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Showing posts with label Science Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Science Fiction. Show all posts
Wednesday, 3 February 2016
The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke
“Cat, this is Finn. He’s going to be your tutor.”
“He looks, and acts human, though he has no desire to be. He was programmed to assist his owners, and performs his duties to perfection. A billion-dollar construct, his primary task now is to tutor Cat. As she grows into a beautiful young woman, Finn is her guardian, her constant companion… and more. But when the government grants rights to the ever-increasing robot population, however, Finn struggles to find his place in the world.”
This novel is about a coming of age story for a young girl who has been raised and tutored by an android. It is also a romance with the usual elements of finding, losing and then rediscovery albeit with a twist.
Cat’s relationships reveal her outlook on the life: of being a selfish, conceited and impulsive character. Her interaction with Finn was one of trust with friendship coming later when she went to him in times of need. Some of those occurrences redefined Finn’s terms of service.
Finn’s personality is revealed in glimpses as he appears at various intervals. He is stoic, direct and mysterious. Although Finn insists he doesn’t have any feelings they are quite apparent to the reader. He has no smell, his movements and speech are slightly mechanical. Yet, there are those times when Finn vibrates that provide speculation.
Artificial intelligence has been developed in the robots and androids until it is recognized as a type of consciousness – thus, begins their demands for rights. Finn leaves his position at the Novak’s residence and begins employment and life on the moon at the research station.
As Cat continues her life without Finn, she struggles with the demands of society and happiness. Her behaviour remains the same, with no concern for the other person. It’s a sad state that her character does not improve with the passage of time or by the end of the novel.
My apologies to Angry Robot Books for not uploading a photo, but Blogger was unresponsive.
Book format: trade paperback, 400 pages
Publisher: Angry Robot Books, imprint of Osprey Publishing
Author website: Cassandra Rose Clarke
Available:
ISBN 978 0-85766-265-1
Amazon.com >
chapters.indigo.ca
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Rocket Boy and the Geek Girls Anthology Book Review
This anthology was edited by Phyllis Irene Bradford. It is filled with a variety of science fiction: stories of space, technology, aliens and humanity. Most of the stories are thought provoking, action filled, humourous and have something for every reader. This anthology was a nice return into the science fiction genre. The majority of the stories within have been previously published in magazines and anthologies such as The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Speculative Inflights Magazine, Women at War, Analog Science Fiction & Fact, The Future We Wish We Had, Dinosaur Fantastic, American Journal of Australian Literature, and Helix Magazine. Each of the stories is accompanied by a brief description about the author and their writing.
The genres covered are space opera, sci fi, fantasy, and futuristic.
18 stories
Of the eighteen stories I managed to read tje first two sections finding most of them quite interesting. Unfortunately I found the PDF format produced eye strain after reading one or two stories which resulted in a slower reading schedule.
Space stories
Emancipation by Pati Nagle, 1996, The Williamson Effect
An old ritual on an asteroid that separates day from night is changed so that day is to be forever. Manuel, keeper of the Night, finds a way to restore the darkness through a compromise.
Rocket Boy on Call by Pati Nagle
Rocket Boy is a futuristic skip tracer who has romantic ideas about his case assigner.
Blindsided by Venus in the House of Mars by Nancy Jane Moore
Lia Bukanan arrives at the Galatea Station, with biodome regulated climate, after working as temp crew on a ship needing a vacation. After a bar fight, Lia hooks up with a “captain” with his own starship. Who turns out to be a bounty hunter.
Sitting Shiva by Judith Tarr
A peacekeeping machine that didn’t grab my interest. Perhaps it will for another reader.
Kinds of Strangers by Sarah Zettel
A starship, the Forty-Niner, returning to Earth from a successful tour of the asteroid belt is losing its crew while their expert intelligence computer is malfunctioning. Or is it? A great line was, “A little red sphere drifted out toward her face.” Ms Zettel reveals insight into space travel and its inherent perils.
Technology stories
Alien Voices by P. R. Frost
A ballet artist takes a chance with a risky surgery, and learns during therapy that the implanted nanobots replicate themselves and heal any new injuries. The nanobots develop an appreciation for ballet.
