BRIDGE OF DREAMS by Kevin P Keating #RBRT

 4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Three novellas comprising science/speculative fiction, history, future meanderings, space, science versus religion, with surprising happenings and story developments.

These three novellas are connected, sometimes more than others, but each one can be read separately.

With all of them I adored some parts, becoming totally immersed in the wonderful storytelling.  The writing itself is stunningly good, the prose atmospheric and illustrative of the time.  I particularly liked the 1950s small town America setting of the first tale, which I thought was the best one.  I loved how there were so many stories within the stories, a literary style that has long been a favourite of mine; I like to have my reading mind taken off on meandering tangents.

The stories are all set around the fictional town of Heavenly Hill in Ohio, spanning a time period of 200 years (1857 - 2057), with connections throughout.  Now and again I felt that the 'speculative' aspect could have been reined in a little as a few of the ideas did not seem fully formed.  Then again, perhaps that's the nature of the genre.  

Before the stories begin there is a long introduction and explanation of why the stories were written, which I confess to only skimming; I prefer to read this sort of text at the end of a book.  Like a character's backstory, the 'why' only matters to me once I've got to know what's inside.  It's a hard book to review, without summarising each novella, and sufficient information is given in the blurb.  Maybe the only question that needs answering is 'did I enjoy this?'.  I did.  I looked forward to getting back to the book each time I left it, and my eagerness to turn the pages only waned a little in the last of the three.  I liked the little surprise story at the end, too.

Bridge of Dreams is unusual, immersive and clever.  I recommend!

SAFE HAVEN by Peter Hargraves #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Steampunk dystopian fantasy

I've never read anything with the label 'steampunk' before, and knew little about it aside from hot air balloons, so was interested to read this.  It is set in what I believe is the 22nd Century, after much chaos and many wars.  Much of the eastern US is called 'Newingland' (New England), and which is reminiscent of Gilead in A Handmaid's Tale.  Then there is Catamount, the city of genetically modified cougars...

The story's main characters are Margaret, locked into marriage with the authoritarian Barran, and Wolfe, a brave adventurer who finds imaginative ways around the laws of the lands in which he finds himself.  Its primary theme is that of escape, from Barran and restrictive authorities.

I loved the world-building, which is, of course, all-important in a story such as this; it's well thought out and explained, while steering away from information dumps.  The writing was a delight in places, and I found myself quickly drawn in.

Whereas I was completely convinced by this strange world and give a definite thumbs up to the writing style, I felt that Margaret's character and the relationship between her and Wolfe needed a bit more 'meat' to it.  On the whole, however, I did enjoy this book.  It works!

THE GERMANS HAVE A WORD FOR IT by T R Thorsen #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazo

n (universal link) - available from February 26th.

On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: A lonely man turns to AI to resurrect his late wife.

I enjoyed this book, which explores the possibilities of AI in a most disturbing way.  Davis is distraught after the sudden death of his wife, and learns of an app that can simulate Rachel's mode of texting, so that he can receive text messages that seem as if they're written by her.  At first he thinks the idea too bizarre, but he can't help himself being drawn in by the idea.  Almost immediately he finds great comfort in what he reads on the screen.  Like Rachel is still with him.

Rachel #2 soon wants him to upgrade the app, so that he can 'see' her, too.  Before long, his relationship with her develops as might a relationship with a live woman.  The problems start when she starts making demands.  Wanting everything a woman might require from a relationship.  Everything Rachel wanted, and more.

Davis has no idea what he has got himself into, and does not understand how the fine line between human and artificial intelligence can blur - or how the latter can upscale itself in leaps and bounds.

It's a clever, unusual story, and a cautionary tale indeed!

USS PRIMIS: The First Starship by M H Altis #RBRT

 3 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link) - available on Sept 30.
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Saving humanity by moving it 500 light years away - what could possibly go wrong?

