Tag Archives: sci-fi

Daughter Moon

Book Review: Daughter Moon, by @hg47

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Daughter Moon, by the mysterious @hg47. I for real bought this one. It wasn’t even free on Amazon. 

I normally start with a description of the book, but Daughter Moon has a ridiculously long (though accurate) synopsis which can be found here. I’ll sum it up by saying that an ace hacker is sent on a suicide mission to save a techno-goddess stranded in time. Then is forced to face an alien invasion, political infighting, and a whole horde of nanobots…not to mention a planet of horny virgins.

Review:
Oh wow, this is some serious hard sic-fi right here. I might even stretch it to speculative fiction. Either way it covers a lot of ground, from Dworkin’s `all sexual penetration is rape’ to Newtonian physics and functional nanotechnology…not to mention time travel. This book takes some thought to read though. I strongly recommend reading it, but not when there are too many distractions about. It would be easy to get lost in the multiple time-lines and overlapping ‘Direct Interface Lifetimes.’ You want time available to think through the information presented to you and appreciate the detailed science that the story is interlaced with. A lot of research must have gone into the technical writing. Whomever @hg47 is in real life, he/she has no shortage of education. (Unless he/she is just a simple genius. You never know.) The bibliography (yea there is one) kept my internal social scientist happy and lit my physicist husband’s eyes aglow.

But it’s also funny, though in a subtle kind of way. For example, a discussion of the works of Kate Gödel (a feminized reference to famed physicist Kurt Gödel) while the villainized Einstein got to keep his masculinity….Spielberg and Shakespeare, well maybe. I also found it endlessly amusing to spot all of the future huwomanity’s idolizations of famed feminists: the Shere Hite shuttle, Simone de Beauvoir museum, Andrea Dworkin and Avital Ronell ships, classic…or would undoubtedly be for a race of socially superior women. The use of feminized language (huwomanity, womanoeuvred, etc) did take some getting used to, but it works.

If you like your Sci-fi with a hard edge this is the book for you. The writing reminded me a lot of Heinlein with a little Douglas Adams humour thrown in for good measure. Some of the AIs even reminded me of Marvin at times. Seriously, if you’re into the genre pick it up.

The Demon of Synar

Book Review of The Demon of Synar, by Donna McDonald

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I grabbed Donna McDonald‘s The Demon Of Synar from the KDP free list.

Too long description from Amazon:
Being captain of his own rescue ship is the kind of life Captain Liam Synar always dreamed of living. Being a master of his family’s hereditary demon was never in his plans because his brother had been trained for the purpose. Yet what choice did his father have when Conor’s evil came to light? Reluctant or not, Liam is the only Synar left to rule Malachi. Now his exiled brother hunts him to capture the demon while Liam stays on the run and saves Peace Alliance ambassadors in his spare time. As if that isn’t enough trouble to handle, his mate, Ambassador Ania Looren, now unknowingly hosts his family’s demon inside her body. Liam sent Malachi into her to save her life after Conor’s men almost killed her. And though Liam hadn’t wanted to, there had been no choice but to abandon her two years ago. His plan of keeping both her and the demon safe from Conor had worked, but his success at hiding what he’d done has finally reached an end. His next rescue has to be his estranged mate before Conor finally figures out the truth.

After accepting only one mate in her long life, Ambassador Ania Looren is now wishing the number had remained at zero forever. Mating Captain Liam Synar is turning out to be the worst mistake she ever made. Something happened after Liam abandoned her, something more than just the pain of losing her chosen male from her life. Something about his absence has stripped away the peaceful enlightenment she struggled years to achieve. Now she can’t meditate, can’t pray, and her compassion for other creatures seems to be dying. She is becoming again the kind of person she’s spent her existence trying not to be. On top of that, she’s been accused of murdering three males who attacked her and her family. She doesn’t even remember what happened that day. Now Liam is back and demanding she go with him to his ship. What choice does she have? Ania reluctantly agrees because it’s a better fate than being arrested and put through social reconditioning on her planet. The half life she’s been living for two years is no more worth keeping than her mating commitment to a male who obviously hadn’t wanted her after all.

Review:
The Demon of Synar is not what I expected at all. From the synopsis, I thought it would be a paranormal romance of sorts (albeit set in space), maybe even an M/M romance since Malachi is obviously male. It is neither of these things. I suspect there will be more romance in future books, but there is almost none in this one. Despite that, I really like the story, the characters, and their special differences. It’s fast-paced and engrossing.

What I didn’t like is that the book is the first in a series, but at 125 pages it barely scratches the surface. With multiple planets, species with different abilities, and then all of the personal drama that makes up the plot it is far from complete. Even skipping two very important years in the beginning the book still ends with what is essentially the beginning of the story. You meet the characters, become familiar with the environment, and come to terms with the challenge…and then it ends…on a solemn declaration of the task at hand no less. As a bait and switch, it’s pretty effective, though. It’s well-written and engaging, so I really want to know what happens. Undoubtedly, I’ll end up buying the second (probably more) in order to satiate the need to see it through and enjoy every word of it. But no matter how much I enjoy the story there is something that rankles me about having to buy two books to read one story.

Addendum: Reviews for the second and third books can be found on Goodreads:

The Demon Master’s Wife
The Siren’s Call

Conditioned Response

Book Review of Conditioned Response (A Phoenician Series Novel), by Marjorie F. Baldwin

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Author, Marjorie F. Baldwin, sent me an e-copy of her sci-fi (possibly romantic sci-fi novel) Conditioned Response (Phoenician Series).

Shayla didn’t ask to be a Councillor. As a Phoenician, she shouldn’t have to live among the humans, let alone take part in their world. But the Seven Chiefs ordered her to go with Raif, a Proctor from the world Outside. They said they had a Plan. Well, the Seven Chiefs always had a Plan, and Shayla had plans of her own after suffering 13 years as a member of the humans’ World Council.

Raif had never intended for things to go this far. A few months, maybe a year, and he could send the little Phoenician girl home again, back where she belonged. She’s not a little girl anymore and now he finds himself in competition with his own progenitor for control over his Heir–and future. It’s not a Councillor’s job to protect a Proctor but that’s just what Raif needs right now. Can Shayla save him before he loses his mind completely?

Review:
Awesome, just Awesome. I stayed up way too late on multiple night to read it and still would have been happy for more. (I wonder if I could claim recompense from Baldwin for the bags under my eyes.) I just loved the characters’ personalities and their interactions. They all had their own little bit of wit that was distinctly different from one another. I did wonder how it was that the bad guys continued to get away with their depravities, since everyone seemed to know about them. But it didn’t bother me enough to get huffy about.

What I loved the most about the story is that Baldwin was willing to let people be unhappy. Don’t get me wrong I love a happy ending, but it always feels disingenuous when plots spin like pinwheels to bring one about for everyone involved. Let’s face it. Life is hard. People don’t always get what they want. They die or are left dissatisfied for a million other reasons. I really appreciate that Baldwin was willing to allow her characters this slice of reality in their fictional world. I’m not saying no-one leaves the last page ofConditioned Response happy, just that I liked the balance.

Baldwin is, quite frankly, the kind of writer that leaves other feeling inadequate. She is definitely playing with the big boys. I would happily compare her to Asimov, Huxley or Heinlein. Not only was it clear and easy to understand, it never felt forced and always managed to find the right tone for the scene. I am in awe…and I’m not really one to fawn over people. I just can’t wait to read the rest.