Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness

Time’s Convert. Deborah Harkness. Penguin Publishing Group. September 2018. 448 pp. ISBN#: 9780399564512.

What is it like to be adopted and become a vampire?  What is it like to become a vampire and then be married to another vampire.  In this prequel to the author’s previous All Souls Trilogy about the de Clermont family, we discover the background of Marcus Whitmore and the 23-year-old bride to be, Phoebe Taylor.  She becomes a vampire but like a baby must undergo a 90-day period of change from a human to vampire, with all the physical, mental and spiritual changes accompanying such a huge and formidable transformation.  During that period of time, Marcus has agreed to remain separated from her and endure all the frustrations of that change.  They are well-suited to each other with their independent, fiercely demanding and intemperate desires.  They are also a thorn in the flesh of those around them which provides many amusing and almost catastrophic scenes that elicit a range of erratic emotions in the reader as well as the characters.  “Becoming” is mysterious and exciting as well, to say the least!

Another plot line centers around two twins, Philip and Becca, born to a couple who are vampire and witch respectively.  It turns out that these twins have magical powers parallel to witches which must be softened, monitored and disciplined into permissible behavior so that disaster does not strike, as it almost does several times.  Their parents have a huge adjustment to manage as well as they never expected babies to satisfy their own desires immediately, including one making friends with a familiar, a griffin whom Philip names Apollo. The latter is also in dire need of control and discipline, proven by the humorous and frightening scenes that demonstrate just how deeply bonded Philip and Apollo are!

A third and fascinating subplot shows what it was like to live in the times of the American and French Revolution.  Marcus originally lived in that time in the 1700s.  Growing up with an abusive father and negligent family certainly did not bode well for the future and it was his father Matthew de Clermont who adopted Marcus and made him a vampire.  Learning about the extended family of vampires is awesome by itself. Vying for power and satisfying one’s own desires make for familial scenes that are more like a civil war.

Although this novel is connected to the earlier series, it works just as well as a stand-alone story.  Constant action, conflicts, funny takes, and the solving of some mysteries about the de Clermont history enable the reader to fly through these pages and engage with these endearing yet formidable characters.  Deborah Harkness has clearly done her research and has more than ample talent to craft a richly complex story, with just enough complexity in character depiction to satisfy every reader.

Well-done, again, Deborah Harkness!  Looking forward to more of immediate and extended family evolution and progress!  

Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence

Grey Sister. Mark Lawrence. Penguin Publishing Group. April 2018. 432 pp. ISBN#: 9781101988886.

Grey Sister reads as a stand-alone novel although you will enjoy it more if you read its prequel, Red Sister.  Intense is the word that most describes the character and plot development in both novels but more so in Grey Sister.  Nona Grey is at the stage of her convent (No, not like any convent experience you’ve read about or experienced!) experience where she must choose to permanently become a member of the Martial Sisters (red), the Sisters of Discretion (grey), the Mystic Sisters (blue) or the Brides of the Ancestor (black).  Nona is still trying to figure out in which place she fits.  She has extraordinary physical abilities, enhanced by her experiences on the Path which are fueled by her phenomenally rage when inspired by some wrongdoing experienced directly or indirectly.  So great is her fury that the power that emanates from her can take down concrete walls and buildings!  It’s hard to believe there are other Sisters with as intense powers, but there are!

Nona’s quest in this novel of the series is to figure out the secrets of the Universe and who controls them. This is a world of ice and cold moons that are controlled by devices, one of which has been stolen.  While the quest continues to find that device, Nona continues to study shadow-making, potions for poisoning, thread-weaving, sword battle and physical battle.  She certainly has become better in each one, but the challenges she most pays attention to are that of silent meditation and a type of balance walking that is almost impossible to complete in one attempt.

Who is trying to control Nona or even kill her?  Her old nemesis is dead but after that event a spark of evil named Keot (almost like an animal spirit) is now inside Nona and often contradicts what Nona decides but is an ever-present advisor.

Action abounds throughout this novel, rising and falling with death-defying conflicts.  The Noi-Guin are a series of warriors who want Nona dead.  The other nuns in training are one minute fully helping Nona and then threatening her very existence.  A secret lies in the deepest recesses of ice-cold caves below the convent, a place in which they are forbidden to enter.

The ending of this particular novel is quite spectacular.  Readers who love mystery, rocking adventure, various levels of the fantastic, physical and mystical battles, etc will love this series beyond description!  Although sometimes the end goal is unclear, it still has enough clues to satisfy any reader sharp enough to capture them when they appear.  Nicely crafted, Mark Lawrence! Looking forward to third novel in this intriguing series!

