Book Spotlight - Firestorm: Descent (Firestorm Part 1) by Alan Porter

Firestorm: Descent (Firestorm Part 1)

Description
A world ravaged by war; humanity on the brink.
A stranger comes from another time.
Is he the saviour mankind has been waiting for... or something far darker?

When an accident with an experimental Time Machine plunges David Tweed into another dimension, at first he thinks he got lucky. He's alive, and the world in which he finds himself seems remarkably familiar.
Soon, however, he begins to realise how strange this world really is, how tangible is the evil that crawls across the shattered landscape.
But strangest of all, everyone he meets seems to have been expecting him. How do they know who he is, and just what have they been waiting for him to do?

Alan Porter weaves a deceptively simple story of one man's courage in the face of overwhelming odds. Yet Firestorm is also a fiendishly complex puzzle, where time twists in on itself and nothing is ever quite what it seems.

Genre: Sci-fi/horror

Buy Links: Author's Website | Amazon


About the Author

Alan Porter is a UK author who is rapidly gaining a loyal following of readers who appreciate his unique brand of horror. His books may have their roots firmly in the horror genre, but always deliver far more than just thrills and spills (of guts or anything else!).

Thought-provoking, complex and often ambiguous, these are books that will stay with you long after the final page.

Review ~ Icons (Icons #1) - Margaret Stohl

Paperback received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: 7th May 2013

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Description:
Your heart beats only with their permission.

Everything changed on The Day. The day the windows shattered. The day the power stopped. The day Dol′s family dropped dead. The day Earth lost a war it didn′t know it was fighting.

Since then, Dol has lived a simple life in the countryside - safe from the shadow of the Icon and its terrifying power. Hiding from the one truth she can′t avoid.

She′s different. She survived. Why?

When Dol and her best friend, Ro, are captured and taken to the Embassy, off the coast of the sprawling metropolis once known as the City of Angels, they find only more questions. While Ro and fellow hostage Tima rage against their captors, Dol finds herself drawn to Lucas, the Ambassador′s privileged son. But the four teens are more alike than they might think, and the timing of their meeting isn′t a coincidence. It′s a conspiracy.

Within the Icon′s reach, Dol, Ro, Tima, and Lucas discover that their uncontrollable emotions - which they′ve always thought to be their greatest weaknesses - may actually be their greatest strengths.

Bestselling author Margaret Stohl delivers the first book in a heart-pounding series set in a haunting new world where four teens must piece together the mysteries of their pasts - in order to save the future.

My Opinion

I was really excited to read this book and was so happy when it came in the post. I must say though, Icons has really split my opinion in terms of what I think of it. I just cant decide how I feel. On one hand it was an enjoyable read that had good moments and on the other hand there were things that I just didn't get.

OK, so the good points and things I liked. First I liked the concept and idea of the Icon Children. I thought it differed the novel from other dystopian where by the population is just repressed and it's up to normal humans to stop it. It reminded me a bit of Partials by Dan Wells because of this and the fact people were created to be a sort of 'cure'. I also liked how the author integrated messages, transmissions and extracts from embassy prohibited books at the end of every chapter. They created a nice mystery as they were brief and weren't explained right until the end which I liked.

One thing I found when reading Icons is that is was pretty slow and I couldn't get through more than 50 pages at a time - which is why it has taken me nearly a week to read. The ending was definitely better and the action did pick up slightly but personally it was too late as the book ended as it start to get good in my opinion. I wished the rest of the book had been like the ending as the last 70 pages really hooked me.

The thing that I really didn't like with with book - and I think it may explain the slowness - is that there are a lot of unanswered questions, with a lot of the alien/paranormal stuff lacking detail. I'm still not sure what/who the GAP Miyazawa,  the Lords or the Icons are and I've finished the book! I was reading and was about half way through when names/initialisms started appearing and I got really confused. I thought it must be my memory so I skimmed back to try and find an explanation to who they were but just couldn't. Because of this I felt it very hard to picture anything or engage with the story as I didn't really know what was what.

