Reviews of some books in the category of fiction (including Science Fiction) are given below:
Title: Unholy Domain
Auhor: Dan Ronco
Publisher: Kunati
ISBN: 978-1-60164-021-5
Genre: Science Fiction
Presentation: Hard Back with Dust Jacket
For
those who read Dan's first novel, "Peacemaker" this will be a must read
sequel. For others, it will be a good introduction to Dan's excellent
writing skills and an invitation to go and get Peacemaker and look
forward to a sequel to Unholy Domain.
Dianne Morgan continues
her stop-at-nothing attempts to take control of the whole world through
her Domain and is being opposed by an equally ruthless opponent Adam
Jordan. Adam tries to mold common man's aversion to technology after
the bitter experience with Peacemaker (a ghastly malevolent computer
program that was intended to shut down all internet systems and give
Dianne power over the world but which was aborted albeit with a huge
loss of people and property) into a religious cult and he too stops at
nothing to gain control over people (that is the aim of all power
hungry people isn't it?). David Brown, son of Ray Brown, a colleague of
Dianne is the hero in this sequel which takes off where Peacemaker ends
and we know what happened to Ray Brown in this book. But new readers
need not worry since the story is self-standing without reading
Peacemaker.
The story is excellently written and the style is as
usual gripping. The editing and printing are again excellent. All in
all, an excellent read and we are kept anticipating the release of
Dan's sequel to Unholy Domain to know what happened to David Brown and
to Adam Jordan, whom Dianne succeeds in capturing and whose religious
cult is more or less broken thanks to some brilliant technological
successes of Sentinel, the next generation Artificial Intelligence
System developed by Domain.
Dan's books are disturbing because
what he describes is possible and plausible with today's technology.
So, if you are either a technophile or a technophobe, read Unholy
Domain.
Title: The Future Happens Twice - The Perennial Project
Author: Matt Browne
Publisher: Athena Press
ISBN: 978-1-84401-830-7
Genre: Science Fiction
The
earth is in danger and the human species may not survive the danger.
So, a project is conceived to send humans to another earth like planet
82 light years away. The only problem with that is that humans cannot
survive such long journey which will take thousands of years. Other
problems of engineering, reliability etc. could be overcome but how to
ensure the safety of the human beings over thousands of years of space
travel?
A controversial solution is being attempted, viz.,
cryo-preservation of human embryos, which will be thawed and hatched by
Artificial Womb Devices and the babies will be brought up by humanoid
robots which have Natural Language Processing capabilities. And before
the actual spaceship can be launched, the whole solution needs to be
tested in a perfect simulation inside a space craft which, however does
not fly in space. The future needs to be tested now. And hopefully
repeated as envisaged and scripted now in the real future. Embryo
splitting is necessary but is illegal. And the identical twins need to
be born years apart and not know that they are test tube babies.
The
book is about the simulations, the problems of managing a project in a
secret facility, the ethical and legal issues involved, how they are
overcome etc.
The book is the first of the trilogy and the
author succeeds in maintaining a tight story line and suspense of what
is going to come. Thus, reading the large tome of 700 plus pages is not
difficult.
The editing and printing of the book is quite good. I would have preferred a hardcover but understand the cost implications.
Author
Matt Browne holds a M.S computer scientist and works for a large
organization. He brings his knowledge of Computers and Language
Processing, Robotics etc. to a good and plausible space scenario.
A very good read indeed. I look forward to the remaining two sequels in the trilogy.
Title: Immortal
Author: Traci L. Slatton
Publisher: Bantam Dell
ISBN: 978-0-385-33974-2
Genre: Fiction / Religion / Inquisition
Presentation: Paperback
Immortal is the story of Luca Bastardo, who was lost as a baby by his parents and grew up as a street urchin on the roads of Florence. Luca is not any ordinary human, he belongs to a special race of beings, who have very long lives and thus look young. They are thus mistaken to practice witchcraft etc. and are subjected to inquisition, burning at stake etc.
Luca undergoes a number of experiences, most of them bad but some good in his nearly 200 years of life (though he looks like about 30 years when he is burnt at the stake). He meets many artists and painters, alchemists etc., including the famous Leonardo da Vinci. The history of Florence in the years 1300 to 1400 AD is interwoven in Luca's story.
