apparent victim of a shark attack—but no one knows how she got there. As Ray searches for what really happened to her, he stumbles onto the best kept secret in the natural world.

This is a secret hidden for centuries by residents of the coastal town of Sonara, protected by intelligent but violent animals unknown anywhere else on earth, and coveted by a massive biotech company that will do anything to discover the truth—no matter the cost.

And behind it all is a creature with the power to cure disease, all disease…or kill everyone on earth.

••••••

REVIEW:BEASTS OF SONARA by Shawn C Butler is an adult, speculative fiction, thriller focusing on surfing instructor Raymond Melina, and a small Costa Rican town, its’ population, and the sentient beasts with magical properties.

Three years after the death of his beloved, Raymond Melina finds himself living and surfing in the small coastal town of Sonara, Costa Rica, a town whose secrets run dangerous and deep but as the powers and people are called to perform, Raymond is pulled towards the past, a past closely connected to the family he never knew. The death of a young woman leaves too many unexplained questions, questions that can only be answered by the beasts involved, and Raymond is unwilling to sit back without first uncovering the truth. Meanwhile, Nomanity, a biotech firm out of San Jose, wants access to the beasts and their secrets but all is not well in the small coastal town of Sonara, as Raymond will discover, the past holds heartbreak and death, betrayal and guilt, and threats to the world’s population now and in the future, threats that Nomanity may want to control, for themselves.

BEASTS OF SONARA is a complex, detailed, haunting and captivating speculative-fiction story line of animal sentience, genetic manipulation, and immortality: a character driven twisted tale of family, tragedy, power and control. Shawn C Butler pulls the reader into a fascinating and intriguing tale of one small town where nobody grows old, and (almost) everyone lives to see another day.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Believability in Science Fiction is a Myth

Much has been written about believability in science fiction. We live in an age where everyone writes and publishes and there is no more gatekeeper to the digital world than a keyboard and momentary inspiration. There was nothing new under the sun long before the internet, and now a million people prove it every day. We live in the golden age of the derivative. So perhaps it’s time to dispel of one great myth about good speculative fiction–that it has to be believable. It does not and, honestly, I can think of nothing less interesting.

Speculative fiction traditionally comprises science fiction, fantasy and horror, and perhaps magical realism. All fiction is, in some sense a lie; you’re telling a story about something that never happened, never will happen, and probably couldn’t happen. With speculative fiction, the lie is bigger; in science fiction, you might have to accept that spaceships might someday span the vast space between stars; in fantasy, that elves exist and are magical; and, in horror, that monsters might be real.

What makes us read these deceptively woven threads of impossibility is not that they’re believable, but that we want to escape to a world that is far from this world–another place that does not exist, where different rules apply, and we can run through fields of man-eating plants as werewolves howl at the twin moons in dismay and confusion and alien satellites burn across the darkling sky. It is not believability we want, but a lie told with elegance and respect for our intelligence so that we feel transported rather than merely deceived.

This is pretty obvious if you think about it. No one watches Star Wars, Star Trek, Alien or even Arrival because they believe they’re based on scientific reality. The Force is just magic by another name, beaming is suicide combined with impossibility introduced for budgetary reasons (and don’t get me started on Tricorders), the face-eating alien might as well be a demon for all the logic of its behavior and indestructibility, and a language for time travel? Wondrous. Glorious. But as far from believability as feldspar is from gold. Also…spoilers?

Even if you read Hail Mary and love the hard-science wrappings, Mark Watney v2.0 is still flying around in a spaceship discovering new civilizations and saving them by being Space MacGyver. It’s cool, compelling, smart and fun reading. But believable? Not so much, and it doesn’t have to be because it’s brilliantly true-to-expectations. Which is more than good enough.

And that is really the truth of good speculative fiction; it delivers on readers’ expectations as framed by the genre and the promise made on the book cover and blurb. In the case of science fiction, this means a well-constructed world or universe based on at least passingly explained technology wherein characters behave in a manner consistent with that world. In other words, it’s not believability we seek, but consistency, credibility and wonder. Nothing is really explained in Annihilation, and who cares? It’s a wild freakin’ ride.

If you read hard science fiction, credibility is based on detailed explanations of technology and how it applies to the world occupied by our main characters (e.g., The Martian or Jurassic Park). In softer science fiction, it’s about the feel of a world defined by new but less laboriously explained technologies (e.g., Star Trek or The Broken Earth).

For sub-genres, credibility depends on more specific expectations. In time travel books, you’d better explain how traveling through time is possible and make at least a passing nod to paradoxes (e.g., Looper). For space opera, there needs to be vast political intrigue constrained by the limitations of future technologies (e.g., Foundation, A Memory Called Empire or The Interdepency). When you hear the term “true to genre,” it’s not about writing a formulaic novel by a set of rigid rules; it’s about delivering the reader what they expected, or close enough to feel you’re respecting their needs as a sentient human being. Or, and this is a rare thing, subverting those expectations with such grace and brilliance the reader is grateful for the ride (e.g., most Cormac McCarthy books, but especially No Country for Old Men or The Road).

If you look at the best science fiction of the past and today (The Time Machine, Frankenstein, Stranger in a Strange Land, Foundation, Childhood’s End, Dune, Ringworld, Broken Earth, Annihilation, etc.), literally none of it is even close to believable–it would be boring if it was–but it’s compelling, internally consistent and tells a great story. Credibility is a measure of how well you draw the reader in and keep them there, not whether you can explain how genetic engineering works in Blade Runner (hint: it makes no damn sense…and almost no one cares).

So stop trying to make your books believable. Instead, ask yourself what the reader expects, think of them as intelligent beings looking for escape and enlightenment, and then write a book that shows them respect, gives them joy, and every once in a while causes an exclamation of surprise or bark of laughter. Preferably both. If you do this with a compelling world and empathetic characters, you’re already delivering more than most speculative fiction today.

With regard to respecting your audience, nothing, and I mean nothing, will destroy your reader’s confidence in your world and writing more than inconsistency or blatant disrespect. Game of Thrones was never believable even as fantasy, but it was hella compelling as a TV series until the showrunners forgot about the rules of the universe–and the very spirit of George RR Martin’s books–and drove the show off a cliff. In contrast, The Expanse is (so far) consistent, the characters are real-ish people, and I’ve never once felt forced to swallow something absurd or ignore a glaring plot hole. Fingers crossed for the last book and season six (Please don’t screw it up. Please don’t screw it up. Please don’t screw it up). GoT lost its fans by the millions because HBO stopped caring about the story, and started caring more about how to suck money out of its nominally captive audience. So, you know, don’t do that.

Instead, write for the smart and curious child inside every reader that wants to escape to an incredible new world for a few minutes or hours, learn something new, imagine things never before seen, and generally not care whether it’s all believable or not. I don’t believe the sand worms in Dune are even vaguely plausible, but god I love that they exist on the page and in my mind. I’ll be forever grateful for that.

And my only hope is that sometimes I write well enough to make a few readers feel this same joy and gratitude for even a fleeting second of the time they’ve given me. When I wrote Beasts of Sonara, it never once occurred to me to that it should be realistic or believable. These things can’t happen. The world just doesn’t work like that. But wouldn’t it be awesome if it did?

~~Shawn C Butler~~

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