Tag: #sciencefiction

Feature Post and Book Review: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Book Description

Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

“Are you happy with your life?”

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that’s the dream?

And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27833670-dark-matter?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=WC5EKSgQDH&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch is an exciting mash-up of sci-fi, technothriller, suspense, action, and romance that grabbed me from page one and the next thing I knew the sun was coming up. WOW!

Jason Dessen is a physicist who teaches at a local college. His wife Daniela gave up her career in art to teach private lessons and stay home with their son, Charlie, when they found out she was pregnant fifteen years ago. They are an average, but happy couple and family. Jason goes to the local bar by his brownstone to congratulate his former roommate on winning a prestigious scientific award and on his way home he is abducted. Then….(Sorry, but you have to read or listen to the book to experience the rest of this rollercoaster ride and have your mind blown.)

This story is such a great mix of genres and if you are worried about not liking sci-fi, don’t be because this is also a story of the roads not taken in our lives, second chances and love. There are a few times when the explanation of some the principles of physics slows the pace a bit, but I like these nerdy types of discussions about metaverses and parallel universes. You can skim them and not miss anything important in the overall plot. This is a story that I suggest you make time for because you are going to keep turning the pages.

I highly recommend this amazing cross genre book and I will definitely be checking out more of this author’s work!

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About the Author

Blake Crouch is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. His novels include the New York Times bestseller Dark Matter, and the internationally bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy, which was adapted into a television series for FOX. Crouch also created the TNT show Good Behavior, based on his Letty Dobesh novellas. His latest book is Recursion, a sci-fi thriller about memory, and will be published in June 2019. He has written more than a dozen novels that have been translated into over thirty languages and his short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. Crouch lives in Colorado with his family.

Social Media Links

Website: https://blakecrouch.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blakecrouchauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/blakecrouch1

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/blake-crouch

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: What Branches Grow by T.S. Beier

Top 5 Category Finalist – 2020 Kindle Book Awards

Semi-Finalist – 2021 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC)

Hi, everyone!

Today is my turn to share my Feature Post and Book Review for SHAT BRANCHES GROW by T.S. Beier on this Black Phoenix Book Tour.

Below you will find a book summary, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Summary

A boldly imagined, exhilarating quest through post-apocalyptic America, where human nature is torn between the violent desperation to survive and the desire to forge connection.

Thirty-five years ago, the world was ravaged by war. Delia, a tough-as-nails survivalist, travels north in search of a future. Gennero is tortured by his violent past and devotion to his hometown. Ordered to apprehend Delia, he follows her into the post-apocalyptic landscape. The wasteland is rife with dangers for those seeking to traverse it: homicidal raiders, dictatorial leaders, mutated humans, and increasingly violent and hungry wildlife.

What Branches Grow is an unflinching depiction of life after civilization, where, above all else, trust is the hardest thing to achieve and give. The survivors have an audacious dream of a better life, but their quest may end up being a fruitless endeavour in a world openly hostile to hope.

For fans of Fallout, Mad Max, and The Road. Action and adventure rounded off with a slow-burn romance, dark comedy, and a dog companion.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53178040-what-branches-grow?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=P51Sw7k8nW&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

WHAT BRANCHES GROW by T.S. Beier is a post-apocalyptic dystopian character driven journey of two young protagonists through the wastelands of the United States thirty-five years after the Red War. This is a unique standalone novel which gives you action, adventure, quirky characters, humor, a slow burn romance and monsters.

Delia is hardened and trusts no one after surviving on her own in the wastelands. When she wonders into the wrong town for supplies and the leader of the town sends his second in command, Gennero to bring her to him. When his attempt to enslave her fails, Gennero follows her to not only join her on her search for the mythical city in the North, but to free himself from his past in his hometown.

This story is a hero’s journey through an apocalyptic landscape and all the emotional growth and changes that occur to Delia and Gennero. From hard, untrusting, and scarred, the main characters learn from other characters and trials and tribulations about trust, sacrifice and love. Their traveling companion for part of the story was an old Chinese hipster they called Perth, who lived through the war and with his pug companion was a great source of humor and flashes from the past in his irritating way of interacting with Delia and Gennero. The monsters were the usual post-apocalyptic genetic mutated animals and a few zombie-like creatures, but the real monsters were the humans who had lost their humanity just surviving without ethics or morals.

I highly recommend this dystopian story with action, adventure, and romance that is an engaging and entertaining read from start to finish.

