Category Archives: Sci-Fi

Review: Day Moon by Brett Armstrong

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, New Adult 18up, Sci-Fi, , , ,

Day Moon by Brett ArmstrongDay Moon
Brett Armstrong
Clean Reads
Published March 26, 2017

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About Day Moon
In A.D. 2039, a prodigious seventeen year old, Elliott, is assigned to work on a global soft-ware initiative his deceased grandfather helped found. Project Alexandria is intended to provide the entire world secure and equal access to all accumulated human knowledge. All forms of print are destroyed in good faith, to ensure everyone has equal footing, and Elliott knows he must soon part with his final treasure: a book of Shakespeare’s complete works gifted him by his grandfather.

Before it is destroyed, Elliott notices something is amiss with the book, or rather Project Alexandria. The two do not match, including an extra sonnet titled “Day Moon”. When Elliott investigates, he uncovers far more than he bargained for. There are sinister forces backing Project Alexandria who have no intention of using it for its public purpose.

Elliott soon finds himself on the run from federal authorities and facing betrayals and deceit from those closest to him. Following clues left by his grandfather, with agents close at hand, Elliott desperately hopes to find a way to stop Project Alexandria. All of history past and yet to be depend on it.

My Review
Ever since I read The Giver in probably fourth or fifth grade, dystopian stories have held a special place in my heart. I loved this premise about knowledge being stored and then used to manipulate others. It reminded me a bit of the Matched series by Ally Condie or The Great Library series by Rachel Caine.

I had kind of a love/hate relationship with the voice of Day Moon. On the one hand, Elliot works as a software engineer, and the way he talks and thinks reminds me a great deal of the way my husband, also a software engineer, communicates. So it felt really authentic. On the other hand, it also tended to be very passive and use a lot of words to say things. I think that kind of writing weighed the story down and kept me at a distance from scenes that should have been super intense.

I enjoyed the use of Shakespeare and the search for clues from Elliot’s grandfather, but sometimes the plot seemed to jump around and leave important threads hanging. For instance, near the beginning, Elliot’s superiors close in around him, demanding he produce the book his grandfather left him, the book which he lent to his friend Lara. Elliot never seems to consider whether this places Lara in danger, even as the guys looking for the book become more and more sinister. For a long stretch, it seems he forgets about the book altogether while he gets wrapped up in the search for his grandfather’s clues. I kept reading scenes thinking, okay, yeah, but where’s the book?! Who has the book?! Are the bad guys about to get it? Where is it?

I also struggled with the timeline of the story. It’s supposed to be set in 2039, which is only about 22 years from now. Elliot recalls stories from his grandfather about driverless cars and combustion engines when it seems like these would be things familiar to his parents’ generation as well. I didn’t understand why everything seemed tied to his grandfather when so little time had passed. Maybe Elliot never knew his father? I don’t recall any explanation on that in the story.

One of the cool elements in Day Moon was the way Elliot and Lara connected over a shared passion for artwork. I liked that they were students in an accelerated program, which gave some reason for them to act a little less like teens and more like college kids. On the other hand, though, I didn’t feel like they had any real teen issues at all. Neither of them lived with parents or seemed to feel close ties with immediate family members. I didn’t get the sense that they were breaking into adulthood, but more like they were experienced participants, so I don’t think I would really classify the story as young adult. It’s more like clean new adult fiction.

While this wasn’t my favorite book, readers looking for a dystopian story featuring a character with strong software talents will find it easy to identify with Elliot’s gentle, sometimes awkward character. Shakespeare fans may enjoy the way quotes and elements from Shakespeare’s works are woven into a sort of scavenger hunt. The light romance between Elliot and Lara may appeal to readers looking for a bit of summer love, too.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Not a lot of ethnic or cultural details in the story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A man and woman frantically kiss on top of a hotel bed, but separate before going to sleep. Elliot feels conscious of his attraction to Lara, but also committed to Christian virtues in relationships.

Spiritual Content
Elliot prays for help in times of need. At one point, he pauses to examine his behavior and worries he isn’t being very Christ-like.

