Tyndal by M.A. Abraham – a Review

Tyndal by M.A. Abraham – a Review

 

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Description:
As Angelika’s godmother and a member of an organization called “The Angels”, Tyndal has followed in her family’s footsteps in the outside world. Their place is to make the world a better place to live. Her time to continue her work has come to an end. In helping Angelika Leanne return to her home world, she has made a deadly enemy, one that will do whatever it takes to learn her secrets.

When Tyrus receives news that Tyndal has been injured, he goes to her rescue, his friend, Rhys, follows him. To Rhys’ surprise, he falls in love with the woman he is about to meet. They, however, come from different worlds. Or do they?

 

 

Review:

Tyndal by M.A. Abraham is a novella from her Daughters of the Valley series.  In the last book, Angelika, Ravel and Rafe managed to return home to their world.  Tyndal, who is Angelika’s godmother, stayed back in her outside world.  When Tyrus welcomes the three back, he notices a slight image of someone from the past; a dangerous enemy.  Concerned for Tyndal, Tyrus and Rhys enter the outside world to help Tyndal, but they are too late, as she has been injured and kidnapped.  

Tyndal is a member of an organization called “The Angels”, and before she is hurt, she signals her friends to rescue her.  Tyrus and Rhys, meet some of the Angels, and together, with Rhys ability to sense where Tyndal is, they work on a plan to find her, and her captor.

We learn more about “the Angels”, whom Tyndal actually named each one based on the true Archangels, (Michael, Gabriel, Lucifier, etc to name a few).  The last half of this novella was very exciting, nonstop action to save Tyndal, and the enemy was a bad villain.  I loved how Rhys sensed Tyndal, as well as helping to heal her; which changed her body to be young again.

What follows is a wonderful fun and exciting story, with a slow burn romance of two people (Tyndal and Rhys) destined to become mates. I really enjoyed seeing all the wonderful characters Abraham has given us, especially the new Angels.  This is a story that you need to read and enjoy, so giving too much information would ruin it.  M.A. Abraham once again gives us a sweet lighthearted story line, and dangerous excitement.  I suggest you read Tyndal.  It was a fun read.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy supplied for Review

 

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Arachniss by Shawn C Butler-Review & Guest Post

Arachniss by Shawn C Butler-Review & Guest Post

 

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 2 2022.

Who would you sacrifice to save what you love?

David just wants to write children’s books and spend time with his infant son Jason. The only problem is, something’s eating Jason.

Something’s eating everyone, bit by bit, inch by inch, and no one else notices. They have great stories about how they lost a limb here or a body part there, until they lose something they can’t live without and just…vanish.

Jason’s just missing a pinky today. No, wait, two. And a toe. His son is dissolving in front of him, and David will do anything to save him.

But how can David save his son from something no one can see?

•••••••

REVIEW: ARACHNISS by Shawn C Butler is a stand alone, adult, sci-fi, horror thriller focusing on children’s book author David Chambers in the months and years after a ‘viral pandemic’ has killed or maimed most of the world’s population. Known as the vanishing or erasure but formally called SHAS-selective human autosarcophagic syndrome-a virus of unknown origins, SHAS ‘eats’ away at body parts, sometimes eating away at the entire human existence.

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

Told from third person perspective (David ) ARACHNISS follows children’s book author David Chambers as he struggles in both his personal and professional life but a struggle that also includes years of potential hallucinations in which spider-like creatures are slowly or sometimes quickly devouring the people of Earth. David believes he is going mad. Every day millions of people are losing body parts from an unknown cause, memories erased without knowing what happened or why, but at some point David will discover that his hallucinations are real, a virtual albeit actual front row seat, into the demise of the human existence. The majority of Earth’s population have accepted their fate as a side affect of the SHAS pandemic but a few ‘lucky’ inhabitants, including David Chambers and his neighbor Franzia, bear first-person witness to the truth that lies beyond the veil of human acceptance and comprehension.

