Book Review – ScienceFiction.com

Fiction Review: ‘Signal Moon’ (2022)

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Sat, 30 Jul 2022 16:39:22 +0000

Amazon has been kind enough lately to grace readers with advance copies of select forthcoming titles, and I was lucky to grab a copy of Signal Moon by Kate Quinn, which is releasing wide in August from the streaming giant. This novella-sized tale will be available in eBook only, but it packs a pretty decent punch into a relatively bite-sized story. In 1943, at the height of World War II, Lily Baines works for her country as a “Wren,” the Y-Station listeners of the British Royal Naval Service tasked with intercepting, relaying, and sometimes deciphering the enemy transmissions they hear over the airwaves. Armed with receivers, headphones, and their skill to transcribe as quickly as possible, Lily is but one of a team of women stationed at Withernsea on the English shoreline, working daily to do their part for the cause. Imagine her surprise, then, when she intercepts a truly curious transmission: one coming from a United States Naval officer originating 80 years later, in 2023. This is the main premise the drives this short story from the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Quinn. The author is intimately familiar with the 1940s Y-Station setting, having previously penned […]

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Book Review: ‘Cell’ by Stephen King

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 15:30:26 +0000

Love him or leave him, you’ve got to give Stephen King credit: the man knows how to tell a story. The author of countless novels and short stories, a ridiculous amount of which have been adapted to the big and small screens, King writes in a style that rivets many readers and employs a “can’t put it down” approach of telling his tales fast and furiously. Which is probably for the best, as some of his novels are – pardon the pun – King-sized, sometimes topping 1,000 pages (I’ve been known, on occasion, to use his mega-novel ‘Under the Dome’ to anchor my yacht so the servants can have a smoother time serving me whilst at sea). Even though ‘Cell’ was adapted into a 2016 film – poorly, which is a true surprise since it features such strong lead character actors as John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson – the focus for fans should certainly be the original written version, first released in 2006. It’s his foray into the world of zombies, or more accurately, pseudo-zombies, as the monsters contained in this tale aren’t dead, per se. Things in the story start out innocently enough, as New England artist Clay […]

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Book Review: ‘Star Wars: Death Troopers’ (2007)

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 16:37:19 +0000

It’s a Thursday, and it’s October, the “Halloween Season” …so what’s a combo Star Wars fan/die-hard zombie aficionado like myself supposed to do? Talk about one of the only pieces of media on the planet that crosses the two over, of course! Initially released over a decade ago, when it was firmly in sorta-canon upon its release but now relegated to “Legends” status – and long before ‘Rogue One’ used characters of the same name in its opening sequence – “Star Wars: Death Troopers” is the mixing of a Star Wars story and a zombie horror story. While it sounds amazingly amazing in theory, and indeed is a pretty fun read, as a proud-yet-critical fan of both universes I feel I must be a little, well, critical here. The experience of reading this book feels a little like meeting a supermodel might: your preconceived notions make you insanely excited for the big event, it seems so amazing and perfect from a distance, but after you spend some time with it, you find out that it’s definitely not perfect and you actually end up a little bummed out. The book was written by Joe Schreiber, who has written a few horror […]

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Book Review: ‘Sweet Dreams’ By Tricia Sullivan

Stuart Conover — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 20:39:17 +0000

The Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Tricia Sullivan released a fantastic book last year in ‘Sweet Dreams’ that I feel most of us missed. I should note that there is some mature content in the novel, so probably not an excellent choice for your kids who are just getting into science fiction and think that the concept sounds cool. The story takes place in the near future and follows Charlie, who suffers from narcolepsy and has the power to enter the dreams of others. Charlie’s power and narcolepsy came from a medical trial gone wrong from a rather large company. While she has the horrible condition of falling asleep at the absolute worst times, which comes into play quite often in the story, her powers really are a gift. With the combination, she has taken up the profession of being a Dreamhacker. That is, she takes on clients and helps them by reshaping nightmares and dreams in a new form of therapy. It works. In fact, it works so well that her talent is highly sought after and is well compensated for. It isn’t long until Charlie starts to suspect that she isn’t the only one that can enter the dreams […]

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Book Review: ‘Our War’ By Craig DiLouie

Stuart Conover — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 22:13:51 +0000

To say that the United States of America has become a polarized nation is an understatement and Craig DiLouie is diving directly into what could happen if two major ideologies which govern the country can’t find a way back to co-existing. The story is set in the near future during the second American Civil War. The events are timely, and things kick-off when the President of the United States is impeached but refuses to leave the office. It is easy to jump on the idea that this will be a pro-Democrat or pro-Republican book depending on your political views, but this isn’t that story. In fact, DiLouie is able to deftly create a narrative that doesn’t cast blame on either political party as to who is right or wrong. This is a story about how two opposing factions keep ramping up their politics and differences to the point where there is no way back to normalcy. There is no way back to peace. There are only the two sides who find themselves at war, and we explore this concept through the eyes of a 10-year-old Hannah Miller on one side of the war with her older brother Alex on the […]

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Book Review: ‘Echoes Of War’ By Cheryl Campbell

Stuart Conover — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 13:29:32 +0000

