SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Saint Elspeth by Wick Welker

 

Saint Elspeth is a post apocalyptic sci-fi novel which is one of our finalists for this year's Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC4). The novel is a post apocalyptic story featuring as its main and only viewpoint character Dr. Elspeth Darrow, the only fully trained doctor left in the colony that has developed in what's left of San Francisco. It starts as a story of Elspeth attempting to maintain a reasonable level of medical treatment in the face of dwindling supplies and a colony leader who is getting increasingly fascistic and warlike and soon evolves into a story dealing with strange aliens, as Elspeth and her friends soon try to figure out what's going on with them and what that means for humanity.

It's written well, but oh my god is this book insanely cynical about humanity (I'd say it's mostly cynical about men, but there's only two female characters who get any sort of real page time, and the second one is herself paranoid and utterly cynical). The book postulates that the arrival of aliens doing nothing but just hanging around would be enough to cause nations to go mad and destroy the planet, and then later postulates that all men who would grow to lead the post apocalyptic settlements would turn into fascist wannabe cult leaders who are desperate to wage war on each other. In the face of all this is Elspeth, the rare character who despite her own depression and despair somehow manages to keep focusing upon healing and figuring things out so as to save the day, both from threats that are human and those that are inhuman and alien. I get that there's a theme about hope and healing and whatnot here, but god I couldn't help but keep being removed from this narrative not just by occasional issues with the tech levels of the setting, but really just from the dismal unbelievable cynicism about human nature all around (and yes I can say that even living in 2025).

Trigger Warning: A Suicide Attempt forms a major part of the story. This is not gratuitous and the book shows what is necessary for its themes and emotional beats to hit, so I think it's done as well as you could hope, but if this is a problem please be warned.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Yours Celestially by Al Hess

 

Yours Celestially is one of the six finalists in this year's Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4), of which I am a Judge. The story takes place in an interesting future world, in which a company (Renascenz) has invented technology that allows those who use it to die, have their minds uploaded to an online server called "Limbo" and then seemingly be resurrected into a new body of their choosing. But during the delay period while someone is in Limbo, they interact with an AI called "Metatron" who tries to counsel them through their traumas before they resurrect. Using this setup, the story focuses upon two characters: Metatron, as they fall in love with one of the souls who are in Limbo and struggle with this new feeling, and Sasha, a resurrected person who is finding his new life even harder because he is seemingly getting hit with all of Metatron's pining and feelings for Rodrigo.

It's a setup that seems potentially really interesting and I wanted to like Yours Celestially a lot more than I did. But honestly, I struggled to keep going through this one and might've DNFed it if it wasn't a finalist for the SPSFC4 Crown. Specifically, I had problems really caring about Sasha, one of our two main protagonists, as his setting and the characters' he interacts with are only explained to a limited extent, to the point where I didn't really get why he cared about certain people or why those people cared about him (specifically his roommate Ivan). The romance with Sasha at its heart also really had a rough start, and while it gets better, it really isn't great. The Metatron chapters are better because it's a lot easier to care for them, but even there there's one character who's abusive in the middle of it which makes some of those chapters hard to read, and really felt like a betrayal of a book whose author seems to call it "hopepunk" in the foreward. Overall, I just have a hard time recommending this one, for reasons I'll expound further in the book.

TRIGGER WARNING: There is an abusive character in the book who reacts with rage and violence while in a virtual world and acted with real violence outside of it. Reading parts with that character can be rough, although the book kind of handles it well, even if I didn't like it. Also, one of the two main characters is recovering from a drug addiction.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Whiskey and Warfare by EM Hamill

 

Whiskey and Warfare is one of the six book that have made it to the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4) finals, of which I am a judge. The novel just to be clear has a terrible terrible name, which makes it sound like some humorous milsci novel (it's not at all). Instead, we have the story of an older woman in a scifi universe whose alien husband just passed unexpectedly, who struggles with PTSD from her final days as a do gooder space mercenary, and winds up getting back together with her old mercenary crew as they "coincidentally" fly through a planetary system where a group has seized power and started what sure seems to be a genocide. And so, while the story is not one where the ideas of good and evil are really ever complicated, we have a story of a group of women or femme-presenting soldiers struggles to do good despite an increasingly uncaring corporate-driven universe and despite the struggles that come with age and trauma.