ARACHNISS reads like a study in social psychology; a sociological study of humanity and human nature; a psychological test of power and control bearing similarities to the Milgram Yale Obedience experiments of the 1960s. With a slight nod to more famous works of science fiction -War of the Worlds by HG Wells, Twilight Zone’s TO SERVE MAN episode, The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, and Soylent Green by Harry Harrison-ARACHNISS is a graphic, detailed, haunting and complex story of artificial intelligence, alien invasion, human nature in opposition to everything around us, and the obliviousness of mankind. The thought provoking premise is dramatic and visceral; the characters are tormented, desperate, dismayed and vulnerable. ARACHNISS follows David Chambers as he must come to terms with those in charge, terms that would choose between life and death for the people he loves.

Heed my warning, ARACHNISS is a graphically detailed story line that will not be suitable for all readers.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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As a relatively new author, one thing I’m constantly focused on is how to build the most compelling worlds for my readers. This means not just things that are cool or make you say “Wow!” when you’re supposed to be sleeping, but all the details that make a story and its characters feel real and thus relatable.  So, here are some of the rules I try to follow

Ten Sci-Fi World-Building Rules

As with all systems, you can probably come up with a hundred rules for world building, some vital, some trivial, and spend the rest of your writing life making sure you’re doing things “right.” There is no absolute right in science fiction world building, but there are pretty basic rules that will help you avoid obvious issues that will cost you readers.

The following are ten of those rules, which are a bit random because they reflect where I am in my writing career and process. A year ago, I probably focused on more basic issues. A year from now, I’ll be worried about something else, like what to do with all this money (buy one gumball, or two?). These are the ten that most concern me in my current WIPs.

1 / Know why you’re building worlds in the first place

All of my published works take place on Earth within 100 years of the present, in locations you can find on a map today (or close). The world building for these books was therefore the minimum necessary to encompass new technology, politics and the occasional alien invasion. I wanted this proximity to reality because each book is clearly about today’s society and/or warnings for things to come. You, however, might want to escape the planet, solar system, universe and time-space continuum entirely. Which is great. Just keep in mind that the more you leave the known, the greater obligation you have to build a world the reader can understand…and appreciate.

So ask yourself, are you building a world because it’s a cool way to procrastinate, and it’s fun, or because that’s what you need to tell the story? Neither answer is correct, but the more time you spending building the less time you spend writing…unless you’re building a world that will be used for multiple works, in which case, build away.

2  / Be internally consistent

Whether you’re writing fantasy or science fiction, the structure and behavior of your world should remain consistent by whatever set of rules you’ve defined for that world. If they’re not, you’re going to lose readers and, if you care, get worse reviews.

In Dune, there are rules about (not having) computers and artificial intelligence that allow for the semi-religious power dynamic of the books (not to mention the dependence on spice for navigation in space). Frank Herbert can’t then have robots magically appear later on to solve some poorly thought-out plot issue.

In Star Wars, you can’t jump straight from one point to another in space without running into things, which at least retroactively explains why the Kessel Run record was expressed in distance and not time (using the shortest safe route). The same franchise runs into massive consistency problems in later installments when, for instance, we learn that you can fly any ship into another at “lightspeed” (which in Star Wars is much faster than the speed of light) and destroy it, making it obvious that you could have obliterated the Death Star or anything else just by ramming it with a small ship. This breaks the plotline of almost every Star Wars film.

So, if you give readers a rule, you need to follow it unless there’s a clear and rational reason not to, and all other rules should make sense in that context. To understand how hard this is, look at Marvel’s Avengers. It’s practically impossible to keep clear which superhero has which relative power because they keep changing according to the needs of a movie or scene. We overlook this because we love the movies, but you probably won’t be as lucky in your books…

3 / If it’s in the near future, there should be a clear path from here to there

In writing Run Lab Rat Run, I had in mind a series of prequels that explained how the world got to where it was (as a hierarchical genetic dystopia), and thus left a lot of this backstory out of the book. A few readers asked how all this madness happened, and I realized that (absent the prequels), I’d left the backstory too vague. I can’t fix that now, but in future novels, this will be a key checklist item for me. Meanwhile, the prequels are coming!

