Tag Archives: scifi

Book Review of “Kor’Thank, Barbarian Valley Girl”

kor-thank

Cover art for “Kor’Thank, Barbarian Valley Girl” by Kent Wayne

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi

I’ve been reading Kent Wayne’s Kor’Thank, Barbarian Valley Girl for a while now, and even though it’s gotten terrific reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, I had a hard time getting into it.

It’s not because the book is uninteresting or that it lacks action. It’s packed with action and suspense. I can only assume that it’s me.

Okay, here’s the deal (spoilers ahead). A fictional high school in the San Francisco Bay area is located next to a super-secret government research lab that has captured creatures from other worlds and has an inter-dimensional gateway.

A narcissistic, self-absorbed (didn’t I just say that) Asian super nerd named Peter who is always being bullied by the school jocks and cheerleaders, has a serious love/hate relationship with Holly Dent, who has just become captain of the cheer-leading squad after cheating her butt off (which involves doing significant harm to her rival). He also has a female friend who seems to be the “only adult in the room” named Eun Yin, but she can’t keep Peter from starting something he calls “the Fuckrising” to get revenge for his mistreatment.

Continue reading →

Deep Space Volume 2 is Now On Sale!

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

Happy Twilight Zone Day.

It’s here! The official launch of the Black Hare Press SciFi anthology Deep Space Volume 2: An Adventure into Science Fiction.

The official blurb says:

Travel through the universe discovering the possibilities of the unknown,
explore the infinite worlds of the future, and of alternate timelines.

Seven talented authors bring you a dynamic collection of science fiction and space epics in one amazing collection.

Those writers are:

Continue reading →

“Woman Under Repair Part 1 Available Now!

repair

Promotional image from The Green Shoe Sanctuary

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

As promised, my science fiction short story “Woman Under Repair” is available now. Just click the link and read part 1 for free in the May issue of the periodical The Green Shoe Sanctuary (alas, it could use a bit of editing).

I’ve never had one of my stories serialized before, but it reminds me that many classic science fiction novels from decades past were serialized first before becoming novels. I don’t know if that’s going to happen here, but it’s an interesting and exciting thought.

It also makes me think of the old “cliffhangers” from times gone by when not only stories, but films were constructed to bring the viewer back to the theater week after week to see what happened next.

Here’s the blurb:

Continue reading →

“Woman Under Repair” to be published by The Green Shoe Sanctuary magazine

under repair

© Mark mungkey Vincente – Found at coroflot.com

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

My short story “Woman Under Repair” will be featured in three parts in The Green Shoe Sanctuary magazine themed “Under Construction.”

The dates are May 10th, 17th, and 24th. So starting tomorrow the 10th, click the link above and start reading my latest published short story.

This one’s special because the material comes from an “almost novel” that I wrote in a different form here on my blog a few years back.

Continue reading →

“The Unreal Man” to be published at Dastaan World

St Paul's

St Paul’s Cathedral in London during the Blitz 1940

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

I know I’ve talked about this one in the past. “The Unreal Man” was accepted for publication ages ago…and then everything stopped. Sometimes publishing houses change staff, change ideas, change goals and authors can be stuck in the middle.

However, I signed the contract with Dastaan World last night and so in about 90 days, this story will see the light of day.

This story is important to me because it’s my oldest concept. In one version or another, I’ve lived with this tale for over 40 years. I can’t wait to see it become real (or unreal).

Here’s a small sample:

Continue reading →

“Time’s Abyss” Now Available for Pre-Order

time's abyss

Promotional image for “Time’s Abyss.”

If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

No, it’s not a short story in an anthology. Time’s Abyss is a completely self-contained novella, book 10 of 12 in the Underground series published by Black Hare Press.

It’s available for pre-order from Amazon for delivery to your kindle device on October 15, 2021.

That’s right. There’ll be six month wait until you can dig into this nearly 30,000 word saga.

In the meantime, here’s the official “blurb.”

Continue reading →

Review of “Mara’s Awakening”

mara

Promotional image for Leo Flynn’s novelette, “Mara’s Awakening”.

Disclosure, I was asked by the author via email to review his short novelette Mara’s Awakening. Interestingly enough, when I tried to post a review on Amazon, I received a notice that it wasn’t eligible to be reviewed. I have no idea why.

I did manage to post a review on Goodreads.

I had a tough time understanding this very short book. I imagine the author was trying to inject some mystery into who Mara is and why she’s been in prison for six years when she used to be some sort of popular fighter, but she was too “mysterious.”

Continue reading →

Where Are the Families in Science Fiction?

lost in spaceNot long ago, I read a blog post by Caroline Furlong called Why Science Fiction Lacks Mothers and Fathers – and Why This Trend Needs to Change. At the time, I didn’t notice it was first published in July of 2018, but that doesn’t really matter.

Caroline lamented the abysmal lack of supportive parental characters, Moms in particular, in modern works of science fiction. She narrowed down the reason for this from her perspective here:

Continue reading →

Book Review of “On Basilisk Station”

honor

Cover art for David Weber’s “On Basilisk Station”.

In my continued effort to review Baen Publications, I’ve just finished reading the first novel in David Weber‘s “Honor Harrington” series On Basilisk Station.

It was kind of hard to get into. Weber has a tendency to lapse into long pages of dense exposition, which tends to put the reader into one person’s head (more often than not, Honor’s) than into the action.

However, if you can power through that, you finally get to a space opera laced with political intrigue, the dynamics of provincial planetary plotting, and then the climax of classic space battle.

Weber seems to have a background in military strategy, which shows in how he depicts martial activities, both in space and on the planet. However, there were times when life aboard Honor’s ship “Fearless” felt a little like “Star Trek.”

The one thing that would have made his book better would be to cut back on each character seemingly talking too much about themselves. Also, antagonists like Lord Pavel Young and the ultra-wealthy Klaus Hauptman weren’t as prominent or as formidable as I expected them to be based on how they were initially presented.

Continue reading →