futuristic

Review: Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver

~ megs14malloy

Artificial WisdomArtificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Artificial Wisdom is a near-future SciFi-Thriller set in the year 2050, a decade after millions of people in the Persian Gulf where killed by a unusual heatwave.

One of those killed on that terrible day was Marcus Tully’s wife, who was visiting family prior to giving birth to the couple’s first child. Back home in London, Tully, a well-known and successful investigative journalist, was devastated by her, and their unborn child’s, death.

Even all these years later, he is left with many unanswered questions and doubts. He seems one step closer to answers though after information he receives from a source indicates that the heatwave wasn’t actually a natural occurrence, but how is that possible?

With the world on the cusp of a ground-breaking election where they will elect a global leader for the first time, Tully finds himself swept along and up into all the political drama after someone he is closely-acquainted with is murdered.

Though it started out great, Artificial Wisdom was a bit of a mixed bag for me. It had moments where I was completely locked in; mostly those moments involving the murder mystery. Then other times I felt disconnected and wishing it would hurry up and get somewhere.

I did enjoy Weaver’s writing style, and found it easy to digest, however the plot moved too slowly for me and it was way too long.

With this being said, don’t take this as all doom and gloom. This did have a lot of positive aspects, and I know a lot of Readers are going to love it. The tech concepts and ideas for a potential future alone are worth picking it up for.

I would recommend it for SF-fans who enjoy a more literary type of story, set in a futuristic our world. There’s plenty of content here to sink your teeth into, and I actually think it could make a solid series. There’s definitely more to explore following where the author left off with this one.

At the end of the day, I felt this had great writing and strong SF-concepts, it just wasn’t a super good fit to my tastes.

Thank you to the publisher, Del Rey, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I would definitely be interested in checking out more work from this author.

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Review: Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes

~ megs14malloy

Cold EternityCold Eternity by S.A. Barnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cold Eternity is the latest release from S.A. Barnes, author of Dead Silence and Ghost Station. I always look forward to Barnes new books and this one did not disappoint.

This is another Space Horror novel and features a compelling protagonist, Halley, who after taking a remote assignment on an abandoned space barge, discovers there’s more danger in the job than she could’ve ever anticipated.

In the very beginning, this was giving me light-Artemis vibes. I think mostly because Halley, the way we meet her and the things she was thinking about at that time, were reminiscent of Jazz, the MC in Artemis.

You can tell that Halley is girl with a complicated past, who is trying her best to stay clear of it. I liked how the author filled that in for us over time, and I truly became attached to Halley and her well-being over the course of the story.

She takes the job on Elysian Fields, a giant space barge housing a now defunct cryo program, thinking the remoteness and isolation will help her to avoid the things she’s trying to avoid. Unfortunately, life on the floating crypt isn’t as harmless as she thought it would be.

Constant disturbing noises, and mysterious moving figures, haunt Halley’s days and nights. She finds it impossible to sleep, impossible to rest her nerve-rattled brain.

Karl, the only other human worker aboard, is just as puzzling as everything else about the Elysian Fields. Halley’s thoughts race and ramble as she tries to make sense of her new surroundings. It’s during this time that the Reader may begin to question how well they can rely on their narrator.

Learning about the Elysium Fields, its past, Halley’s connection to it and its present iteration was so compelling. Barnes does the horrors of future tech so well, and this story is absolutely terrifying if you think about it for too long…

S.A. Barnes has really made a name for herself in the SF-Horror space. She does such an incredible job creating an ominous atmosphere in each one of her stories, as well as well-developed main characters.

I feel like some Readers may avoid, or be intimidated by SciFi stories, as they feel like they may be too science-heavy, or too high-concept, for them to understand, or be pulled in by. And while I can understand that inclination with many SF-books, I would urge you, if this is you, to give S.A. Barnes’s work a try.

She makes her stories accessible to all types of Readers, whether you are a big-SF fan or not, I think you’ll easily be pulled in by her work and find it enjoyable.

This story, in particular, is well within our range of current understanding as tech rapidly progresses around us every day. I could absolutely picture a world where a situation like this becomes a reality.