4 / If it’s in the distant future or after a disaster that breaks the connection between the past and present, that should be clear

This is rarely a problem, as authors love to write about disasters / end of the world / plagues / meteors / viruses / invasions / loud noises that result in the rapid decline of society so they can talk about a woman and her dog lost in the radioactive wastelands of wherever, but it’s vitally important that you as an author understand what happened, when, why and how it impacts the world of your story–and communicate enough of this to give the reader an anchor.

Don’t get me wrong; sometimes this horrific event is the very thing you want to hide. In Planet of the Apes, the surprise is that the planet of brainy but mean apes is …Earth! Spoiler? Hmm. Anyway, you might be intentionally hiding parts of the world’s history to allow for this type of reveal, but it should still be very clear how the world got from A to B (at least by the end). I’m assuming the apes drank too much Red Bull.

5 / No matter what the world looks like, your story should be more about people / beings and the obstacles they face than the technology itself

I remember reading Larry Niven’s short stories, including one about how someone died inside an allegedly impenetrable General Products hull. But even with a black hole, killer gravity, an invincible ship and concerns about warranty violations, the story is still about a guy trying to solve a problem before he dies. Which is basically the same story as The Martian, where we care about Mark Watney a lot more than the technology he’s trying to salvage.

6 / You should have a massive backstory that never goes in your book

Because this gives your world a feeling of fullness / richness that you don’t get if there’s just a skeleton and no flesh. In world building articles, they’ll often talk about this in terms of hard vs. soft world building, which is different from hard vs. soft science fiction. Hard SF concerns itself heavily with science and the details of technology, while soft SF tends to use technology and science as (important) background that’s not central to the story. Hard world building is about how much of the world you know and show to the reader (a lot), whereas soft world building means more is implied and less is shown. I tend to think that even if you’re writing soft SF and doing soft world-building, you should still know far more about the world than the reader does.

The challenge here is, of course, that you’ve built this cool world and you want to show it to everyone. Trust me, almost no one cares. Share the parts that move the story forward and hide the rest. If you want to add adjunct materials to your website, great (I have a massive glossary for Run Lab Rat Run), but leave it out of the book. The story will move faster, the reader will stay more engaged, and your books will do better.

Why develop all this if you’re not showing it? Because you need to know how, when, where and why things happen even if the reader doesn’t. Otherwise, you’ll have trouble fleshing out the story and remaining internally consistent (See #2).

7 / The same is true of characters

Meaning, you should know the backstory of your characters even if the reader doesn’t need to. Where did they go to space laser college? Did they graduate with a minor in Babble Fish? What’s the scar from? Is they cybernetic right arm haunted or just made by the lowest bidder? Do they have past trauma their working through, and how does it affect them in your story? Do they prefer Twizzlers or Red Vines (there is a right answer, and it rhymes with lead mines).

Whenever I read something by Margaret Atwood, for instance, I know she knows way more about the characters than she’s telling, and that brings them to life. You know, until they die horribly. And then you’re really sad about that.

8 / If you’re doing hard science fiction, get your science right

Let me correct that: If you’re writing anything that is based on fact, even if it’s only the facts in your world, get it right. Don’t leave the reader picking up your bad math, physics, chemistry, laser optics or (in fantasy) spells. That’s not their job. This is especially true if you’re writing in areas that have…hobbyists. Enthusiasts? For instance, never screw up military ranks, military history, guns (even space guns), gravity, relativistic math, time travel paradox magicology, genetics, etc. At least one of your readers is going to have a PhD in that thing, and they’ll let everyone know you screwed up.