And honestly, this works really well. While the story features a very familiar core - the gang of do-gooder soldiers getting back together again after years apart, remembering why they work well together, and having perhaps one last mission (or well maybe not, as this is the first in a series) together against desperate odds - the use of the older (and queer) protagonists, who each struggle with issues of age, grief, disability, infirmity, and trauma, very much works to separate this one from the norm. And Hamill's writing makes each of the characters, especially but not limited to protagonist Maryn, really likable and interesting and ends the novel in a satisfying way that also promises more should one want to continue with the series.

More specifics after the jump.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Proliferation by Erik A. Otto

 

Proliferation is a self-published epic post-apocalypse (Post-Apoc) Scifi novel by author Erik A. Otto. The novel is technically the second in a series (after a book called "Detonation", which I think is meant to explain some of this book's setting) but is meant to be entirely stand-alone, and the book is one of this year's Self-Published Sci-Fi Competition semifinalists (#SPSFC4). It's a book filled with ideas, as we see a series of AI-centered cities wake up with powerful weapons and issues over how they protect their residents, a major political power that seems to be an alliance between anti-technology cultists from the American west coast and a military dictatorship from what remains of Japan, and some technology-based cultists who are extremely antisocial in their ways among other things.

And yet, those ideas somehow more frustrate than anything else, as Proliferation lacks some of the core things such a book would need to actually be interesting. For one, the setting is so unexplained as to be frustrating, and the book's plot arcs seem to just reset and go nowhere repeatedly. For another, the characters are largely uninteresting and every faction we follow is just seemingly made up of assholes: why do we care about any of these people? What do they want in life? I have no idea for large parts. And then there's the fact that the book relies on certain tropes - like a character committing self-harm to mitigate some kind of unspecified disease - without any justification, and uses them really badly. In short, I cannot recommend Proliferation at all.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Self Harm, Suicide Attempts and Suicidal Ideation, Drinking. These ideas aren't really handled very well either, just to be clear.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: On Impulse by Heather Texle

On Impulse is a self published sci fi thriller by author Heather Texle and the first in her "Reliance Sinclair" series of novels (of which the second book comes out this July). The novel is a semifinalist in this year's Self Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC4) of which I am a Judge. It's a sort of classic type of novel - our heroine is a former (space) cop who is searching for answers as to the tragedy that got her essentially forced off the force - her partner turning on her - and who finds herself on the run from other cops when she stumbles onto the murder of her only friend. So in some ways it's the Fugitive, but in a Sci-Fi setting, albeit with some other influences as well.

Unfortunately, On Impulse really doesn't contain much to recommend it. It's not a bad novel, as it remains very readable (and quickly readable) as its protagonist gets into worse and worse situations due to impulsive decision making (see the Title) and eventually discovers the truth. But its characters are largely shallow and forgettable - especially its protagonist who kinda gets less development than some of the very shallow side characters - and it really doesn't say anything interesting. Nor is the setting or plot particularly intriguing, with the plot relying upon a bunch of pretty dumbfounding character choices to make it work.

More after the jump.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Accidental Intelligence by Bryan Chaffin

 

Accidental Intelligence is another one of the semifinalists in this year's Self Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC4) and is one of the six books in my team's judging panel. The novel is a Sci-Fi Noir, featuring a private investigator Mason Truman as its protagonist as he investigates a case of a missing young man...one whose case clearly has ties to the AIs and Corporate interests who run the world. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a big fan of noir, but the noir atmosphere and writing style does tend to draw me in, so I very quickly read through this book over two days on my commute.

Unfortunately, Accidental Intelligence doesn't quite reward the reader for sticking with it. The story's main characters are paper thin, with its protagonist having seemingly no motivation or life outside of plot itself, and while the book's plot promises a fight against a dangerous conspiracy, that conspiracy turns out to be laughably simple and uninteresting. And it all ends up in a conclusion that is really unsatisfying, as events needed to solve matters just occur out of nowhere and the bad guy is defeated with way too much ease...and then the book throws an epilogue in that I guess (I was confused) attempts to set up a sequel but instead just makes it even more frustrating?

More specifics after the jump. Note that the plot summary of this book on Amazon and Goodreads spoils like 80% of the book - I'll try to be less spoilery below.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Bisection by Sheila Jenné

 

Bisection is a 2024 self-published novel by author Sheila Jenné and most notably, the book is a Self Published Science Fiction Competition 4 (SPSFC4) semifinalist which my judging group is setup to review. The novel features a fascinating premise that seemed really hard to write well: the protagonists are a pair of beings who share the same body, Tria (the Right) and Resa (the Left), as their species (the Kinaru) are human-like except each one of their brains is segmented into two beings - the Right, who is logical, rational and planning; and the Left, who is feeling and emotional. And so we read about Tria and Resa as they stow away on an alien ship and discover more about themselves, each other, their species and the universe...especially as things go awry.