Red Sister: First Book of The Ancestor by Mark Lawrence

Red Sister: First Book of The Ancestor by Mark Lawrence. Book: Penguin Publishing Group. Copyright April 2017. $16.99;  pb. 480 pp.; ISBN: 978110988879.

Nona Grey is about to be hung!  She has attempted to murder an upper-class lord who deserves the slit throat he gets but will never forgive his attempted assassin. Rescued by a nun, Nona is taken to the Convent of Sweet Mercy, a misnomer if there were ever one.  The convent includes a variety of young girls and women who are being trained in multiple facets of war.  Nona will spend three years preparing to graduate as a warrior.  For most of the novel, the reader is never quite sure who a precise enemy is.  We know that the Convent is located in a very cold, hard area where stone, cliffs and frozen rivers are the norm. 

So Nona begins to trust her classmates – somewhat as one is never sure who is friend or foe here as the competition is fierce for victory.  She is taught the crafts of sword fighting, poisoning, wrestling, physical battle, reading and writing, and the path to serenity or “The Path,” as it is known.  It sounds like a martial arts academy based on spiritual principles but with no room for weakness or giving in.  The goal is success, no matter how violent, cruel or deadly.

It initially is debatable whether Nona is “The Chosen One” foreseen in a prophecy believed by the Sisters at the Convent.  There are various categories of humans who hold a secret skill in one form of battle.  Nona must learn to conquer the weaknesses she carries that prevent her from doing better, most of all her temper.  Yet that same temper will enable her to win her first competition against a relative of an upper class enemy.  How to control that gift and use it to its maximum effect is the challenge!

The last few chapters of this superb story will leave you breathless as Nona confronts evil incarnate.

I don’t normally go for novels that are very violent but this one had a “ninja-like” quality that hooked me completely!  Looking forward to the next novel in the series!  Think most readers will as well!

The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth's Past #1) by Cixin Liu

The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #1) by Cixin Liu. Translated by Ken Liu. Tor Book: Tom Doherty Associates Book.  Copyright 2018. $16.99. pb. 416 pp. ISBN: 9780765382030. 

Cixin Liu is a multi-award winning science fiction whose works are now available in English translation.  This is the first in a planned trilogy.  The novel begins during the time of China’s Cultural Revolution.  Academics are being purged and forced to undergo Communist indoctrination.  One area remains untouched, that of science as China is planning a project to contact aliens from outer space.  Ye Wenjie had watched her scientist father being beaten to death; yet by a strange series of circumstances, she is chosen to be part of this new team to reach outer space.  This is truly hard science fiction.  Even though the science of astrophysics is hard to follow, one can skip some of the scientific descriptions and still get the gist of the plots herein.  At first the problems with the project are that Wenjie and her colleagues are studying scientific theory, they discover that eventually all past theories become negated by the new ones.  Physics, Biology and Computer Science are omitted after their use has become negated by technology leaps. 

The Red Coast Project is highly secure with a classified rating.  Wang Miao has been invited to be part of the project even though his field of nanotechnology is totally unrelated to this problem.  Wang has a problem getting others to answer his questions.  What he learns is mostly from what originally was a virtual reality game called Three Body which involves discovering and eventually the renunciation of these same theories by Newton, Von Neumann, the First Zhou Emperor, Syzygy, etc.

Suddenly, the Three Body game is no longer a game but a connection with Extraterrestrial beings, the Trisolaran Fleet.  Instead of being excited, the scientists become divided in factions.  The proverbial problem is after the discovery, what are these beings like and can Chinese plans fuse with the Trisolaran beings?  Will the latter reform human civilization, the goal being the elimination of all human madness and evil?  Will the Earth be destroyed?  Yours to be discovered!

The author includes a postscript in which he describes how his interest in science and scientific theory developed which is clear and interesting to follow.

All in all, this is a difficult text to read but contains ideas about science and scientists and humanity that is sure to intrigue fans of hard core science fiction.  It certainly will provoke much dialogue about its theories, plots and plans for future novels in the series! 

Blood Orbit: A Gattis File Novel by K. R Richardson

Blood Orbit: A Gattis File Novel. K. R. Richardson. Prometheus Books. Copyright May 2018. pb.  495 pp.; ISBN: 9781633884397. 