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About the Author

T. S. (Tina) Beier is a science fiction aficionado. Her first novel, the award-winning post-apocalyptic What Branches Grow, is her love letter to the genre. Her space opera The Burnt Ship trilogy takes influence from classic sci-fi but adds a modern twist.

She has a B.A. in English, a graduate certificate in creative writing, a certificate in publishing, and a certificate in interior decorating. She’s an entrepreneur, a book reviewer, and a writer for PostApocalypticMedia.com. Tina lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband, shepherd-mastiff, cat, and two feral children.

Social Media Links

https://www.nostromopublications.com/

https://www.instagram.com/tinasbeier/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBbh_JV7M8K11U2AWIkNfNA

https://www.twitter.com/TSBeier

Feature Post and Minibook Review: Stars Uncharted by S.K. Dunstall

Book Description

A ragtag band of explorers are looking to make the biggest score in the galaxy in the brand-new science fiction adventure novel from the national bestselling author of Linesman.

Three people who are not who they claim to be:

Nika Rik Terri, body modder extraordinaire, has devoted her life to redesigning people’s bodies right down to the molecular level. Give her a living body and a genemod machine, and she will turn out a work of art.

Josune Arriola is crew on the famous explorer ship the Hassim, whose memory banks contain records of unexplored worlds worth a fortune. But Josune and the rest of the crew are united in their single-minded pursuit of the most famous lost planet of all.

Hammond Roystan, the captain of the rival explorer ship, The Road, has many secrets. Some believe one of them is the key to finding the lost world.

Josune’s captain sends her to infiltrate Roystan’s ship, promising to follow. But when the Hassim exits nullspace close to Roystan’s ship, it’s out of control, the crew are dead, and unknown Company operatives are trying to take over. Narrowly escaping and wounded, Roystan and Josune come to Nika for treatment–and with problems of her own, she flees with them after the next Company attack.

Now they’re in a race to find the lost world…and stay alive long enough to claim the biggest prize in the galaxy.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36644837-stars-uncharted?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=8uPe8gvASW&rank=1

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My Minibook Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

STARS UNCHARTED (Stars Uncharted Book #1) by S.K. Dunstall is a fast-paced sci-fi fiction story featuring an incongruous cast of characters with varying agendas all thrown together as they try to stay alive. This is the first book in this sci-fi series.

This story brings together body modders, space treasure hunters, and evil Company men in an ongoing hunt for invaluable minerals. The worldbuilding was interesting and detailed especially about the technology of body mods, while the plot itself was fast-paced and kept the action moving, it was a basic good guys vs. bad guys set up with a few plot twists.

The main characters who end up coming together in the story are all interesting and fully drawn with the main emphasis on the two female characters in the group. Both are strong and independent, but in differing ways. While there is a hint of romance, it is left as a deep friendship.

I enjoyed this flight into the unknown and I am looking forward to reading what happens next to this band of friends.

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Authors Bio

S. K. Dunstall is the pen name for Sherylyn and Karen Dunstall, sisters who have been telling stories—and sharing them with each other—all their lives. Around five years ago, they realised the stories they worked on together were much better than the stories they worked on alone. A co-writing partnership was born.

Social Media Links

Website: http://www.skdunstall.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DunstallSandK

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Hot Ash by Russ Colchamiro

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for HOT ASH (The Angela Hardwicke Mysteries Book #3) by Russ Colchamiro on this Black Phoenix Book Tour.

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

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Book Description

Intergalactic private Angela Hardwicke is Eternity’s most daring spy for hire…

Following the mysterious and ill-timed death of her elderly husband, Camille Engquist was set to inherit the family’s real estate development company. But her stepkids stole it from her first. Or so she claims.

As Hardwicke and her protégé Eric Whistler dive into the world of affordable housing, synthetic concrete, and corporate succession planning, their investigation put them face-to-face with the haves and have-nots, a new form of cocaine, a boundary-pushing neurobiologist, a majestic domed city and a violent conspiracy that stretches farther and deeper than they ever could have imaged. But the most insidious betrayals are sometimes closer to home.