Aberlard’s Kiss by Madeleine E Robins
A woman has a bioengineering firm make her a man who she introduces to a friend.
Perfect Stranger by Amy Stirling Casel
A young boy has gene therapy to heal a defective heart.
Revenants by Judith Tarr
A creepy yet intriguing story about a woman taking her child to the revenants zoo setting with dinosaurs.
Alien stories
Its Own Reward by Katherine Kerr
Your First by C L Anderson
Gray to Black by Brenda W Clough
Slick by Brenda Kelso
Ask Arlen by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
Humanity stories
Steelcollar Worker by Vonda N McIntyre
A Mighty Fortress by Brenda W Clough
Who Killed Science Fiction by Jennifer Stevenson
Rocket Boy and the Geek Girls by Irene Radford
Book Format: ebook PDF 406 pages
Publisher: Book View Press http://www.bookviewpress.com/
Friday, 25 May 2012
Point by Thomas Blackthorne (Book Review)
Monday, 31 January 2011
Frankenstein: Lost Souls by Dean Koontz (Book Review)
From the inside flap:
“The war against humanity has begun. Victor Leben, once Frankenstein, has not only seen the future—he’s ready to populate it. Using stem cells, “organic” silicon circuitry, and nanotechnology, he will engender a race of superhumans—the perfect melding of flesh and machine. With a powerful, enigmatic backer eager to see his dream come to fruition and a secret location where the enemies of progress can’t find him, Victor is certain that this time, nothing and no one can stop him.
“It is up to five people to prove him wrong. In their hands rests nothing less than the survival of the human race.
“They are drawn together in different ways, by omens sinister and wondrous, to the same shattering conclusion: Two years after they saw him die, the man they knew as Victor Helios lives on. Detectives Carson O’Connor and Michael Maddison; Victor’s engineered wife, Erika 5, and her companion Jocko; and the original Victor’s first creation, the tormented Deucalion, have all arrived at a small Montana town where their old alliance will be renewed and tested—by forces from within and without, and where the dangers they face will eclipse any they have yet encountered. Yet in the midst of their peril, love will blossom, and joy, and they will discover sources of strength and perseverance they could not have imagined.
“They will need all these resources, and more. For a momumental battle is about to commence that will require all their ingenuity and courage, as it defines what we are to be…and if we are to be at all.”
This is a very creepy story with tension and suspense deepening as the story progresses. By the time I got to the end I was hooked into a great story despite it being the fourth in a series and not having read any of the previous books. There was sufficient explanation of the characters’ roles from the previous books to keep me interested. A fault I found was an over explanation of the character, the cloned Victor, near the ending. Though I must say, Victor, is definitely a monster to be avoided. The rather abrupt ending just as the action was well in high gear was a bit of a disappointment; and makes this book not a stand alone.
Although this book is listed in the genre of general fiction it encompasses science fiction, adventure, police procedural, romance, and rather heavy on the horror. All of these components make for excellent fiction. There are also elements of dry humour provided by the PIs and secret FBI agents. The character, Deucalion. 200 years old, has special talents like the ability to move through walls and teleport from location to location.
Throughout there are subliminal messages which the reader can obtain from between the lines. Mr. Koontz has a fine grasp of what makes America tick. All in all, an excellent read and one I recommend. I look forward to the next installment.
The review copy was kindly provided by Cassandra Sadek.
Format: Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Bantam, an imprint of Random House
Author website: DeanKoontz.com
Available: June 15, 2010
Also available in paperback and ebook.
Amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
chapters.indigo.ca
Saturday, 19 September 2009
Fast Ships, Black Sails (Book Review) for International Talk Like A Pirate Day
Arggggh! To help commemorate the Pirate Guys at Talk Like a Pirate today’s book review of FAST SHIPS, BLACK SAILS is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy pirate stories published by Night Shade Books. For other participants to the International Talk Like a Pirate day please visit here.
Do you love the sound of a peg leg stomping across a quarterdeck? Or maybe you prefer a parrot on your arm, a strong wind at your back? Adventure, treasure, intrigue, humor, romance, danger - and, yes, plunder! Oh, the Devil does love a pirate - and so do readers everywhere! Swashbuckling from the past into the future and space itself, Fast Ships, Black Sails, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, presents an incredibly entertaining volume of original stories guaranteed to make you walk and talk like a pirate.
