Reviews :: Book Genre :: Science Fiction :: Page 29

THE DIGITAL PLAGUE (Amazon) is the second book in the Avery Cates Series by Jeff Somers. We’ve already reviewed the previous book, THE ELECTRIC CHURCH (EBR Review, and I highly encourage you to read that review because everything said in it could apply equally well to this volume.
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We noticed something the other day when browsing over our history of reviews (all of them awesome, of course). We didn’t have hardly any reviews of books published by Baen. We attribute part of this to us not reading a lot of their novels. Now, this isn’t because Baen books are bad (as one misguided soul insinuated in a comment to one of our earlier reviews), we just have a lot of books on our plate, many of which are Fantasy (which we prefer over SF). The few Baen novels we have read have actually been pretty solid (looking at you Larry Correia). One of the main Baen authors is David Weber. He practically has his own section at bookstores. His main series follows one Honor Harrington, and the latest book in that series, MISSION OF HONOR (Amazon), was just released.
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Professor Amelia Harsh has lost her tenure at the last university in Jackals that would hire her (after being fired by the other seven…). Why? Because instead of studying and writing papers like a normal university professor, she’s out hunting relics of Camlantis, which everyone knows is a myth.

Enter Abraham Quest, the richest man in Jackals, who has been doing his own archaeology on the sly, and found proof that Camlantis exists. Unfortunately, the clues point the way into the heart of darkness itself, the source of the Shedarkshe river in the wilds of a jungle from which no explorer has returned. Camlantis was a utopia, with untold engineering feats, a society of pacifists, and Amelia and Abraham are convinced that it holds the key to making their own war-torn society a better place. But it means risking lives in order to see that goal realized.
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Daniel Abraham is, quite possibly, my favorite author. It’s awfully difficult to pick one amongst the masses, but he regularly goes head to head with my other faves (yes, even Ms. Parker) and so I can’t help but place him amongst the elite. After reading his Long Price Quartet (Amazon), I’ve found it incredibly difficult to put my hands on another series of fantasy books I’ve enjoyed more. So naturally, when I heard that he was going to be releasing a short story anthology I was completely on board. Hook, line, and sinker. Does that mean that you should take this review with a grain of salt? Absolutely not. Please, if you will, follow me down this road of awesome, into the mind of a great. And though you need not swallow the gravy, it will certainly make the colors more magnificent.
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George Mann is awesome. That is all.

OK, that really isn’t all we are going to say, but it covers our opinions nicely. George Mann has given readers quite the year. If you were late to the party, you got THE AFFINITY BRIDGE (EBR Review). You also got GHOSTS OF MANHATTAN (EBR Review). In the UK you got THE IMMORALITY ENGINE. And now here in the US, THE OSIRIS RITUAL (Amazon) has finally been released. How great is that?
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So, I don’t particularly care for science fiction. Call me a hypocrite, yes you may, but don’t be too harsh, because there may be some hope for me yet. In fact, you might have already heard of him. His name is Alastair Reynolds.

I don’t remember how I came across my first book from Mr. Reynolds or what possessed me to pick it up. Perhaps it was the fact that I really did (somewhere deep inside) like science fiction and wanted to find something good. Or maybe it was an impressive review that I found about one of his previous books. Then again, it could have been the contract he has with Gollancz, which speaks for ten books over the next ten years for £1m. Whoa. Regardless, I picked up HOUSE OF SUNS (Amazon) by him shortly thereafter and was far from disappointed.
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I feel really bad. How am I supposed to review the fourth and concluding volume of a series? Either you’ve already read the first three books and nothing I say will sway you to read it or not, or else you haven’t read any of the preceding volumes… and in that case what are you doing reading this review? It’s gonna have major spoilers!

So, that being the case, I’ve decided to do the only decent thing I can and review all four books in one single review. That’s right, four reviews for the price of one. Are you ready? Here we go.
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So. Another Hugo nominated novel. Considering the luck we have had so far with the nominated novels, we weren’t holding our breath for anything awesome with Robert Charles Wilson‘s JULIAN COMSTOCK (Amazon). Thankfully, JULIAN COMSTOCK was an excellent and different read.

Wilson’s latest novel is a a tale set in 22nd Century America, in and around 2172. That makes it SF right? This novel is written by Wilson, so is HAS to be SF. Right? Well… kinda… but not really. Get all your preconceived notions out of the way. COMSTOCK is not really SF, and perhaps this is why some people have been put off by it. This is not like Wilson’s prior novels. Rather, COMSTOCK reads like a Civil War novel while simultaneously being a biopic of a famous “historical” figure: Julian Comstock.
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I was first introduced to Connie Willis about five years ago when, during the summer, I read both of her Hugo winning novels THE DOOMSDAY BOOK (Amazon) and TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG (Amazon). Since then I have been an avid fan of her work. When I heard about her latest work, BLACKOUT (Amazon), I knew it was a must read.

In BLACKOUT, Willis returns to the world of both THE DOOMSDAY BOOK and TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG. In this world Willis focuses on a group of historians who, through the use of time travel, are able to go back in time to witness and experience first-hand certain events in history and get accurate data on them.
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In our ongoing effort to read all the Hugo nominated novels for 2010, we continue with Robert J. Sawyer‘s WWW:WAKE (Amazon). Maybe it’s just us, but it seems like Sawyer is consistently nominated for the Hugo for “Best Novel”. Does this mean his books are always awesome? For many people, yes.

But not for us.
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