When I wrote The Methuselah Strain, one of my major themes was the influence of sex robots on the human population; in particular, the dangers involved in employing such robots fitted with Artificial Intelligence. Now scientists have decided to voice and share their own fears in this regard. It’s really rather gratifying when you discover …
Continue reading When Your #SciFi Predictions Come True!
345 pages Time Travel/First Contact/Science Fiction. The Galaxy Series Book 3 This is the third in a series. The book is a worthy work, but I found it slow to start. That may be because I haven’t read the previous two. Once the first chapters are done, the story starts to move at a good …
Continue reading Divided States of America, by Aithal: #BookReview.
Night on Lake Maggiore. The 1st of the month is when I let you know the creative writing contest table has been updated. (I actually update it several times during each month, but the reminder comes just this once!) You access the table through the ‘Resources’ page, here. Many contests are free to enter and …
Continue reading Creative #Writing #Contests Table Updated
798 pages Thrillers/Private Investigator Mysteries/Murder Fiction This collection of crime novels puts together the first three books in the Annie Raymond series: Like False Money, The Doll Makers, and The Jawbone Gang. For those unfamiliar with the writing of Penny Grubb, I will simply say, ‘You’re missing out on some very good crime writing.’ Having …
Continue reading Falling Into Crime, by Penny Grubb: #BookReview.
164 pages Literary/Contemporary Fiction/Poetry Anthologies This anthology contains the prize-winning entries into the 2019 contest run by this prestigious organisation. There are judge’s reports on the entries for Poetry, Short Story and Flash Fiction. The book showcases those pieces of work that won the major prizes or were highly commended. So, there are thirteen poems, …
Continue reading Bridport Prize Anthology 2019, by: The Bridport Prize #BookReview.
318 pages Science Fiction Adventure/Military Science Fiction As flagged by the sub-genres in which this book is listed, it’s a science fiction tale full of action, much of which is military in tone. But it’s also a lot more than that. The story combines ancient history, via an archaeologist and his daughter, with the idea …
Continue reading The Star Protocol, by the Marett Brothers: #BookReview.
480 pages Political Fiction/Dystopian/Literary Fiction Not for the faint-hearted. And, definitely not for the perennially depressed. But this is a book that should be read by everyone (I’m conscious of the contradiction). Set in a future UK too close for comfort, it examines the inevitable consequences of unfettered capitalism. The writing style is clever, sometimes …
Continue reading 84K, by Claire North: #BookReview.
It occurred to me recently that I’ve never explained what drove me to write the books I’ve had published. My hope was the intention would be clear from the story. But it seems that’s not very realistic. I know what motivated me, so I can hardly judge how effectively that motivation was transferred to the …
Continue reading Why Did I Write Breaking Faith That Way?
This short novel takes an unusual idea (one deserving a lot more attention) and sends it on a fascinating journey. I’ll make it clear now that I’m agnostic, so carry none of the usual religious hang-ups about discussing the force, entity or whatever name you wish to give to the mythical being generically known as …
Continue reading God on Trial, by Sabri Bebawi: #BookReview.
494 Pages Science Fiction/Children’s/Colonisation In this quite extraordinary novel we have a piece of science fiction that could well become a literary classic. The combination of figurative language, timeless universal themes, and adventure shown through the eyes of carefully realised and presented characters places this work high above many in the genre. In fact, it …
Continue reading Exiles, by Daniel Blythe: #Book Review.
This unusual novel reads like an autobiography in that the narrator, David, tells his story in the first person as though detailing his life experiences. Initially, he recounts his early life and leads up to his relationship with his girlfriend, Chloe, and his hopes of a career as a heart surgeon. Everything changes, however, with …
Continue reading Dead Man Dreaming, by Uday Mukerji: Reviewed.
261 pages Gay & Lesbian Adventure/Travel Adventure/Suspense Action Fiction A book I probably wouldn’t have read, I came across this through a recommendation on Twitter from a follower there. Unusually, I bought it without reading the sample, but entirely on the basis of the synopsis. This made no mention that the lover referred to was …
Continue reading The Harvest of Inadequate Lives, by Patrick S. Stokes: #BookReview.
Image courtesy of pixabay. Looking for your next big story idea? If you're experiencing writer's block, or you just want to come up with something new to write about, one way is to take a cue from a major aspect of culture that’s largely untapped. There are always cultural fads to explore, some of which …
Continue reading Want An Original Fantasy? Tap Into An Obsession
316 pages Space Exploration/Science Fiction An enormously complex and wide-ranging story with a cast of characters from all over the galaxy, this is essentially a tale of survival against the odds. Male criminals, of human and different alien species, are incarcerated on a hostile uninhabited planet as punishment for their crimes. They are treated as …
Continue reading Rijel 12: The Rise of New Australia, by King Everett Medlin: #BookReview.
236 pages Short Stories/Fantasy/Science Fiction Anthologies Before you read this, you need to know that one of the 27 stories published in this anthology was written by me. So, a collection of dark, sometimes very dark, speculative fiction with a touch of black humour sprinkled in. The theme of the anthology is Fire and Ice …
Continue reading The Forge: Fire and Ice, by Fantastic Books Publishing: #BookReview.
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Antidote to the Novel
Stuart Aken 