As well as this I couldn't really engage with the character. Towards the end I did start to engage with Ro more but like with the action I felt it came too late and wished the rest of the book had been like it. Personally I question whether the first two thirds of the book needed to be so long as I don't feel they explained much and parts were slightly boring. I just wish the action started earlier as it could have been really enthralling.

Overall, although it took me a while to read I did enjoy Icons - I just had to read small sections at a time. I do wish there were more explanations but maybe things will be clearer in the sequel? It's an interesting read that presents some new ideas so you may want to check it out.

Thanks to Harper for the copy!

                                  

Review ~ Partials (Partials Sequence #1) - Dan Wells

Purchased by myself as I received book 2 as an ARC

ISBN: 000746522X
Publisher: Haper Collins Children's Books

Description
The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials--engineered organic beings identical to humans--has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them--connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

My Opinion
This book has drawn mixed feelings from me. On one hand I thought it was one of the more interesting, original and believable sci-fi books I have read that used a post-apocalyptic setting. However, on the other hand I had some serious issues while reading it. 

The book started off incredibly slowly and I must admit it took me a few days to get into it, and even then I  struggled. There wasn't much action to begin with and even though it gave you the basic background information I found it didn't hold my attention very well, especially if I just wanted to read a quick chapter here and there. I mean seriously, they seemed to drag on forever at some points. Saying that though I am glad I stuck with this book as once you get into part two it starts to pick up and only gets better as it moves towards the ending. The action increases and so does the character development. I liked how Kira developed into a strong female lead and fighter compared to the frustrated medic and the transformation was great to read. As well as this I liked the overall plot line, yes viruses that kill off everyone have been done repeatedly but books I have read like that normally include a form of zombie and I was pleased to find a book set near the extinction of the human race that wasn't zombie related. The way in which the virus was created and spread was great too, Wells used medical language however the balance struck between being clear, understandable and and not complex was well done. More over I found the Partials to be an interesting development, I think I would have liked to know more about them and how they are living now but maybe that will come up more in book 2. 

The major thing I didn't like about this book was the lack of romance in the relationships. Marcus supposedly loved Kira and wanted to marry her, however there was no passion or spark there even when he tried to convince her to stay. For me this just didn't seem very believable and everything about the relationships seemed forced. Also, when Samm was introduced I thought it was the beginning of something else, how wrong was I though. Instead it just led to more unnatural speech and strained relationships. I liked how Samm kept his secrets and I seriously didn't see the twist at the end but I feel the author could have done more with his character, however with the way he leaves the story maybe something will.

Overall this was an enjoyable to read and because I have received the sequel as an ARC I will definitely continue the series. There were a few issues with believabilty for me and sometimes the writing came across a wooden but I would recommend this to sci-fi fans and any apocalyptic fans looking for something new with a slight twist on the genre.

Review ~ MILA 2.0 by Debra Driza

• Expected Publication: 28th March 2013
• eARC received through Netgalley for an honest review

Description
Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence.

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past —that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

My Opinion
I was really excited to receive a copy of this book via Netgalley, not only had the cover intrigued me but it sounded like it would be fast paced, action packed and full of tense, exciting moments. However these moments kind of never arrived. Although I did enjoy this book and I read most of it in one sitting there were quite a few flaws that left me struggling to get through parts.

I liked the concept of androids as it is not something I have come across a lot and that fact that Mila is struggling to cope with the fact she isn't human was developed well. I liked how the book started off. By placing Mila in high school and describing her to be slightly unstable due to a death in the family really worked for me and it created a sense of suspicion and intrigue about what was really going on. As well as this the fact that normal high school issues were brought into the equation only added to make the lies more believable. 

When Hunter was introduced I thought I was really going to like this book as I wasn't expecting there to be any romance which made it a nice surprise. Sadly though, this is the point things started to go down hill for me. After Hunter's brief introduction Mila is quickly thrown into a new world where she finds out the truth. This leads to Hunter being cut out of the book rather dramatically and abruptly which left me disappointed. I found that most of the book was like this actually. 

