Science Fiction

Review: Impulse (Jumper #3) by Steven Gould

February 8, 2013 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 15 Comments

By Steven Gould

Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: January 15, 2013
Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Source: Publisher

Cent has a secret. She lives in isolation, with her parents, hiding from the people who took her father captive and tortured him to gain control over his ability to teleport, and from the government agencies who want to use his talent. Cent has seen the world, but only from the safety of her parents’ arms. She’s teleported more than anyone on Earth, except for her mother and father, but she’s never been able to do it herself. Her life has never been in danger.

Until the day when she went snowboarding without permission and triggered an avalanche. When the snow and ice thundered down on her, she suddenly found herself in her own bedroom. That was the first time.

Goodreads Summary

Normally I’ll start whining when the books in a series slow down to a year or more between publication dates, so it’s inconceivable to me that it’s taken twenty years for Gould to write all three main Jumper books (and it’s been seven years since Reflex). Impulse is less conspiracy-theory than the first two books while being more specifically friendly for today’s YA market. This can definitely be read even if you haven’t picked up the first two, just…before you start reading, purge that awful movie with Hayden Christensen from your mind, okay?

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Filed Under: *A Rating, Barbara Recommends, Science Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: Steven Gould

Ghost Planet: Review and Guest Post with Sharon Lynn Fisher

November 3, 2012 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 11 Comments

I’m so happy to be able to welcome Sharon Lynn Fisher to the blog today. Sharon’s new book, Ghost Planet, just hit the shelves and not only was I able to get my hands on a copy but Sharon wrote a lovely guest post for us that just happens to mention a place I think a lot of us would love to travel to.

Kiss Me, I’m (Almost) Irish

What is it with Ireland and writers? Lots of them come from there. Many of the rest of us would like to immigrate. Is it the weather? Nothing to do but write? Maybe so, but I live in Seattle and can get that right here.

Sure it’s gorgeous — rolling green hills dotted with sheep, stone fences, streams and lakes the color of Guinness. There are rainbows EVERY DAY. But you don’t want to get too comfy.

Because Ireland is also bleak and atmospheric. Moody and poetic. Storms, big waves, salty air. Dizzyingly high cliffs where people have fallen to their deaths when the fog rolled in. I grew up in tornado alley and I’ve never seen a storm as violent as the one my first night on a solo trip to Connemara. I thought the roof would blow off. It was the first time I’d ever experienced absolute dark — I lay in bed, window blinds open, and still could not see even the outline of my hand in front of my face. Except when the lightning came.

But guess what? If a day out in the elements or at the keyboard leaves your spirits a little low, Ireland has the world’s best pubs — friendly people, welcoming fires, and traditional music. Have you ever smelled a peat fire? Earthy, herbal, smoky indulgence. Especially if you’re sitting in a pub like this one, chatting up a friendly bartender named Roy and drinking Bailey’s or hard cider.

That sense you get in Ireland — of nature happening all around you, in ways you are powerless to predict or escape –definitely worked its way into the worldbuilding for Ardagh 1, the setting for my debut novel, GHOST PLANET (Tor Books).

And the hero of GHOST PLANET, psychologist Grayson Murphy, is an Irishman from County Cork. His character was inspired by the physicist hero in the film SUNSHINE, played by Irish actor Cillian Murphy, also from Cork. (The film was directed by Danny Boyle, who is more than half Irish himself.)

I create playlists for all of my projects, and when I’m finished I post them on Spotify and iTunes. The GHOST PLANET playlist includes songs from Dublin-based singer/songwriter Adrian Crowley, whose music evokes the Irish countryside with all its beauty and mystery. I also drew a lot of inspiration from the music of Glen Hansard (of The Frames and Swell Season) and Snow Patrol (part Irish, part Scottish).

How about you? Is there any place on the globe (other than the place you grew up) to which you feel you have a special connection? Maybe the place you think about when you’re wishing you were anywhere but work?

~Sharon

You can find Sharon at her website, on Facebook, on Twitter and at Goodreads.

Barbara: Hmm, aside from Eric Bana’s house in Melbourne (when his wife is gone, I’m not a total heathen!), I think Ireland would have to be it. Everyone else?

By Sharon Lynn Fisher

Publisher: Tor Science Fiction
Publication Date: October 30, 2012
Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
Source: Publisher

Psychologist Elizabeth Cole prepared for the worst when she accepted a job on a newly discovered world—a world where every colonist is tethered to an alien who manifests in the form of a dead loved one. But she never expected she’d struggle with the requirement to shun these “ghosts.” She never expected to be so attracted to the charming Irishman assigned as her supervisor. And she certainly never expected to discover she died in a transport crash en route to the planet.