Violent Content
A man knocks someone unconscious with a shovel. At one point, Elliot and his allies leave a man tied up in the trunk of a car while they figure out what to do next.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: The Evaporation of Sofi Snow by Mary Weber

Book Review and Content, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

The Evaporation of Sofi Snow
Mary Weber
Thomas Nelson
Published on June 6th, 2017

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About The Evaporation of Sofi Snow
Ever since the Delonese ice-planet arrived eleven years ago, Sofi’s dreams have been vivid. Alien. In a system where Earth’s corporations rule in place of governments and the humanoid race orbiting the moon are allies, her only constant has been her younger brother, Shilo. As an online gamer, Sofi battles behind the scenes of Earth’s Fantasy Fighting arena where Shilo is forced to compete in a mix of real and virtual blood sport. But when a bomb takes out a quarter of the arena, Sofi’s the only one who believes Shilo survived. She has dreams of him. And she’s convinced he’s been taken to the ice-planet.

Except no one but ambassadors are allowed there.

For Miguel, Earth’s charming young playboy, the games are of a different sort. As Ambassador to the Delonese, his career has been built on trading secrets and seduction. Until the Fantasy Fight’s bomb goes off. Now the tables have turned and he’s a target for blackmail. The game is simple: Help the blackmailers, or lose more than anyone can fathom, or Earth can afford.

Gabrielle’s Review
I was very curious about this book when I saw the title. Though I don’t normally read a lot of sci-fi, I was intrigued by the summary and decided to give this one a try. While I did find it interesting, it didn’t grip me as much as I would have hoped. Also, the book itself ends in a major cliffhanger, so the story feels very much unfinished.

I enjoyed how the author chose to write the future world—with old fashions being recycled, celebs out to cause mischief and gossip, and people constantly searching for the next greatest thing, whether that be the latest wonder drug or a new Hunger Games-style arena fight. It felt very real, and—what was scary—not too far from our own modern world.

In this book, (minor spoiler) the author decided to take on the issue of human trafficking. This is not an easy subject, and makes the book quite a bit heavier than it might have been otherwise. What the author was trying to get across (other than how horrific human trafficking is) wasn’t entirely clear. (end minor spoiler) I’m hoping that I’ll see more of the plot and some of the themes in this book resolved in the next book.

Overall, I’d rate this book 3 out of 5 stars. While The Evaporation of Sofi Snow is unique in its plot, and bold in approaching some heavy topics, it lacks any sense of resolution or completeness, leaving the reader wondering if the characters have any hope at all in their very broken world. This book will appeal most to fans of The Hunger Games and other similar dystopian/sci-fi books.

Recommended for Ages 14 and up

Cultural Elements
Miguel is Hispanic. Sofi has Cherokee heritage.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Barely any—a few “What the—” and “WTF” thrown in.

Romance/Sexual Content
Miguel is described as being a player, and it is mentioned that he has slept with many different women. (Part of the back story is that he almost took Sofi’s innocence, but refrained.) Miguel and Sofi strongly desire each other, and remember “the feel of each other’s skin, and lips,” etc. The story features the issue of human trafficking, and hints at sex trafficking as well. Sofi undresses in front of Heller, and later in front of Miguel. It is clear this affects them both, though that was not her intention. Heller is obsessively infatuated with Sofi, and goes to great lengths to “protect” her.

Spiritual Content
The Delonese chant their strange philosophy in a ritual, but it doesn’t seem directed towards a deity. Instead, it seems to glorify their race and technological advances.

Violent Content
The book starts off at the FanFight games, which is a blend between virtual reality and reality. Some of the arena elements attack/harm the players, and some of the injuries are fairly graphic. A violent explosion later takes the lives of many of the players and participants, but no details are given. There are also some minor injuries and a few deaths towards the middle of the book, but these are non-graphic. Towards the end however, a flashback Sofi has of the Delonese prepping her and some other kids for a medical procedure is very graphic and somewhat disturbing.

Drug Content
Some mention of wonder drugs (mostly in a medical context). Miguel serves alcohol at his party to “loosen tongues.”

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Breaking by Danielle Rollins

Book Review and Content, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Breaking
Danielle Rollins
Bloomsbury
Published June 6, 2017

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About Breaking

Charlotte has always felt ordinary compared to her two best friends at the prestigious Weston Preparatory Institute. Not enigmatic and daring like Ariel or beautiful and brilliant like Devon, Charlotte has never quite met the standards of the school—or those of her demanding mother. But with Ariel and Devon by her side, none of that mattered. They became the family she never had.