Stories of futuristic tech always get under my skin. I just find it genuinely frightening to think about. All the ways such developments could go wildly wrong. Reading about it, in fun works of fiction like this, provide me with a safe place to explore such concepts, and honestly, it does help lessen some anxiety around these topics for me.

That may sound silly, but it is one of the reasons I so enjoy this type of story, and S.A. Barnes is my absolute go-to author for gripping, realistic, futuristic SF-Horror.

This had a lot of unsettling moments, with a great creepy atmosphere throughout. Towards the end it did have some moments where it started to feel a little muddled for me, but overall, it was a great reading experience.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I’ll be anticipating whatever Barnes releases next!!!

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Review: Glass Houses by Madeline Ashby

~ megs14malloy

Glass HousesGlass Houses by Madeline Ashby
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**2.5-stars rounded up**

I’m not having the best reading luck lately. I’m feeling let down a lot. Am I being punished for something?

I need this trend to turn around soon, because it’s seriously putting me in a mood.

I’ve been putting off reviewing this for a while. I needed to cool my jets a bit before I tore off on some salty rant review, going up one side of this and down the other. That helps no one. So, let’s take a deep breath, and get into it.

The synopsis for Glass Houses had me anticipating a gripping, freaky, intense, near-future Mystery-Thriller involving a palatial house on a deserted island.

Instead what I got was a slow-moving character study of messed up people. Sure, a small portion is set on an island, but that certainly didn’t feel like the focus.

The very start was giving the first scene from the first season of Lost. I thought to myself, this is exciting, this is intriguing. Then as it began to play out further, I thought, wait a minute is…

I won’t fill in that blank, but that happened by page 19, and I was correct. There was another thing later ‘revealed’ that I knew early on as well. I wasn’t trying to figure anything out. I never do that, but these things were just so glaringly obvious, I wonder were they supposed to feel like reveals?

Then in other ways, where I wish it could have been expanded upon, we were kept in the dark. We did get little tidbits of the greater world here and there, but it was never clear enough to understand, or provide a sense of place.

I feel like a nice mixed media element scattered throughout, that could’ve let us know how the world got to this point would’ve been fun. I mean obviously it’s the near future, but why is everything soooo different?

By the middle, it had really slowed down. We weren’t seeing as much of everyone running around like chickens with their heads cut off, which I guess could’ve been entertaining if we didn’t have these huge sections from the past taking us right out of that present feeling of chaos.

At the end of the day, NGL, I didn’t enjoy this. Some of the concepts involving future tech and AI were interesting, but I hated the way the story was told.

There was too much focus on the backstory of Kristin and not enough on the present setting of the deserted island. I feel like I was sold something that I didn’t end up getting.

I wasn’t given suspense, nor intrigue, AND was barely given any time on the deserted island that I was promised. I am rounding up to 3-stars to be nice.

With this being said, just because this didn’t work for me, does not mean it won’t work for you. I wouldn’t really go by the synopsis though to judge whether or not you would enjoy it, as personally, I feel it’s a bit mismarketed.

I think this would work best for Literary Fiction fans, who enjoy dark stories with light SF-elements. Character-driven Readers may also have success with this.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I’m not sure if I will read from this author again, probably not, but I’m glad I gave this one a shot, even if it wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea.

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Review: The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

~ megs14malloy

The Last Murder at the End of the WorldThe Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

On an island at the end of the world, a small settlement of survivors lives. Outside the island there is nothing. Well, nothing but a murderous fog that contains insect-like creatures with a taste for human flesh.

I may be exaggerating this a little, but trust me, you don’t even want to dip a toe in that fog.

122-villagers and 3-valued scientists live together on the island in harmony. It’s a simple life, but they do need to abide by some stringent rules; all for their own good. We should trust the scientists, right?

Well, the villagers certainly do. One day though, the unthinkable happens. One of their beloved scientists is found murdered, thus setting into motion a chain of events that could lead to the destruction of their world.

They need to solve the murder within the next 107-hours, or risk bringing on the fog and all the terrible little creatures that come with it.

The Last Murder at the End of the World was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024. I’ve really enjoyed both of Turton’s previously releases and was excited to see what sort of brain-teaser he was going to create for us next.

