Tag: #sci-fi

Feature Post and Book Review: The Time Patriot: Episode One – Hail Mary Pass by Kim Megahee

Book Summary

A Hail Mary Pass – that’s what the President of the United States called it.

What are the chances Marc McKnight’s time travel team can convince George Washington to leave his home and travel with them to the year 2037?
Another bloody civil war is imminent in the United States. Political parties are hopelessly divided and fanning the embers of war. Can the war be prevented if George Washington tells modern America what the Founding Fathers were trying to achieve?

A Hail Mary Pass. A long shot. But it’s worth a try.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/65138146-the-time-patriot?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=qt5JUrkOj0&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THE TIME PATRIOT: EPISODE ONE – HAIL MARY PASS by Kim Megahee is the intriguing first in The Time Patriot series of time travel/sci-fi historical episodic novellas set in 2037. With the U.S on the brink of civil war, a time travel team has been sent by the current U.S. President to bring George Washington forward in time to clarify to the people of 2037 America what the Founding Fathers were trying to achieve with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

I was impressed with the believability of the worldbuilding in this novella. It sets up the series without bogging down the pace of the plot. The historical research interspersed with futuristic sci-fi imaginings are interwoven seamlessly throughout the novella and lead to an easy suspension of belief and an enjoyable read that ends too soon.

This novella does end on a cliffhanger, but the next episode is available now, so you don’t have to wait, which I didn’t. That said, it is also my only criticism. I know many people enjoy short bursts of stories that they can stop and start, continue or not, but I do not. I would have preferred all these episodic novellas were available in one full length story.

Overall, this is an action-packed, exciting sci-fi historical novella that I read in one sitting and really enjoyed. I did immediately download the next novella in the series, but this type of rolling out a story may not be for everyone.

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About the Author

Kim Megahee is a writer, musician, and retired computer consultant. He has a degree from the University of Georgia in Mathematics Education. His background includes playing in rock bands, teaching high school, and much experience in computer programming, security and consulting.

In his consulting career, Kim worked with large companies on four continents to help increase their software development throughput.

In addition to writing, he enjoys hanging out with his wife, reading, watching scifi movies, boating on Lake Lanier, playing live music, and socializing with friends. Kim lives in Gainesville, Georgia with his soulmate wife Martha and Leo, the brilliant but stubborn red-headed toy poodle.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.authorkimmegahee.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/author.kmega/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorKmega

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kim-megahee

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Riebeckite by O.R. Lea

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing by Feature Post and Book Review on the Blackthorn Book Tour for RIEBECKITE by O.R. Lea.

Below you will find book description, my book review and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Dangerous spores gather on Earth after an asteroid strikes the moon. Humanity watches the skies…but the real danger is at their feet.

After an asteroid strike on the moon, a strange blue dust began to flow down through Earth’s atmosphere. It’s harmful to breathe, but at least the microscopic creatures within the dust are dormant. Or so we thought.

Tahira made a childhood promise to a friend that the crisis would bring their people together… before a violent riot tore their lives apart. Now, as an adult, Tahira works as a biologist for a corporation constructing experimental towers to force the spores—known as riebeckites—to germinate into harmless colonies.

Except they’re about to learn everything they think they know about the dust is wrong. The real threat isn’t the asteroid that struck the moon and by the time humanity figures it out, it might be too late.

Riebeckite combines suspense and conspiracy with heart-in-mouth action sequences and nightmarish encounters, all in an immersive near-future setting and, at its core, a heartwarming story of friendship against the odds.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60256603-riebeckite?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=K0SfKrHRcQ&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

RIEBECKITE (Bruised Moon Sequence Book #1) by O.R. Lea is an engrossing mix of speculative fiction, sci-fi and horror that comes together in a story that is impossible to put down. It is also a story of friendship that spans not only years but cultural prejudice and politics.

We meet best friends Tahira who is Azerbaijani and Zareen who is Iranian when they are eight years old. They are separated as children when the Iranians are annexed and held behind an electrified cable wall.

Decades later, the two may be separated by a wall, but they are in touch and friends once again. Tahira studies the biology of the riebeckites that large turbines clean out of the air and deposit in the seas. They are from the moon dust and may not be as benign as the population has been led to believe. She discovers the monsters Zareen has been telling her about in the Annex, that the Azerbaijanis believe are urban legends, are real monsters. The riebeckites are a bigger threat than anyone believed. Will humanity survive?