As a ghost, Elizabeth is symbiotically linked to her supervisor, Murphy—creator of the Ghost Protocol, which forbids him to acknowledge or interact with her. Confused and alone – oppressed by her ghost status and tormented by forbidden love – Elizabeth works to unlock the secrets of her own existence.

But her quest for answers lands her in a tug-of-war between powerful interests, and she soon finds herself a pawn in the struggle for control of the planet…a struggle that could separate her forever from the man that she loves.

Goodreads Summary

So Halloween has passed and I thought I was done with stories that would raise the hair on my arms for another year. One chapter into Ghost Planet and I had goose pimples and until I closed the book, I felt like I was on a roller coaster of emotions – but I kept those goose pimples. This is a scary, smart, sexy story that occasionally had me doubting my own thoughts as I read.

Earth has become a polluted disaster and the need to find another planet to sustain life sent explorers out into space. John Ardagh found a planet similar to Earth that was full of vegetation and habitable and began a program to settle people there. They found a very disturbing effect once people arrived – a fully formed, solid replica of a person with some sort of relationship to them who’d died was “connected” to them on this new planet. Psychological problems developed when people engaged these so-called ghosts/aliens, so something called the Ghost Protocol was put into place, where Citizens were strongly encouraged not to speak to or acknowledge their ghosts.

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Filed Under: *A Rating, 2012 Ebook Challenge, Author Event, Barbara Recommends, Reviews, Science Fiction Tagged With: Sharon Lynn Fisher

Onyx (Lux #2)

August 7, 2012 by Cait 2 Comments

Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: Aug 14, 2012
Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi
Source: Publisher/Netgalley

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarre connection. I’ve sworn him off even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But against all common sense, I’m falling for him. Hard.

Our relationship issues aren’t out biggest problem…

The Department of Defense is here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we’re linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And when a new boy shows up a school with a secret of his own, things get complicated fast. I need to choose between my own instincts and Daemon’s.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. Daemon’s never going to stop searching until gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies.

Goodreads Summary

Katy and Daemon are recovering in the aftermath of their epic battle with the Arum, and dealing with the repercussions of their sudden connection that has irrevocably tied them together. Daemon has realized that time is limited, and has given up fighting to stay away from Katy. But Katy is having a hard time letting go of her hurt from his rude behavior of the last three months. Then a new boy shows up. A normal boy that’s interested in blogging and surfing. A boy that Katy feels comfortable with, even if the level of heat is non-existent compared to Daemon’s touch.

But this boy isn’t as normal as he appears to be, and he has answers that Katy desperately needs. It seems that a heartbeat isn’t all that Katy and Daemon share now, and Katy needs to figure out this new version of herself before she brings on the unwanted attention of the Department of Defense. With the arrival of Blake, the relationship between Daemon and Katy deteriorates even further as Katy chooses to trust Blake, despite Daemon’s instincts screaming that something is off with the guy.

Then, someone who should be dead pops up around town and throws their world completely off kilter. Katy and Daemon won’t rest until they discover the truth, even while the net their enemies have cast closes tighter around them.

I am bloody obsessed with Obsidian. Still am, even several months after it’s release. I read it at least once a month, if not more, and it somehow gets better every time. The gods were definitely smiling on me the day Entangled sent me an ARC of Onyx (thank you Entangled!). We watched a lot of Dora the Explorer the day I received my copy, because there was no way I could wait until after bedtime. Yeah, I probably won’t be winning any Mother of the Year awards any time soon. I reconciled myself to that fact long ago.

The first 75-80% of Onyx was painful. Not nails-on-a-chalkboard painful, but in an I’m-watching-someone-I-love-make-the-worst-mistake-of-their-life-and-there’s-nothing-I-can-do-about-it level of painful. Katy. Oh, my dear Katy. In Obsidian, Katy was confident and unafraid to face the truth about herself, the people around her or how much her life was changing. Heck, she even raced off to a certain death in order to save Dee. In Onyx Katy just.. snapped. Daemon finally decided that he was tired of pushing away his feelings for Katy, and she kept making up these lame excuses and telling him that he didn’t really feel that way. Yes, he was a total “douche-canoe,” in Katy’s words, and he didn’t deserve an easy road. But the guy sincerely apologized over and over again, and Katy kept running away. Then she blatantly uses Blake against him, even going so far as to pick Blake over Daemon. Not in a romantic way, but Daemon was convinced that Blake was hiding something and was frustrated and worried about Katy, so he gave her an ultimatum of sorts. Katy was determined to do things her own way though, and it completely and utterly blows up in her face.