I love when I get my hands on a copy of a novel early that I’m pretty sure is going to be a sleeper hit. That is precisely the case with Cheryl Campbell’s ‘Echoes of War’ which is going to be perfect for fans of post-apocalyptic worlds who are looking for more of a science fiction twist. It is billed as the first installment of the “Echoes Trilogy” which I hope we won’t have to wait too long for the sequel as this was just a fun read. In ‘Echoes of War’ follows the main character of Dani, who is a scavenger that is barely surviving in the outskirts of what is left of Maine. The planet has been overrun by a group known as The Wardens who are an alien race that is working to destroy humanity. These aliens, known as Echoes, for the most part, were at peace with humankind but The Wardens have taken control and want to wipe out Earth’s native species. The real kicker for humans who are working against these invaders is that the species is nearly immortal. To save a young boy from slavery, Dani is thrown directly into the conflict and soon […]

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Book Review: ‘Batman: The Court Of Owls’ By Greg Cox

Stuart Conover — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 15:50:16 +0000

If you’re looking for an author to write an in-universe novel for a franchise, it is hard not to have Greg Cox near the top of your wishlist. Having penned “Star Trek,” Underworld,” and multiple DC and Marvel novels at this point it is always exciting to see more of Cox’s work come out in print. Fans of The Dark Knight now have an extra reason to be thrilled with ‘Batman: The Court of Owls’ being released. In this book, Cox is giving us an original take of Batman going up against the Court of Owls and their brutal agents. For those unfamiliar with the villains, they are “an apocryphal cabal” which “has controlled Gotham from the shadows” for generations. They use money, influence, along with their undead assassins known as The Talons, to keep their secretive agenda pushing forward. While Batman was able to defeat these enemies at one point, they faded into the shadows and were never entirely stopped. Here, we’ll see the Caped Crusader investigating “a series of brutal murders in which mutilated bodies are burned almost beyond recognition.” Working with Nightwing, Batgirl, and Barbara Gordon it quickly becomes evident to the team that the Court and their […]

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Book Review: ‘The Widening Gyre’ By Michael R Johnson

Stuart Conover — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 16:00:57 +0000

Debut novels are always a guess if you’re in for something special or won’t even want to finish flipping through the pages. Thankfully, Michael R. Johnston’s first outing with a fully fleshed out story has far more hits than misses. Johnston proves that he has a deft hand at world building and is giving us a new take on Earth’s future. Only, in the seeds of a far-flung change to humanity’s direction and culture, we are given the seeds of a revival of what can make the human spirit so great. The book starts well into our future but 800 years before the events which we’ll be reading about when the story begins. A broken colonization ship from Earth is found by the Zhen Empire in the far reaches of their space. The Zhen are willing to save them and welcome this portion of humanity into their empire. Only, entrance comes at a cost as to have humans adapt to this new life our centuries of culture have to be abandoned and our own history has faded to legend. Flash forward to the present where Tajen Hunt is not only one of the few humans allowed to serve in the […]

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Book Review: ‘Star Trek: Lost Scenes’

Nick Cavicchio — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 18:14:44 +0000

“Even hardcore fans don’t know this!” We’ve all heard that one before, trumpeted as it is from countless clickbait articles and behind the scenes books. It’s the sort of claim that reference works love to make, that any self-respecting production documentary aspires to. But let’s be blunt, shall we? ‘Star Trek’ is fifty-two years old. Between the age of the show, the increasing dearth of new perspectives that comes from both the aging of the cast and crew, and the fanbase’s bottomless appetite for behind the scenes material, it’s hard not to wonder where one might find any stones that had somehow been left unturned. But that’s exactly what David Tilotta and Curt McAloney set about doing with ‘Star Trek: Lost Scenes’. Deleted scenes have been a staple of home video bonus features since at least the rise of the DVD format at the turn of the century. And ‘Star Trek’ has been no exception, with various post-millennial releases of the films and television shows alike. The original series, though, provides something of a notable exception, despite having been released in its entirety on DVD (twice) before being remastered for high definition and released on blu-ray, all in the first […]

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Book Review: ‘Who Is The Black Panther?’ By: Jesse J. Holland

Stuart Conover — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 21:30:10 +0000

Ever since the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced the world to ‘Black Panther’ it is impossible to wonder ‘Who is the Black Panther?’ but that is the question which author Jesse J. Holland had to answer for readers everywhere. The novel served not just as an introduction to T’Challa but also to Wakanda, Vibranium, and Klaw. Going into this work is much like the other Marvel titles which have been released through Titan books; it will be familiar to audiences of the MCU as well as readers of the comics but won’t be fully true to either. That being said, Holland’s take on ‘Black Panther’ and the related characters swing much closer to their comic book counterparts than those who graced the big screen earlier this year. Also included in the novel are fan-favorites Shury, the Dora Milage, and T’challa and Shuri’s mother. As in both mediums, we see the Wakanda here as a country which is cut off from the rest of the world. T’Challa is the ruler and the villain Klaw is responsible for his father’s death. Also as T’challa has often been portrayed, those that know him both love and respect him while those that don’t, especially from […]