The writing was quite jumpy and disjointed with Mila's internal monologue becoming increasingly annoying and this only became worse when her android functions got reactivated. This writing style was most evident in the build up, during and post action sequence. Instead of describing what was happening the author would use phrases like "target immobilised" or "threat detected" which led the writing to become irritating to read as it didn't give much of a picture to base visualisations on. I know it fit in well with the military side but for me it lessened the flow of the writing, leading my attention to slip.

There were only a few relationships that I like in this book, one being Mila and her mum. It was believable and one of the few that I could sympathise and connect with. The rest of the time though I found the characters to be very distant, especially when Mila went into full android mode, and not very well developed. We were given little information on each and besides Mila and Mum, practically all of the characters I could relate to at the start were cut out and never to be heard from again.

Finally, the ending of this book seemed to fit with the rest of the writing. It was predictable and abrupt. Yes it leaves you on a cliff hanger and draws you into wanting to read the next book, especially with the promise of more romance however I hated the way it ended. I was watching the page count go down and questioning how the author could give the reader any kind of resolve and satisfaction in the space she had left to which the simple answer is, she didn't. The writing just cuts off at the start of a new scene and left me thinking "was that it? How can you leave a book like that?!"

Overall I liked the concept and ideas in this book. There were moments I enjoyed and a few relationships that I was able to connect with but on the whole this book was pretty disappointing due to the disjointed writing, lack of interesting character (all had been cut) and constant internal monologues. Although it ends on a cliff hanger I am not sure whether it is enough to entice me into getting the sequel, especially if the writing stays as it is but it might be of interest to sci-fi fans.

Book Spotlights by Vicki M Taylor

Catch of the Season - Novella

Description

A Science Fiction/Fantasy read that will have you looking over your shoulder the next time you go scuba diving. Seriously. They had been watching every Cap'n Green for a long time. Many years. Many defeats. This year, they were determined to become the hunter instead of the hunted. You'll never look at lobster season again after reading this spine-tingling story. Viewing a Red Lobster commercial will never be quite the same.

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy

Link:Amazon

Order of the Dimensions - Irene Helenowski

Description
When Jane Kremowski first began her graduate studies in physics at Madison State University in Wisconsin, little did she know where her work would take her. Now, she is embroiled in a multitude of dimensions all leading to different outcomes. She and her colleagues therefore must act wisely in order to take and keep away the Order of Dimension from falling into the wrong hands for the sake of her loved ones.

My Opinion
The idea of travelling around dimensions caught my attention with this book and I thought it could be a really interesting concept that could explore many possibilities and events. The idea that people live different lives in alternative dimensions with varying degrees of happiness and problems is not a new concept to me, however I have never read a book that involved this so I was keen to see how Helenowski developed the story.

However I must admit that this book was pretty disappointing and nothing like I imagined it to be. For me I had no connection with the characters as the book lacked in detail in many ways. We find out that Jane's parents die in a car crash which leaves Tina traumatized in one dimension but that's about as much detail we gain into a character's life. In the first few pages I was introduced to atleast 10 characters and none had a background which increasingly confused me as they were introduced. 

The book also lacked detail in the description with Helenowski choosing to 'tell' the audience what was happening rather than 'showing' them. When reading a book I love to be able to create the world in my mind and sadly I was not able to do this with Order of the Dimensions. I couldn't picture the surroundings, e.g we were told Jane had weird feelings, was at a market, or it was a historic building but that was it, nothing was said about what kind of feelings Jane was having, where it was or how it felt. Because of this the book did not sustain my interest very well and I found myself easily distracted as I couldn't get immersed in a new world.

The plot line was pretty simple didn't have much depth, with the same event happening over and over again and even though it made things easy to understand it was  little repetitive. Every time some action started Jane would end up travelling into another dimension where everything would repeat itself. Besides this there were frequent grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes which made the writing a struggle to read and it seems the book needs to go through another round of editing.

Overall this book has the potential to be an interesting concept with new and original ideas, however at the moment, for me it is underdeveloped and lacking in detail. I would have liked to read more description, back story, romance and information about the places they visited as I'm not sure where some bits took part. I'm sad to say I didn't really enjoy this book as I don't think it met its full potential.

1.5