Ok, so everyone these days is doing the Zombie Apocalypse tango. Heck even I’m working on one (For certain values of working, I’ve had three chapters done for six months, but I digress). John Ringo, however, has now put every other ZA book, movie and video game to shame. There is a reason the man is the master. Part horror novel, part techno-thriller that would make Tom Clancy bow down in envy, UAGS is superb. Ringo takes a hard look at how a real ZA might happen, and his undead aren’t. Ringo uses the familiar trope of the “Zombie plague,” but turns it on it’s ear, using real science to show how it might happen. He then takes a close look at how someone might survive a real biological disaster and what steps … Read entire article »

Ok, so as I’ve said before, I’m a Jim Butcher fanboy. I absolutely love the Dresden Files. That being said, the last book, , was a bit of a disappointment. Not that I didn’t enjoy the book — I did. However to some degree I felt Butcher had jumped the shark a bit. Boy was I wrong. Enter, the 14th Dresden book and Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is back. As the Winter Knight. And boy does Mab have a doozy of a job for his first assassination. Throw in more crazy faerie queens, the return of Harrry’s apprentice, Outsiders, the mystery of just who Mac McAnally really is deepening and a revelation as to just  what Harry’s purpose is since bonding with Demonreach and you have the basis of a return to the non-stop action of the old Dresden. … Read entire article »

Sarah A. Hoyt’s writing style has it’s issues, like any author. She is, perhaps, prone to utilizing handwavium at times and as a pantser, masquerading as a plotter the plots could be tighter. Ahhh, but the stories, the stories. You see it’s the story telling — and world building — where Hoyt shines. Take her latest book for example — A Few Good Men. Set in the same universe as Prometheus Award-winning and it’s Prometheus-nominated sequel , AFGM is set on Earth, between the events in Thieves and Renegades. The son of Good Man Keeva — and Good is not exactly the right term for any of the “Good Men” — escapes from prison, only to find his father has been assassinated. Suddenly Lucius Keeva finds himself in command of a goodly portion of the Earth’s surface, and party to not … Read entire article »

Ok, so I’m an unabashed fan of Dave Freer’s work. So shoot me. From his delightful “” to his series with Eric Flint and Mercedes Lackey, he’s shown incredible depth — and humor — as an author. Enter his even more delightful steampunk YA book “” about a coal-fired submarine in an alternate 1950s. The second book in the series “” finds the irrepressible Clara Calland and her young friend Tim Barnabas in Austrailia. The Cuttlefish is badly damaged, Clara’s mother is sick and Clara has run onto an Imperial plot. About par for the course for Clara, who is always in trouble but generally helps save the day — along with Tim of course. Set in an Australia where it is too hot to go outside during the day, “The Steam Mole” is something of … Read entire article »