Thursday, February 4, 2016

The Life Engineered by J-F Dubeau

The Life Engineered by J-F Dubeau


3 / 5

A hard science fiction tale about a Singularity event, that has all consciousness loaded into robotic life, know as Capeks.  It was a short tale, and not to deep, but entertaining.  I found it quite enjoyable.

This tale is a mystery at its heart.  Who is killing the Gaias, powerful Capeks that create the next generations after a period of spiritual purification of 'souls'? This mystery is handled well, and it kept me invested in the story. While we are on the topic of souls, mythology features strongly in this story, with references to Buddhism, the Greek, Norse, and Aztec pantheons present.  These, beyond the concept of rebirths, are just flavor and are not explored in any great depth in the story, but it was consistent and helped with atmosphere for the story.

The characters are simply, and we learn little about them.  Beyond the main character, which is dealt with on a surface level, we learn little about the other dramatic personae of this tale.  It did not detract to much form the enjoyment, but I wish we learned more about what it is like for them to life this transferred existence

This book was a good hard scifi tale of novella length.  I enjoyed the story, and I will forgive its shallowness on character development because of its novella length.  I will read more of this authors work. 

Thursday, January 28, 2016

United States Of Japan by Peter Tieryas

United States Of Japan by Peter Tieryas


4/5

What if Japan won the second world war?  That is the premise that this scifi thriller, and it grips its reader from the start in a believable alternate history and a intriguing mystery.

I enjoyed this story, it had the right blend of action and suspense melded with a cyberpunk vibe.  The reader is given a feel of what life would be like in Imperial Japan.  Paranoia and duty are some of the themes explored in this book.

The plot is thrilling.  I could not put this book down for an extended period of time without wanting to pick it back up again.  I kept finding it in my hands to read a bit more.  The action and suspense are top notch, and this is as it should be.  At the root of this story, it is a political-legal thriller set in a scifi world, and that was just what I was looking for when I picked up this book.  The plot is well thought out, intriguing, and moves at a good pace, blending suspense and action perfectly.

The characters are well developed, and behave in very believable ways. They are full three dimensional characters that really help with story, and you find yourself interested in them.

I will admit that when I first looked at this book, with the Mecha looming over a city scape, I was expecting some action oriented bit of escapism, and not much else.  This book had action, and well crafted action, but it was more then that.  It was that level of depth to this story that took it to the next level.  I would recommend this book to fans of Scifi, alternate earth, of thrillers.  I will definitely be keeping an eye on this author and following his work

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Quick Update for New Year

New Year

Alas, my friends, there has been a lot of activity in the last half of 2015, and as such I have not been able to keep the reviews coming as quickly as I would like.

Now, I am back, reading, and will be posting reviews shortly.