Waiting on Wednesday: Avengers of the Moon by Allen Steele #RRSciFiMonth
16 November 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Allen Steele, Avengers of the Moon, Random thoughts, Waiting on Wednesday
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. Every Wednesday we get to highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. My book this week is : Avengers of the Moon by Allen Steele. It simply must be fated for me to read this book (of course true scientific minds don’t believe in fate). But, ignoring the logical and moving swiftly on, I just read a lovely review of a short story by this author over on Space and Sorcery and so decided to go and check out his other works and boom! I found this – serendipity eh!
It was an age of miracles. It was an era of wonder. It was a time of troubles. It was all these things and more . . . except there were no heroes.
Naturally, one had to be created.
Curt Newton has spent most of his life hidden from the rest of humankind, being raised by a robot, an android, and the disembodied brain of a renowned scientist. This unlikely trio of guardians has kept his existence a closely guarded secret since the murder of Curt’s parents.
Curt’s innate curiosity and nose for trouble inadvertently lead him into a plot to destabilize the Solar Coalition and assassinate the president. There’s only one way to uncover the evil mastermind—Curt must become Captain Future.
With the permission of the Edmond Hamilton estate, Allen Steele revives the exciting adventures of Captain Future.
Expected publication: April 2017 by Tor Books

Sci Fi Month organised by Rinn Reads and Over the Effing Rainbow is a fun event that celebrates all things sci fi and runs for the whole of November. Check it out and come and join the fun and discussion. You know you want to 😀
Sci-fi movie fest! #RRSciFiMonth
15 November 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #RRSciFiMonth, Broke and Bookish, Movie freebie, Top Ten Tuesday

Every Tuesday over at the The Broke and Bookish we all get to look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) examples to demonstrate that particular topic. The topic this week is :
Movie Freebie

Given that November is Sci Fi Month (organised by Rinn Reads and Over the Effing Rainbow this is a fun event that celebrates sci fi) I’m going with science fiction movies and here are ten that I always enjoy:
1. Alien – I love this film. It’s dark and downright scary. I recall years ago watching a documentary about the making of the film and one story stood out to me – which was about the shooting of the ‘chest burster’ scene where the alien breaks out of Kane’s chest. Apparently the other actors – although they knew that the alien would be, literally, bursting out, they weren’t aware of all the special effects in terms of the blood and viscera. The scene was a one take effort and the stunned surprise that you witness was real as opposed to actual acting! I think that’s a great story. I have no idea if it’s true but the scene is brilliant!

2. Star Wars – and I’m talking about the first film now (as I refuse to call it No4). No funny story as such but a whole bunch of quotes – guess the character:
“You don’t need to see his identification … These aren’t the droids you’re looking for … He can go about his business … Move along.”
“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
“Boring conversation anyway. Luke, we’re gonna have company!”
“Into the garbage chute, flyboy!”
“What a piece of junk!”
3. Jurassic Park. I thought maybe a little bit of useless (or incredibly useful depending on your pov) info about the main star – the T-rex. One of the largest built animatronics. 20 feet tall and weighing 17,500 pounds (which, wow!) The roar was a combination of a baby elephant, tiger and alligator. The breath was a whale’s blow and the sounds of the T-rex tearing apart a Gallimimus were created by recording a dog attacking a rope toy!

4. Avatar. Production originally began in 1994 and yet the film didn’t premiere until 2009! This film may have cost A LOT to produce but it surely must be one of the most visually stunning pieces of work ever and here’s the original trailer if you want to have a gander:
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5. Matrix – maybe not everyone’s cup of tea but I loved this and it certainly set the bar for action scenes with the invention of Bullet Time (not to mention a lot of spoofs)! I love all the references in the film, e.g. Morpheus (Greek God of dreams). But I particularly like the Alice in Wonderland reference. ‘follow the white rabbit’.

6. Terminator 2 – great film – and surely has some of the best quotes ever! Well, you might not really ever have need of them but I like them – here are a few:
‘I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle.’
‘Come with me if you want to live!’
‘Say… That’s a nice bike…’
‘Did you call *moi* a dipshit?’
7. 12 Monkeys – time travelling, post apocalyptic, neo noir – what’s not to love? In fairness though, I didn’t love this the first time I saw it! But then it just grew on me – like a mutated fungus!!!

8. The Fifth Element – funnily enough this is another Bruce Willis film (see above) and was also another film that took a little while to grow on me (yet more fungus – just call me a truffle!).
Leeloo: Leeloo Dallas mul-ti-pass. Korben Dallas: Yeah. Leeloo: Mul-ti-pass. Korben Dallas: Yeah, multipass, she knows it's a multipass. Leeloo Dallas. This is my wife. Leeloo: Mul-ti-pass. Korben Dallas: We're newlyweds. Just met. You know how it is. We bumped into each other, sparks happen... Leeloo: Mul-ti-pass. Korben Dallas: Yes, she knows it's a multipass. Anyway, we're in love.
And here: ‘Big Bada Boom!’
9. Interstellar – I think this film is fantastic. I definitely needed to watch it more than once though I will admit! Very clever and some mind bending scenes!