Rookie Eric Matheson and his mate discover a gruesome, mind-blowing massacre of sixteen victims.  His mate is injured and Matheson is assigned to investigate the murders with the Chief Forensic Officer, Inspector J. P. Dillal.  Dillal is the first cybernetic investigator in the corporate-run planet of Gattis.  But Dilall has origins from a despised ethnic underclass in a caste system that not only feeds dislike but also guarantees outbreaks of violence.  The murders occurred in what is called a jassi, a place where illegal activities flourish and bonds among the criminal elements of society develop in spite of the clandestine nature of these jassi meetings.  Matheson and Dilall are charged with solving the murders quickly with hints that failure to speedily conclude this matter could have devastating results for both men. At the same time, Dilall is new to this cybernetic life and there are some adjustments that need to happen in order for him to avoid infection and death to his new mechanical being.

Dillal is glad he has a rookie for a colleague in this investigation so that he can train him in techniques that actually work, before the rookie Matheson is tainted by the local police who are supposed to enforce the law but instead pursue the interests of Corporate goals and greed.  Matheson’s peers however, resent his promotion to this job and violently let him know it.  Add to that the groups on the street who support and more often oppose him finding the answers about this murder.  The reality is that corporate office is trying to cover up the truth so they can name one of the lower-class groups as guilty, thereby justifying some elaborate methods of exterminating the despised lower class or classes of Gattis.

To say more would spoil the conflict’s evolution; suffice to say Dillal and Matheson will solve the crime but may not live to enjoy the victory!

This sci-fi novel is very difficult to follow, but it’s worth it to break through the challenging group names, acts by superiors to confuse and alter the progress of the investigation, and determine who are the ones directing Corporation commands.  Interesting read and recommended for true sci-fi fans!

Factor Man: A Novel by Matt Ginsberg

Factor Man: A Novel. Matt Ginsberg. Zowie Press. Copyright March 2018. pb. 292 pp.; ISBN 978099957116. 

Factor Man is a computer genius who has calculated the solution to innumerable mathematical problems with one system, the one that is called “God’s Algorithm,” the one that makes problems like artificial intelligence child’s play.  It’s a simple plot, really, but one that keeps the readers flipping the pages because it’s so engaging.  In the beginning, there’s a great deal of explanation in computer and mathematical jargon that might be disconcerting to some but it soon becomes as clear as possible and the reader is hooked!

First, Factor Man invites various blog watchers to submit a number to which he offers a mathematical solution.  That is all very amusing until the hunt begins.  William Burkett, a journalist, sees the possibilities of a potential Pulitzer Prize if he can figure out who Factor Man is and whether he’s for real or a “crackpot.”

Then we have two opposing sides vying to discover Factor Man’s real identity with the hope of controlling or stopping him.  One is the FBI and the other is a Chinese special agent named Janet Liu.  The system Factor Man has devised is one that could solve the problems of hacking into business and governmental programs, solving scientific problems such as which proteins and chemical compounds could cure cancer, and on and on.  As the complexity of possibilities increases, the search for Factor Man becomes more frustrating and tense.  Factor Man is a cool customer who plans carefully but at the same time acknowledges he’s no genius with “spy” behavior.  Meanwhile, he is making a fortune and decides to share his information with those he thinks deserve to treat it with socially conscious programs.  It’s nice to read about such altruistic motives, even though it’s in fiction.

Factor Man is an unusual work of science fiction or computer fiction that is quite different from what’s on the current best seller and even unknown market.  There’s a hint of reality that someday this might just be the future of computers, finance and government.  Nicely done, Matt Ginsberg.

City of Sand by Tianxia Bachang

City of Sand. Tianxia Bachang. Random House Children’s Books. November 2017. 256 pp. ISBN#: 9780553524109.

Tianyi is an unusual girl who doesn’t want to do anything that other “good” girls do.  Unknown to her family, her grandfather left her half a book about what westerners would call “grave robbing.” Then she studies the art of feng shui meant to guide her to correct tombs that will provide blessings in wealth rather than curses all too possible in other gravesites. In China, after all, there are ghosts, snakes, and other nefarious creatures that could kill quickly, neatly and without anyone else knowing. 

From the beginning, Tianyi and her friend, Kai, work well together.  Kai may not have the academic skills Tianyi has from her grandfather’s book but he is an adventurer and can be trusted with any sharing.  Their first encounters with ghosts and/or reanimated corpses is hair-raising but fun that readers will love.  After a while, they realize they need to travel with others of like mind and even better skills.  They thereafter join the archeological expedition of a Professor Chen and the American who is financing the project, as well the Professor’s entourage, to find Jingjue City, one spot on the Silk Road sacred tombs may be found with accompanying cultural artifacts.

