Reviews with titles beginning E
Earth is a science fiction novel by David Brin. Normally I never give up on a book, but I guess that it had to happen and now I have to decide whether it is fair to review a book that I have not read all the way through. But then again, why do I have to be fair to a book that has wasted so much...
In 1992, Steve Perry wrote the first novels based on the Dark Horse comics Aliens. Somehow, I missed these books as a teen. Although, I was familiar with the comics.
Aliens: Earth Hive is the first exciting, action-packed thriller in the series. The story is unique from the movies, so I...
Earth Made of Glass is the second volume in the Thousand Cultures series by the American author John Barnes. It has been ten years and Giraut and Margaret of "A Million Open Doors" have been working as diplomats/undercover agents on just about every possible world in The Thousand Cultures. They...
Earth Sink is a science fiction apocalyptic vision by Ilyan Lavanway. War has broken out on the planet of Antecedeon, a seemingly perfect alien world where peace and harmony have reigned for countless generations. A group calling themselves the New Order have grown bored and fed up with...
The Alien Invasion was unexpected and devastating, with their protective force-shields, the K'Thraa stormtroopers seem invincible and it looks as if earth is doomed. But by a miracle of chance First Sergeant Hood finds a flaw in the K'Thraa armour, a way in which he and his tiny army may be able...
Above all genres, science fiction is my favourite. Why? Because anything can happen. You can have epic space battles between alien races you cannot pronounce or go in the other direction and create a subtle alternative reality where words have the power to kill. Ideas run the entire gamete and...
In Cheryl Campbell's vision of the future, humanity finds itself enslaved by a genocidal faction of an alien race known as the Wardens. Decades of war has left much of the planet in ruins and threatens the existence of any human (or alien) who offer any form of resistance.
Dani thought...
Nathan Brazil had been the guardian of the Well of Souls, where the Well World's master control lay. But now the universe faced a threat more grave than mere destruction: An unnamed and utterly alien entity had somehow been released from its ancient prison and was bent on the corruption of the...
Edge is the first volume in an original science fiction story by John Meaney, writing under the name Thomas Blackthorne. Based in a near future britain, carrying knives has been legalised and a system of dueling to settle arguments now exists which is sensationalized with the TV show Knife Edge...
The future is uncertain but as long as there are people on the planet, there will be drama. The cities could be crumbling and the seas boiling but a few people gather in the same cave for protection, and it will be mere hours before they are arguing, falling in and out of love and not getting on...
It's great to see Philip K Dick stories continue to be explored and consumed in different forms of media. His writing still popular long after his death. For those who aren't aware, the UK TV station Channel 4 (Broadcast in the US via Amazon Video) has started a new 10 part anthology...
Docking is Difficult, so is trying to escape a backwards planet who's only exports are methane and a type of plant that superficially resembles a pig in taste and a triffid in shape.
Misha dreams of escaping the mud and mundane life to become an Elite pilot and live a life full of...
If you've ever read a Simon Spurrier novel, you will understand how his voice has an almost dirty quality to it. His novels have a raw edge that isn't quite horror but manages to lend some of the gritty reality that the finest horror posses.
Nemorensis has that edge, an unusual style and...
Elite - Reclamation is the third book in our ongoing review of the Elite: Dangerous novels. 10% of the proceeds of this book are being donated to the Ashford Dyslexia Centre.
Elite - Reclamation is quite different to the previous stories, it feels much more of a slow burn - a political...
The final book in our Elite: Dangerous series of reviews - Elite: Wanted by the gestalt entity that is Gavin Deas (comprised of the talented authors Stephen Deas and Gavin Smith). For anyone interested, The Elite: Dangerous game is now available, having launched yesterday.
The story...
I first discovered Elite growing up in the Eighties. It was a simpler time and Elite made a huge impact, the freedom to travel to distant stars and meet or trade with Alien races was irresistable. Sadly even back then entertainment companies were already trying out crazy methods of protecting...
