Terminal Freeze, by Lincoln Child
Filed under: book review, Lincoln Child, Science Fiction, Thriller
Terminal Freeze is an enjoyable book 
As a group of scientists do research at a remote military base in Alaska, they discover a prehistoric beast frozen in ice. And, when news of the find reaches the cable television network which sponsors the expedition, Emilio Conti, a legendary documentary filmmaker, goes to the scene. He plans to film the thawing of the animal on live TV. But the beast has other plans, and suddenly the scientists along with the film crew find their lives are threatened.
Child’s writing is easy to follow, clear, fluid and good. Child is also very good at slowly building up anticipation and suspense. To really get excited, however, you must be willing to suspend your disbelief a little, as the creature involved is extraordinarily fierce and complex. If you do that, then this is an extraordinary and very interesting tale full of excitement and human ingenuity!
Personally, I think I liked Child’s previous book Deep Storm
The Confederation Handbook, by Peter F. Hamilton
Filed under: book review, Peter F. Hamilton, Science Fiction
This is a handbook – a book of “facts”, 
In this galactic almanac Peter F. Hamilton reveals the true potential of his brilliantly realized epic. Expanding on its concepts and complexities, The Confederation Handbook explores the 600-year history of more than 21,500 inhabited worlds, asteroids, and bitek habitats. You can discover how Edenist space colonies are grown; the real story of the Kulu Kings and the exiled Lord of Ruin; why Adamist religions caused the human schism by rejecting Affinity; the tragic legacy of Rubra, the Edenist rebel who created Valisk; learn about Voidhawk breeding and Tyrathca mating rituals, and much more!
The Confederation Handbook covering geology, politics, technology, weaponry, and alien life forms, and is a must read for Peter Hamilton’s legion of fans.
To some extent it is also a book of spoilers. Much of Night’s Dawn consists of going through a long series of adventures to find out the quirks of Hamilton’s galaxy. It is the wealth and appeal of his background, and the daring of his conceit – science fiction that overtly tackles all the issues usually left to religion – that make Night’s Dawn so popular.
With this book you get in neat summary the information that would otherwise require you to read thousands of pages of the trilogy itself. Indeed, if you read the first volume of Reality Dysfunction& and would like to know where the story goes, you have only to read this book, skip the next four and a half volumes, and read the last 100 pages of Naked God, and you will have the plot. On the other hand, readers who have read and learned all the information provided in the trilogy will find little new here.
.Judas Unchained, by Peter Hamilton
Filed under: bestseller, book review, Peter F. Hamilton, Science Fiction
Set in the 24th century, bestseller Hamilton’s richly satisfying space opera is both a sequel to Pandora’s Star
When Pandora’s Star ended, the worlds of the Commonwealth were under devastating attack by the alien race called Prime. The Prime are a hive-mind organism that was freed by accident from a force field that had been placed around their star by an unknown race.
In the war that followed, twenty-three inhabited Commonwealth-worlds were lost. Millions of people died and millions refugees. In Judas Unchained, we meet again the major players of the Commonwealth as they seek to come to grasp with the treath and mobilize against it. But a second enemy, another mystical alien force, is appearing on the radar of some of the actors in the plot as well – the Starflyer. The Starflyer may potentially be even more dangerous to the human race.
The Guardians, a splinter group believed to be a terrorist organization, have for a long time expressed their belief in the Starflyer’s existence. Now more and more others are being convinced that what they say is true. The Starflyer, argue the Guardians, deliberately manipulated humanity into war with the Prime, so that both species would be weakened. The Starflyer apparently has agents – humans that it controls – all over the Commonwealth.
Once again, Peter F. Hamilton proves himself capable of writing large scale space opera. In a multitude of subplots, Hamilton adroitly leaps from the struggles of one engaging, quirky character to another. Meanwhile, the main action expands and the super-scientific weapons become increasingly terrible.
Hamilton writes excellent action sequences, and his characters are interesting. For any fan of science fiction, Judas Unchained is one to read!
Masters of Time, by A.E. van Vogt
Filed under: A.E. van Vogt, book review, Fiction, Science Fiction
A.E. van Vogt (actually Alfred Elton van Vogt, April 26, 1912 – 
January 26, 2000) was one the the classical masters of science fiction, and one of my favorites as well. Masters of Time is one of his earliest works, a real classic science fiction story. So to some extent Masters of Time is, and should be read as, an example of the first primitive attempts at writing modern science fiction. This novel from the early 1940s was first published in the pulp magazine Astounding Science Fiction.
A woman, Norma, is contacted, and offered a job. She finds out that her secretarial job is in a business which exists as a front for a recruiting station for a war in the distant future. As well, Indeed, Norma’s boyfriend professor Garson is caught up in this. The man who hires Norma is a tall, powerful, and callous individual named Dr. Lell, who turns out to be one of the Masters of Time.