Until the unthinkable happens—Ariel dies by suicide. And less than a month later, so does Devon.

Everyone accepts the suicides as tragic coincidences, but Charlotte refuses to believe that. And when she finds mysterious clues left behind by Ariel, Charlotte is thrust down a path that leads to a dangerous secret about Weston Prep. There’s a reason Weston students are so exceptional, and the people responsible are willing to kill to protect the truth…

My Review

The opening chapters of Breaking confused me a little bit because it starts with a far-off memory and zooms into the present. At first I thought Ariel and Devon were Charlotte’s imaginary friends (which is totally my mistake. I don’t know why I thought that.) and I kept getting confused by references about them until I figured it out.

Then I found the plot and the visceral writing style drew me straight into the story. I liked Charlotte from the beginning, and found it easy to root for her. The plot has this tense, desperate sense to it. I’m not usually a big reader of suspense, but I really got into this.

The most difficult thing about the book, for me, was the amount of violence in the story. It definitely relates to the plot. There are definitely things that happen which Charlotte herself condemns. In one part, though, revenge seems to trump everything else. I wasn’t crazy about that.

The ending leaves room for an additional story, but it could be that it’s simply meant to have an open ending. There is another book in the series which came out last year called Burning and seems to be about an event referenced in Breaking but features entirely different characters.

If you like dark superhero origin type stories, Breaking might be perfect for you. Read on to see possible content triggers and other information.

Content

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
Devon is black. Zoe is Asian and French.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Ariel speculates about a teacher’s genitalia in a brief comment. The girls bought sexy underwear earlier, planning to save it for when they decide to have sex with their boyfriends. Charlotte describes a lot of desire and arousal in her feelings for Jack. Several scenes feature her fantasizing about being with him (in mostly general not specific terms). Her feelings do factor into the plot, though. At one point a shift in her relationship with Jack makes Charlotte suspect that something big is wrong.

The story features some intense kissing between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Charlotte tells us that Ariel’s mom is a devout Christian.

Violent Content
Here’s where the big guns come out.

Overdose death. Drowning death. We see Charlotte wrestle with discovering both these situations. Fire kills animals in a shelter. Fire kills inmates in a detention center—we learn about both of those secondhand. Casual references to bullying. Eventually we learn that one of Charlotte’s friends broke another girl’s arm as part of a bullying incident.

As the story progresses, the references to violence become darker. At one point, a girl threatens the life of a tiny kitten. Charlotte causes a car accident which injures a man. Later, Charlotte finds the dead body of a security guard moments after his throat has been cut. She finds another suicide victim. She witnesses a woman being burned alive from the inside—that description in particular was pretty graphic.

Drug Content
Charlotte remembers her friend Devon encouraging her to try one of the pills in her mom’s purse. She remembers drinking alcohol with her friends in several scenes. Charlotte drinks alcohol alone in her room and at a party. At one point she drinks a bottle of unknown liquid, something she suspects might be GHB, planted by her friend Ariel.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Rift Uprising by Amy S. Foster

Book Review and Content, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

The Rift Uprising (The Rift Uprising Trilogy #1)
Amy S. Foster
Harper Voyager
Published October 4, 2016

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About The Rift Uprising
Seventeen-year-old Ryn Whittaker is a Citadel: an elite, enhanced soldier specially chosen to guard a Rift, a mysterious and dangerous portal to alternate Earths scientists cannot control or close. Trained from the age of fourteen, Ryn can run faster, jump farther, and fight better than a Navy SEAL—which is good when you’re not sure if a laser-wielding Neanderthal or an axe-wielding Viking is trying to make it through the Rift and into her world.

But the teenager’s military conditioning and education have not prepared her for the boy who crosses through—a confused young man, seemingly lost and alone. Because while there’s an immediate physical attraction, it’s his intelligence and curiosity that throws Ryn off balance. The stranger asks disturbing questions about the Rift that Ryn herself has never considered—questions that lead her to wonder if everything about her life and what she’s been told these past six years has been a lie. Are the Rifts as dangerous as her leaders say? Should her people really try to close them . . . or learn how to travel through them?

My Review
One of the things that was too much fun about this book was all the nerdy pop culture references, especially the sci-fi ones. It created an in-on-the-joke feeling, and I laughed out loud at several of them.