No spoilers here!  Suffice to say that numerous adventures follow with some truth, some lies, and some betrayals pitching the action forward.  In some ways, the action goes nowhere, with little of importance discovered at first, and this may frustrate some readers.  But for the most part, the this is a Young Adult novel for those who love to read about myths, legends, adventures and foreign locales.  A bit of a vague ramble about life in a different world few of us could imagine yet get the chance to enter in these contemporary legendary pages!

The Genius Plague by David Walton

The Genius Plague. David Walton. Prometheus Books. October 2017. 384 pp. ISBN #: 9781633883437.

Neil Johns is about to grasp the fulfillment of his dreams, to be a code breaker for NASA.  His brother is a mycologist who works with and is obsessed with the life of fungus, yes that’s right – fungus!  It turns out that biologically fungus is everywhere and duplicates faster than the mind can conceive.  The brother, Paul, and his friend Melanie escape from a brutal attack in the waters of the Amazon jungle.  He survives an infection that almost kills him, but he is not the same man he was before he contracted this brutal infection.  Instead he finds that if he doesn’t take his antifungal medication, he has phenomenal mental powers. 

At the same time Paul is recovering from his almost fatal illness, events are taking a turn for the worse in South America.  Coups are violently accomplished but unlike other changes in that part of the world, brutal dictators are uniting in purpose.

At first Paul sees the brilliance of fungus which even duplicates in the body and changes the mind, including the mind of his aged father who had been on the cusp of despair with Alzheimer’s disease but is now transformed and refreshed as an elderly man with purpose!

It sounds dangerous and frightening and so it is!  But the danger lies beyond what can be seen for what will happen when even humans cannot control the power of the transformative fungus that seems out to change and control the world?  The plot is simple but events move faster than the reader can imagine!  This is a science fiction novel that could become reality as microbial elements in the world are becoming stronger and resistant to all drugs and experiments.  Interesting read that this reviewer recommends as not only sci fi but also a great novel of international intrigue and mystery!

The Punch Escrow by Tal M. Klein

The Punch Escrow. Tal M. Klein. Geek and Sundry. July 2017. 300 pp. ISBN #: 9781942645589.  

It’s the year 2147 and nanotechnology reigns supreme!  There’s no more pollution because genetically engineered mosquitoes suck carbon dioxide out of the air.  Cars drive themselves and chits are used to pay for travel.  But the highlight of this world lies in teleportation, the ability to travel anywhere in the world in literally seconds.  It’s all controlled by International Transport, a company where Sylvia, Joel Byram’s wife, works.  The company is into changing life for the better, all with the science of quantum mechanics which IT’s scientists have completely dissected and applied to modern technology.  But nothing is perfect, right?

To start with Joel and Sylvia are about to celebrate an anniversary, and Joel realizes that this marriage isn’t working at all basically because communication between the two is nil, both in quantity and quality.  Whenever Joel gets close to a time when they can stop and talk, something happens and the talk never occurs. 

Now Joel’s on his way to Costa Rica for a much-needed vacation for Sylvia and him.  However, something goes very wrong and Joel is now the prisoner of IT scientists who proceed to explain that one part of him got transported to Costa Rica but another part of him, one might call “the soul,” is here, never left and ultimately probably dead although his body’s presence denies that last premise.

Something’s gone dreadfully wrong and it all involves a war between corporate higher-ups, who just don’t know when to curb their greed and realize what they can’t accomplish with science, and a bunch of religious maniacs who believe the new scientific world is evil, the Tower of Babel Biblical story updated by centuries.

All of this is accomplished with Joel’s snarky humor, clear descriptions (wee bit too many) of the hard science facts involved in the plot and this world, and a mystery filled with adventure and Sylvia and Joel go out of the box to find out precisely what IT Corporation has done that is science gone amok and why!!!  For science fiction fans, this is a gem! Enjoy it all!

The Space Between the Stars by Anne Corlett

The Space Between the Stars. Anne Corlett. Penguin Publishing Group. June 13, 2017. 368 pp. ISBN #: 9780399585111.

99% of the world is dead!  A terrible plague has decimated innumerable planets where human live and all that is left are piles of dust.  Before the plague, Jamie Allenby moved to a quiet planet with that huge space that she so desired after leaving a suffocating, congested Earth.  The reader immediately thinks, “What would I do if I found myself in such a circumstance?”  Jamie initially thinks she’s the only survivor but after a week manages to pick up a signal from out of her planet.  This then is the story of the survivors who find each other, their complex personalities, and their desire to form a new society.  The only problem or problems involve different ideas of what should happen next.

We meet some who are curious about transporting survivors to where they want to go, allowing others to make choices, to be free.  However, we meet a group who believe they, the “upper echelon” of society, should form a new society under their control because they are better in so many ways.  We meet a religious woman who has a horrible secret from the past and is now finding her own survival totally dependent on “God’s will.” 

