Lyle
Very entertaining and exciting conclusion to the Out of Time Sequence (part of The Chaos Chronicles). Finishing the story started in The Reefs of Time, this book was a real page-turner, and contained shiploads of cosmic danger, mind-bending multi-dimensional action, missions in both deep space and deep time, well-developed characters, hard-won victories, heart-rending losses, and hope for the future all rolled into one.
Another fun and unique story in the Wanderer Universe, this time with a glimpse into a distinctly alien, yet all-too human, civilization. Well-crafted characters, situations, and environments, with esoteric cosmological concepts behind it all.
Excellent and varied collection of stories in the science-fiction vein. Included here are a tale from Trankyky, a story where a thirst for knowledge is not a good thing, and a never-before-published novelette concerning AI. These, and the rest of the collection are quite thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable.
Full of intriguing concepts, characters, and situations - it feels like a cross between Lewis Carroll's “Through the Looking Glass” and L'Engel's “A Wrinkle in Time” with more than a dash of the multiverse thrown in for good measure. Quite the fun read! The author's Wanderer Universe just keeps getting richer and richer.
NOTE: I received a free review e-copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The author's wonderful descriptive prose really helped me visualize both the action and the other-worldly environment, making it seem almost like watching a CGI-rich film. The main protagonist was well-developed (as it should be) and the other characters had enough uniqueness to keep them differentiated easily. But I was most impressed by the non-terrestrial life-forms; they were unique with distinguishing characteristics that made them such fun to envision. And the scene was set very well for the ultimate denouement. Well done.
Entertaining, thought-provoking, and well-developed tale of humanity, with all its insights and failings, and how it might respond when the truly alien appears.
Decent premise but sometimes the language used by the characters seemed off, somehow (like they were too modern for the medieval setting). Hard to judge from such short tales, but perhaps longer ones (with more fleshed-out characters) will be better. Maybe I expected too much for “prequels”?
While not an Ethshar-universe book, this first book in a duology (so far?) exhibited many of the same characteristics that make those books so enjoyable: relatable characters, an established magic system, unintended consequences, and a dash of action. I'm looking forward to the next volume (“Above His Proper Station”).
A good mix of planetary adventure, interpersonal struggles, and problem-solving made this book an enjoyable read.
Good descriptive prose, interesting characters and situations, good prologue that excited me about reading book one (The Servant of the Crown).
As is usual with collections, some stories were absolute winners and others, while perhaps intriguing and thought-provoking, somewhat less so. I must say I was impressed at the variety of approaches to the stated topic of “alien artifacts”; I would think almost anyone can find a story they'd enjoy in this collection.
The author weaves a complex and satisfying tale of a planetary ecological investigation and political and economic machinations to great effect. The protagonist is a well-developed character, of the type very much worth rooting for, and the ancillary characters are more than cardboard as well, and the environmental descriptions are top-notch.
This science fiction novel starts out strong and never lets up! An astrophysicist on the lunar farside studying solar phenomena detects something out of the ordinary. A military pilot normally limited to ferrying dignitaries and other personnel around the Terra-Luna system gets tapped for an unusual mission. Tensions rise between world powers as they struggle to maintain things in a world suffering from climate change impacts and political machinations. This is the world of the near future and life is about to get very interesting...for everyone.
Eclectic collection of stories in the Thousand Tales universe, with some new characters as well as previously-established ones. Fun read to fill in more regarding the author's GameLit-genre world.
Not as “archaeological” as other volumes in the series, but still an enjoyable tale with plenty of action and some good character development.
The concept was unusual, I give the author kudos for that, but I think it would have been better for the story had it been a bit longer in the telling. There wasn't really enough time to get to know the characters, I thought, and the discussion moved too quickly through the various topics to be considered reasonable. There was a lot of potential here, and I felt most of it was, not wasted exactly, but rather ignored.
A wonderful romp through the virtual world(s) that make up part of the “Thousand Tales” universe created by author Kris Schnee. The descriptions of the game worlds and the characters met therein were nicely done, and bode well for other books and stories in this series. The author mentioned within the book's notes that this was intended as an introduction, and it served that purpose well, IMO.
This omnibus was a mixed bag for me: the first book (Independence Day), especially compared to the cinematic film, seemed sparse and somewhat lacking in the expository content I had hoped to find. The next book (Silent Zone, back story of Dr. Brackish Okun) seemed better, if only because it contained new information (at least new to me) and explored the Dr. Okun character in some detail. Finally, the third book (War in the Desert) was the best of the three, with well-developed characters and lots of action; a very suitable companion piece to the rest of the stories.
Wonderful mix of alien culture, epic universal history, end-of-the-world danger, and of humans (and aliens) rising above the status-quo to transcend political self-interest for the greater good. Well-developed characters and exquisite descriptive prose, especially concerning the Jovians and their realms.
A worthy sequel to the first volume (A Young Man Without Magic) and even though this arc ended satisfactorily, not only can more tales be told in this “Bound Lands” universe, but I am certainly hoping that they are.
Nice collection of shorter tales from the author of a number of Sherlock Holmes novels. These (as the author himself mentioned) seemed more in keeping with the Holmesian milieu and were quite enjoyable.
Good start to what seems to be a longer story. Reminiscent of Heinlein juveniles in writing style and tone as well as characterization. Interested to see where the story goes from here.
Intriguing prequel to the Temporal Protection Corps series with well-written dialog, descriptions and situations. And dinosaurs!
