Synopsis

Ekko is the story of an accomplished soundman and his adventures on the road. CJ?s constant craving for mystery leads him to accidentally find an ancient device. His new toy not only allows him to delve into the spiritual world, but to bring some back with him as well. He learns to combine modern-day technology with the characters he captures from the past. He creates quite a show for the audience. But not without a price. His collaboration of the two worlds brings his career to a whole new level, but it also causes some suspicions, which constantly border on tarnishing his credibility. Throughout his escapades, he must keep his shenanigans a secret, which, in turn, keeps him in constant danger. Keeping his secret hidden is a mystery within itself. The adventures unfold as CJ continues to find a way of mixing his professional trade with the unearthly passions of the world beyond.

PublishAmerica, ISBN: 1-4241-5394-8, 175 pages, 5.5 x 8.5,$19.95

Our NewBookReview

Johnny Walker's new book EKKO, is a journey into the spiritual world using a mysterious device that C J really doesn't really understand but has, by trial and error, learned to use. These excursions are not without danger, or suspense, as C J discovers. The spirits C J meets are interesting characters to say the least, but the most intriguing is the hauntingly beautiful Clarise. EKKO is a departure from the usual as far as Sci-Fi goes, and Walker's mixing of two worlds, the now and the past, is flawlessly done. Great reading. Sci-fi fans will love EKKO Ron Watson editor2(at)newbookreviews.org

Synopsis

Ekko is the story of an accomplished soundman and his adventures on the road. CJ?s constant craving for mystery leads him to accidentally find an ancient device. His new toy not only allows him to delve into the spiritual world, but to bring some back with him as well. He learns to combine modern-day technology with the characters he captures from the past. He creates quite a show for the audience. But not without a price. His collaboration of the two worlds brings his career to a whole new level, but it also causes some suspicions, which constantly border on tarnishing his credibility. Throughout his escapades, he must keep his shenanigans a secret, which, in turn, keeps him in constant danger. Keeping his secret hidden is a mystery within itself. The adventures unfold as CJ continues to find a way of mixing his professional trade with the unearthly passions of the world beyond.

PublishAmerica, ISBN: 1-4241-5394-8, 175 pages, 5.5 x 8.5,$19.95

Our NewBookReview

Johnny Walker's new book EKKO, is a journey into the spiritual world using a mysterious device that C J really doesn't really understand but has, by trial and error, learned to use. These excursions are not without danger, or suspense, as C J discovers. The spirits C J meets are interesting characters to say the least, but the most intriguing is the hauntingly beautiful Clarise. EKKO is a departure from the usual as far as Sci-Fi goes, and Walker's mixing of two worlds, the now and the past, is flawlessly done. Great reading. Sci-fi fans will love EKKO Ron Watson editor2(at)newbookreviews.org

Science Fiction has a tendency to come down on the more liberal side of most issues. Fire Star breaks from this tradition and delivers a story with a conservative heroine/agenda. With most science fiction you get a society radically different from our own, but Flynn is able to show you today's world and make space travel believable.

In this story, private enterprise has invested deeply into a secret project to replace the shuttle. Mariesa Van Huyten and her Van Huyten Industries (VHI) are the driving force behind this project. The corporate world is in it for the profits that are promised from a single stage to orbit vehicle, but Mariesa is driven by her fears.

The cast is supplemented by the test pilots that will take the new ship up as well as students in a school system bought out by VHI for the purposes of improving education. Mariesa has her own purposes of putting hope and the dream of space into the leaders of tomorrow. The sub plots intertwine seamlessly with the main plot. The book ultimately succeeds in showing the reader how space travel could change and getting the reader excited about it at the same time.

This is a very good book. There is mild sexuality and violence, but high school level readers should be fine. Warning: This book is part of a series and may lead you to buy the other books, but it works as a stand alone. This book is a Heinlein Award winner and follows in the tradition of Heinlein works.

Buckner's third attempt surpasses her first but doesn't quite live up to the second. If you have read the second book, Neurolink, you may find a lot of the same plot elements in War Surf.

This book is about characters that surf "wars", semi-violent litigations between execs and protes, for the adrenaline rush. Two of the characters get stranded on a satalite and have to befriend protes to survive. Life lessons are learned and the protes end up teaching the execs.

My major problem was with the pacing. The story is told in flashback from a dying exec on the satalite. The author then takes too long in getting the characters too the satalite. There is a lot of debate on whether or not they should go when you already know they will. It just kind of drug on at that point. Once the characters get on the satalite the pace picks up and the story is fairly entertaining.

My only other problem was with the main characters characterization. He doesn't seem realistic in his actions or thoughts. It was a more appropriate characterization for a spoiled teenager than a 200+ man.

Not the authors fault, but the cover doesn't really represent the book or the world in which the book lies, but that is nitpicking.

I would recommend this book to sci fi fans. Due to sexual content, not graphic, 16 up.

Gibson likes to keep you guessing in this book. The plot is not one that instantly reveals itself in the beginning. You actually have to wait till the end to figure out the direction that all the characters have been moving toward. This allows Gibson ample time to work on characterization, or, at least, you would think so. I am not saying that the characters are not well developed, but there is just something missing, something keeping the reader from seeing the characters as human.

As usual, Gibson paints America in a bleak future. Poverty is rampant, government is invisible, and anarchy rules the day. Unlike some of his other works, this book is not about hackers ruling the world. The assassins in this book are just that. The world is excellently created, partly explained, and somewhat feasible. The setting is the books strongest point.