Elite: Mostly Harmless is the second Elite: Dangerous tie-in novel reviewed here on SFBook. Catch up with that first review and a bit about Elite here: Elite: Lave Revolution. Written by Kate Russell, Elite: Mostly Harmless follows Commander Angel Rose who is forced into a life of crime. She is...
This is a very interesting book, a sort of post-apocalyptic, post-cyberpunk tale that also weaves in a good dose of historic fantasy and mythology while told in a very confident voice dripping with poetic, imaginative prose. Essentially the story goes that the human race almost wiped itself...
Elysium Fire is the sequel to Aurora Rising (also known as The Prefect), set in Reynold's Revelation Space universe but before events of his previous novels. Like Aurora Rising, it can be read as a stand-alone novel.
It's the 25th century (with no Buck Rogers in sight) and...
On the concrete balcony of a third-floor industrial complex in London, China Miéville was speaking earnestly about his early experiences of reading H.P. Lovecraft. He was remembering the Cthulhu. They were, he said, quite sexy. Three years later and the alien species of Embassytown are a...
To the veteran journalist Lex Falk the planet Eighty Six looks as dull as it's unimaginative name would suggest, then trouble starts brewing with the local population and the media start getting the runaround from the military high command, his interest is suddenly roused.
I have been...
A new space opera story from an author with a strong legacy in SF is a nice treat. Powell’s work on Ack-Ack Macaque has always intrigued me, but never enough to go out and read it. Whereas this, a more conventionally presented science fiction novel with comparisons to Ann Leckie and Iain M....
Empire State is the début novel of the talented author Adam Christopher, combining a superhero tale with an alternative reality prohibition era noir-esque New York. Throw in gangsters, private investigators and a rogue robot and even a slight nod to steampunk then you have one daring mix. The...
Empire of Silence is the debut of Christopher Ruocchio and the first in the Sun Eater series. It describes the early life of Hadrian Marlowe, an infamous figure who is remembered galaxy-wide as both hero and monster. The man who burned every last alien Cielcin from the sky. The man who...
Enders Game is the award winning first novel in the Ender Saga, by Orson Scott Card. A trip to the library, nearly always bring something good with it. Just the feeling of being surrounded by all those books, can bring a joy to my heart, that can’t even be totally thwarted by the fact that...
The last book in the series was, unfortunately, this reader’s least favorite, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a real gem. The reality of the series ending was saddening and expectations tend to be very high as a story culminates to its final chapters. Regardless, every series must conclude...
Sequel to Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion – there's no reason to read this book if you haven't read those two books. Actually the question is if there's any reason to read this book at all! Fall of Hyperion ends the story of the Cantos and the Web quite nicely, with nearly no loose ends. So...
Engine City is the third volume in the Engines of Light series by Ken Mcleod. I've been holding back on reading this the last book in the Engines of Light series, as I was rather disappointed with the second book. Luckily Newton's Wake was a wonderful book, as it gave me the strength...
The Merseian Empire has, for some strange reason, decided to help out the water people of Starkad. Which means that the good old Earth Empire, simply has to help the land people of Starkad to keep the status quo. Now if I tell you this story was published right in the middle of the Vietnam War,...
Entoverse is the fourth novel in the Giants series, written by James P Hogan. Having just finished The Giants Novels I thought my self lucky when I found the fourth (and for now final) giant novel Entoverse at my local book dealer. I had read a bit about it on the net and my expectations for it...
Above our planet hangs a hollow stone, vast as the imagination of Man. The inner dimensions are at odds with the outer: there are different chambers to be breached, some containing deserted cities; the furthest chamber contains the greatest mystery ever to confront the Stones scientists... But...
I like to read a collection of short stories on occasion as they act as a wonderful palette cleanser after so many full-length tales. The authors need to be succinct with their ideas as they have 20 pages to get their point across, rather than 400. An...
Escape from Bagdad! is a novel riding the wave of modern, alternative fiction that provides a fresh and marked difference to the over-subscribed European / American setting. As the title implies the story is set in Bagdad during the US invasion. With the American military, Religious fanatics,...