Jamie’s past lover is one of the leaders who is unable to accept that Jamie no longer loves him and tries to block her escape from this new world order that borders on a “1984” novel scenario.  Violence and blocking anyone from leaving become the norm which some characters manage to elude. 

All the characters have lost other human beings and each reacts differently, yet somehow the focus seems to remain on the present and future.  It takes quite a while before these people realize they must face these losses and what their present and future lives could be in order to truly create a new society.

Another perspective on those in this story is how strongly human desires haven’t changed at all, even considering the disaster all have experienced.

The plot is simple herein, but what holds the reader’s focus is on the static or dynamic evolution that dramatically changes Jaime and a friend she begins to draw closer to, the opportunity to become freer now they cannot take life for granted.

Interesting, recommended post-apocalyptic sci-fi read, indeed!

Into the Dim by Janet B. Taylor

Into the Dim.  Janet B. Taylor. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. March 2016. 432 pp.  ISBN#: 9780544602007.

Hope Walton up to now has lived a very controlled life.  Her mother insists Hope be home-schooled as she has a photographic mind, remembering absolutely everything she reads.  Now, however, her mother has been gone for six months, believed to have died in a terrible earthquake.  Hope’s father has quickly remarried and it’s quite clear his new bride indicates it would be better to lose the burden of a grieving, angry daughter.  Hope therefore reluctantly accepts the invitation to visit her mother’s family in Scotland.  The shocking details she receives soon after arrival there plummet her into a phenomenal journey that will challenge everything she thinks she knows.

Hope’s Scottish family call themselves the Viators, those who have the ability and materials to travel backward in time.  Hope discovers this fact by accident when she is wandering throughout her aunt’s home and finds basement rooms full of clothing, jewelry, weapons and other artifacts from the 12^th Century.  Hope will be shocked beyond words to learn a secret that compels her to travel back to that time of King Henry II and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.  She and her relatives who travel with her have two quests to complete – to find a certain person and to secure an ancient stone with extremely special powers. 

To no surprise, another family member, who is a sworn enemy of Hope’s aunt, heads another group with the same purposes but with questionable purposes, ends that could literally change the entire history of mankind if successfully completed.

Before she left on the terrifying journey back in time, Hope had met a young teen who seemed the only person on earth to treat her as a friend.  Now she will meet him in the 12^th Century and is quite unsure whether he is friend or foe.

In the court of Henry and Elizabeth, Hope will win both support and starkly hostile opposition.  Who prevails in this war is what drives the complex plot of this time travel novel that reflects a personal and historical war.  Plenty of fierce action, dialogue and description pack these pages and keep the reader riveted until the last surprising pages!  Even a few obviously contrived scenes won’t stop the reader’s total engagement and desire to see how this tale unfolds.  There’s an indication as well that this is only the first novel in what will be a series! Nice!

The Book of Life: All Souls Trilogy - Book 3 - NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK

The Book of Life: All Souls Trilogy – Book 3.  Deborah Harkness. Viking: Penguin Group (USA). July 2014. 576 pp.  ISBN#: 9780670025593.

Diana Bishop, witch and historical scholar, is now wed to the vampire and scientist, Matthew Clairmont; together they are seeking to discover several scientific facts about their DNA.  For Matthew seeks to understand the composition of his “blood rage,” Diana seeks to learn more about the “weaving” skills she possesses that seriously affect the magic she is learning to control in her magic; and finally they seek the missing pages of the magical alchemical book Ashmole 782, which is “The Book of Life.”

These major characters are assisted by a covey of witches from New York, thwarted by Matthew’s evil son, Benjamin, and assisted by other scientists who are human, vampire, and members of the Congregation of Witches.  This is normally a highly unlikely union as vampires and witches are usually highly suspicious of each other and are more enemies than colleagues.  Add to the intense tension arising from Matthew and Diana’s reappearance from the 1500s to the present the fact that Diana is now pregnant with twins.  Will they be vampire, witch or human?  Will they possess the devastatingly destructive blood rage that Matthew has learned to control?  How will the virulent enmity of Matthew’s son and the orders of the leader of Matthew’s family affect Matthew and Diana’s relationship?  And what about blood rage in another character that may be totally out of control and beyond answers?

Ashmole 782 is the quest and the reader will be stunned by the gradually revealed truths about the composition of this book of magic and the reasons why many characters will do anything to find the missing pages and thus gain possession and power of the ancient tome!

