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Edition 31: Book Review: Eyes on You by Steven Jenkins
Reviewed by Mysti Parker
For this issue, I felt like reading something spooky, so I found this ghost story via a BookBub feature and thought it sounded like my kind of thing. Anyone who knows me can tell you I love my “ghosty shows” on TV such as A Haunting and Paranormal Witness. Eyes on You has that kind of feel, which does well for an hour-long TV episode, but unfortunately doesn’t adapt quite as well in book form.
Set in the busy city of Swansea in southern Wales, the story begins with a teenager, Matthew, hearing about his father’s untimely death. The next chapter skips ahead several years to find Matt and his girlfriend Aimee moving in to their first flat. Immediately, odd things begin happening that Matt promptly dismisses as coincidences and accidents. Aimee suspects these things are paranormal in nature, and of course, she’s right. They seek help from a psychic, and all is well for a while.
Edition 31: Book Review: Excalibur by Tim Marquitz
Reviewed by Damien Smith
Tim Marquitz is well known for his wide selection of epic fantasy, horror and urban fantasy including his acclaimed Demon Squad series. My last foray into his work was the absurd mixture of gratuitous violence and medieval slapstick that was War God Rising. When I discovered he’d recently branched into Space Opera, I had to investigate further.
Our setting is a galaxy where the dominant power (at least in this part of it) is The Covenant in their Allied Space, which feels a bit like the Star Trek Federation of Planets, with various humanoid and hybrid species in residence. Manning what is perhaps the only truly alien ship is Captain Marek Albion, disgraced former Covenant officer and general freebooter.
The aliens in question are the Xebedon. An insect-like species that possess the unique technology to “phase” their ships, rendering them effectively undetectable by the Covenant. If not for a fortunate alignment of circumstances which allowed the Covenant to locate and destroy the Xebedon’s home planet, they would have quickly and efficiently wiped the population of Allied Space from the galaxy. Following the destruction of their home planet, the Xebedon fled into phase space and disappeared for years.
While assisting the Covenant with clearing out some scavengers (think space pirates), Albion and his diverse crew of skilled misfits find and pursue hints that the Xebedon may be once again active in Allied Space.
Given his possession of alien technology, Albion finds himself and his crew in a unique position to investigate the mysterious disappearances of ships, crew and entire space stations. From the opening battle, to the hints of plot to the climactic and reasonably horrifying finale on a supposedly abandoned planet, the action is consistently in-your-face without being over the top.
When first looking into this book, I saw lots of parallels being drawn with Star Trek, Battle Star Galactica and Starship Troopers (although, oddly enough, no Star Wars, despite the blatant mention of a Star Destroyer at one point and the use of a laser scalpel) but to me, this felt a lot closer to Firefly, what with the snark and sexual tension between various crew members, and the feeling that they keep getting pulled in over their heads.
Unfortunately, there seemed to be a larger-than-usual number of typos and missing/odd words in the ebook version of this book. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a rare book where there are no errors whatsoever, and occasionally some excellent ones (I have enduring memories of flowers in a purple bowel in an otherwise very solemn funeral scene a while back) and I wouldn’t normally call it out, but there seemed to be a disproportional number in here. Enough to distract me from the action at various points, which is a great shame.
Having said that, story-wise this is excellent. I enjoyed the characters, and there was no laborious world-building. Rather the rules were clearly in place somewhere, and we found out about them as we needed to, which really prevented the story bogging down. It really was a page-turner, and a very quick read to the point where the story occasionally felt it was being pushed along a little quickly. Most notably for me was when we first learn of Albion’s ex-wife and how he gets very melancholy thinking about her and oh look here she is in this particular spot of this huge galaxy.
Despite my various, mostly minor criticisms, I really enjoyed the characters and setting. It felt like a prelude to a larger series, which I would be more than happy to explore should it come to pass. This is an entertaining and action-packed space jaunt without any mind-bending hard science to get your head around. Well worth the price of admission.
Excalibur (Tim Marquitz)
Amazon Digital Services, 2017
Science Fiction
ASIN: B06XB79MDS
Being a writer requires dedication, commitment, devotion, diligence, a skin like an armadillo and a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears. By this definition, Damien is most definitely not a writer, although he does occasionally put pen to paper. More accurately, Damien is a lover of the written word in nearly all its forms (you can keep vampire romances) and always feels a little down if he can see over his To Read pile.
