Two Book Reviews:
From a chilling alien dilemma to soldiers discovering who they really are, this book of short stories follows a pattern of surprise and frightening situations. Set on an abused Earth, distant planets, and a laboratory, these tales are sure to make you gasp and then spend the rest of the day wondering how the author could get into your head.
As with her previous novel, The Magic Wakes, the writing is superb. I love a surprise, an ending or twist that I didn't see coming. This one delivers. Sci-fi at its best, in the tradition of Tales From the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke. Don't pass this one by. It is well worth the time.
Confronting the Demon by Ciara Ballintyne
When Alloran faces demons, he finds more than hellcats and imps. He must confront an albatross of his own making and overcome past mistakes. If he can't, nothing is safe. Not him or anyone close.
It comes down to jealousy and hard choices. For Alloran, a bad choice has colored all he has done. A new threat is killing people he knows and until he deals with his inner demons, he can't save them. Running away seems easier.
With a surprising twist in the middle, excellent dialogue, intrigue, and tension that made me want to turn the page, Confronting the Demon kept me involved to the end. Afraid to summon demons but knowing it was his only hope, the MC's dilemma was highly engaging.
Tension balanced the scenes to a razor's edge and I was impressed with the great world-building Ms Ballintyne created. Excellent writing! Good job.
Paperback
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QueryCon 2013 at UnicornBell had some big winners this year. We had several requests from our wonderful judges for full manuscripts. A win for the contestants and for Victoria Lowes of The Bent Agency and Andrew Buckley of Curiosity Quills Press.
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Upcoming or Coming Up! Lots of new shows starting and many season premieres of old favorites.
In the new column:
S.H.I.E.L.D was a bit rough but all new shows are until they settle into place like shoes.
Still wondering about the statement, "He doesn't know yet, does he?"
Sleep Hollow lost some appeal for me when it turned out Ichabod had a wife. I'll still watch but seriously, don't the writers know what the ladies want when a hunk is playing the lead? Nicole Beharie plays the MC, a strong very cool lady. I hope this series doesn't fall into the usual stereotypical traps.
Looking forward to:
Almost Human
Sean Saves the World
The Originals
Reign
Dracula
Next time, the fabulous new season of favorite shows. like, hm....let me see. Could it be...?
Shhh! No using the C word. Although, I haven't started too many new shows just yet. But I tend to pick the ones that don't get the big followings.
ReplyDeleteThe cancellation of Lie to Me about turned me off TV for a long time. GRRRRRRRR
DeleteGreat review for Charity!
ReplyDeleteAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was great. Tonight ends Breaking Bad. I'm ready for everyone to die.
I'm like Stephen below. I haven't watched Breaking Bad. Must look into it though
DeleteS.H.I.E.L.D. is going to be good. I have yet to see one full episode of Breaking Bad Time constraints and all. But I plan to rent the entire series and watch them one season at a time when I have more time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, me too. But that way we don't have to wait for the next episode or next season. We can watch the whole thing start to finish.
DeleteOMGoodness! Did you just compare me to Clarke? I'm glad my stories made you think, and with a great review like this people may just give it a chance.
ReplyDeleteGood Sci Fi is hard to find. I am soooo glad that I found you.
DeleteI feel the same way about you dear friend.
DeleteLooking forward to the new NCIS season. Don't watch a whole lot of TV but that is one that I got hooked on last year. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for reviewing Confronting the Demon :-)
ReplyDelete