Sci-Fi

Excerpt: ONE LEVEL DOWN by Mary G. Thompson (Tachyon)

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One Level Down is Mary G. Thompson‘s debut novella for adults, which examines identity and autonomy through the lens of technology and more. It due to be published at the beginning of next month, by Tachyon Publications. Today, we have an excerpt for our readers! First, here’s the synopsis:

Trapped in a child’s body, a resourceful woman risks death by deletion from a simulated world…

Ella is the oldest five-year-old in the universe. For fifty-eight years, the founder of a simulated colony-planet has forced her to pretend to be his daughter. Her “Daddy” has absolute power over all elements of reality, which keeps the colonists in line even when their needs are not met. But his failing experiments and despotic need for absolute control are increasingly dangerous.

Ella’s very life depends on her performance as a child. She has watched Daddy delete her stepmother and the loved ones of anyone who helps her.

But every sixty years, a Technician comes from the world above. Ella has been watching and working and biding her time. Because if she cannot make the technician help her, the only solution is a desperate measure that could lead to consequences for the entire universe.

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Excerpt: THE MARTIAN CONTINGENCY by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books / Solaris)

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Today we have an excerpt from The Martian Contingency, the fourth novel in Mary Robinette Kowal‘s critically-acclaimed Lady Astronaut series! Due to be published in North America by Tor Books, next week, here’s the synopsis:

Years after a meteorite strike obliterated Washington, D.C. — triggering an extinction-level global warming event — Earth’s survivors have started an international effort to establish homes on space stations and the Moon.

The next step – Mars.

Elma York, the Lady Astronaut, lands on the Red Planet, optimistic about preparing for the first true wave of inhabitants. The mission objective is more than just building the infrastructure of a habitat – they are trying to preserve the many cultures and nuances of life on Earth without importing the hate.

But from the moment she arrives, something is off.

Disturbing signs hint at a hidden disaster during the First Mars Expedition that never made it into the official transcript. As Elma and her crew try to investigate, they face a wall of silence and obfuscation. Their attempts to build a thriving Martian community grind to a halt.

What you don’t know CAN harm you. And if the truth doesn’t come to light, the ripple effects could leave humanity stranded on a dying Earth…

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Quick Review: MURDER BY MEMORY by Olivia Whaite (TorDotCom)

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An intriguing, cozy mystery… in space!

A mind is a terrible thing to erase…

Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty’s most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger.

Near the topmost deck of an interstellar generation ship, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn’t hers — just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot.

Dorothy suspects her misfortune is partly the fault of her feckless nephew Ruthie who, despite his brilliance as a programmer, leaves chaos in his cheerful wake. Or perhaps the sultry yarn store proprietor — and ex-girlfriend of the body Dorothy is currently inhabiting — knows more than she’s letting on. Whatever it is, Dorothy intends to solve this case. Because someone has done the impossible and found a way to make murder on the Fairweather a very permanent state indeed. A mastermind may be at work — and if so, they’ve had three hundred years to perfect their schemes…

Murder by Memory is an interesting, quirky mystery set on a luxurious interstellar passenger liner. After a slightly strange start, I quickly found myself drawn into the story, and rather enjoyed it. Continue reading →

Excerpt: SHADOW OF THE ENDLESS by Stephen Gaskell (Titan)

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In a couple of weeks, Titan Books is due to publish the latest novel by Stephen Gaskell — a brand new novel tying into the acclaimed Endless franchise: Shadow of the Endless. The novel is pitched as “Perfect for fans of the Endless series as well as readers of space opera and YA science fiction.” Here’s the synopsis:

While her starring people are being hunted by an implacable enemy, a young caver discovers a traitor in their ranks and must undertake a transformative journey across the galaxy to save everything she has ever known.

Persecuted for their worship of the Endless ― an ancient, galactic-spanning race of god-like power, who disappeared long ago ― the Pilgrims escaped the world of Raia almost a century ago, fleeing the despotic rule of the United Empire in a dozen space-faring fleets. The Pilgrims of the Horizon of Light fleet have spent two long years being hunted by an especially determined Empire foe. Now though, it appears they’ve finally caught a break, laying low on a non-descript comet that’s hurtling into deep space.