9 / In soft SF, the feel of your world matters more than the details (but see #2)

And because the feel of your world and its characters matter more than detailed scientific exposition, I’d suggest changing the minimum number of things from present reality and culture to tell your story. If having nineteen genders isn’t relevant or important, then leave it out. If you’re not comfortable changing languages and dialects, don’t. Tell your story using the world you build; don’t let the world take over your story. For instance, I love the lingo in Clockwork Orange and Blade Runner, but I try to minimize linguistic quirks in what I write so I’m not constantly explaining what a word means. Change a few things that matter, and move on. A little goes a long way.

10 / Minimize jargon, abbreviations, acronyms, etc.

One thing I know is technically “wrong” about Run Lab Rat Run is that there will be far more changes in language than I present in the book (whether my predicted future comes to pass or not). The reason is simple; if you’re not a native of that future world, you’ll need a while to learn the language, culture, usage, etc., and you don’t have time for full-immersion language class in the middle of your book. Your novel isn’t Lord of the Rings (sorry), where you can spend time developing entire languages and the reader will go along for the ride. They probably won’t. They won’t even look at a glossary if you put it in the book. You’ll just frustrate and lose your audience. For instance, I used “WIP” in the intro paragraphs (for Work in Progress). Many probably knew what it meant, but many didn’t, and I didn’t gain anything by using the acronym.

11 / Have a Little Fun

World building is a blast, and a great way to procrastinate. Don’t focus just on the serious stuff. What changes / new things are in this world that your reader will find humorous, disgusting or both? Put some of that in there. Science Fiction is about imagining alternate worlds and futures, including all of their glorious absurdity. If your dominant species is dogs, there should be some butt sniffing and dry humping because that’s what dogs do. If it’s about genetic engineering, like some of my books, then there’s going to be some random, stupid, irresponsible genetic experimentation that’s worth a joke or two (e.g., the sex model references in RLRR). Include eleven items in a list of ten. Get crazy.

In Blade Runner’s infamous “I only do eyes scene,” a replicant eyeball is placed on a man’s shoulder. It’s disturbing, threatening, and darkly funny, but it also reveals how truly synthetic the replicants are. In The Martian, we learn that you can’t grow potatoes on Mars without poop, which is both funny and pretty essential to not dying. If you’re enjoying your world, your readers will too. Unless they’re Vogons, in which case, run before the poetry starts.

Other Resources

It might surprise you to know that I’m not the first one to write about world building in science fiction. Here are some other articles that do a good job, especially the John Fox one. Most of them conflate SF with Fantasy as if all speculative fiction is just one big blob, but the rules are pretty much the same (just replace magic with science or vice versa).

Thanks your time. I look forward to hearing about your new worlds.

Peace, Shawn

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Leko (Lunar Uprising 3) by Cyndi Friberg-a review

Leko (Lunar Uprising 3) by Cyndi Friberg-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release January 18, 2022

Hating aliens is Julia’s family business. Can Leko reach beyond a lifetime of resentment and teach her that love knows no boundaries?

Leko, a powerful lunar raider, is working undercover in an anti-alien militia when he encounters Julia. Instantly he knows she is his mate, but he came to Earth to uncover a Morax plot, not succumb to bonding fever.

Julia knows there is something special about Leko. She has never reacted to anyone the way she reacts to him. Still, she refuses to consider the reason. Circumstances soon throw them together and force her to face the truth. The “man” she is falling in love with is an alien, and her father is not what he seems.

•••••••

REVIEW: LEKO is the third instalment in Cyndi Friberg’s adult LUNAR UPRISING sci-fi, romance series. This is lunar raider/recon commander Leko aka Lee, and human female Julia Levitt’s story line. LEKO can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion as there is an ongoing premise throughout.