The Book of Life… is carefully plotted, with tender and endearing moments of passion and love between Matthew and Diana; beautiful descriptions of several pivotal places, scenes of fierce conflict in which the battles increase the closer the characters come to the answers to each mystery they seek to solve, and detailed scenes involving the skilled analysis of DNA common, yet unique, to the witches and vampires in this quest.  While this may annoy some readers, it is actually quite necessary to provide credibility to the rest of the mystery of the main characters and the Book of Life.

Deborah Harkness is a skilled writer who has crafted a very different trilogy of novels that educates the reader about witches and vampires, avoids the stereotypical treatment of this topic, and succeeds in presenting an intelligent, albeit fictional, treatment of some historical realities about witches and vampires.  It’s quite an achievement and not for those who want a light read.  The Book of Life is fiction about the paranormal, history, science, romance, the supernatural and more, a noteworthy and memorable read! This is highly recommended, fiction written by an author who knows how to develop and embellish a great story!

I Am Radar by Reif Larsen

I Am Radar.  Reif Larsen. Penguin Group (USA). February 2015. 672 pp.  ISBN#: 9781594206160.

A doctor waits for the head of a baby to appear as the new life of two anxious parents.  In one second the electricity is out and hospital generators aren’t working.  The father, Kermin, pulls out a flashlight and he watches the baby comes out, covered with a white plastic-like covering.  The tension increases with the sight when the baby is cleaned; the child is as black as a Nubian native.  The usual questions are gently hinted at but the mother has not had any relationships with anyone but her husband Kermin. 

Charlene also has an unusual after-effect; all she can smell are noxious odors, a phenomenon that gradually diminishes but still leaves her with unpleasant olfactory experiences.  Her life is dedicated to finding out how and why her son was born like this, her son whom his father calls Radar after the old TV show M*A*S*H.  Kermin believes his son will have special powers.

Radar does indeed to be a unique character. After being subjected to an experiment that is nothing short of a failure, the Radar in the remainder of the story travels throughout the world with a group of puppeteers, a group who try to create work in areas where extreme wars and other terrible events have left residents with nothing.  Radar is now the color of beige and therefore more acceptable to everyone they meet.  The puppeteer use complicated science, technology and quantum physics to create robots but they wind up very hurt from an explosion while working with nuclear matter.  The quantum physics is very complicated but is simple for Radar who has the ability to read radio messages just by putting his hands on the transmitter. 

A group of teachers steal radioactive material with the notion of creating something new as an artistic presentation. Different stories follow in Bosnia and Cambodia involving chaos and violence, but they do connect with the general theme later on in the story.  This novel at times reads like a complicated science article written by physicist academics.  The best advice is just to go with it, even when it makes very little sense at all; this reviewer is not sure whether this makes a difference to the reader but it is what it is.

Are Radar and other characters’ paths one of healing, pure science exploration or something more philosophical, psychological or social?  How is Radar’s epilepsy connected to his uncanny ability to understand radio transmissions? Does his suffering truly lead to his understanding about love who he really is?  I am Radar is a complex work of science fiction that truly stretches the imagination with its disconnected parts that in some ways unite and in others just seem like another round of dystopian fiction with free-floating ideas and attempt to form a new, coherent reality.  Interesting science fiction about difference and exploring new visions of the universe in the future!

The Seventh Day of Light: A Novel - Part 1 - Shadows by Riccardo Bertora

The Seventh Day of Light – Part 1 - Shadows. Riccardo Bertora. Create Space Independent Publishing Forum. February 2015. 214 pp.  ISBN#: 9781507580943.

It’s 1958 and the race for the first manned space flight is in full gear.  Russia has already sent a dog into space in the Sputnik program.  The fact that that dog later died isn’t considered a blockade for future missions to outer space.  So it is that a choice for the first man to fly to space is made.  He is 24 years old, a child prodigy who has propelled into a role of leadership due to his remarkable intelligence, flight knowledge, military skills, and physical toughness.  The man chosen for this formidable, dangerous task is Sergei Federev and what he is about to undergo will leave the reader with mouth agape and more questions than answers!

Riccardo Bertora’s first novel in this planned series is the story of the explosion that would have killed any other human being instantly.  However, Sergei not only survives but finds himself completely healed and awake on a planet whose inhabitants are scientifically advanced and free of the strife that exists on Earth.  The story is replete with explanations of how disease and war have been obliterated.  Scientific explanations are vaguely offered, the only incredible aspect of this riveting novel, and Sergei goes so far as attempting to form a relationship of a woman.  Sergei eventually decides to return to Earth, no mean feat since this planet is in a different solar system and galaxy far, far from the Milky Way we know.