In Hot Ash, Russ Colchamiro’s most action-packed Sci-Fi mystery yet, Angela Hardwicke must grapple with the worst pain of all—that the people we love are the ones we should fear most.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61416783-hot-ash—an-angela-hardwicke-scifi-mystery?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=qOXnqU9xXW&rank=4

Angela Hardwicke Mysteries Series

Book 1 – Crackle and Fire

Book 2 – Fractured Lives

Book 3 – Hot Ash

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

HOT ASH (The Angela Hardwicke Mysteries Book #3) by Russ Colchamiro is a fast-paced mash-up of science fiction/urban fantasy and gritty hard-boiled fiction P.I. mystery with unique worldbuilding and a kick-butt female P.I. protagonist. This is the third book in the series, and it can easily be read as a standalone P.I. mystery, but there is some character change and growth from book one, so I enjoyed reading them in order.

P.I. Angela Hardwicke and her trainee turned protégé, Eric Whistler meet with Camille Engquist regarding her request for their service. They listen to her rage about her treacherous stepchildren and her belief they killed her husband and falsified his recently signed last will and testament kicking her out of their real estate development company without her knowledge. Angela accepts the case because the timing of the husband’s death and the signing of new will seems suspicious.

As Angela and Eric investigate, they are thrown into the darker side of real estate development, building scams, synthetic concrete, inheritance, and drugs. They end up having to go off-world and discover a dangerous and dark conspiracy. Will Angela be able to solve and survive this case?

Angela and this series keep getting better and better. Angela’s character growth has made me like her more and more. At first, she was more of a noir caricature who was like a man in female clothes, but she is becoming a hardcore action P.I. female character who I can cheer for. All the characters are fully fleshed and realistic to this world. The mystery murder and conspiracy plots are intriguing and believable no matter the universe with plenty of exciting twists. The science fiction world in which Angela exists is unique and an interesting worldview twist.

I enjoy Angela Hardwicke and this unique universe, and I am looking forward to reading many more books in this series.

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About the Author

Russ Colchamiro is the author of the sci-fi mystery novels Crackle and Fire and Fractured Lives, featuring his hardboiled intergalactic private eye Angela Hardwicke. He is also the author of the rollicking time travel/space adventure, Crossline, the SFF backpacking comedy series Finders Keepers, Genius de Milo, and Astropalooza, editor of the sci-fi mystery anthology Love, Murder & Mayhem, and co-author of the noir anthology Murder in Montague Falls.

A member of the Mystery Writers Association, Russ is currently publishing the third book in his Angela Hardwicke series, and has written more than a dozen short stories for various anthologies. He is also host of the long-running podcast Russ’s Rockin’ Rollercoaster, interviewing a who’s who of science fiction, crime, and mystery authors. Russ lives in New Jersey with his wife, two ninjas, and his black lab Jinx.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.russcolchamiro/com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=author%20russ%20colchamiro

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorduderuss

Book Review: Three Immortals by Bert-Oliver Boehmer

My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THREE IMMORTALS by Bert-Oliver Boehmer is an action-packed intergalactic science fiction adventure. This story is full of space battles, alliances, friendships and betrayals, knowledge, and the fight for ultimate supremacy. I feel it is appropriate for all ages, has several powerful messages and is also just fun to read.

After being almost eliminated by extra-galactics, humans have risen again. Led by the Assembly, a body of immortals of all races, the humans are once again endangered by a ruthless Empress seeking power over all.

Kel Chaada, a popular war hero becomes the leader of a conglomerate of mining worlds with his unbelievable defeat over the Aloo Das lead by Sya Omega. He is elevated to the Assembly and receives the gift of immortality only to be betrayed.

As Kel flees to the outer fringes of the galaxy, he discovers ancient alien civilizations. Kel learns those his has been taught to fear just may be the allies he needs to save humanity once again.

I enjoyed reading this science fiction book as a change of pace from my usual choice of material. I also enjoyed this author’s worldbuilding. The names in the worldbuilding are unique and difficult, but once everyone was sorted and the action took hold of the story it just flew by. The space and time scientific concepts were difficult on occasion, but the overall character plotlines always kept me turning the pages. I loved Kel’s hero journey throughout the story and I felt all the characters from all the differing civilizations were intriguing.

Overall, an entertaining science fiction space action-adventure.

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About the Author

Bert-Oliver Boehmer is a science fiction writer and author of the new novel “Three Immortals”. After two decades of working with innovative software and bioinformatics companies, he turned his passion for futuristic technologies, exotic biology, and artificial intelligence into the foundation of a vast space opera universe.

Bert-Oliver holds a degree in computer science and has traveled this planet extensively. Since 2020, he focuses on telling stories about what we might find elsewhere and elsewhen.

He lives with his wife and daughters in Southern California, where his Jeep leaves tire tracks on many trails.