Ezra pretty much had me at hello. I liked the way he turned out to be a critical player in figuring out what was going on with the Rifts and the people controlling them. Ryn took a little bit for me to warm up to, but I loved the way each of her teammates had a distinct voice and approach to relationship with her. I want a whole spinoff story about Henry. Tell me that’s happening, someone!

I thought the whole Immigrant village thread made an interesting parallel to some current social issues and fears, but didn’t find it overly preachy. Generally I am a bit of a pansy where it comes to sci-fi, and I like my sci-fi pretty light. I would definitely not call this story light sci-fi, but I found the characters so compelling and the science-y elements easy to follow, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel like I’ve read a couple of indie books that tried to do something like this, and The Rift Uprising is my favorite so far.

If you liked Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray or These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, you should check out The Rift Uprising.

Recommended for Ages 17 up.

Cultural Elements
Ryn and her team appear to be Caucasian. One team member, Henry, is gay. Ryn meets Ezra, an Arab-American non-practicing Muslim.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Ryn and her fellow Citadels experience Blood Lust—intense rage only sated by attacking and physically harming the person they felt attracted to—whenever they feel aroused. This means they’re unable to have sex. Ryn sets out to find a way to undo the programming which makes her this way. (Spoiler about this below.)

At one point, Ryn battles a sexy vampire and things get pretty lustful, which she makes use of as a battle strategy.

A few scenes show intense kissing and nudity/touching between a boy and girl. One scene gets pretty explicit.

Spiritual Content
Ryn believes learning about the Rift would either make someone extremely devout or a complete atheist.

The immigrant camps allow all religions, but no “fundamentalist” practices. Women aren’t allowed to wear a burqa for instance. Ryn states she feels that practice to be misogynistic.

At one point, while waiting at the Rift, the team play a game where someone ranks three people—one to have sex with, one to kill and one to marry. Violet refuses to play because other players sometimes name deities, and she feels it’s disrespectful.

Violent Content
Graphic descriptions of battles against aliens and other humans in multiple scenes.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at a party. Ryn makes an offhand comment about a suspicion her brother may be smoking marijuana.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Spoiler
Ryn learns she and the other Citadels were made to watch explicit videos which aroused them and then beaten. The goal was to form an association between pain and arousal, which was meant to create Blood Lust.

 

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Review: Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Defy the Stars
Claudia Gray
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published April 4, 2017

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About Defy the Stars
She’s a soldier.

Noemi Vidal is a seventeen years old and sworn to protect her planet, Genesis. She’s willing to risk anything—including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she’s a rebel.

He’s a machine.

Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel has advanced programming that’s begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he’s an abomination.

Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they’re not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they’re forced to question everything they’d been taught was true.

My Review
I started this book with pretty high hopes. Right away, I liked the third person present tense writing. It kept the story feeling immediate, and especially made sense to me in Abel’s scenes. I loved both Noemi and Abel straight from the start. Like Abel, I respected Noemi’s willingness to sacrifice herself to save others and her love for her best friend Esther. I felt a bit skeptical of whether Abel’s scenes would really seem like AI or whether they would feel too human. Actually, I really liked him a lot, and I think the internal experiences—rational breakdowns and examinations of emotions worked really well. I liked that over time he experienced character development, too.

The plot took me to some places I didn’t expect. I liked that unexpectedness. On the other hand, I really struggled with the ending. I don’t want to give anything away. But. The whole story had a certain goal and then by the end it felt like that goal sort of got dropped. I didn’t really understand a couple of the details that led up to the goal being abandoned. I mean, I feel like I understood some of the reasons, but I don’t know. It was weird. It felt like a really solid story that took a detour at the end to allow for setting up the rest of the series. Normally that doesn’t bother me—I liked the characters so I’m not sad at all that there may be other adventures, but it felt a little bit like a bait and switch or something.

Still, I’m not at all sorry that I read it. I loved getting to explore so much of the intricate story world Gray created and her masterful characters had me hooked from the first page to the last.