Taking place in a multidimensional matrix of space and time, we follow Norma’s and Garson’s attempts understand the frightening new technoligies used to control them, the operation of the future cultures, and the new concepts of time and space forces upon them. Also, of course, they seek to be free and return to their own time. And the technologies are powerful indeed – Dr. Lell, for instance, can make Norma older or younger at will.
The storyline in Masters of Time is at times a little hard to follow. Yet, to me, this book is very interesting, and rereading it I am still amazed by the level of sophistication of A. E. van Vogt’s thinking and plotting. Relative to the time period of its writing this is an impressive book, and still worth a reading!
Order A. E. van Vogt from amazon US: Masters of Time
, and see also his wonderful books Slan: A Novel
, The World of Null-A
, and The War Against the Rull
.You can also order books by A.E. van Vogt from amazon UK: Masters of Time
, Slan
, The World of Null-A
, and War Against The Rull
.Bones of the Dragon (Dragonships of Vindras), by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Filed under: book review, Fantasy, International bestseller, Margaret Weis, Science Fiction, Tracy Hickman
Almost 25 years after their first Dragonlance book was published, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman have started a new fantasy series entitled Dragonships of Vindras. Bones of the Dragon is the first of six volumes in the Dragonships of Vindras saga. Bones of the Dragon introduces a new creative world and a story full of with adventure, 
Fans of the fantasy genre know Weis and Hickman from their Dragonlance Chronicles, as well as other wonderful series such as The Deathgate Cycle, The Sovereign Stone Trilogy, and The Darksword Trilogy.
The hero of Bones of the Dragon is young Skylan Ivorson, a sea-raider of the Vindras, and a young warrior. Skylan is son to the Torgun chief—a small clan of the Vindras. He eventually, by means of the deceit of a cunning priestess, becomes the Chief of Chiefs of all the Vindras clans. This is an honor he truly feels he has deserved, by as we learn Skylan is a great fighter and courageous on the battle-field, but may not have all the other qualities desired of a great leader of the Vindras tribes.
The Vindras tribes, previously blessed by the gods, are going through a difficult period. They don’t exactly know why, but it seems their gods are no longer blessing them or answering their calls. And indeed, as it turns out, the gods are involved in a grand war themselves, that will influence and perhaps determine the fate of humanity. Skoval and the other ancient gods are under siege from a new generation of gods who are challenging them for the powers of creation. The only way to stop these brash interlopers seems to lie with the mysterious and hidden Five Bones of the Vektan Dragons.
To gather these bones is a task for the Vindras people, as the dragon-goddess’s champions. In order to have a fighting chance, they must recover all five dragon bones. However, the bones have been scattered throughout the land and their location is unknown. Yet they must be found. The fate both of the Gods and of humanity is at stake.
Weis and Hickman, who are real masters of the trade, do a wonderful job of painting a picture for the readers to understand this new world. However, since so much time is spent on world-building, it takes a while for Bones of the Dragon to build up to the adventures and developing an understanding for the story and what the series is about. The characters are multi-dimensional and interesting – some endearing, some you hate immediately, some mean, some mystical, and some many of these things. And the plot picked up considerably at the end. I found Bones of the Dragon to be an intriguing and highly entertaining book to read. And knowing Weis and Hickman, I am sure the other books in this new series will be stunning!
Order Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman’s Bones of the Dragon (Dragonships of Vindras)
-
The World of Books- Bleachers, by John Grisham
- Resurrection Men, by Ian Rankin
- Damage, by Josephine Hart
- The Horizon, by Douglas Reeman
- Review: The Delta Solution, Patrick Robinson
- George R.R. Martin: A Dance with Dragons!
- Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson
- The Successor, by Stephen Frey
- Playful in Shades of Gray: John Banville
- Game of Thrones on HBO
- BookGazette
- Tripwire, by Lee Child
- Blacklands, by Belinda Bauer – book review
- Knockemstiff, by Donald Ray Pollock
- Agent of Rome: The Siege, by Nick Brown
- Re-write of Franz Kafka: The Meowmorphosis, F. Kafka and C. Coleridge
- Don’t Look Twice, by Andrew Gross
- The Snow Tiger, by Desmond Bagley
- Trust Fund, by Stephen W. Frey
- Top Fantasy: The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
- Five classic police procedurals – top crime fiction
- Nordic Bookblog
- Midwinter Sacrifice, by Mons Kallentoft
- The Boy in the Suitcase, by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis
- Fear Not, by Anne Holt
- The Dwarf, by Par Lagerkvist
- Frozen Assets, by Quentin Bates
- Dregs, by Jorn Lier Horst
- Headhunters, by Jo Nesbo
- Ice Cold: The Day is Dark, by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
- Until Thy Wrath be Past, by Asa Larsson
- Nothing But The Truth, by Jarkko Sipila
-