Young Pilgrim Sewa Eze wants to become a caver―and head into the depths on deserted moons, asteroids, and worlds to secure whatever the fleet needs: precious resources, Endless relics, even Dust. However, a strange device is discovered deep in the ice of the comet they shelter on ― suggesting dark forces are afoot ― and Sewa is instead selected for a leadership role at the Ceremony of Duties and must reassess her life, beginning with finding the traitor in their ranks who threatens her entire fleet’s existence.

The course of Sewa’s life changes forever as she is forced to confront treachery, discover the secrets of the ancient past and travel to the very heart of the tyrannical United Empire.

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Excerpt: TINY TIME MACHINE by John E. Stith

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Today, we have an excerpt from John E. Stith’s Tiny Time Machine, which collects the author’s trilogy of the same name. It’s a sci-fi adventure for younger readers. To mark the occasion, we have an excerpt from the book. First, though, here’s the synopsis:

When Meg’s mother died in a hospital mishap, her scientist father set out on an obsessed journey to develop a tiny time machine to save her. He became so angry that he and Meg have rarely spoken since the death of her mother.

Now a loner preoccupied with combating polluters, Meg meets Josh at a break-in at a paint company in efforts to expose their practices when they suddenly find themselves on the run from the cops. Meg heads for the one man who should always take her in — her father.  But when they reach him, they find him dying before he can perfect his device.

It’s all up to Meg and Josh to fix a disaster set to render the Earth uninhabitable, dive back into the past to rescue Mom and Dad, and overcome an adversary who wants the Tiny Time Machine for his own purposes. Can they succeed?

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Excerpt: DARKSIDE by Michael Mammay (Harper Voyager)

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MammayM-P4-DarksideUSHCIn a couple of weeks (September 24th), Harper Voyager is due to publish the fourth action-packed installment in the Planetside by Michael Mammay: in Darkside, retired Colonel Carl Butler gears up for another investigation, full of danger, corporate intrigue, and technology that people would kill for. To mark the imminent release, we have an excerpt to share! Here’s the synopsis:

Colonel Butler has paid his dues and just wants to enjoy his retirement on a remote planet. But the galaxy has had other plans.  He has been roped into searching for a politician’s missing son and an industry magnate’s missing daughter. He has been kidnapped, violated numerous laws, and caused the destruction of colonial facilities. He’s famous — or infamous, depending on who you ask — praised and reviled in equal measure across the galaxy for his exploits.

And he is determined to never let the government drag him into another investigation.

But when a runaway twelve-year-old girl whose father has gone missing asks him for help, well… it’s a lot harder to say no.

The girl’s father, Jorge Ramiro, was supposed to have been on Taug, a moon orbiting the gas giant Ridia 5, working on a dig with a famous archaeologist. But now there’s no sign of him and no record of him being there. Mining operations on the moon are run by two different consortiums, Caliber and Omicron — both of which have tried to kill Butler in the past. Butler doesn’t believe in coincidence.

Landing on Taug with his right-hand man Mac, computer genius Ganos, and an elite security squad, Butler soon finds that they’ve charged back into the crosshairs — because Ramiro is not the only who has disappeared, and the perpetual darkside of this moon is hiding more than the truth about a missing archeologist…

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Excerpt (2): NEW ADVENTURES IN SPACE OPERA, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Tachyon Publications)

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NewAdventuresInSpaceOperaUSHCOn August 13th, Tachyon Publications are due to publish New Adventures in Space Opera, the latest fantastic new collection of science fiction edited by Jonathan Strahan. To celebrate the upcoming release, the publisher has provided CR with two excerpts! The first excerpt went up on last week, and the second — from Charlie Jane Anders‘s “A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime” — is below.

First, here’s the anthology’s synopsis:

Award-winning science fiction editor Jonathan Strahan (The Best Science Fiction of the Year series) presents this quintessential guide to the New Space Opera, showcasing short stories from fifteen of acclaimed speculative fiction authors, including Charlie Jane Anders, Alastair Reynolds, Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, Ann Leckie, Sam J. Miller, and more.