SOME BACKGROUND: Eight years earlier, six Pylorian spaceships arrived on Earth asking for asylum claiming they were fleeing their immortal enemy, the wolf-like Morax, but in the ensuing years, the Pylorian began to take control, using their considerable powers to force the governments of Earth to do their bidding. In an effort to protect Earth, the Pylorian’s claim to have cultivated aka created the lunar raiders, a hybrid of three alien species (Morax, Pylorian, Dox Tory) one of which reacts instantly when their destined mate is near.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Julia and Leko) LEKO follows Leko, a lunar raider who has been sent to Earth, on a covert mission, to ferret out information about the human male Hank Levitt, and his relationship to the lunar raider rebels, a relationship that may be predicated upon a need for war. Earth has been target in a war for power and control, and the influx of Pylorians, Morax and Lunar raiders means someone is lying, using humans in the process. Leko is determined to uncover Hank’s relationship and involvement with the rebels, a mission that places Leko side by side with his fated mate. Enter Hank’s daughter Julia Levitt, and the woman with whom Leko will fall in love. What ensues is the quick building relationship between Leko and Julia, and the potential fall-out as the Levitt family has been targeted, and not everyone will survive.

Hank Levitt believes the enemy lives among them, and has sided with the Morax, in an attempt to save Earth from future invasion but Hank’s trust has been misguided, and the result places his family, including Julia, in the direct line of fire, a fire that Leko and his troops must stop before it destroys the woman he loves.

The relationship between Leko and Julia is quick to develop- an insta lust/love due in part to fated mates. Leko knows immediately Julia is his mate but pretending to be a human hybrid more confusing to our story line heroine. Julia believes the edicts of her father, and finds herself one of the instruments of potential destruction. Falling for Leko means going against her father’s rulings but our heroine will discover that her father’s directives are those of a power-hungry someone else. As Leko bides his time (a few days) before claiming his mate, Julia realizes nothing can stop the fated attraction between herself and the man with whom she is quickly falling in love.The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters included Leko’s guardian Numid; commander Dracus; Julia’s friend Addison; Julia’s father Hank, her brothers David, Jess, Billy and Kyle, as well as the return of Zorak and Cat; and Rogar’s mate Marisol. There is something developing between Addison and Dracus. The requisite evil has many faces including Kwamar, Morax warrior and commander.

LEKO is a story of betrayal and lies, obsession and vengeance, racism, discrimination and specieism, friendships, family, relationships and fated love. The fast paced premise is entertaining and moving but unlike the previous instalments, most of the story line takes place on Earth; the romance is heated and intense; the characters are colorful, energetic and determined.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Zorak
Rogar

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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Claimed by the Cyborgs (The Colony 9) by Grace Goodwin-a review

Claimed by the Cyborgs (The Colony 9) by Grace Goodwin-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 1, 2021.

Prillon warrior Thomar Arcas is the royal heir to his ancestor’s legacy of dishonor, betrayal and death. When he was captured by the Hive, some on his home world cheered. Some sighed with relief. None shed a tear.

Thomar, along with his second, Varin, break free and destroy an enemy base, barely escaping with their lives. They transport to The Colony, the last refuge for contaminated males. Upon arrival they suffer in agony, their cyborg implants fighting for control of the powerful warriors.

Defeat is not in their blood. Not in their history. Not in their souls. Unable to sever their ties to the Hive implants, and suffering unrelenting pain, the warriors are about to choose an honorable death over further disgrace; until they are matched to a human female from Earth who very much needs their broken pieces to make herself whole. A female whom they crave with an intensity that just might pull them back from the brink of death.

Danika Gray left Earth to start a new life. With every touch, every kiss, every moment in their arms she finds herself closer to the paradise she seeks. But how can she free her new mates from endless torment? Fight an enemy she cannot see?

Love and passion are her only weapons. Lust. Desire. She must surrender everything she is —give in to their insatiable hunger—in order to save them.

Even that might not be enough.