At the start of this book, the story reminded me of Raised by Wolves, an HBO series I thought was inspired, in which androids are sent to a far away planet to raise children from protected embryos, after Earth is all but destroyed.  Great concept!  In the case of USS Primis, it's a team of astronauts with human and animal embryos, and the planet to which they travel in hypersleep is 500 light years away.  I loved the author's idea for how the sun is destroyed - that in a peace treaty, all nations agree to fire their nuclear weapons into space, with disastrous consequences.  No idea if this is what would happen, but it works here!

In a way this was like two novels  The setting up of the story was, I felt, far too long.  The first half is mostly told in captain David's 1st person, in the form of a captain's log/diary, etc.  He gives a description of each crew member, outlining various intricacies of their personality; I think this works on the screen but not in a novel, where it feels like an unnecessary 'information dump'.  In a film you see the face, which makes them more likely to stick in your head.  I prefer to discover a character by their thoughts, words and actions rather than being given an outline of their character traits.  Though the writing certainly flows and is most accessible, David's 'banter' mode of narrative in the first half of the book didn't really work for me.

After the character descriptions was a long section about their two months quarantine before lift-off day, which I found neither necessary nor convincing, as the crew seemed more like a group of students than mature, experienced astronauts, aware of the gravity of their mission.  I felt I was waiting for the story to start, all the way through the first half.

Then, book two.  So much better, and not what I expected at all.  Another great twist in the tale, this time told by an omniscient narrator.  No more details because *spoilers* - you should be as surprised as I was.  I am most interested in the short stories in which the plot moves in a different direction; I'd love to read about life on Nova.

To sum up - I think it needs a good, thorough developmental/copy edit by someone who really knows their stuff, to get rid of errors, and also to think through some of the content - the novel must surely be set far into the future, but the lifestyle and cultural references about the world they've left behind made it sound like they set off in 2024, or earlier.  I was also unconvinced by David not knowing (and being surprised) that the AI could track the exact whereabouts on the ship of any of the astronauts.  Wouldn't that be a most basic facility?  And one of them clearly has extremely dark psychological problems - would she have been chosen for a mission such as this?

However, it's a fabulous basic story with masses of potential, and the writing itself has a great deal of promise.  With input from an experienced editor who really knows their stuff, the best of both could be brought out.   

THE ARCHITECT OF GRAYLAND by Evelyn Arvey #RBRT

 4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: SciFi fantasy; a kidnapping across time.

A most curious book!  Long, at 500 pages, but interesting enough for me to keep turning.  At no time did I think it could have been cut down, as one often finds with longer books

The plot: Elaine wakes up in a world of grey.  There is nothing there at all, just acres of grey all around - she isn't even wearing any clothes, and she has no water to drink.  Worst of all, she has no memory of what came before.  Of who she is, where she is from, how she got to this place.  To survive, she must find ways to work with her environment to feed herself, keep warm, find others.

We soon discover that she has been kidnapped from the present and dumped into the distant future, into 'the Domain', by a historical anthropologist under pressure to produce an enthralling spectacle, that the habits of the 'primitive human' may be observed.  Not only is Elaine the subject of Professor Mirri's research, but the public are able to watch her story unfold.  Unbeknownst to Elaine (and others she meets later), she has become a celebrity amongst the viewers.  It brought to mind a futuristic version of the first series of the Big Brother House, when the contestants had no idea how popular the show had become, on the outside!

I did enjoy this book and it's a wonderfully original idea, unfolding slowly, though I was disappointed by the lack of resolution, for both myself and Elaine.  I still had so many unanswered questions when the book suddenly finished.  I needed to know how the subjects were extracted from present to future, how they were chosen, what year in the future we were looking at - thousands of years away, I imagine, because the humans had actually evolved physically in some rather alarming ways - the reveal of this was so well done and quite shocking.  However, I so wanted to know more about life itself in this strange time, whereabouts in the world Professor Mirri lived.  I wanted more information, generally; I am sure that the sparsity of such was an artistic choice that will work well for some, though I was frustrated by it - just a personal preference!   

PSITTACIDE by @ZebHaradon

 5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: a favourite author, have read Book #1 of the series.