Edition 30: Book Review: Wall of Storms by Ken Liu
Reviewed by Damien Smith
If you’ve managed to snag yourself a copy of Wall of Storms, the second book in the Dandelion Dynasty trilogy, I’m am reasonably certain you will have already experienced the wonder that is Grace of Kings. If not, what on Earth are you doing starting the second book of a trilogy? Luckily, I’ve previously reviewed Grace of Kings right here at SQ Mag. Nip over and have a quick read of that review, then settle down for however long it takes you to plough through an 800+ page Big Fat Fantasy. I’ll wait.
Edition 29: Book Review: Crow Shine by Alan Baxter
Reviewed by Damien Smith
Disclaimer: I have known Alan personally for a number of years, but this does not mean I will be unreasonably harsh on his work. I did not receive anything other than an uncorrected proof copy of Crow Shine for this review.
Alan Baxter has been doing the rounds of the Australian Spec Fic scene for quite some time now, and regularly pops up in top-class short story publications. With the recent news that his Alex Caine trilogy is going global, it would be easy to forget about Alan’s widely-scattered and occasionally very hard to find shorter works. Crow Shine represents Alan’s first, very attractively-covered, short story collection and gathers together sixteen hand-picked tales from over a decade of works, along with three original pieces.
Edition 28: Book Review: Shadows of the Dark Crystal by J.M.Lee
Reviewed by Damien Smith
Some three years ago now I recall seeing an open submission that blew my cynical mind. The Jim Henson Company (yes, THAT one) was teaming up with Grosset & Dunlap with an open call for submissions to find an author for a new novel set in the Dark Crystal universe. Brief visions of puppet-inspired literary glory flashed through my mind before the reality of the hugely restrictive (read: perfectly reasonable) submission time frame and the prospect of competing against a myriad of writers with, well, talent for this sort of thing brought me back down to Earth. Fast forward to a few months ago and, having completely put it out of my mind, this lovely if brief volume crosses my path.
Edition 27: Book Review: Apocalypse Machine by Jeremy Robinson
Reviewed by Damien Smith
Apocalypse Machine is the latest Kaiju Thriller option from Jeremy Robinson, who I initially discovered through reviewing SNAFU: Survival of the Fittest. Read the rest of this entry
Edition 26: Game Review: Lifeline by Dave Justus
Reviewed by Damien Smith
Symbiosis, as defined by a quick Google search, is “interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.” This could be between two close family members, one of those little birds that pick bits out of crocodiles’ teeth or, in this case, between protagonist and reader.
Edition 24: Book Review: X’s For Eyes by Laird Barron
Reviewed by Damien Smith
Regular readers of cosmic horror will likely be familiar with Laird Barron. Before I tackled X’s For Eyes, however, I was entirely unfamiliar with his works, having picked up this novella on the back of a recommendation on Facebook. There’s a lesson here that can’t be driven home often enough-if you like a book or an author, give them a plug. The minor signal boost is invaluable for anyone who’s not J.K.Rowling or Stephen King, and it really works.
Edition 23: Book & Film Review: The Martian by Andy Weir
Reviewed by Damien Smith
I have been a little late to the party with The Martian. Andy Weir’s novel has been gaining steam for a good year or so, but by the time I finally managed to perch a copy on top of the To Read pile, we were only a month away from the movie release. So this issue I thought, why not look at both? I’ll gloss over much of the detail beyond the basics (guy stuck on Mars, does science, takes a long journey, gets rescued) because I really think you should read AND see this for yourself.
So here’s The Martian vs The Martian, a comparative review.
Edition 22: Book Review: Zer0es by Chuck Wendig
Reviewed by Damien Smith
I’ve just finished reading an awesome movie. At least that’s what it felt like. Zer0es is the latest in the growing bibliography spawned by Chuck Wendig, and for every fan of cyberpunk, well worth the effort. Throughout the book I found myself harking back to various TV shows and movies rather than other novels, which lead me to the conclusion that this should absolutely join the ranks of cinematics.
SQ Mag 