I am not an expert on Italian history, architecture, art etc. and cannot thus judge the
accuracy of what is presented here by the author. To a query from my
end, the author confirmed that she has taken a lot of trouble to make
the historical aspects of that period as accurate as possible. However,
the story is sufficiently appealing and the style sufficiently smooth to keep me reading the fairly big book and we don't need to be experts on Italian history or art to appreciate the book.
Some of the events described are rather adult oriented and thus the book is not suitable for children and also if you are squeamish (some scenes are rather violent).
Check out the excerpts from the book at www.amazon.com and also through Google Excerpts.
I cannot comment on the editing and printing because what I got is an ARC (Advance Reading Copy), not the final print edition. I would suggest that you check the book at a physical book store and decide about buying. I am reasonably confident that you would find the book interesting.
Title: Laughing Sickness A Medical Mystery
Author: Anne Black Gray
Publisher: Bridgeway Books
ISBN: 978-1-933538-93-8
Genre: Fiction/Medical Mystery
The
author grew up in semi-rural West Virginia, studied physics at Carnegie
Mellon and then migrated to Southern California for a career in
Aerospace Engineering. After retiring, she too up her second career
(novel writing) at the same time that she was learning of the plight of
victims of rare, hard-to-diagnose diseases. The needs of these patients
became the inspiration for this, her first novel. The subject is very
interesting and has been dealt with beautifully. It indeed reads like a
good mystery and the reader is certainly kept waiting for the final
diagnosis and to know how the patient fares.
The book gives
the reader a good tour through the modern medical system, as
experienced by Jessica Shepperd, the heroine of this novel, a sufferer
from a hard-to-diagnose illness. She finds that when confronted with
the apparently solvable problem, doctors who usually speak with
science-backed authority can become irritable, evasive, dismissive and
doubtful of the patient's mental soundness. If they can't find a
physical reason, "it must be all in her head!" sums up the attitude of
some of them.
Her illness changes her relationships with many,
and she breaks up with her boyfriend, a doctor himself and who is a
control freak. Jessica, on the other hand is obsessed with individual
freedom. After a series of wrong diagnoses and after going on long
disability leave (which affects her financially), she finally gets the
right diagnosis (cataplexy) and hope is rekindled that the right
treatment will enable her to lead an almost normal life. She also finds
that she can write her experiences well and share with other sufferers.
She also finds other people suffering similar problems and enjoys the
friendship.
One small excerpt from the book:
Laughter and tickling inevitably cause attacks in over ninety percent of cataplectics.
Like
her. May be all her life. When she was a little girl, if someone
tickled her or told a joke, she fell. That could have been a precursor
to her present condition.
She found little information on the
physiology or neurology of cataplexy. It was simplistically described
as a mistake, in conjunction with with narcolepsy, where the brain
believes it's asleep and dreaming and, just as in normal dreaming,
inhibits the body's ability to move. She read that narcolepsy and
cataplexy are thought, but as yet not proven, to be autoimmune or
autoinflammatory. Nothing was mentioned about sensations of switches
flipping in the brain. Or about collapses after acceleration or
deceleration.
End of the excerpt.
The books is extremely
well written and beautifully printed. The style is engrossing and the
suspense is kept up. I could put down the book only with a lot of
difficulty and finished the book in 2 or 3 days. There is a lot of
useful information about many medical conditions and diagnostic
procedures. At the same time, it is entertaining too.
All in all, an excellent read. Title: "A Secret of the Universe"
Author: Stephen L. Gibson
Genre: Fiction - religious & metaphysical
Publication Date: October 2007
Publisher: Truth-Driven Strategies
Price: $26.95
ISBN13: 978-0-9793880-0-2
URL: www.truthdrivenstrategies.com
Bound: 6 x 9 Hardcover
Pages: 576
About:
This is a story about belief-in God, sexual ethics, morals, political
ideologies-told through two friends' struggle to make sense of life's
triumphs and tragedies, which they interpret through very different
religious filters. When profound revelations lead each friend to
uncover shocking historical "secrets" in support of his own world-view,
their odyssey plays out on a global stage, with tragic consequences.
Only by embracing the inherent mystery and pain of their quest do Ian
and Bill make the discovery that really matters-a genuine secret of the
universe.
More details of the book at www.truthdrivenstrategies.com.