The plot was very vague. Gibson gives enough clues to keep the reader interested and develops the characters enough to make you want to find out more, but seriously lets the reader down in the end. The book almost feels rushed in a way. I would have liked to understand the Idoru’s motives, but for that maybe I should have read Idoru first. I had read that this book is stand alone and you need not read one to get the other. I hope that is not true. All Tomorrow’s Parties fails as a stand alone. If it skips over the ending because it has already been hashed out in the other book it is excusable. Again, I should have read Idoru first. So that is my recommendation.

I recommend this book to people who have read Idoru. I am not saying to read Idoru instead, but read both. This was a decent book that was on par with some of his other stuff. It does seem that he recycles ideas from other books sometimes, but he has never said that they all take place in separate universes. On the contrary, he has reverenced characters and plots from previous stories in follow ups. I digress, read Idoru before you pick up this book.

For us, the comatose

Heinlein’s first attempt at a novel stayed locked away, unpublished, in a drawer until after his death for a reason. As a story, the plot does not flow and the characters, although very smart, lack any real depth. This was Heinlein’s extended diatribe on how he thought the world should be. Heinlein is probably lucky that this book was not picked up by a publisher. In the fifties, he would have went to jail for writing such ideas.
This book is great as a comparison read to see how much Heinlein changed from his idealistic youth until his libertarian death. Some of the predictions are true, but, at this time, Heinlein really underestimated how much technological development would come in the near future.

I recommend this book to Heinlein fans as a comparison or beginnings work. I would also recommend this book to economics students as they would be the only ones to truly grasp the economic scenario laid out towards the end. It could have been more. I think Heinlein recycled what he thought he could use in other stories. If you want to read some Heinlein, there are other better selections to choose from.

The newest addition of Harry Potter is darker and racier than previous books have been. New loves are found and lost and maybe found again. The humor that the Weasley twins brought out is absent and the book remains serious throughout. Harry is back to being curious and able to find trouble Harry, and he is not as angsty as he was in the series’ previous incarnation. Ron and Hermione are rocks that are unchanging. Malfoy strangely absent for most of the book, is given more depth when he is brought to the forefront. Most people will hate Snape more after this story, but I believe that there are hints of character development in Rowling’s writing of him. This book brings about great changes for Harry, and by the end, the series is turned on its head. The series, as originally planned, was only supposed to follow Harry through his seven years at Hogwarts. This does not look to be the plan anymore, as the ending of the book opens the story up past the enchanted halls of Hogwarts. Let us hope that Rowling does not get bogged down like Jordan has and is able to take us to the last battle in a reasonable amount of time.
Rowlings writing is improving vastly. The complexity of the story and number of characters demand it. She rises to the challenge almost effortlessly. She makes some hard decisions that she will likely take some pretty harsh criticism for, and the story, along with the characters, is more grown up. The magical world of Halloween feasts is gone in this book and is replaced by a world in fear of the very magic it cherishes.
This book has some mature themes in it, and is therefore recommended for teenagers and up. If you have a younger child that wants to read the book, I would recommend reading it yourself first. If you are a fan of the series you will love this book. If you hated the last book, you will not hate this one. Rowling recovers nicely in this book.

A.A Attanasio's retelling of the legend of King Arthur is very original and unique. He builds an alternate mythology and creates a pantheistic world where all gods are real and all religions are true in their own way. The root of the whole thing is an (almost sci-fi) meta-reality that overlies the universe and encompasses the physical and metaphysical.

The characters are well detailed and his characterisations are interesting but do not follow the typical legends. For example, Merlin is very inhuman in his origins.

He also writes in a historical fiction style sprinkling details about Roman andn Celtic culture throughout the narrative while simultaneously blending the mystical aspects of his universe in.

All in all a very enjoyable read that will make you think about the Arthurian legends in a whole new way.

This book is very good children’s fiction. It is a little hard to get into at first, but once the story picks up it locks you in and is a very quick read. If you get bogged down in this book, I would suggest not giving up and pushing through. The story picks up after all the characters are introduced and the situation is explained. The ending would be my only complaint. Not all the issues are resolved at the end of the story. This is okay if the book leads you to believe that there will be a sequel, but A Wrinkle in Time does no such thing.
Overall this book is very good and highly recommended. I would suggest this book for readers of all ages. As Harry Potter has shown us, you do not have to be a child to enjoy children’s fiction. This book is safe for children.

This book follows a programmer as he tries to stop a rogue swarm of nanobots and save his marriage. Guest appearances are made by: Stinky Tech Guy, Wimpy Tech Guy, Anal retentive, does what ever the boss wants tech guy, The unfaithful wife, The talented Chinese Scientist, and the I will analyze members of my family psychologist.
I will preface this review by saying that Prey is the first Michael Crichton book I have read.
That being said, Prey is an average science fiction novel at best. The science is viable but the story lacks a real hook. The characters are one dimensional and very stereotypical. I really did not care for or relate to any of the characters. Crichton has the ability to scare the reader with the most evil potential of a technology. He has a gift to see a worst case scenario and create a character, eventhough one dimensional, that has the ability to survive this technology gone wild.
This book was enjoyable and the ending was clever. It did not get to pager-turner status until the middle to end. The book did have a nice flow and was written in an after actions report type format that was interesting. The only bog downs in the story is when Crichton is explaining some elementary techno babble (what is a nanobot anyways?).
This book may do well for fans of thrillers or as an intorduction to sci fi, but the experienced sci fi fan will see this book as lackluster. I say save your money for the movie when it comes out.