Eye of the Monster by Andre Norton
Tantor Media has published an audio version of Baen’s The Game of Stars and Comets (2009), an omnibus that contains these four novels by Andre Norton: The Sioux Spaceman (1960), Eye of the Monster (1962), The X Factor (1965), and Voorloper (1980). Each of these short novels stands alone and they are all set in Norton’s Council/Confederation universe. I’m reviewing them separately,
April 19th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Andre Norton | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Sioux Spaceman by Andre Norton
Tantor Media has published an audio version of Baen’s The Game of Stars and Comets (2009), an omnibus that contains these four novels by Andre Norton: The Sioux Spaceman (1960), Eye of the Monster (1962), The X Factor (1965), and Voorloper (1980). Each of these short novels stands alone but they are all set in Norton’s Council/Confederation universe. I’m going to review them separately,
April 16th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Andre Norton | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
“If they get everyone to stop taking pills and give bots equal rights, humanity is screwed.”
It’s 2095 and humans rely on drugs to stay healthy as well as physically and cognitively competitive in a gig economy where they must compete with artificial intelligence for jobs.
Cameras everywhere tend to keep violent urges in check, so life is fairly peaceful for Welga Ramirez, a 35-year-old physically-upgraded bodyguard who’s happy to have steady employment (most people don’t) and is looking forward to being transferred to a desk job soon.
April 15th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | S.B. Divya | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Anyone who’s read the first four installments of Brandon Mull’s FIVE KINGDOMS series for middle graders will undoubtedly want to read the fifth and concluding volume, Time Jumpers (2018). We all want to know if Cole and his friends will be able to escape the Outskirts and return home, and we want to know if the kids’ families and friends will still remember them!
This time Cole is visiting the last of the five kingdoms: Creon.
April 9th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Brandon Mull | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Murderbot, the snarky, introverted cyborg hero of Martha Wells’ THE MURDERBOT DIARIES series, returns from its trip to Milu, the deserted terraforming facility in space. The cyborg Security Unit ― which has committed the unprecedented crime of hacking its “governor” that required it to obey orders ― was searching on Milu for additional evidence against the evil-ridden corporation GrayCris, as related in the third novella in this series, Rogue Protocol. Because of key evidence found on the Milu trip,
April 9th, 2021. Tadiana Jones, Kat Hooper and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Martha Wells | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Tower of Mud and Straw by Yaroslav Barsukov
Lord Shea Ashcroft, a government minister, faced with a rioting crowd of protestors in the capital city, makes the call to have the military fall back rather than killing the protestors — and innocent bystanders —with poisonous gas. Some people praise his mercy, but half the city now lies in ruins from the mob’s violence, and the queen is not so appreciative of his decision. Shea is shipped off to the border city of Owenbeg as punishment, charged with overseeing the finishing of construction of a colossal tower to protect the border against enemy airships.
April 8th, 2021. Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Yaroslav Barsukov | Audio, Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In the Palace of Shadow and Joy by D.J. Butler
D.J. Butler tries his hand at the two-loveable-rogues-for-hire story and mostly succeeds.
Our two loveable rogues are Indrajit Twang and Fix. Indrajit is the poet of his very small clan of people. He has come to the great city of Kish to find (he hopes) an apprentice who can learn the epic poem of his race so it can be passed down to the next generation. If he does not succeed, all of the history and culture of these few hundred people will be lost.
April 7th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Dave (D.J.) Butler | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Cunning Man by D.J. Butler & Aaron Michael Ritchey
Hiram Woolley, 44 years old, is a slightly melancholy widower who farms beets in Utah during the Great Depression. He and his adopted son, Michael, spend their free time taking food and supplies to people who are suffering more than they are. This includes the citizens, mostly immigrants, of a mining town where the mine has been closed due to a squabble between the members of the Kimball family who own it. The miners aren’t getting paid and they’re starving. They can’t get out of the situation because they rent their homes from the mining company.
April 5th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Aaron Michael Ritchey, Dave (D.J.) Butler | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Martha Wells’ endearingly grumpy cyborg Security Unit Murderbot returns with a vengeance in Rogue Protocol (2018), the third novella in the MURDERBOT DIARIES series. In Rogue Protocol, Murderbot heads off to Milu, a deserted terraforming facility in space, to investigate the past of a murky group called GrayCris, which we originally met in the first book in this series, the Nebula award-winning All Systems Red.
April 5th, 2021. Tadiana Jones, Kat Hooper and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Martha Wells | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Hoka! Hoka! Hoka! by Poul Anderson & Gordon R. Dickson
Hoka! Hoka! Hoka! (1998), by Poul Anderson & Gordon R. Dickson, has been on my TBR list for years and, thanks to Tantor Media, which just released the first audio edition, it has finally landed in my audiobook player. As I anticipated, this collection of stories about the cute fuzzy aliens known as the Hoka, were really entertaining.
The Hoka are creatures that look like large teddy bears and they’re known throughout the universe as being “the most imaginative race of beings in known space.” They have a fascination with human culture and they love to mimic it,
April 2nd, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Gordon R. Dickson, Poul Anderson | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
I had it on my list to reread (which means I looked over at the bookcase one night, saw it…
Marion, I'm saving James (and Orbital) for after my semester ends so I can devote my undivided attention to them.…
Susan, glad you enjoyed. Samuel Jackson should absolutely play him in the movie!
Troy, 100% agreed. Sadly the BBC adaptation is also confused about this. They seem to think Orciny is some kind…
Hey Marion! The weather is the *same* in Ul Qoma and Beszel in the novel. They even have a recurring…