Another Space in Time

Amazon Link This is an action packed short-novel, aimed primarily at a female audience. I actually enjoyed it very much, despite my genitalia. The plot revolves around a fairly classic shake-down for money, with enough invention to be interesting and enough tension to be gripping. Actually, the plot was perhaps more convincing because the details of brutal excesses were left to one’s imagination. Many authors pack in so much gratuitous blow by blow violence that the balance of the story can be lost. Books like this show us that there is something to be said for leaving readers some freedom to pour in the quantity of blood they require. This is of course equally true of sexual content. If the male hero has a rather overplayed touchy feely side for me to easily identify with then this only provides a bit of balance to all the bloodthirsty books I have so often read. Yes, you must bear in mind that I am not a regular reader of romance. I will not attempt to deny that I have all sort...

http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Sarnia-Planet-ebook/dp/B007JJV4UU This is a big read, a big read set in a huge tapestry. This is a read for lovers of sci-fi/fantasy who crave an epic and detailed view of a whole other planetary system. On the most habitable planet Sarnia, there was already an advanced civilisation when man arrived, in fact three separate, indigenous, and variously civilised Sarnian species, plus an earlier colonising one. As well as the invaders that proceeded man, there were two that succeeded their arrival. The present dominant species came as conquerors of Sarian, Toharrian and Human alike, and the last as an already subservient species of these other planetary empire builders, the Mi’ukmac. The new dominant beings allow the existence and a varying degree of independence to their subject races. Yes it is all most complicated, which is one reason for the length of this book. Of course there is a whole ecosystems worth of other native flora and fauna, as well as s...

There is a lot of originality in this dark tale. Burrell writes very well, and with a great deal of invention. I can only find any significant fault any in the concentration demanded of the reader. A little more description of each character on first appearance, or an index of characters profiles and key locations, would have helped me. My poor memory, alongside my tendency to skim read, are certainly much of my problem and so I really don't wish to labour the point. This nice mix of quirky new and well-worn fantasy elements gives plenty of scope to build for ourselves onto the scenery of Burrell's adventure. In my mind, the story emerged as a sort of future-time "scripture" story written in contemporary style. Indeed we have distant absent "gods" or, even if not, certainly their disciples. The "Reds", or rather their legends, are clear reflections of higher power. There are big evil spirits, we never quite know, casting "devil" shadows...

This is an absolutely first class read, both in terms of style and content. Like so much great fiction this book builds on a great deal of personal experience and a wide local knowledge. Based on truth may not be an accurate enough descriptive, but based on true-life certainly is. The first person view only increased my sense of connection with the characters. I am not like the main Paul Forté at all, but for the time it took me to read this book I thought I really could be. He is an easily recognisable character, the jovial success that is so often both popular and the subject of seething jealousies. This is not so much a book about a small fish that is getting fried, as about a dirty struggle for dominance in a world of variably moral and immoral egos. We smell the fishy stink of politics and its connections with the law. The main character and defendant is an intelligent and quick witted character, the sort of success in life that most can only aspire to equal. We see that even the ...

This fast paced action sci-fi thriller has some originality of content and style. It is one for lovers of a good Sci-fi romp, with plenty of action and a few glimpses of exciting sex. Science orientated SF fans will enjoy it if they keep their tongues firmly planted in their cheeks. One has to give one's imagination a free rein, not that there is anything wrong with that, to really enjoy this book. Strait has made very good use of the current fascination with the expiry date of a certain Mayan calendar, which certainly gives his book some current form, at least as far as the 21st December 2012. Actually, I don't really think the passing of that date will do anything to reduce the impact of the story, as there is always another convenient date looming for the end of the Earth, or at least of Earth as we currently know it. Projectile vomiting aside, I think this book could be the basis of a good film, though the date issue does rather reduce the time frame for this. Actually I ...

I very rarely read books cover to cover in a sitting, especially autobiography, which to me usually seems to be so much an exaggeration of very little. This book is a real page turner, and all the more so because it is a biography that underplays the drama that inspired it rather than the reverse. I was blown away by how much Levi has packed into his life, rubbing shoulders with the great, the ordinary, the good and the bad, the rich and very poor, and all written in a beguilingly modest way. Levi is a good writer, a true artist of the English language, a third or fourth learnt language after his native version of Serbo-Croatian. Levi has very much brushed over his personal tragedies, and avoided boasting his greatest triumphs. His heroes are always someone else, his words always describing a greater truth. This book is so much a tapestry of life, a tapestry of our modern times, a record of social history that should be for ever guarded. The book starts, "I am 89 now. As I sit i...

Amazon Link This is a very well written, exciting, and thought provoking book. Zendell chose well in writing in the first person, so giving the reader a feeling of personal connection. Zendell has mastered this device with aplomb, whilst holding together a complex scenario, and rounding out other vital characters. We are drawn into the suddenly confused thoughts of Dylan Brice, and nudged gently along by Zendell until we start seeing, and seeing is believing, that it just might be possible to live days out of order. There is some comfort in the book in the idea that we can be saved from ourselves by higher forces. This cosy thought may well start to unravel, but, I will say no more through fear of planting spoilers. The plot is very strong, and is probably tied together without any flaws! One would have to spend hours de-constructing the complex of sequences to be sure. Even if one did such an exercise would be pointless, because the soul of the book is in its ideas and not in the...