Science Fiction Book Reviews

In a snowbound city, a man lives anonymously, trapped in repetitive days that last only one hour and often end—or begin—with nightmares in J.H. Carnathan’s compelling Purgatorium.

When we first meet the protagonist, he doesn’t know his own name, seemingly unaware of the many limitations binding him. All around him are strange objects: an hourglass necklace, a coin, weapons, a child’s snow globe. Gradually, he begins to meet a cast of characters who have angelic names and carry playing cards. They give him a name and a card, apparently trying to jolt him from his icy purgatory and bring […]

Two centuries in the future, following Earth’s first attack on its Martian colony, both planets are struggling to maintain peace and find a way forward in the vast space between them. This is the foundation on which Phobos Rising is built, the second installation of the Ephialtes trilogy by Gavin E. Parker, and a worthy successor to the first book in the series, as well as the companion book of short stories.

Five years have passed since the first aggression, and that same growth is apparent in the writing style. There is more patience with the storytelling, and readers get […]

An Obliquity by D.M. Wozniak is the electrifying follow-up to The Perihelion, one of the more innovative literary dystopian sci-fi novels you’ll ever read.

In the first book, the world of 2069 is on the edge of the Perihelion, a phenomenon where the planet is closest to the sun. This is a world where people have hybrid animal DNA, who are at once more advanced and more vulnerable. An Obliquity takes place the next day after the Perihelion has occurred, following the lives of the same six intertwining characters, and has the same level of intensity and inventiveness as […]

Meet the Unimaginables by Paul Slutsky is a science fiction novel about the most fascinating of topics: interacting with life on other planets. A scientist named Alan Norton gets the chance of a lifetime to explore the universe as part of the Search for Life program, with each new life form and environment more unimaginable than the last, and he’s soon thrust into a role that could change the fate of the entire universe.

The greatest strength in this novel is Alan Norton himself; he’s something of a MacGyver – quick-thinking and endlessly resourceful. Really, you’d follow him anywhere because […]

The God Virus by Indigo Voyager is a hugely-enjoyable sci-fi novel following Derek Evans who finds he has strange new powers, and a lot of new enemies. After taking an experimental drug for his depression, he finds that he can travel out of body and read people’s minds. Trying to re-enter his life, he gets involved with a co-worker named Allie, who inherits the same powers, and who also has connections to the mob. As they are both sought by criminals and government agencies, Derek and Allie explore the incredible limits of these powers while trying to evade capture.

Though […]