You can find this book listed on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Universe-Story-Discovery-Eternal/dp/0979388007/ref=sr_1_1/002-6362047-3964044?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179499521&sr=1-1 and you can read excerpts of this book using Google's "Book Search" link at http://books.google.com/books?id=pEIc5SALBFwC&dq=isbn:0979388007.
My
own idea about the book: The book is a novel with a few chapters of
Non-Fiction interwoven that explores the concept of God from a
Christian perspective and through the eyes of two child-hood friends
who look at the same teachings from different perspectives.
My
reading experience: The book has a fairly good plot and the style is
good so that the reader's attention is held for the many hours that the
book takes to read. Some of the concepts are not that secret for me
since I grew up with different religious teachings and in the course of
nearly 60 years on this earth's plane have been exposed to different
ideas about truth.
Printing and Editing: Excellent
Recommendation:
Strongly recommended, especially to Christians to get a wider
perspective of the world. Readers of other religions too will find the
book interesting since fundamentalism is not confined to any one
religion but is a basic trait of human nature.
Title: The End of Time
Author: Randall Towe
Publisher: www.lulu.com
ISBN: 978-1-4116-3846-4
Genre: Science Fiction / Christianity
Presentation: Paperback
"The End of Time" is a Science Fiction novel by Randall Towe. It is a good mixture of science, philosophy, religion etc. , and is a good story of the classic struggle between good and evil.
The book is based on the current world situation and at places reads like a commentator's narrative. But, overall, it is a good read and will appeal to Christians especially.
Title: The Monk’s Son
Author: W.R.Wilkerson III
Publisher: Ciro’s Books (www.cirosbooks.com)
ISBN: 978-0-9676643-1-6
Genre: Fiction / Religion / Novel
No. of pages: 280
Presentation: Paperback
About the book: (from the back cover)
“From great hell comes Paradise”
When Brother Dominic finds a baby hidden in a field, the real world crashes into the peaceful cloisters of an English Abbey. It is 1940 and German bombs threaten the country side.
The foundling, Steven, grows up in the abbey. Over time, the monks take in other abandoned children, including sixteen-year-old Michael, a defiant artist who upsets the community’s tranquility. The boy’s friendship challenges the monks’ sacred vows and takes Steven to the brink of death.
Michael leaves the serenity of the abbey and plunges into the turmoil of ‘60s London. But disastrous sexual encounters and his battle with the drug called Paradise drive his life to take darker and darker turns. Steven, meanwhile, is nurtured and strengthened by his faith and the abbey community. He takes his final vows and dons the monk’s habit.
When at last Michael’s world spirals out of control, he returns to the monastery in despair. His reunion with Steven brings them together in ways that they would never have thought possible.
My impression: The story is beautifully written, is gripping and the style quite fluid which holds your attention through out. The author succeeds in painting a vivid canvas of the events. The novel has many facets that appeal to different people, like orphanage, art, religion, philosophy, and the darker sides such as homosexuality, drugs etc.
My Recommendation: Strongly recommended.
Title: Lords of Terror
Authors: Allan Cole and Nick Perumov
Publisher:Zumaya Publications / Zumaya Otherworlds
ISBN: 1-55410-285-5
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy
Presentation: Soft Cover
No. of Pages: 350
The cover is suitably alien and frightening, so that unless you are a fan of magic, other worlds, aliens etc., you know it is not for you. And if you are a fan, jump right in and get a satisfying feast to your imagination. Allan Cole and Nick Perumov take a seemingly simple story (the US-USSR Cold War) and weave a beautiful novel of violence, betrayal, espionage, and of course bravery, heroism.
An American civil space liner is blown up by a Russian warship whose best instruments (magical of course) and wizards are tricked by an unseen evil force to see a warship in place of the civilian craft. The resultant political crisis is exploited by several vested interests to push their own agendas for their own hideously selfish purposes. Only a few committed and courageous individuals including an engine devil and an orphaned boy try and obviously succeed in preventing an Armageddon. Read and be thrilled by the excellent story telling and you will spend hours engrossed.
The book is a good mix of science, space, aliens and of course the eternal conflict between the good and the evil.
I did not read any of the other books written by the authors but if this book is a good sample of what they are capable of, I hope to read their other books too in the near future.
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