If you liked the recent movie adaptation of Ender’s Game or Ex Machina, you want to add this book to your list. I think fans of Hayley Stone’s Machinations would also find this book appealing.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Noemi is Latina. Abel has the appearance of a white male.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between male and female. When it becomes clear Noemi and Abel will need money to carry out their plan, he offers to sell himself into prostitution, since he has been programmed with the ability to perform those activities. Noemi feels horrified by that idea and refuses to ask him to do such a thing, even though she still considers him a machine. At one point he offers to have sex with her, reasoning that since they are alone and have time to kill, and it would provide her with a form of release, it might be helpful. Noemi tells him her faith mandates that she not have casual sex.

Spiritual Content
On Noemi’s planet, Genesis, faith is of high value. People of all different faiths live together in harmony. Noemi herself is Catholic but has always struggled with her faith. Sometimes she knows she should pray and instead, she feels doubt. She keeps her faith through the story.

Violent Content
Noemi helps a fellow soldier with grave injuries. Abel and Noemi witness a terrorist attack at a celebration.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: The Methuselah Project by Rick Barry

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Historical, Sci-Fi, , , , ,

The Methuselah Project
Rick Barry
Kregel Publications
Published September 27, 2015

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

After he’s shot down in 1943 Nazi Germany, American pilot Roger Greene endures a medical experiment at the hands of a German doctor. When a bomb destroys the facility, research, and all other participants, Roger finds himself swept away to a secret Nazi compound. There he survives while his captors try to recreate the data from the original experiment, an experiment which leaves Roger able to heal miraculously fast and removes the effects of his body aging.

In 2015, all Katherine Mueller has ever wanted to do is please her guardian and uncle. Lately, though, her uncle’s wishes push Katherine further into the ranks of a mysterious, closed society which begins to feel way too much like a cult for Katherine’s liking. As she wrestles with when and how to break away, the group offers her a deal: an easy assignment that would ensure Katherine’s promotion and her uncle’s pride. All she has to do is track down a young American man who thinks he’s a World War II pilot.

This isn’t my usual genre, since it’s really too old to be considered YA, but it’s a book that a trusted friend has recommended to me several times over the years, so I figured it was about time for me to actually sit down and read it!

Truth is, I really like historical fiction, especially stories that feature World War II. (I blame Bodie Thoene.) So it wasn’t hard to convince me to pick this one up as soon as I knew what it was about.

I liked Roger’s frank but often optimistic nature. He continually tried to see the best in people even when it wasn’t easy. I liked that he was more brain than brawn, but he wasn’t afraid of a fight, either. He doesn’t become a superhero after the experiment, but he does continue to fight for good as a normal human guy. I liked that, too.

Katherine hooked me with her sort of hodge-podge life. She’s trying to make it as a freelance editor, which is her passion, but doesn’t quite pay the bills. She moonlights as a taxi driver to pay her bills, and refuses her wealthy uncle’s aid in everything except membership to a secret society. Her bond with him felt natural and complex. She definitely came across like a girl still in that becoming-an-adult moment.

She also really, really wants a boyfriend, a desire I found both realistic and also sometimes made her seem shallow. I think I wanted her to have bigger aspirations than finding a man, and that being the big Point B she was looking for, if that makes sense. Honestly, though, it’s not unrealistic, and it doesn’t dominate the story. She’s also not looking for just a pretty face– she really wants someone whose strengths compliment her own.

The Methuselah Project definitely puts an interesting spin on a World War II story—it’s part Captain America and part spy novel. I liked the blend and found the characters really interesting. I think anyone who likes historical fiction and light romance, especially fans of The Zion Covenant series by Bodie Thoene and Brock Thoene will find The Methuselah Project to be a great read.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
All major characters are white and either American or German (or both).

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
At one point a woman approaches Roger and seems interested in sleeping with him. He misinterprets her advance and is confused more than anything else. Katherine longs for a boyfriend and spends a great deal of time trying to figure out how to find the right one. At one point a man pressures her to let him come to her apartment to have sex. She refuses, but feels horrible when he says cruel things to her afterward. Later, a man and woman briefly kiss.

Spiritual Content
Roger frequently remembers a woman who cared for him as a child telling him to pray. When trouble finds him, he does just that. While imprisoned, he asks for and receives a Bible and spends a great deal of time reading and studying it.

Violent Content
Roger shoots down enemy planes as a pilot during World War II. He briefly fights his captors. An ally attacks a man and leaves him tied up. An attacker shoots a woman and child who witness something secret. Gunfire is exchanged between Roger, his allies, and opponents a couple other times. No gory details.

Drug Content
None.