The Beauty Aliya Whiteley Unsung, 112 pages Review by Marija Smits Online Exclusive. The Beauty, like other books from Unsung Stories, is somewhat unclassifiable. It doesn’t appear to sit neatly in any sci-fi genre, and although probably best described as speculative fiction it also has a fairy tale aspect to it. In places it also
Invasion Luke Rhinehart Titan, 432 pages Review by Chris Heyman Earth is invaded by thousands of super-intelligent beach balls that want to play. This is the high concept that Luke Rhinehart uses to satirise modern economic ruts and wider social absurdities, as seen through the perennial trope of a fresh pair of eyes. Except that
Iraq+100: Stories from Another Iraq Hassan Blasim (editor) Comma Press, 224 pages Review by Chris Kelso A nation’s literature is often shaped by historical and political events, and there aren’t many countries who have recently undergone such immense turmoil and upheaval as Iraq. It’s funny: science fiction seems such an obvious genre to explore for
The Corporation Wars: Insurgence Ken MacLeod Orbit, 320 pages Review: Iain Maloney Midway through Insurgence, the sequel to Dissidence and midpoint of the trilogy, Carlos the Terrorist finds himself in a hellish maze, his way lit by faint clumps of phosphorescent lichen. He knows the path in front of him will be difficult but that
Thought X: Fictions and Hypotheticals Edited by Dr Rob Appleby and Ra Page Comma Press, 304 pages Review by Pippa Goldschmidt This volume is the latest in a series of anthologies published by Comma Press showcasing specially written short stories inspired by a specific theme. This one takes as its subject ‘thought experiments’, experiments carried
The Cygnus Virus TJ Zakreski Dancing Star, 366 pages Review by Steve Ironside The search for life on another world is not without its risks. Some worry that we’ll end up advertising our presence to a dangerous civilisation who’ll come to enslave us; some worry the knowledge that we’ve contacted someone else will throw our
Hold Back the Stars By Katie Khan Penguin Books/Doubleday Books Review: Thom Day Carys and Max are stuck in space. They’ve somehow managed to make it through the ring of meteors that surrounds Earth, but their spacecraft has been critically damaged in the process. Now with 90 minutes of oxygen left, they must fight to
The Girl With Two Souls Stephen Palmer CSIPP, 378 pages Review by Katie Gray In Bedlam asylum, some time in the early twentieth century, Kora Blackmore wakes up. She eats her breakfast, chats with her nurse about her plans for the day, re-reads her only book – and receives a rare visitor, a mysterious stranger
Into the Guns William C. Dietz Titan, 336 pages Review by Duncan Lunan Online Exclusive I opted to review Into the Guns because in it, on May 1st next year, 60 meteors enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Having written a book about how to protect the Earth from impacts, including detailed study of what the consequences
Heart of Granite James Barclay Gollancz, 416 pages Reviewed: Ian Hunter Apart from being the President of the British Fantasy Society, following Ramsey Campbell who held that position for decades, James Barclay is better known as the author of several fantasy series starting way back in 1999 with the Chronicles of the Raven trilogy, followed