I loved this novel! It was in a genre I usually do not gravitate toward, but I could not stop reading it. Not only is it in a different genre, but it is set in the Persian Gulf, which is unusual too. Tahira and Zareen are both strong female characters, but in differing ways. It is partially due to their circumstances, but their personalities are very different even as young girls. The riebeckites are such an interesting new biological species that are equal parts believable and disgusting. The author’s descriptive writing at times sent shivers up my spine as well as turned my stomach. The plot moves at an ever-increasing pace with plenty of action scenes especially in the second half of the story. There is a satisfying climax and conclusion to tie up many plot threads, but there is an opening for more.

I highly recommend this unique book and I am excited to read future books in this series.

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Author Bio

Raised and educated in North Wales, Oliver spent his early 20s working for a theatre-in-education music troupe for as long as it took to feel like his GCSE in Welsh language had provided its money’s worth. Since then, he’s lived in Portsmouth and currently works as a laboratory analyst. His biggest failure as a writer has been in his attempts to settle on a genre, having written about Middle Eastern vampires, African mercenaries and supernatural Welsh murderers. His first ‘properly’ published novel, “Riebeckite”, is a near-future speculative fiction story set in the Persian Gulf.

Social Media Links

Website: https:/www.orlea.co.uk

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/orleaauthor

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Ark of the Apocalypse by Tobin Marks

Hi, everyone!

I am very excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the Blackthorn Book Tour for ARK OF THE APOCALYPSE (The Magellan II Chronicles Book #1) by Tobin Marks.

Below you will find a book description, my book review and an about the author section. This is a captivating first book in a new post-apocalyptic sci-fi/fantasy series. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Earth is on the verge of becoming a dead planet.

The polar ice caps melted long ago, and it’s been decades since the last raindrop fell. Ocean levels rise a dozen meters, and forest fires rage on a global scale. Eleven billion people dying of thirst wage water wars against each other as extinction looms.

Humanity needs a new planet. As Earth deteriorates, the nation states desperately work together to build a mechanism for recolonization. And so the Magellan II is born, the first starship capable of interstellar travel.

The future of the human race is tasked to ten thousand colonists-now homeless but for the vastness of space and the decks of Magellan II. A distant planet offers hope of survival, but it’s a strange, watery world inhabited by giant reptiles.

Humanity is starting over, but survival isn’t guaranteed.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56496136-ark-of-the-apocalypse?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=EW8bqdgCkR&rank=1

The Ark of the Apocalypse

By Tobin Marks

  • Amazon link: http://mybook.to/ArkApocalypse
  • Genre:  Post apocalyptic fantasy
  • Print length: 426 pages
  • Age range: This is an adult book but suitable for mature teenagers 16+
  • Trigger warnings: No
  • Amazon Rating: 5 stars
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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

ARK OF THE APOCALYPSE (The Magellan II Chronicles Book #1) by Mark Tobin is a captivating first book in a new post-apocalyptic sci-fi/fantasy series.

No one is listening to the warnings that the Earth is warming. The planet is on fire, the ice caps have evaporated, and governments are willing to go to war over scarce natural resources for their overpopulated nations.

Humanity needs a new planet. Magellan II is the first starship capable of interstellar space travel and will become the hope for humans to recolonize. The colonists are on a journey to a distant lush planet with the hope of starting anew, but survival is not guaranteed.

This story pulls you in and begins with familiar themes from the present and then weaves them into a story that extrapolates the warnings of today into a post-apocalyptic world seamlessly. The author has populated the story with characters that could walk right off the page and his worldbuilding is easily visualized. I was completely engrossed as I followed the two lineages of the Yanbeyeva family over decades, on earth and on the new world of Aqueous. This is an action-packed tale that I was unable to put down as I was completely immersed in the story. I am looking forward to seeing where the author takes me in the next book in this series.

I can highly recommend this first book in this post-apocalyptic sci-fi/fantasy!

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About the Author

Marks is a world traveler who grew up in a household of rocket scientists. As a boy he had a front row seat observing many NASA and NOAA projects. He writes science fiction novels from his home in north west Baja, and you can usually find him on Twitter @tobinmarks.