Asrian Skies by Anne Wheeler [Book Review]
Asrian Skies by Anne Wheeler My rating: 5 of 5 stars Asrian Skies is an awesome novel, reading a lot like Elizabeth Bear and Ann Leckie. There's action, politics, tension, space opera and a very personal story of a young woman trying to work out what she wants and how to deal with the responsibility thrust upon her. The book is really well written, and the characters multi-dimensional, especially the antagonist where we can see the underlying humanity that his inhumane interrogation somehow works around. Asrian Skies Asrian Skies is set in a universe where humans inhabit multiple star systems and have faster than light travel available. The main character, Avery Rendon, is training to become a fighter pilot with the Commonwealth armed forces. The Commonwealth is a loose confederation of systems that each have their own way of doing…
Steel & Lace edited by Francine Howarth [Book Review]
Steel & Lace - Anthology of 17th-18th century stories. by Francine Howarth My rating: 5 of 5 stars I occasionally stray into genres that aren't my preferred ones, usually to widen my reading experience and learn a little more about writing different sort of stories. Historical romance is one of the areas that I have entirely avoided, until now. I've had a prejudice against it, worrying that there will be a pinkwash over the history from the rose-tinted spectacles of damsel heroine lusting after her bare chested highlander. There was none of that in Steel & Lace, all the history was spot on, although there was just a little bit of lust. Steel & Lace I picked up Steel & Lace on kindle because it was free and I had previously read one of the authors historical fiction and really…
The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch [Book Review]
The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch The Furthest Station is a novella, so quite short, set between Foxglove Summer and The Hanging Tree. There's some interesting character development of some of the regular cast and also a couple of new characters. There are also some tantalising loose ends that I hope end up being explored in future stories. The Furthest Station Rush hour on the London Underground (Photo: Wikipedia) The main plot is of a ghost hunt on London Underground. Peter is joined by his younger cousin Abigail, who is turning out to be more than she appears on the surface. Abigail has an affinity with Foxes. Some things happen off-screen that I think may be connected with the Cry Fox graphic novel (which I've not yet read, I'm waiting for the collected edition before I acquire it). The Furthest…
Lit By Another Star [NaNoWriMo 2017] [Sci-Fi]
Building made from converted shipping containers (in Dundee, Scotland). (photo credit: James Kemp) Thanks to everyone that voted on what I should write for NaNoWriMo 2017, the winning result was the novel I planned for last year, which I've re-titled 'Lit by Another Star'. It seemed poetic as a title, and also didn't have anything else that conflicted when I googled it. I've also chosen a primary point of view character and done some more planning. Today is the first of November, so National Novel Writing Month (AKA NaNoWriMo) has kicked off. You can follow my progress writing Lit by Another Star either on the NaNoWriMo site or you can read Lit by Another Star on wattpad. Lit by Another Star - synopsis Piraxis is Earth's thirteenth colony. Officially number 8 in the Beta wave. Everyone knows it as Thirteen.…
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STEAM Adding Arts to STEM?
I've recently started to see references to STEAM, which is STEM with an added A. Nothing to do with old fashioned trains or kettles, although the former could be part of ; Most people are probably familiar with the term STEM as an acronym formed from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. There has been lots of promotion in the last five years or so to promote STEM to kids, especially girls, so that we have enough technically minded people to run our economy in the ; STEAM STEAM is based on a fundamental premise that the Arts are as important to our way of life as the STEM subjects. However the point of STEAM isn't a reactionary attempt to recover balance. It's more that effective innovation embraces the power of story and culture as much as engineering and technology. People…