10. Finally, Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The movie trailer (plus bonus points for spotting the Potter character):
Read all about it…#RRSciFiMonth
14 November 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #RRSciFiMonth, A Closed and Common Orbit, Becky Chambers, Readalong announcement

A quick post to notify you of a readalong that starts at the beginning of December. I’m announcing this now whilst we’re still in Sci Fi Month (hosted by Rinn Reads and Over the Effing Rainbow) to give you all time to lay your hands on a copy and take part. I’m just thoughtful like that. Anyway, if you’ve read Becky Chamber’s Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and fancy getting on board for the next adventure this readalong could be just for you. Here are all the details plus the link to the Goodreads page (schedule pasted below for quick ref). If you fancy joining in then dive in with the comments or stop on over to the Goodreads page so we can all welcome you aboard.
And now, for the science bit…
A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers #2):
Lovelace was once merely a ship’s artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in an new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who’s determined to help her learn and grow.
Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet introduced readers to the incredible world of Rosemary Harper, a young woman with a restless soul and secrets to keep. When she joined the crew of the Wayfarer, an intergalactic ship, she got more than she bargained for – and learned to live with, and love, her rag-tag collection of crewmates.
A Closed and Common Orbit is the stand-alone sequel to Becky Chambers’ beloved debut novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and is perfect for fans of Firefly, Joss Whedon, Mass Effectand Star Wars.
Here’s the schedule:
Week 1: Friday 2nd December – Start of Part 1 up to Page 94 (“…yellow, silver, white…”), hosted by Over the Effing Rainbow
Week 2: Friday 9th December – Page 95 (Jane, Age 10 “Jane was still tired…”) to End of Part 1, hosted by imyril at There’s Always Room For One More
Week 3: Friday 16th December – all of Part 2, hosted by Lynn at Lynn’s Book Blog
Week 4: Friday 23rd December – Part 3 to End, hosted by Mogsy at The BiblioSanctum
Ashes of Honor (October Daye #6) by Seanan McGuire
14 November 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Ashes of Honor, Seanan McGuire, Toby McGuire #6
Ashes of Honor is number six in the Toby Daye series. I’m loving this – it’s my new Urban Fantasy addiction and fortunately as I’m late to the party I still have a number of books just waiting to be read! Happy days.
I think this instalment could have been my favourite to date. The series is excellent at developing the characters and building upon the world and relationships and this was no exception in that respect. But, to the plot – and let me throw in a customary warning about potential spoilers for prior books in case you haven’t read the previous instalments but intend to do so.
As the story begins we see the emotional trauma caused by the conclusion of One Salt Sea really kicking in. Toby is feeling massive guilt. She lost her daughter and Connor in one very quick swoop and is now on self destruct mode. Fortunately she is surrounded by good friends and those who are equally as stubborn as she is about trying to keep her safe but everyone is starting to become concerned. Then Toby is approached from a most unexpected source. A child (Chelsea) has gone missing and as we know by now Toby will certainly not refuse a missing or ‘abducted’ child case. And, so it begins.
Now this particular missing child is complicated. It turns out that she is a changeling and her father is Etienne. Yes, Etienne, difficult as it is to believe that he would break the rules that he holds so dear, Etienne had an affair with a regular human. What he didn’t know is that the woman concerned was pregnant when their relationship ended and it seems that their daughter shares Etienne’s ability to teleport. Unfortunately, this ability is now manifesting itself in a very powerful way and clearly somebody has decided to try and manipulate her abilities so Chelsea is now teleporting and crashing her way through the land of the fae, tearing holes where they shouldn’t be and undermining the whole fabric of the world. Toby needs to act fast or the lives they all lead could be in jeopardy.
There were a number of things that really struck me about this novel. In no particular order because my thoughts are a jumble. Firstly, this book had much more of a detective type feel to it. For me I wouldn’t say it came across quite as ‘dark’ as the previous books somehow. This isn’t a negative comment just an observation that I didn’t feel quite as scared or desperate for Chelsea’s predicament as for those children in a couple of the other stories, in this particular case it feels a little like the case itself is secondary to the character development. Then there was the very real ‘human’ element in this book, the interaction with Chelsea’s mum and also with the police force. It felt like in this instalment Toby connected much more with our regular world, (which has previously just really acted as a backdrop for whatever escapades were taking place). Finally there’s the moment of truth for Toby when she decides to forgive herself and allow herself to actually live. I thought that was a really pivotal moment for Toby and the series really.
As a parallel running story we have trouble for Tybalt over at the Court of the Cats. There is dissent in the ranks and things could get ugly. I loved the extra information that we discovered about Tybalt, he really is a great character and so finding a little bit more about his history was most satisfying.
All in all a really great instalment. The world of the fae opened up yet more in a tantalising way that gives us more intrigues to feed our imagination.
I have no hesitation in recommending this series. If you’re looking for your next urban fantasy series I would definitely point you in the direction of Toby Daye.
Kushiel’s Mercy (Imriel’s Trilogy #3) by Jacqueline Carey readalong week No.6
13 November 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Imriel's Trilogy #3, Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Mercy, Readalong week 6
Today is week 6 of our readalong for Kushiel’s Mercy by Jacqueline Carey. This week Tethyan Books is hosting. Anyway, here’s the Goodreads link and also the schedule is below in case you want to join in. Beware of spoilers because they’ll be lurking. Now, over to the Q&A.
Oct. 16th Week 2: Chpts. 11-22 (Hosted by Tethyan Books)
Oct. 23rd Week 3: Chpts. 23-35 (Hosted by Emma Wolf)
Oct. 30th Week 4: Chpts. 36-49 (Hosted by Emma Wolf)
Nov. 6th Week 5: Chpts. 50-62 (Hosted by Lynn’s Book Blog)
Nov. 13th Week 6: Chpts. 63-75 (Hosted by Tethyan Books)
Nov. 20th Week 7: Chpts. 76-END (Hosted by Over the Effing Rainbow)