In “Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance,” a cloud-based contractor finds a human war criminal clinging to the hull of the ship. The clones of “All the Colours You Thought Were Kings,” about to attend their coming-of-age ceremony, are also plotting treason. During “A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime,” two outlaws go on the run after stealing a device from a space cult.

Take a faster-than-light trip to the future. Discover where memes rise and fall in moments. Here are the new, adventurous, and extremely efficient–takes on interstellar battles, sentient spaceships, and galactic intrigue. The future is sooner than you think, and there’s only so much time to visit.

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Excerpt (1): NEW ADVENTURES IN SPACE OPERA, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Tachyon Publications)

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NewAdventuresInSpaceOperaUSHCNext month, Tachyon Publications are due to publish New Adventures in Space Opera — a fantastic new collection of science fiction, edited by Jonathan Strahan and featuring a great many talented authors. To celebrate the pending release (it’s out on August 13th), the publisher has provided CR with two excerpts! The first excerpt, below, is from Tobias S. Buckell‘s “Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance”. The second excerpt will go up next week.

Here’s the anthology’s synopsis:

Award-winning science fiction editor Jonathan Strahan (The Best Science Fiction of the Year series) presents this quintessential guide to the New Space Opera, showcasing short stories from fifteen of acclaimed speculative fiction authors, including Charlie Jane Anders, Alastair Reynolds, Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, Ann Leckie, Sam J. Miller, and more.

In “Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance,” a cloud-based contractor finds a human war criminal clinging to the hull of the ship. The clones of “All the Colours You Thought Were Kings,” about to attend their coming-of-age ceremony, are also plotting treason. During “A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime,” two outlaws go on the run after stealing a device from a space cult.

Take a faster-than-light trip to the future. Discover where memes rise and fall in moments. Here are the new, adventurous, and extremely efficient–takes on interstellar battles, sentient spaceships, and galactic intrigue. The future is sooner than you think, and there’s only so much time to visit.

Continue reading →

Quick Review: DEATHWORLDER by Victoria Hayward (Black Library)

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HaywardV-WH40kAM-DeathworlderCatachans versus a dying planet overrun by tyranid horrors

On a planet trapped in the closing jaws of the Great Devourer, Major Wulf Khan of the Catachan 903rd receives a final, desperate mission – one which will take her soldiers into the maw of the tyranid threat.

Lazulai is a world beyond the brink, its battle against the tyranids all but lost. Once-magnificent cities lie in ruin. The seas boil. The skies crack. Horrific alien bioforms devour. In mere days the planet will be consumed.

The 903rd Catachan ‘Night Shrikes’ defend one of the last fortresses still standing. Led by Major Wulf Khan, to die fighting is all that is expected of them… until she is given one last mission: to lead a squad through the apocalypse and recover a piece of archeotech that may doom or deliver the entire Lazulai System.

Facing impossible odds and zero hope for aid, the major must hold her squad together as they pick their way through an endless xenos jungle. The enemy is merciless, relentless, endlessly adaptable and formidably resourceful… but so too is Khan.

This is an excellent addition to Black Library’s growing Astra Militarum range/series. Following a small squad of Catachan commandos on a desperate, deadly mission, Hayward manages to evoke not only the brutal (often short) careers of Imperial Guardsmen, but also the horror that is the Great Devourer. I very much enjoyed this. Continue reading →

Quick Review: THE MINISTRY OF TIME by Kaliane Bradley (Avid Reader Press)

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BradleyK-MinistryOfTimeUSHC2A highly-anticipated new time-travel mystery

A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all: Welcome to The Ministry of Time…

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible — for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,” “Spotify,” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how — and whether she believes — what she does next can change the future.

I first heard about The Ministry of Time from a friend of the author’s, in the summer of 2023, and I’ve been eagerly anticipating it ever since. I started reading it a few days after its release, and I’m happy to say that I very much enjoyed it — it’s a witty, interesting take on time travel mysteries. Continue reading →