Recent Reads: The Last by Hanna Jameson

Posted on 24/01/2019 by Pam

My review: ?????

The Last is a very tense, and unsettling post apocalyptic story of survival, and the discovery of a murdered young girl, all seen through the eyes of Jon Keller, who writes ‘A Narrative Chronicle of the Initial Postnuclear Months by Possibly the Last Living Historian’.

I did really enjoy this book, and Hanna Jameson worked the tension so well in the book that I spent most of the time wanting to know what happened next, but being worried about what it would be.

Jameson has Jon say in his narrative ‘I think it was Stephen King who said that the sum of all human fear is just a door left slightly ajar.’ and yes, I’m sure Jameson pulls every trick to get your heart racing and the page turning.

My advice to you is to not read this book whilst listening to any music that might in any way add to the tension, because it really doesn’t need it, and I might have completely unsettled myself enough to want some Disney to make it all right again!

The Last by Hanna Jameson is due to be published on 31st January 2019. Here’s the pre-order link from Amazon!

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and Viking (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile for more reviews.

Recent Reads: Bobiverse book series by Dennis E Taylor review

Posted on 30/09/2018 by Pam

This is a sci-fi trilogy about Bob, who had himself cryogenically frozen at death, and wakes up a century later there has been some changes to laws, and he (and any other cryogenically person) has been given to a company for research purposes. They make him into a probe, to go out into the universe, and find other homes for humanity, as the Earth is becoming uninhabitable due to global warming.

And from now on, there’s going to be some spoilers – and they’ll be as few and as generic as I can make them!

Multiple countries are doing this, with some of them teaming up, and so there is a race to get out into space to try to get the best place.

Bob heads off into space, and as the first books title ‘We are Legion (We are Bob)’ hints, he starts need extra help, and so decides to replicate himself.

The second book is ‘For We Are Many’, and the third book is ‘All These Worlds’.

It’s a really well written sci-fi series, looking at the idea of immortality, humanity, alienation, responsibility, and what would happen in meeting aliens, both the friendly, and not so friendly! I would highly recommend this trilogy!

If you’re interested in seeing what else I’ve read, then have a look at my GoodReads profile!

Recent Reads: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Posted on 23/01/2018 by Pam

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this! I liked the people (aliens and humans alike), and thought it was a very good story!

We are following the adventures of the Wayfarer, a ship that makes tunnels through space that others can use afterwards. Ashby, the captain, Rosemary, the new clerk, running away from something, Sissex, the pilot, Ohan, the Navigator (capitals are intentional there), Kizzy and Jenks are techs, with Kizzy more the engineer, Jenks with the AI, Corbin is the algaeist (the ships are fueled by algae), and as the book says “a complete asshole”, and last but not least, Lovelace (Lovey), the AI.

In some ways, it felt like reading about Firefly, and you could label some of the characters like that, but really, it’s about what they do and what they go through, and how you are cheering them on.

Recent Reads: Helliconia Spring by Brian Aldiss

Posted on 14/01/2018 by Pam

Helliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a very different sci-fi book than I’m used to!

Other reviews mentioned that the planet Helliconia was the protagonist of the book, and that didn’t make sense to me, until I had read the book for a while.

The book is looking down on the planet of Helliconia, and showing us the changes that happen to the planet over the years, and so we see different people in power, different races, and we’re reminded all the time that every action has an impact on the future, and sometimes it takes us on a brief venture into that future, and tells us what happens, but then it might go back to the ‘present’, or we might have moved a couple of generations.

Recent Reads: A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

Posted on 31/12/2017 by Pam

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had started this book once before, and just stopped as I found reading it at night wasn’t working. It’s quite a complicated beginning, with lots of new names and concepts that you need to be properly concentrating for, and reading a couple of pages at night just wasn’t working for me.

Vernor Vinge thought up a whole new way of thinking about space, with different areas being capable of more or less advanced technology, and you can advance through these areas at increasing speeds (space ship dependant), or go in to the slowness, which is where the Old Earth is in.

The aliens were all different, and I thought he had really original ideas, but I don’t want to spoil anything!

I read this for Sword and Laser book group, and I do love doing this, because I read books that I would never normally pick up!

If you enjoy science fiction with a tinge of space opera, you’ll probably enjoy this!