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Second Genesis by Donald Moffitt. Science Fiction 5/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/27/2007 2:00 PM
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Second Genesis by Donald Moffitt [ISBN 0 7434 5861] is another mega journey with lots of time to set up characters to deliver polemics about stellar physics, the meaning of life the galaxy and everything, and descriptions about the intricate workings of alien stuff. The plot is rather broad brush, and the action measured in light years, not very high octane. What amazes me the most is that I read it all to the end – so it must be more addictive than I’m giving it credit for.
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Life Sentences by Alice Blanchard. Crime fiction 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/25/2007 1:37 PM
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Alice Blanchard’s Life Sentences [ISBN 0 316 73090 4] has a terrific plot, and a well-written interesting, suspenseful narrative. It is a delight to read among the wasteland of tedious fiction.
The characters are flawed and real, and the descriptive fluency of her writing is excellent.
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The Sky so Big and High by John Barnes. Science Fiction 4/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/22/2007 11:19 AM
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John Barnes’s The Sky so Big and High [ISBN 0 765 3433 7] has a pretty fair plot, though the narrative seems turgid at points (you think, get on with it !) the ending is very good. The third person narrative has the intricate detail of good sci-fi, though it is mainly descriptive, with little fuel for the plot as the interminable circular trip goes on. It is near to the end of the book when the action begins to take off.
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Beyond Infinity by Gregory Benford. Sci Fi 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/20/2007 7:11 PM
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Gregory Benford is one of the major science fiction writers who are actually scientists – as well as big name writer. I think Beyond Infinity [ISBN 1 84149 188 8] is an expansion-write of an earlier story idea he had. You’ll recognise the style of book – where the strange future world happenings is a backdrop for a polemic dialogue on the meaning of life between the main characters. The descriptions of the strange lush animate vegetation of this future earth reminds me very much of Hothouse – a premier book of the genre for me.
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Safer than Houses by Frances Fyfield. Literary-type Crime fiction 7/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/19/2007 12:49 PM
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I think I’ve been quite kind with my scoring for Frances Fyfield’s Safer than Houses [ISBN 0 7515 3621 0] because though its quite clever and well written, it isn’t the most zippy of reads. Reminiscent of Ruth Rendall, the convoluted plot meshes all the characters together in a strange circular and bizarre way. The characters themselves are kind of damaged and psychologically flaw
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The Lazarus Widow by Bill Knox Crime fiction 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/18/2007 1:40 PM
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Veteran British crime writer, Bill Knox left this book incomplete, however, Martin Edwards did a pretty good job of finishing the story. The Lazarus Widow [ISBN 0 094 97680 7] has a interesting plot, sound police procedural stuff, and a readable and fascinating Scottish River Clyde context.
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Indigo Slam by Robert Crais. American Crime thriller 9/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/14/2007 10:16 AM
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Robert Crais crime fiction book Indigo Slam [ISBN 0 75281 694 2] is a mid-series Elvis Cole detective novel and is up to the high standard of the others. Not only are the plots excellent and three-dimensional but the narrative moves along helped not only by the speedy action, but also by the deceptively simple- but immensely hard to carry off - wisecracking humour and nice slick dialogue
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The Lure by Bill Napier. SciFi thriller 8/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/13/2007 10:46 AM
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Bill Napier is a Scottish Astronomer so its not surprising that the science in this book is so authentic. The Lure [ISBN 0 7472 6727 8] has an excellent plot, and its factual background in physics and planetology makes it pretty convincing. The narrative is not just a story about political realism but also a fast-moving action thriller – and the characterisations and dialogue given the background of the author – entirely credible. Pretty refreshing for modern Science Fiction.
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The Tryst by Michael Dibdin. Crime thriller 5/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/12/2007 3:33 PM
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The Tryst is an early Michael Dibdin novel [ISBN 0 571 14221 4] and nowhere near up to the standard of his Aurelio Zen series. The Tryst is one of those books with a simplistic poorly-handled plot but with a quite compelling early narrative that promises so very much more. The characterisations are good, and build up the novel is early stages but that don’t prepare the reader for the strange ending.
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Executive Orders by Tom Clancy. Boys own adventure supremo 6/10 |
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By bookworm on
2/11/2007 10:59 AM
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You can just not fail to be impressed by this massive adventure tome. Executive Orders by Tom Clancy {ISBN 0 00 647975] is remarkably prescient – written before 9/11 it still foresees terrorists plots in a spooky way – though not exactly. It’s a mixture of a thriller and a political power story with his hero Jack Ryan propelled into the job as President just because everyone else is wiped out by a wayward aeroplane hitting the Washington Senate building
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