As much attention is given to the Cold War and Russia’s secretive, absolute decisions as the science fiction end of the novel.   At first on his return Sergei is not believed but then the plot goes sinister as he disappears and is being hunted by the government.  Will or won’t he survive his new fugitive status?  Will he live or die?

Except for the very vague scientific explanations about eradicating war and how the inhabitants of this strange planet give birth, The Seventh Day of Light is a fascinating read about a topic that intrigues most human beings.  Bertora has done a good job with imagining what life might be like on other planets far from our limited understanding.  Nicely done science fiction/fantasy!

Golden Son: Book 2 of the Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown

Golden Son: Book 2 of the Red Rising Trilogy.  Pierce Brown.  Random House Publishing House.  January 2015. 4 pp. hardback and e-book. ISBN #: 9780804177603.

In this second novel of the Red Rising trilogy, Darrow has become a member of the ruling Gold people.  His goal is based on the loss of his wife, Eo, who sacrificed her life that her song of freedom might be sung across the planet of Mars by the Reds yearning for freedom and other color segments of this society all serving the Golds.  Unfortunately, Darrow who was so successful in becoming a Gold in the former novel, Red Rising, has now failed his masters.  He has lost an important battle and is considered a failure and therefore is condemned to be an outcast.  As a result of the fact that he killed the brother of one of his former Gold friends, that family now wants nothing less than Darrow’s death!

In his escape Darrow is again thrown into association with the Reds.  While Darrow had been carrying out his previous schooling and battles with the Golds, the Reds were not sitting idle but decide to begin their revolution by specific killings. This in turn has focused attention on their rebels and it has been decided that all Reds must be eliminated.  Augustus, Darrow’s former master, has been manipulated by another foe who deliberately spread rumors and master-minded Darrow’s demise.  Now Darrow has no idea who is friend or foe!

The battles that now rage are literally fought for the future of who will rule Mars fairly or fiercely! Part of the Golds are based on former Roman rulers, even emulating their lost culture into reality on Mars.  Their prowess in battle is no less real and the reader will be flipping the pages as Darrow seeks to stay close to the Son of Ares and use him to free the Reds and destroy the Golds.  He is without old friends and he spends an inordinate amount of time reflecting (or whining, take your pick) about why he is now where he is.  Instead he now has new friends and even a new love! But then chaos, destruction and death by attack loom large in every corner and there’s no time to do anything but do more than survive, be victorious!

Golden Son is even more exciting than its predecessor and is recommended highly for all lovers of great science fiction! 

Red Rising: Book 1 of the Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown

Red Rising: Book 1 of the Red Rising Trilogy.  Pierce Brown. Delray Press.  July 2014. 416 pp. hardback, paperback and e-book. ISBN #: 9780345539809.

On the planet of Mars, there are different colors or classes of people living, each with a very specific purpose.  Darrow, the protagonist, is a Red, one of the miners whose job is to work and obtain as many minerals as possible which eventually make the planet livable outside of the enclosed environments conducive to living and breathing in a foreign environment.  His wife is a quiet woman who dares to sing a song in public that will condemn her and Darrow is forced to watch and even participate in her execution.  Her song which symbolizes the Reds’ hope for freedom from their very harsh living conditions will be sung all over the planet despite the efforts of the ruling class to forbid it to be heard ever again.

So begins this very violent, strife-ridden science fiction novel in which Darrow himself escapes, is caught and condemned to die. He, however, will be rescued after his escape from death and transformed through an agonizing process into a superman belonging to another class, the Golds.  The description of his transformation is uncanny and the reader will hold his or her breath at the challenges inherent in each step of this phenomenal process!  One also learns about the functions of the other “colors” of people living in different carefully sectioned areas of Mars.

Now comes a greater challenge!  For Darrow has set his own personal mission, to destroy the Golds and earn freedom for his people in the Red Zone.  For that, Darrow will take on a new name and attend a Gold school where he is taught to be a killer and a master manipulator of whatever strengths and weaknesses appear in his presence.  Only the strong will survive this Darwinian gauntlet and appearances are deceiving in this battle. For the strong are really the pampered and the weak have powers and strategies indicating unusually sharp intelligence, all of which will be needed to emerge victorious from this phase.

Darrow fully engages in the complexities of this phase of his learning and the reader again is flipping the pages to see what happens next.  Each new battle phase is unexpected and therefore more riveting than the previous one.

Red Rising… is superb science fiction that would even make a great movie!  Highly recommended reading for all, especially science fiction fans!

The Flight of the Silvers by Daniel Price

The Flight of the Silvers.  Daniel Price. Blue Rider Press.  February 2014. 608 pp. paperback and e-book. ISBN #: 9780399164989.