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Book Review: ‘Deadpool: Paws’ By Stefan Petrucha

Stuart Conover — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 00:00:49 +0000

What happens when you throw Stefan Petrucha to the wolves and make him write about the Merc with the Mouth? You get the ridiculous thrill ride that is ‘Deadpool: Paws.’ We all know that Wade Wilson is known for breaking the 4th wall in his comics and by Ryan Reynolds, but with the character narrating his own book you know that it is just going to be taken up a notch. In fact, they even include it in the synopsis of the title by stating, “..Sorry Marvel, somethin’ happened to your copy guy. This is Deadpool speaking! Like he said, this is my first prose novel, and they got this dude Stefan Petrucha to write it” before going on to explain what the book is actually about. Just like every non-animated iteration of Deadpool, this one is not for the kids as we get a rather violent outing with Marvel’s favorite assassin who can’t die. Especially with Wade running around killing puppies. Even if they’re puppies which could at a moment’s notice change into giant-sized evil puppies that you’ll find in these pages as S.H.I.E.L.D. has hired Wade to take these monsters out before they have a chance to destroy the […]

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Book Review: ‘One Of Us’ By Craig DiLouie

Stuart Conover — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 15:29:44 +0000

Craig DiLouie is back with a new round of horror and this deep he’s mixing things up by taking a look at mutations, children, and the terrifying things that can happen to a society when the two mix on a mass scale. His last outing that I read was ‘Suffer the Children,’ and DiLouie isn’t slouching with this novel and is just as interesting of a read. While it will keep you turning pages to find out what happens next, the book is quite complex with quite a few philosophical ideas being examined so I wouldn’t go into this one expecting a whimsical horror novel with a comic book feel which the description could make you believe it to be. The story technically begins in 1968 when a new form of sexually transmitted diseases are unleashed upon the world. These incurable STDs initially don’t seem to cause any issues, but in the babies who are born to parents with them, there are massive physical malformations with some cases being fatal. The children are known as “the plague generation,” and the story truly begins in 1984. These children have been abandoned in large numbers and now live in the Home. This […]

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Book Review: ‘Civil War’ By Stuart Moore

Stuart Conover — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 16:29:04 +0000

I think we can all agree that the ‘Civil War’ storyline wasn’t well received by the comic community on the whole, but big sales pushed it into guiding both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a novel by Stuart Moore. The idea of taking the entire ‘Civil War’ story arc with all of the characters involved and streamlining it into a single novel is a daunting task to contemplate and even under Moore’s guiding hand, it felt like it wasn’t going to work. However, it did. In fact, I believe I enjoyed the prose version of this tale more than the comics which it is working to adapt. Now, there wasn’t anything new to the characters or their motivations, and while a few changes were made due to space, none of them felt out of place or took away from the story. Just like the comics, we follow the government introducing the Superhero Registration Act which pits Captain America against Iron Man as to the moral vs. legal aspects of how it plays out. The tensions between the two sides escalate until superheroes are fighting one another over the right to privacy instead of working together to take down the supervillains […]

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Book Review: “Avengers: Everybody Wants to Rule the World” By Dan Abnett

Stuart Conover — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 17:14:22 +0000

New York Times bestselling author Dan Abnett might be best known to comic fans for his runs on ‘The Punisher’, ‘War Machine’, and ‘Annihilation: Nova’ but is also responsible for this action-packed prose novel ‘Avengers: Everybody Wants to Rule the World.’ This is the first work by Marvel which Titan is putting out and has Earth’s Mightiest Heroes seeing multiple world-conquering threats all hitting at once. ‘Avengers: Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ sees A.I.M., Hydra, Ultron, Dormammu, and the High Evolutionary all working to take over Earth at the same time. Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Iron Man, Thor, Bruce Banner, and Nick Fury are all on the case but are spread thin as each hero has to be separated to tackle these threats one at a time. To make matters worse, global communications are down so they can’t even see that a pattern is emerging until they’re able to battle through their initial threats. Once they can contact one another, it quickly becomes clear that an even more significant threat has been playing these villains like chess pieces from behind the scenes. While this book is an easy hit for fans of comics, there isn’t a lot of […]

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Book Review: ‘Apart In The Dark’ By Ania Ahlborn

Stuart Conover — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 22:00:04 +0000

As a fan of Ania Ahlborn’s work, I was excited not just to pick up ‘Apart in the Dark’ because it contained more of her work but because it contained two novellas by one of my favorite authors! In the collection, we have ‘The Pretty Ones’ which takes place during the Summer of Sam in 1977 and we’re shown a murder mystery that almost seem related to the serial killer but ends up as something much darker. Next up is ‘I Call Upon Thee’ where Maggie Olsen who is a ghost story with an exciting twist. ‘The Pretty Ones’ had a somewhat slow start which almost threw me due to how quick Ania’s words usually draw me in. I was almost worried for a few pages, but once things got going, I was sucked in. While the story is somewhat predictable, the writing and characters make it no less enjoyable for it, and the suspense is well written even if you think you know what is going to happen! The true stand out between these two though is ‘I Call Upon Thee.’ She does such a great job at building up the suspense and dread as we slowly learn what […]

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