The result works far far better than I could've expected, even if the concept is by some definition a little simplistic. The story contrasts the emotional/logical beings of the Kinaru with that of both an alien Shatakazan species and that of the humans on Earth in ways that really deal with interesting themes: oppression in the name of knowing what's best, the value of emotion and empathy as opposed to just cold reason, individual actions and autonomy vs consensus based communities and more. The story is also not preachy as it goes from beginning to end, and while there are a few moments that made me laugh in their plot convenience, in general this is a rather compelling interesting SciFi novel that pays off its interesting concept.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Thief by G.S. Jennsen

 

The Thief is a stand alone self published Sci-Fi novel from prolific author G.S. Jennsen. The novel is the 20th novel in Jennsen's shared space opera Amaranthe Universe and it features as its protagonist (I think) a side character from earlier books, even if the story itself is entirely stand alone and can be read without foreknowledge. This is a book entered into this year's Self Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC4) and is at least Jennsen's second book that she's entered into an edition of this competition: Jennsen had previously entered an earlier book, Exin Ex Machina, into the SPSFC2 competition I also Judged, and I found that book to be solid if unexciting sci-fi. So I was curious to see how this more recent book in the series would play out.

And well, The Thief....is not great. The story is centered around Eren Savitas, who is essentially an interstellar spy for a multi species alliance, and who stows aboard an alien spaceship to catch a thief, only to find himself trying to stop a mysterious weapon from destroying that whole previously unknown alien species. The story's setting relies upon some premises that defy belief and more importantly, rely upon Eren essentially being the perfect spy/agent who can almost never do wrong, with the exception of some moments during a really badly done and cliche romance subplot with Eren's superior. There are some attempts at dealing with the now classic theme of stopping the cycles of revenge and violence here that aren't bad, but mostly this book struggles to maintain any source of tension that anything will go wrong for our hero or to make his actions to save the day actually intriguing. The result is a novel that features very readable prose but a plot I just rolled my eyes repeatedly at.

More after the jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Anubis War by David R Packer

 

The Anubis War is a Military Science Fiction novel (MilSF) novel self-published by author David R. Packer and it's also an entrant in this year's Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4), of which I am a Judge. The novel is short and also the first in a series, although it has a complete arc kinda, and features a soldier Vasco coming out of retirement to join a mission on behalf of the Polity to conquer a distant human colony and bring it back under the empire's control. So you have some pretty classic themes here of Anti-Imperialism and Anti-Colonialism underlining a book which to some extent features a ginormous overwhelming military force facing off against guerillas with more skill than the Empire expects.

Unfortunately, while the core themes and ideas of The Anubis War may be good, the book is derailed by a number of poor choices. First, the book is kind of obsessed with the military tech that is used by both sides and spends pages upon pages going through it and how warfare is conducted and nearly all of it does not actually matter...and this slows the pacing and makes the book a slog at times. Second, the main character isn't very interesting and none of the other characters are really ever developed beyond simple archetypes (backstabbing Intelligence Agent Friend, Greedy Warlord Commander, Mysterious Supersoldier who says cryptic comments from a long lost land, etc.). Third, the plot requires kind of a level of belief in the stupidity and intelligence of various forces to the extent that honestly broke credibility. And all of the above is done without any subtlety to a ridiculous extent. I'm not the biggest fan of MilSF, but I doubt even the biggest MilSF fan will find the Anubis War among their favorites.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Time of the Cat by Tansy Raynor Roberts

 

Time of the Cat is another entry in this year's Self Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC4), in which I am a Judge for the second time. The novel is a more humorous/comedic take on SciFi, featuring a version of time travel that is reliant upon talking cats in the 24th century and a bunch of time travelers who range from serious to utterly selfish...and nearly all of whom are obsessed with their favorite tv show. Add in an opposing group of time travelers who are obsessed with partying and messing up the timeline with anachronisms and endnotes/footnotes that try to pile on additional absurdities, and well you can see how this could be a fun lighthearted jaunt.

