The Ethics of Silence by C. J. Nash

Publication Date: June 24, 2021

Mason Turner is sent from Earth to the Mars Colony to investigate a murder. What Mason finds is a community entrenched in its secrets and a people divided and information a commodity that is in short supply. With everyone and time working against him will Mason uncover the secrets of the red planet?

I was given this book by the author, C. J. Nash, in exchange for an honest review.

 

Let me begin by saying that the plotline of this story is a great idea. One of my former coworkers always said “Everyone hates the new guy” and that is the first thing that Mason learns when he gets off of the space craft and meets his guide, Janet. The Mars colony wants to be left alone. They have faced obstacles that their early counterparts cannot imagine and the murder is perceived to be family business of a sort of Mason is an interloper. No one likes him, no one wants him there (even the guy who requested him) and if he’s not careful he may go the way of his long dead investigative subject.

Continue reading The Ethics of Silence by C. J. Nash

Serious Moonlight (How to be Dead) by Dave Turner

CORRECTION: I said in an earlier version of this review that this book was last in the series. I am overjoyed to learn that it’s not.

 

Publication Date: December 31, 2018

 

Dave Marwood and his girlfriend, Melanie, are due for a bit of a break in the country after saving the City of London from destruction. It’s a bit of a worry that Death, the last standing Horseman of the Apocalypse and Dave’s employer, is having a bit of an existential crisis and Dave has been acting as his flip-flopped toy scythed stand-in, but a relationship needs tending. The break, however; is not the peaceful time away the couple anticipates when they find themselves beset by ghosts and the people seeking them.

Serious Moonlight by Dave Turner is the fifth book in the How to be Dead series.

 

Part of my life’s work is finding books that give me the feeling I got when I first read the works of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and Jasper Fforde. The beautiful humor and massive creativity of the aforementioned authors are qualities shared by the great Dave Turner. Continue reading Serious Moonlight (How to be Dead) by Dave Turner

Song of Nümenstar by A.J. Feagin

Publication Date: August  25, 2019

 

In the Song of Nümenstar by A.J. Feagin, a group of Daejic students disappears. Commander Karawn Kross and the female Mystik Ka’myla Ad’uar embark on a mission to find them. What they find instead while searching the catacombs beneath the highly secure city of Soaleste can change everything.

 

A lot of authors attempt to boost their writing credibility by saying that their stories are like those of popular or bestselling authors and seldom can the similarity been seen by the reader. And, when it is, it comes off as a poor copy. This is not the case in Song of Nümenstar by A.J. Feagin. The Amazon entry likens Song of Nümenstar to Dune and Star Wars and I can see the likeness. The similarity falls in the incredible work Frank Herbert did in building the world of Aarkis. It’s in the pageantry and diversity of Star Wars. Continue reading Song of Nümenstar by A.J. Feagin

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Publication Date: May 1, 2009

 

In The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, it’s 1985 in the fictional world that is parallel to our own. Someone is kidnapping literary characters. It’s the job of Thursday Next, the occupant of our world but the detective in the Literary Detective Division, to find the culprit and stop them before it’s too late.

 

Every book claims to be like the work of a bestselling author. They’ll up the ante saying that the work is by an author who is the modern version of the author to whom they’re likened. Usually, they could not be less like the author whose name they use to promote themselves. In the case of Fforde, it would be in no way inaccurate to liken him to Douglas Adams. It would also not be inaccurate to say that they are nothing alike. Fforde and Adams share a well-defined imagination with a lightness of being. Their worlds are intricate. Fforde is extremely well-read. The characters created by others in his story are wholly within character. The description of the fictional world is beautiful and complete. Continue reading The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Romy: Book I of the 2250 Saga by Nirina Stone

Publication Date: August 14, 2015

Book Review: Romy: Book I of the 2250 Saga by Nirina Stone, science fiction trilogyIt’s 2250 and an apocalyptic event has destroyed civilization which is now divided into three categories and life is a perilous proposition. Romy is 20 years old and aspires to the highest level of society. She’s worked hard and yet seems to come up short. How will she handle the truth of her situation? Continue reading Romy: Book I of the 2250 Saga by Nirina Stone

The Fated Stars by Veronica Scott

Publication date: November 4, 2017

 

The Fated Stars by Veronica ScottIn The Fated Stars by Veronica Scott, Samell is an empathetic priest who was kidnapped and sold to a carnival where he’s forced to tell the fortunes of paying guests. He is resigned to his existence until mercenary, Larissa, steps into his tent and he sees in her a fierce spirit with the potential to keep him alive. When Samell and Larissa attract the attention of dangerous foes, can they get out alive? Continue reading The Fated Stars by Veronica Scott

Four Horsemen (How to be Dead Book 4) by Dave Turner

Publication Date: January 16, 2018

 

Four Horsemen (How to be Dead Book 4) by Dave Turner

In Four Horsemen (How to be Dead Book 4) by Dave Turner, It’s 1874 and War, Famine, Conquest and Death are called upon to find a little boy from a prominent family. The boy is seen leaving his home with his father, a man who has been dead for three years. In the meantime, Death is doing his day job when he comes across a little girl named Elizabeth that can see him as he’s collecting her aunt and bringing her home. Can the Horseman find out what happened to the boy and the other children who have disappeared and what will they do about Elizabeth?  Continue reading Four Horsemen (How to be Dead Book 4) by Dave Turner

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Publication Date: June 1, 1991

 

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas AdamsIn Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently is a holistic detective who believes that everything is connected. He sets out to help a man named Richard’s whose girlfriend’s father has been murdered and is convinced that the crime must be solved to clear his own name. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is the first book in the Dirk Gently series. Continue reading Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Trapped On Talonque (A Sectors SF romance) by Veronica Scott

Publication Date: August 21, 2016

 

VS_Trapped_on_TalonqueTrapped on Talonque by Veronica Scott is the fifth book in the Sectors series. Bithia had been placed in a sleep-like stasis by her people thousands of years before and now sleeps as the captive of a primitive and war-like people that view her as a deity. When they capture Space Marine Nate Reilly and his men, they’re brought before Bithia and she wakes temporarily and forms a psychic link with him. Bithia will guide Nate and his men but the path is treacherous.  He alone can save her but will he succeed?

 

Continue reading Trapped On Talonque (A Sectors SF romance) by Veronica Scott

Boston Metaphysical Society: Prelude by Madeleine Holly-Rosing

Publication Date: May 6, 2015

 

Boston Metaphysical Society: Prelude by Madeleine Holly-Rosing

Boston Metaphysical Society: Prelude by Madeleine Holly-Rosing is a seven-story prequel to the Boston Metaphysical Steampunk comic book. The anthology includes stories by Madeleine Holly-Rosing and line art by Emily Hu.

Continue reading Boston Metaphysical Society: Prelude by Madeleine Holly-Rosing