What would you do if you had technology that no one else in the world had. Would you use it to better your life, make some money? Perhaps you would share it with others to develop society as a whole? Or maybe you would use it for revenge. A series of impossible murders is stumping Detective...
Ethan of Athos is a science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold. Never having seen a woman in his life, Ethan is in for quite an eye opener when the first woman he meets is Elli Quinn of the Dendarii Mercenaries. As a good Athosian he tries his best to stay clear of her, but after a small...
Europe in Autumn was my first experience of Dave Hutchinson's unique and astonishing voice. It is simply sublime fiction, a deep and intelligent story and one of my favourite reads of recent times. It was impressive enough to win SFBook Book of the Year in 2014. Europe at Midnight is the much...
Europe in Autumn is an alternative history near future story that could be considered Kafkaesque in more than one sense of the word. Its part of new style of novel that mixes European settings with a gritty noir feeling such as seen in those quite brilliant novels Osama and Wolfhound Century....
Eve, The Burning Life is a novel based on the Eve Online MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) and has been written by Hjalti Danielsson who has is currently Eve Online's main creative writer and has been involved with Eve Online since it's release in 2003. Eve, The Burning Life is a hybrid...
Evening's Empires is the fourth novel set within the Quiet War series, although it is pretty much a stand-alone story in that universe and can be enjoyed without any prior knowledge of McAuley's works.
The story follows Hari, a young man who has narrowly escaped kidnap (or worse) and as...
Evolution is a monumental tale of the very evolution of mankind, from the age of the dinosaurs to way into the distant future. Created by the multiple award winning author Stephen Baxter. Evolution begins it's story in the Cretaceous period over 65 million years ago (the age of the Dinosaurs),...
I feel kind of ambiguous about this book – one thing is certain it will never be my banks favourite, but on the other hand it's a must read if you are interested in the Culture.
First of all I found it hard to follow, all too often I found myself in doubt as to who was who (or maybe...
One of the reasons I review books is to find stories that impress me and writers I can learn from and certainly there’s a lot of learning to be had in Exit Eleonora – Richard Allan’s debut novel.
The story is first person and set in AD 2047. Earth is re-organising itself after a...
The sassy, media loving AI ‘Murderbot’ returns in Exit Strategy, the fourth entry in The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Murderbot first burst on to the scene in 2017’s All Systems Red. In that first instalment, Murderbot was hired as a security unit (SecUnit) to protect a...
I am at an age where I genuinely believe that Science Fiction is the best genre there is and I have read enough books of all types to have developed this opinion. I love it because it can be so many different things. Space opera to speculative fiction. A Sci Fi book can also be a riddle...
Nicholas Sansbury Smith’s Extinction Edge, book two in The Extinction Cycle, is a whirl-wind of action and rapid evolution! The stakes have never been higher since the Hemorrhage virus first infected humankind. Now, the transition from modern society to a surviving-society pits Beckham and...
Extinction Game is a clever novel that mixes a post-apocalyptic setting with parallel worlds and a thrilling plot. It all begins with Jerry Beche who believes he is the only survivor following a viral pandemic that sweeps the globe.
While eking out an existence alone in the quiet...
Nicolas Sansbury Smith made his debut with Biomass Revolution, which was quickly followed by the Orbs Series. His latest series is The Extinction Cycle. After rereading book one for this review, I was reminded how effective military science fiction can be as a lens to watch...
Waking up on a strange world with no memory of his past, our intrepid protagonist finds an unusual group of people surviving on the slope of a mountain chain that forms a ring around a vast sandy dust-bowl that appears to hold dangers unseen.
Everyone else seem to also have no memories...
Cyberpunk has always been an interesting mash up of ideas, taking the science fiction forward ideas of technology and giving it a gritty edge. Mixing the equivalent of early 80s synth with the raw punk that preceded it in a giant science fiction blender sounds like chaos, but both have...
This is a first for SFBook, in it's 13 year history not once has an Audio book been reviewed, it's long before time this changed and I hope to review at least a few novels in this format over the coming months. Honour of the first goes to a specially created audio only book by the Black...
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