And Time of the Cat is exactly that, which makes it a very easy book to read and enjoy - whether that be in print or in audio. The story didn't make me laugh exactly, but it kept me entertained with its light humorous tone and most of the characters were pretty enjoyable, even if the character development of some of them was rather shallow. And the ending involves a resolution of a major plot twist basically occurring completely off page, which was kind of annoying, but really it didn't matter too much with the tone of it all. I wouldn't mind this book making it to the next round of the SPSFCs, even if I'm not sure it's much better than that.

NOTE: I read this half in print and half in audiobook. The audio reader is excellent and the book weaves its endnotes into the audiobook pretty excellently so you don't miss much: some end-notes are inserted directly into the narrative, others are put at the end of each chapter and given a few extra words to explain what the notes were referring to in the text. This works impressively well to keep the humorous asides of the notes intact.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: What Swims on Uncharted World 550 by R.B. Lovitt

 

What Swims on Uncharted World 550 is a short novel that is part of this year's Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4). The novel is essentially a murder mystery on an alien planet with the story told from the perspective of a new scientist who arrives at an existing scientific expedition just in time to be there when members of the expedition start mysteriously dying off.

It's a book that's easy to read, with a twist near the end (I mean it is a mystery of course) that is decently set up, and yet I still wound up thinking just "huh" at the end of it. Basically it seems to be using the story for an idea and payoff that the story doesn't really earn, which makes it read well but not actually manage to be satisfying or super successful. Some better explanations, with some spoilers in ROT13, after the jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Wilderness Five by C.R. Walton

 

Wilderness Five is a self-published science fiction novel by author C.R. Walton which is an entry in this year's Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC4). The novel has a setup that seems almost like one of a Michael Crichton novel as it features a platform (Wilderness Five) in space where a new green place for people to live is being created with the aid of carefully controlled tech that speeds up evolution and growth....until others, such as an immortality seeking billionaire, decide to use less careful applications of science on the platform for their own selfish ends.

It's a story with an intriguing setup, if perhaps anti-technology at times (ala Chrichton) that tries to deal with ideas about evolution, sentience, and intelligence. Unfortunately, the final acts of the story devolve into an utter mess, with character decisions being nonsensical and the specifics of what's happening becoming utterly confusing and hard to figure out. I did manage to finish it, which is more than I can say for some SPSFC4 entries, but overall, Wilderness Five is a failure even if you are open to its themes.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Ash by Grace Walker

 

Ash is a self-published science fiction novel that is the start of a new series/trilogy by 17 year old author Grace Walker, whose bio notes that her first trilogy was written at age 14. And let me tell you, for a 17 year old's self published work, Ash is very solid - the prose is written very well and is very readable and the main characters are certainly likable, with the story also containing some promise of exploration of serious themes. And the novel is short enough that readers will get through it fairly quickly.

Unfortunately, Ash isn't ultimately a satisfying novel because the book feels incomplete. As I'll explain more below, the book stops on a cliffhanger before the story really gets into anything, despite the reader knowing that certain events are going to happen, so it just winds up being kind of frustrating. And the book definitely could use a bunch of editing as it takes just too long to get out of the first act that is basically just preamble and probably could've used more time in the book's second act. There's a good novel in what is written here I think and an editor probably would've helped Walker tease it out, but Ash isn't there yet.

SciFi/Fantasy/Romance Book Review: A Swift and Sudden Exit by Nico Vincenty

 

A Swift and Sudden Exit is a self-published sci-fi F/F romance novel that features a time traveler from a post-apocalyptic future (Zera) looking for keys to fix her time and an immortal woman (Katherine) she keeps finding along the way who might possess the answers she seeks...if she doesn't fall in love with her first. It's not a unique setup, but it's one seemingly tailor-made to intrigue me, so it wasn't a surprise when it wound up in my review allotment for the Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) that I am judging again this year.

And the result is uneven, although it has moments of real promise. The romance between Zera and Katherine works really well from the midpoint on, with both characters being delights to read and strong in their development and character, which means romance fans will definitely enjoy this book. But there are a few moments here and there that are clear whiffs (one will cause any lawyer reader pain), a late act plot twist is insanely predictable, and the book's ending is an utter mess. The result is an enjoyable romance but one with enough flaws to prevent it from being a strong recommend...and one that non-romance readers should definitely skip.*

Normally I wouldn't include this caveat in a review, but as this is a SPSFC review and some readers will thus be looking for Sci-Fi without romance, I feel obligated to give it, even though it's not quite the fault of the book.