Operation Masquerade
by Nigel Mitchell
(5/5 stars)
Unlike the author's previous sci-fi stories like "Flying Saucers" or
"Call Center of Doom" this is not a humorous story. It's more of a
combination of "Starship Troopers" and "Blade Runner."
Humanity
has for years been fighting against a race of insectoid aliens called
the Chitt'k, but not much is known about these bugs. Jason Locke, a
trained commando and actor, is tasked with using a mechanical bug suit
to infiltrate an alien ship to find out their secrets.
Meanwhile
on Earth, Jason's wife who is also a commando unearths a government
conspiracy and winds up dumped in the wilds of old New York, which is
pretty much a ghetto overseen by drug lords. She has to escape to try
to warn her husband of the threat.
This is a tense, entertaining
sci-fi thriller. It has enough twists and turns that you can never be
sure what's going to happen next. Highly recommended.
That is all.
Here you will find all the reviews I've written for self-published and small-published books over the last four years, collected from Amazon and Goodreads
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Dragonfly Warrior
Dragonfly Warrior
by Jay Noel
(5/5 stars)
A caveat here: this is the first steampunk book I've read. I'm not a fan of the genre by any stretch. I guess my main problem is it relies so much on hindsight, people taking stuff we have now and reverse engineering it to 19th Century technology. I tend to think if they could have made a giant walking spider back then someone probably would have.
My point then is I was prepared not to like this book, but I did. Since I haven't read any steampunk before what it actually reminded me of is Star Wars. Zen is like a Jedi in that he has a sword and a mystical ability that helps him fight. When he goes in search of the "Sky Sword" he meets a scoundrel who also happens to own a very fast ship--sound familiar? And then they meet a a woman who's very tough and capable--but does not turn out to be Zen's sister.
Thinking of it that way probably helped and also I don't think it took the steampunk to ridiculous extremes. Not like for instance "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" where they had a fleet of SHIELD helicarriers in the mid-30s. Say whaaaat? Although there was (briefly) a mechanical spider thing most of the technology like airships and cars were plausible in the late 19th Century as there were already hot air balloons, rudimentary cars, and even at least one crude submarine in the Civil War.
Besides Star Wars I suppose it plays out like one of those fantasy books where there's a party on a quest. It just so happens instead of fighting dragons and wizards they're after the "Machine Boy" who to use another Star Wars reference reminded me of young Anakin Skywalker, though less annoying because he didn't go around asking teenage girls if they were angels.
Anyway, it's a fast-paced, action-packed read that's written very well. There's nothing to dislike, even for someone who doesn't like steampunk. I'm looking forward to the next book.
That is all.
by Jay Noel
(5/5 stars)
A caveat here: this is the first steampunk book I've read. I'm not a fan of the genre by any stretch. I guess my main problem is it relies so much on hindsight, people taking stuff we have now and reverse engineering it to 19th Century technology. I tend to think if they could have made a giant walking spider back then someone probably would have.
My point then is I was prepared not to like this book, but I did. Since I haven't read any steampunk before what it actually reminded me of is Star Wars. Zen is like a Jedi in that he has a sword and a mystical ability that helps him fight. When he goes in search of the "Sky Sword" he meets a scoundrel who also happens to own a very fast ship--sound familiar? And then they meet a a woman who's very tough and capable--but does not turn out to be Zen's sister.
Thinking of it that way probably helped and also I don't think it took the steampunk to ridiculous extremes. Not like for instance "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" where they had a fleet of SHIELD helicarriers in the mid-30s. Say whaaaat? Although there was (briefly) a mechanical spider thing most of the technology like airships and cars were plausible in the late 19th Century as there were already hot air balloons, rudimentary cars, and even at least one crude submarine in the Civil War.
Besides Star Wars I suppose it plays out like one of those fantasy books where there's a party on a quest. It just so happens instead of fighting dragons and wizards they're after the "Machine Boy" who to use another Star Wars reference reminded me of young Anakin Skywalker, though less annoying because he didn't go around asking teenage girls if they were angels.
Anyway, it's a fast-paced, action-packed read that's written very well. There's nothing to dislike, even for someone who doesn't like steampunk. I'm looking forward to the next book.
That is all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)