In a Nutshell: The crazy world of 2172

Psittacide is set 150 years in the future, when former stand-up comedian Jim Liu navigates the world of American politics in which authenticity and any real values or integrity are forgotten relics of the past.  And if you think that sounds pretty much like 2024, with all potential leaders resorting to blatant lying and any desperate tricks they can to discredit the opposition, you wait until you meet Silas Blackwolf and Oliver O'Shea.

The shifting of political stances means that the Democrats have become conservatives and the Republicans the liberals, which made me think of the main UK parties, whose lines have blurring for many years now; who knows what their agenda(s) will be in 2172?

In the future world between these pages, most of the bad stuff predicted by the cynics/realists of the current day has happened - drug dependency and sex clubs are the norms (Jim and his girlfriend keep a sex robot under the bed), the attention span of the masses has shortened to the extent that a writer of Blankpage books can win a prize for literature - Karl's process is to think up a concept, brief outline and title, let his terminal design a cover, and publish.  That's it.  'Other than the summary of the plot on the back cover and by Karl on the front, all pages would be blank'.  Fake has become real: actors don't need to be present to act in films, politicians don't have to attend vote-winning activities, whole civilisations can be artificially created for the screen - anything can be rendered to look as if it actually happened.  Populations live in virtual reality without knowing it.

Sometimes it seems as though this novel is a comment on/lampoon of events and people in the present world, other times just the product of Mr Haradon's entertaining thought processes.  The title refers to the strange diseases affecting parrots everywhere.  Those genetically modified parrots, that is, who play such an important part in the new world.  I loved the observations of one character who predicts the worrying rise of the parrots, now that racism is a thing of the past (as everyone is, in 2172, a mixture of ethnicities).

I liked it more than the first book in the series, which I found a bit scattered.  I look forward to Book 3, Bubblequake - which refers to the bigger inside than outside residences (like the Tardis): the bubbles.

It's great - and may make you glad you were born in the 20th century.

THE RINGS OF MARS by Rachel Foucar

3.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In A Nutshell: Sabotage aboard a space ship

About a 500-strong crew on a year-long mission to Mars, to establish a society that will, it is hoped, be part of the solution for all the troubles on earth.  But there appears to be a saboteur on board ship...

I liked the premise very much, and Ms Foucar has a most readable, flowing writing style.  I was drawn in quickly; the beginning, with Jane Parker leaving a dying country, held great promise, and there is an excellent part early on in which a maintenance crew member gets killed.  Around a third of the way through, though, my interest began to lapse.  There are a lot of main and secondary characters, all with unmemorable names like Pat, Pamela, Jane, Mark, Frank, Beth, Sam, which wouldn't have mattered so much if the POV didn't change so often, and most of them didn't talk in the same way.  It was okay at first, and I had a clear picture of Jane, Mark and Pat, but after that it all got a bit hazy.  Having said that, most of the dialogue is basically good; natural, convincing.  

I wasn't sure how old they were all supposed to be, but they gave the impression of being in their early twenties, and sometimes seemed more like students running around a campus than people especially selected to go on this important voyage; I didn't get the feeling that they were on a ground-breaking mission into space.

For a scifi thriller, there was a lot of talking but not very much tension or drama.  I also felt that the plot itself wasn't very clear, as if there hadn't been enough thinking through, but, it didn't help that the mobi copy I was sent for review was badly formatted - on (literally) every other page there was a gap in the narrative thus:

ARC Not for Sale

*page number*

The Rings of Mars 

Rachel Foucar 

....filling a third of the page, sometimes breaking a sentence in two.  Obviously I would not mark down the book itself for this, and I tried not to notice and just read the story, but it became off-putting, and made me lose concentration.  Also, early on, there were a few punctuation errors - simple ones, like apostrophes in plurals.  

This is a first novel - the author definitely has talent, and this story is a great idea.  I would suggest a) working with a good editor to pull it into shape, b) instructing her publisher to make decent review copies before she sends out any more! and c) having a re-think about some of the character names - perhaps make some of them more unusual, and more 21st century.  To sum up - it's good, and has the potential to be very good, but it felt a bit 3rd-draft-ish, and needs more work to make it publication-ready, in my opinion.