••••••

REVIEW:CLAIMED BY THE CYBORGS is the ninth instalment in Grace Goodwin’s adult INTERSTELLAR BRIDES: THE COLONY erotic, sci-fi, romance series. This is former Prince and Prillon warrior Thomar Arcas, his second Captain Varin Mordin, and twenty-three year old, human female Danika Gray’s story line. CLAIMED BY THE CYBORGS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous storyline is revealed where necessary.

Told from three first person perspectives (Thomar, Varin and Danika) CLAIMED BY THE CYBORGS follows human female Danika Gray as she is matched to Prillon warrior as part of the interstellar brides program. Not only will Danika be mated to Thomar but also to Thomar’s second Varin Mordin but all is not well with Danika’s intended mates, as Thomar’s mind remains connected to the hive, and the connection is slowly destroying his mind. Being matched with two powerful warriors, Danika finds herself ‘feeling’ their pain but quickly discovers that she can hear the cries and pain of women left behind. What ensues is the highly erotic romance and relationship between Thomar, Varin and Danika, and the potential fall-out as the Hive implants are slowly killing our story line trio.

Thomar Arcas believes he is too volatile for a mate but his immediate reaction to Danika proves too strong to ignore. Making Varin promise to protect the woman with whom they will both fall in love Thomar accepts that his time may be limited but his desire to claim Danika is stronger than he could have ever imagined. Danika is a strong willed woman and she refuses to let Thomar lay down and die. When the cries of imprisoned women begin to affect her peace of mind, Danika, along with Thomar and Varin put a plan into action to rescue the women , and anyone who wishes to free from the Hive.

The relationship between Danika, Thomar and Arvin is fated ; one of immediate and undeniable attraction and need; highly erotic, sexual and uninhibited. Thomar struggles with his attraction to a woman tied to a man who is unable to control the voices and pain but Danika has already fallen for her two intended mates. The $ex scenes are erotic, edgy, passionate and intense.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including several of the previous story line couples.

CLAIMED BY THE CYBORGS is a story of fate and love. The premise is captivating; the romance is seductive ; the characters are energetic and impassioned

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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

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

 

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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

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.

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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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A Swift and Savage Tide by Chloe Neill – a Review

A Swift and Savage Tide by Chloe Neill – a Review

 

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Description:
Captain Kit Brightling is Aligned to the magic of the sea, which makes her an invaluable asset to the Saxon Isles and its monarch, Queen Charlotte. The Isles and its allies will need every advantage they can get: Gerard Rousseau, the former Gallic emperor and scourge of the Continent, has escaped his island prison to renew his quest for control of the Continent.

Gerard has no qualms about using dangerous magic to support his ambitions, so Kit and the crew of her ship, the Diana, are the natural choice to find him—and help stop him. Sparks fly when Kit’s path unexpectedly crosses with that of the dashing and handsome Rian Grant, Viscount Queenscliffe, who’s working undercover on the Continent in his own efforts to stop Gerard. But he’s not the only person Kit is surprised to see. An old enemy has arisen, and the power he’ll wield on Gerard’s behalf is beautiful and terrible. Sparks will fly and sails will flutter as Kit and crew are cast onto the seas of adventure to fight for queen and country.

 

 

 

Review:

A Swift and Savage Tide by Chloe Neill is the 2nd book in her A Captain Kit Brightling Novel seafaring fantasy series. I loved the first book in this series, and happy to say this one was just as much fun, exciting and enjoyable.  Refresher: Kit Brightling, our heroine, is one of the few female captains for the Queen’s fleet, having gained respect from the Queen, not to mention her fantastic loyal crew.  She is a strong protagonist, who has a magical affinity to the sea, and her ship, Diana, is a small, but also the fastest ship.  Having been successful in defeating the emperor in the last book, Kit and the Queen’s team are appalled to learn the emperor has escaped.  