It was so disappointing. She was so disappointing. I kept wondering where the confident girl had gone, the one that completely awed me in Obsidian. Because she was afraid of the love she felt for Daemon, she put her faith in completely the wrong person and they lose another member of their little Lux family. After that, Katy finally pulls her head out of her ass and realizes that even though she may have had good intentions, she went about it all the wrong way.

Daemon is going on every single one of my Top 10 lists at the end of the year. I thought the jerk version of Daemon was amazing and addicting, but that’s nothing compared to the sweet and loving Daemon in Onyx. He’s truly magnificent. If there ever was a hero that deserves the title of swoon worthy, it’s Daemon. I really loved the way he handled Katy after her major screw-up. He was royally pissed at her, but he didn’t hold it over her head and ultimately forgave her. You could tell that he was still madly in love with her, despite Katy continually running away from him. And Daemon doesn’t do patience, so that says something right there.

The last 20% or so was my favorite part of the book, even though the horrific events didn’t end with Katy’s awakening. JLA is clearly not the kind of author that is going to keep her characters is a nice little bubble, safe from the world. Katy and Daemon are really going to have to fight for their happily ever after. And I will definitely be there every step of the way.

My Summary: Onyx was definitely a “growing” book. Katy had a lot to figure out and deal with. Not only with her relationship with Daemon and finally admitting her feelings, but dealing with how entrenched she’s become in the Lux world now. Her nice, normal life will never be the same and Katy had to adjust to that idea. Despite how painful it was, I can see how necessary it was for the rest of the series. I cried, I laughed, I swooned, I grieved… JLA managed to wring every emotion possible out of me while reading Onyx. That, folks, is true talent.

My Rating: A+

Filed Under: *A Rating, Cait Recommends, Reviews, Science Fiction, Uncategorized, Young Adult Tagged With: Jennifer Armentrout

Glitch (Glitch #1)

July 26, 2012 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 6 Comments

By Heather Anastasiu

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication Date: August 7, 2012
Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi
Source: Netgalley

In the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network.

When Zoe starts to malfunction (or “glitch”), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers.

As Zoe struggles to control her abilities and stay hidden, she meets other glitchers including Max, who can disguise his appearance, and Adrien, who has visions of the future. Both boys introduce Zoe to feelings that are entirely new. Together, this growing band of glitchers must find a way to free themselves from the controlling hands of the Community before they’re caught and deactivated, or worse.

Goodreads Summary

I used to think the worst kind of book to review was one that just didn’t do anything for me because it left me with nothing to say. I’ve changed my mind. The worst kind of book to review is one that gave me things I wanted to rant like crazy about one minute and then enjoyed and wanted more of the next. An, “I like it but I don’t like it,” review isn’t something that I can do in an hour or so.

I loved the premise of Glitch which was why I requested it from Netgalley. The idea of a society reduced to mindless drones isn’t a new one, but the little twist of teens with glitches that gave them emotions plus some sort of extrasensory talent sounded pretty good.

Seventeen-year-old Zoel Q-24 has been experiencing anomalies outside of the Community Link feed, which should be impossible. Everyone has hardware installed that keeps them continually Linked, but Zoe’s been glitching, dropping out and experiencing emotions and becoming aware of herself outside of the Community hive mind. Getting caught means deactivation and her glitching is uncontrollable, leaving her in a constant state of anxiety. Now that bugged me. If she’s Linked she shouldn’t be anxious and she’s Linked a good part of the time.

At school, Zoe’s inadvertent movements when she’s glitching draw the attention of Adrien and Max who are also glitchers and want her, for different reasons. Adrien is part of the Resistance movement above ground and his mission is to save as many glitchers as he can and get them up there before they can be deactivated. Max just wants Zoe for himself forever, right where they are. I’m not sure where to start with the issues I had with the relationship side of this scenario.

I’m not really fond of the love triangle but I can live with it if the two guys aren’t reduced to stereotypes of good guy/bad guy. I had a problem here. Adrien was a crusader for his people but willing to set it aside and risk his life for the love of Zoe. He was selfless, kind, sweet and gentle with her. Max was so awful I seriously considered quitting during a particular scene with him. It’s “acceptable” in the story because emotions are new to him, but he behaves like an abusive, obsessed stalker towards Zoe. He practically molests her, punches walls and screams at her and she just feels badly about it when she likes Adrien more.

There was also insta-love. Twice, because of erased memory.

