Tag: SciFi

Book Review: “All Systems Red” by Martha Wells

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Martha Wells’s All Systems Red—gifted to me by my good friend, Leander, for Christmas—is my third read of the year.

At 150 pages long, All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries ) is a lean book. And boy, Wells makes use of those pages.

The series’ titular Murderbot is hilarious, enigmatic, and loveable. We learn on page one that this bot has hacked its governor module, gone rogue, and dubbed itself Murderbot. Yet, Murderbot is trying to pass under the radar, so it continues working for its assigned humans. But, of course, that’s only the setup.

Wells crams so much world-building and character development in this little book. She does more than some authors achieve in three times as many pages. Thus, I can give it an emphatic recommendation.

I will check out the next instalments of the Murderbot Diaries soon.

Book Review: “A Psalm for the Wild-Built” by Becky Chambers

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Becky Chambers’s A Psalm for the Wild-Built has the honour of being my first read of 2023.

And what it read it was.

It had all the beauty and warmth I’ve come to expect of Chambers, with so many quotable moments. I’m sure I drove my wife nuts with the number of times I interrupted her to read something cute aloud. But she knew what she was letting herself in for when she gifted me this for Christmas.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built differs from the type of book where a lot happens. Instead, it’s the type of book that fills your heart with the warmth of a good cup of tea. It’s also the type of book that makes you ponder deep, philosophical questions.

As with everything I’ve read from Chambers, I cannot recommend it enough.

I look forward to checking out A Prayer for the Crown-Shy soon.

‘Footsteps in the Dark: Short Horror & Sci-Fi Stories Volume II’ is out now!

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I am thrilled to say my newest book, Footsteps in the Dark: Short Horror & Sci-Fi Stories Volume II is out now!

A woman defends house and husband from the home’s eight-legged inhabitants. Two strangers discuss music’s finer points as cannibals try to break into their car. A gender-reveal party goes off the rails as the true nature of the infant comes to light. Thirteen women gather at night to right the wrongs of society. A mother takes shelter in the family treehouse as the world ends around her. And finally—

Wait. Do you hear that?

Footsteps.

Footsteps in the dark.

Available for purchase now!

Footsteps in the Dark: A Sneak Peek!

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Footsteps in the Dark is out Tuesday, March 1, 2022!

You can preorder the ebook now — paperbacks and hardbacks will be available soon. If you can’t wait until then, I’ll be posting snippets of each story. So ask yourselves: Where on Earth is this tale going?

If you want to find out, make sure you get your copy of Footsteps in the Dark!

UK
US
DE

Footsteps in the Dark: Short Horror & Sci-Fi Stories Volume II!

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I am thrilled to announce my newest book, Footsteps in the Dark: Short Horror & Sci-Fi Stories Volume II!

A woman defends house and husband from the home’s eight-legged inhabitants. Two strangers discuss music’s finer points as cannibals try to break into their car. A gender-reveal party goes off the rails as the true nature of the infant comes to light. Thirteen women gather at night to right the wrongs of society. A mother takes shelter in the family treehouse as the world ends around her. And finally—

Wait. Do you hear that?

Footsteps.

Footsteps in the dark.

Available for preorder now.

‘Under Blankets, Under Stars’ is out this Valentine’s Day!

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I am pleased to announce that my second collection of short stories will be available this Valentine’s Day! ‘Under Blankets, Under Stars’ is the light to the darkness of ‘A Chance of Rain’.


Over 20 upbeat sci-fi and fantasy stories, ‘Under Blankets, Under Stars’ will be available as an e-book on the 14th. A paperback version will be in print once printers are back up and running following lockdown. 🙂


Available for pre-order soon!

‘Montis Absentia’: A narrative experiment

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Well, hello there! How are we all doing this fine Saturday? Keeping well? Social distancing? Grand.

You might’ve noticed I’ve not reported on my Reedsy stories in a while, and the reason for that is I’ve started a bit of an experiment! I’m aware that, as a writer, I’ve got more than enough short stories to my name, but no complete novel. I thought to myself, as I’m in the throes of wrangling a full-length manuscript (more info on this once it’s closer to completion), yet write one Reedsy story a week, I could try to weave my Reedsy pieces into material for a full-length.

So, that’s what I’ve been doing for the past four weeks. This experiment is still ongoing (and I imagine it’ll take a year or so to complete). The experiment is this: I’ve got a vague idea for a story, so, when each Reedsy prompt comes out, I use that prompt as inspiration for the next chapter. I have no idea how this story is going to end, or where each chapter will go every week. As I said, this is an experiment! I may end up realising that it just doesn’t work. But, for the meanwhile, I quite like this idea and I’m going to give it a go!

Well, that’s enough blathering on about the initial idea, Joshua, tell them about the story. The title of the story is Montis Absentia, and Pt. I was written for the contest Introductions. I chose the prompt, “Write a story about two people meeting during unusual circumstances and becoming fast friends.” You should know the drill by now. You can read the story here on WordPress, or over on my Reedsy profile!

The two sets of headlights intersected each other in the midnight’s blackness, shades of yellow and orange sliced through the inky gloom.

Continue Reading

I’ll be uploading each part on a weekly basis. So, I hope you think this idea is as cool as I do (and, really, that I feel excited is the most important thing). I guess we’ll see how it goes, eh?

Until next time, guys!