Colonel Rian Grant, our hero, who is a Viscount, and a successful former soldier’ he is also part of the team called by the Queen. The relationship between Kit and Grant escalated into a slow burn romance in the last book, but Kit is only concentrating in finding the emperor.  She and her crew discover the old ship belonging to the emperor, and before she can get back to the ship, soldiers capture her and one of her crew.  In the prison, Kit spies on a man who uses powerful magic to kill someone, and realizes the man was supposed dead, and now is the commander for the emperor.  Luckily, Grant is working undercover, and manages to help her escape.

Kit is an amazing heroine, especially as we watch when she uses her ability to use the sea (current) to increase the speed of the ship to escape the attacks from a much larger ship.  The Queen’s team meet to plan to find Le Boucher, the man supposed dead, and ships are sent out, with the Diana leaving first to gather information. There were so many exciting amazing adventures, which we watch them in the water with sea dragons, marooned on an island, and captured by pirates. 

Kit will also begin to learn more about her ability to use magic, along with her Alignment.  I loved the crew of the Diana, who were such an awesome team, as well as a fun crew.  Grant is also an honorary member of the Diana team, not to mention his falling in love with Kit.  When he proposes to her, she is shocked and scared, loving the life she lives now.  I do love Kit and Grant together.  Will Kit give into her feelings for Grant or walk away?

What follows is a wonderful exciting tense adventure, where Kit and Grant work together to find Doucette (Le Boucher), as well as Kit using some of her learned magic to fight. A Swift and Savage Tide was another wonderful addition to this magical world, filled with two great heroes, fabulous secondary characters, exciting adventures, seafaring escapades, pirates, and a budding romance. This does end with some unresolved issues, which will continue in the next book. I for one look forward to the next book in this series, which is so very well written by Chloe Neill.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

 

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People of the Phoenix by M. A. Abraham – a Review

People of the Phoenix by M. A. Abraham – a Review

 

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Description:
As Tantalus begins to come back to life from the ice age it went through, the population of Tantalus labour to create their idea of Utopia. They don’t realize there is more to this land than what they know.

Trysuil is haunted by a feeling of being excluded by the Phoenixes, something that should not be happening. He is the Adjudicator, he should be a part of what is going on in this developing world.

Under the command of The Great Phoenix, the favoured people of the Phoenix travel the girth of the planet to return to their homelands. It is time they were introduced to their new neighbours and returned to the outside world. They have lived in Sanctuary for long enough.

The ways are challenging and the tests they face, as they search for their identity to retake their place on the planet are many. Will they be able to reach their goal when so many obstacles stand in their way?

 

 

Review:

People of the Phoenix by M.A. Abraham is a novella in her new Tantalus United Series. The Tantalus series ended awhile ago, and now in this new series we learn how The Phoenixes are bringing together the people on Tantalus, Sirens, the Guardians, with the return of and thousands who have been ordered to leave their Sanctuary and return to their homelands. Tantalus continues to build, as the land becomes more prosperous.

Kyllan (Tribunal), Vasalon (Tribune) and Trysuil (leader & go between with Phoenixes) have been told very little of what to expect, but soon they learn that the people of the phoenix will be returning and living among them.  When those traveling home are unable to travel further, the people in Tantalus work together to find a way to help them.  Many of the Tantalus leaders having  various transportations, come up with plans to rescue them all.  It was nice to see some of the people we loved in the Tantalus series, as well as meet all the new people who will join them in Tantalus.

What follows is an excellent, interesting, exciting story line that will lead us more in this new version of Tantalus.  I really liked the new people of phoenix that me met (Raven, Danae, Solei, Lystra, Acacia, etc); and enjoyed how they sang songs to fix and move things faster.  To say too much more would make this confusing, especially if you have not read the Tantalus series.  People of the Phoenix was a novella, but leads the way to promising new story lines.

M.A. Abraham did a fabulous job with the start of this new series, which was enjoyable.   Again, if you have not read this series, I do suggest you start with the first book to be able to understand this world.  I look forward to what Abraham has in store for us.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy supplied for Review

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