The potentially positive part of the story involved the Resistance or Rez, that Adrien was part of. They were amassing above ground, still dodging the Controllers but setting up their own society. I was disappointed that not much was done with the topic – it was one area that I was looking forward to in the story. I did get my action, adventure and suspense later in the story when things started getting hairy for the group of glitchers but I was left wondering why did it take so long for the story to get good?

Unfortunately the one unforgiveable sin in the story was Zoe. I don’t always require my heroines to be total badasses, but I like them with spine and some grit. Zoe just didn’t have it. Her story was full of, “I can’t,” and she was always afraid or crying. There were a lot of repetitive phrases in the book and one of them was about water flowing down her face. There was just nothing take-charge about her. She didn’t even tell Max off when he all but attacked her, she apologized for liking someone else! I just couldn’t respect her when at nearly every turn she cowered in fear, cried or depended on someone else to get her out of whatever was happening.

My Summary: It’s odd to mostly like a book despite its characters, but that’s the position I’m in with Glitch. I still think it’s a great concept and since it’s a series, I can assume the story will move above ground and finally into the interesting location I wanted to know more of. The problem is always going to be those characters. I can’t justify buying a book just because I like the background but don’t like the players in front of it.

My Rating: C-

Filed Under: *C Rating, Debut Author Challenge, Reviews, Science Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: Heather Anastasiu

Obsidian (Lux #1)

November 30, 2011 by Barbara at Basia's Bookshelf 2 Comments

By Jennifer L. Armentrout

Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Publication Date: Dec 6, 2011
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Source: NetGalley

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don’t kill him first, that is.

Goodreads Summary

Katy is about to start her senior year when her mother decides to move them from sunny Florida to a small town in West Virginia. Still grieving her father’s death, Katy’s mom decided they needed a fresh start away from the memories. In an attempt to make friends, Katy knocks on the door of her neighbor, only to be met with the most arrogant, awful boy she’s ever met. Before she can even say hello, he insults her and it’s all Katy can do to keep herself from slugging him. But oh, is he gorgeous. Daemon has an aversion to wearing t-shirts (thank heavens!), and while she mentally drools over his chiseled chest and toned arms, she can’t get past his less than charming personality.

The only good thing about Daemon is his twin sister, Dee. Katy and Dee meet by chance in the grocery store and immediately click. However, every time Katy and Dee hang out Daemon somehow manages to show up and spoil things. Over time, Katy notices odd things about the siblings. They seem to be keeping secrets, but Katy can’t determine what they are. After a particularly gruesome show down between Daemon and Katy, she accidentally runs in front of a truck and is seconds away from being killed when Daemon suddenly stops time. Daemon saves her life, but it comes with a price. Daemon’s enemies are closing in, and if Katy wants to stay alive she and Daemon must become very cozy. If only she didn’t want to kill him every moment they’re together.

My favorite kind of love story is when the couple absolutely loathes each other when they first meet and the love builds slowly over time. Daemon and Katy have explosive chemistry, and it’s so entertaining to watch them go at each other. Daemon is the kind of boy you love to hate. Or is it hate to love? He’s obnoxious and rude and he treats Katy abominably for the most part. He has moments though. Moments where we get small glimpses into who he really is behind the arrogant facade. Moments that make me want to rub myself all over him (don’t judge, you’d want do it too), where the second before I wanted to slap him. Oh, did I mention he’s completely and utterly gorgeous? The cover model really doesn’t do him justice. He’s way better lookin’ in my head than that guy is. Sorry Mr. Cover Model.

Katy is an equally wonderful character. I’m one to like the heroes better than the heroines, but she held her own in this book. She doesn’t take any of Daemon’s crap, she’s fiercely loyal to Dee and she doesn’t make stupid decisions that make my eyes roll out of my sockets. Plus, she’s a book blogger. I had to giggle at all the mentions of the meme posts and receiving review copies in the mail. I can completely relate with that.

The story itself was completely captivating. While my favorite parts were the show downs between Daemon and Katy, the mystery and the sci-fi aspect of it was interesting as well. It was refreshing to take a break from vampires and werewolves and dig into something new. The world building was easy to follow and I wasn’t overwhelmed in details.

My Summary: Obsidian was a perfect example of why I love to read. It was truly a pleasure to read this book. I began the book excited and it only grew as I continued to read. I’m only cranky about the fact that I have to wait for the next book. Alas, Obsidian isn’t even out yet so I have awhile to wait. Shoot. Daemon and Katy are wonderful, the author did a superb job on the story and I loved it so much that I bought her other book, Half-Blood, and read that the very next day. I am proud to say I am Jennifer Armentrout’s newest, possibly biggest, fan-girl and will read anything she writes.

My Rating: A+