Sadly, this one just wasn’t suited to my tastes, but I can still appreciate the solid plot progression and creativity it took to create this whole world.

IMO, this book would work best for Literary Fiction fans, who enjoy stories with Speculative, or Futuristic elements.

I did enjoy the very beginning; the introduction to the setting and characters. It was all very mysterious and murky. It was giving me serious LOST vibes.

Not the attractive people suddenly stranded on a beach thing, though. More the disturbing community bits that they discover on the island way later…

I feel like I knew very early on, around page 37, what one of the big reveals was going to be. I don’t normally care about that, actually, I don’t. I don’t care about that, but unfortunately for me, the reveal I felt was coming is a trope I don’t tend to enjoy.

True to trend, it didn’t work for me here either. Obviously, I am not going to spoil for you what that is, but I’m aware that is strictly a personal taste issue, and is no way a reflection on Turton, or his work.

In fact, I doff my cap to Turton’s writing, creativity and overall mental prowess. It’s clear, if you’ve ever read one of his books, that his brain works better than around 95% of the rest of us.

For me though, this failed to capture my attention. I feel like some of it was kept too obscure, meaning, I couldn’t picture any of this. I was being told a lot of things, but I couldn’t actually imagine it, in my mind’s eye, playing out.

I also did find the pace to be incredibly slow, and not in an enticing slow burn sort of way. More in a, I’m starting to fall asleep way. And once I started to feel that, I couldn’t shake it. I really just wanted it to be over, which hurts me to say, but we’re all about honesty in this house.

I was fortunate to receive an early copy of the audiobook, because that definitely helped me to get through this one. I did find the narration quite charming.

At the end of the day, this just wasn’t a great fit for my tastes. The content wasn’t something I enjoyed. Nevertheless, I still love and admire Stuart Turton as an author and I cannot wait to see what he comes up with next!

Thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks Landmark and Tantor Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. Even though this wasn’t my cup of tea, I am still very glad I had the chance to pick it up!

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Review: Scythe (Arc of the Scythe #1) by Neal Shusterman

~ megs14malloy

Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1)Scythe by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Scythe is an incredible book. Everything about it is top notch. I wish I could give it a million stars…

I’m close to the last person to read this Shusterman golden child, yet I am still going to rave about it nevertheless!

Set in a futuristic version of our world, where natural death no longer exists, Scythe, follows two young people, Citra and Rowan, who are chosen to apprentice with the powerful and well-respected, Scythe Faraday.

Scythes are granted the power to end life. The Scythedom is a world-wide community of individuals who have trained, passed trials and taken an oath to serve as Scythes, an ultramodern version of grim reapers.

As the Reader, we go along with Citra and Rowan as they meet Scythe Faraday and become his apprentices. We learn about the Scythedom as they do, which made the world come together naturally, versus an enormous info dump.

I always enjoy when an author can frame their world creation in this way. I know it doesn’t work with every story, but I love to learn things right along with our protagonists.

The further they get into it, the clearer it becomes that there is currently a schism building within the Scythedom. There are followers of the more traditional ways of the Order, and others who would like the shake up the status quo.

The system does indeed begin to shake, quite violently, and both Citra and Rowan find themselves right at the heart of it. The stakes are extremely high, as each teen struggles to make it through unscathed.

I loved the overall concepts presented in this book, as well as the characters and actions. It’s so well plotted and absolutely hooked me from the start.

Citra and Rowan were fun to get to know. They develop a bit of an unlikely friendship over the course of their apprenticeship and I really started to look at them like opposite sides of the same coin.

There are a lot of twists and turns throughout, some that I didn’t see coming from a mile away. Maybe I’m dense, but I’d like to think that it was because I was so in the moment with this story, that I wasn’t thinking further ahead.

I love too how philosophical Shusterman can get with his writing. I finished his Skinjacker trilogy not long ago, and encountered the same types of themes and issues explored there as here. It’s really first-rate stuff that makes you think and leaves you with a lot to consider.

At the conclusion of this installment, we had some fairly major revelations that left me chomping at the bit to get to the next book.

Luckily, I already have the entire series waiting for me on my shelves, so shall be getting to Thunderhead this month. I’m so excited to get back into it!!

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