There will always be pirates, even today in the Mediterranean and in the seas around Africa. In the VanderMeer Anthology pirates have moved into space and beyond, chartering the vast unknown while making their livelihood at what they know best. Within these covers is the perfect pirate story for any reader, presenting classic and unique stories of buccaneers sailing the seas of the cosmos or present day Earth.
Boogum by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette – This first story is about piracy in space with unusual cargo taken from a captured freighter and a semi-sentient spaceship with Captain Black Alice who finds herself making a sacrifice.
Castor on Troubled Waters by Rhys Hughes – comic story of pirates and gambling debts well told.
I Begyn as I Mean To Go On by Kage Baker – a creepy classic pirate story. Two castaways are taken onto a ship, Martin Luther, whose captain has a bad reputation. By the law of the sea they are obliged to work on the ship, and things become interesting when they find their way to an ancient emerald mine in South America.
Avast, Abaft! by Howard Waldrop – found this one humorous and similar in nature to the HMS Pinafore and the Pirates of Penzance.
Elegy to Gabrielle, Patron Saint of Healers, Whores, and Righteous Thieves by Kelly Barnhill – about a woman with the ability to use magic whose daughter belongs to the sea.
Skillet and Saber by Justin Howe – a new sailor on a ship is assigned as the cook’s apprentice with some comedic episodes.
The Nymph’s Child by Carrie Vaughan– This is a story of a woman who poses as a man to be allowed to go to sea, and when caught by pirates must give up her daughter.
68° 07' 15" N, 31° 36' 44" W, by Conrad Williams provides a horror story about Captain Low on a revenge mission after his crew is slaughtered.
Ironface by Michael Moorcock – A very short piece about pirates in space on a trip to Venus that I felt should have been longer.
Pirate Solutions by Katherine Sparrow – This is an experimental piece about computer analysts who drink from a bottle of rum to become pirates, and setting sail in an old ship with masts. When they reach their isolated island, and dig up a treasure chest full of ancient rum bottles, they send out messages in bottle which in turn, bring other computer geeks from around the world to join them.
We Sleep on a Thousand Waves Beneath the Stars by Brendan Connell – A story about hungry pirates who don’t discriminate over what they eat.
Voyage of the Iguana by Steve Aylest – A story with a weird list of journal entries on said voyage with mishaps. This I found boring.
Pirates of the Suara Sea by David Freer and Eric Flint – This is a about space pirates in an alien sea where the vessel is manned by a woman captain. She manages to jettison part of the cargo when the pirates arrive, with special plans for the intruder’s captain.
A Cold Day in Hell by Paul Batteiger – provides a unique setting with three masted sailing ships on ice skates whizzing across frozen seas. Two ships leave Boston on an expedition to capture The Queen’s Revenge and its captain Frost, considered to be more monster than human.
The Adventures of Captain Black Heart Wentworth: a Nautical Tail by Rachel Swirsky – This story is great fun, featuring rat pirates and later a shipwrecked cat who had eaten her previous lover.
Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake by Naomi Novik – An alternative Earth awaits the reader where England is ruled by Roman deities and the sacrifices of women are dominated by mens’ will. Araminta, the daughter of an important noble is kidnapped by pirates, but she has a few unique abilities to assist her in outwitting them.
The Whale Below by Jayme Lynn Blaschke – An alien story of a pirate spaceship seizes a ‘whaler’ ship only to find no one on board.
Beyond the Sea Gate of the Scholar-Pirates of Sarsköe by Garth Nix – This story is about a gentleman rogue and his magical puppet facing a priestess who happens to be a cannibal. There are some interesting scenes with shapeshifters.
There were several authors in this anthology I had never read before, and will be looking up more of Rachel Swirsky, Katherine Sparrow and Garth Nix.
Format: Paperback, 272 pages
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Published: October 2008
ISBN: 978-1-59780-094-5
Available at:
Chapters.indigo.ca
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
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