A cataclysm beyond imagination is about to occur in America and other places around the globe.  Before it happens, six young people will have different experiences in which they are surrounded by a bubble-like, clear globe that protectively encases them.  Those who are dying around them are unable to penetrate that formidable wall and those inside will have to watch a horrific scene of mayhem and destruction.  They are known as the Silvers and are transported to a small community setting in San Diego in what is known as Altamerica.  Over the next few weeks, they discover they have super-powers with mysterious and frustratingly purposeless repetition. 

One character can run at a speed ten times faster than her former human self.  One receives notes from herself and others about the past, present and future.  One learns to transport himself back to experiences that happened hours past or hours in the future.  Another can create a white structure capable of destroying something in her path but which only operates when she’s angry. On and on it goes.  It takes time for the leaders, or captors, of this community to reveal what they are experiencing and the physicist experiments they are invited to participate in to enhance scientific understanding of the rare phenomenon each is undergoing.  But all isn’t simple and there appears to be people outside of their community who suspect something more devious is being planned.

Add to the mix that history seems to have split down the middle since the middle of the twentieth century so that there are two stories of American history now known.

A grand, brutal, violent, bloody and death-dealing escape happens and the remainder of the story of the Silvers follows their journey across Altamerica as their captors pursue them, now planning destruction rather than scientific experimentation.

The characters Amanda and her sister Hannah, Zach, David, and Mia dominate the tale with other characters, all fueling the constant conflicts threatening to destroy their unified decision to seek the New York community that may help them prevent the future apocalypse that as been predicted.  This dynamic, intense, nerve-wracking and page-turning science fiction novel is the first of a planned trilogy and one which will make true science fiction lovers want to relish over and over, as well as hungrily anticipate the next part of the series.  There’s enough underpinning of quantum physics to make this novel about time and its mysterious elements highly credible and intriguing.

Very nicely crafted, Daniel Price and a winner about credible, fascinating science fiction!

Proxima by Stephen Baxter

Proxima.  Stephen Baxter. Roc/Penguin Group (USA). November 2014. 480 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451467706.

Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star far, far from the planets of Earth, the Moon, Mars, Mercury and all the other planets so familiar to present day Earthlings.  The year is 2166 and laser beams of energy developed from kernel engineering can hurl a spaceship into different galaxies.  Phases of history on Earth have passed, including a period of purging intelligent scientists who supposedly committed “crimes” (though never specified); and now there is an intellectual war about who will control the forces of energy with amazing potential for not only space travel but also creating new colonies on distant planets. 

Yuri and Mardina were both forced to become colonists on Proxima or Per Adua as it is otherwise called.  Their fellow inhabitants were initially a larger group; but uncontrolled feelings, thoughts and deeds caused several violent scenes in which many were murdered, leaving finally only Yuri and Mardina as survivors. There are other colonists somewhere on the planet but they were dumped in places far away and the chances of their meeting each other are slim indeed!  For now Yuri, Mardina and a specialized robot ColU explore their new world.  It appears that its living inhabitants are plant-like creatures, with a hidden eye, who are always busy building other plant-like structures and creating structures like dams to move or close water sources.  Even the water contains bacterial life that is impossible to define by earth standards.  However, thanks to the genius of ColU the species learn to live with each other, their only major problem the solar flares that could kill them if exposed.

Over a long period of time Mardina sets up a plan whereby she and Yuri will have children.  Mardina refuses to believe no one will ever come to rescue them but Yuri thinks differently. 

At the same time other subplots are happening that involve the battle over these super-kernels.  Who obtains them and controls them can rule not only the earth but also other planets in the cosmos and beyond. 

Eventually other settlers will join Yuri and Mardina and their lives will be irrevocably changed by a change coming to Proxima that will mandate their moving elsewhere.  The “Hatch” will take them where they never dreamed of going; this is the discovery of a lifetime that totally shifts the plot of this novel.

Proxima is brilliant science fiction, the best this reviewer has read in more years than will be admitted.  It’s hard science fiction with a complex plot interlaced with real scientific explanations that are intelligently delivered and best of all highly readable and comprehensible to the average non-scientist reader.  It depicts a world where inhabitants resemble nothing encountered in earth’s experience and yet doesn’t come across as silly but highly credible, exciting and intriguing reality.  For any reader who has the slightest interest in science fiction, this is your must read for the year; and for those who have never experienced the “other world vicissitudes of life on other planets,” this is the greatest introduction to the world of science fiction you will ever find!  Highly, highly recommended, a truly wonderful work of science fiction that ranks up there with the masters of the genre!