Book Review: Two Tribes by Chris Beckett

There’s something comforting about starting a Chris Beckett novel. Not that the subject matter is necessarily comforting but, as soon as I delve into the first page, I feel in safe hands. I feel that the novel knows where it’s going, knows its own pace and is capable of whisking me there in perfect safety while I remain oblivious to the world outside.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Putting the Science in Korean Fiction

The Korean edition of writing handbook Putting the Science in Fiction has been publisehd by Gufic Press. The book includes my chapter on Waste Management in Science Fiction, and takes my total number of published languages to 29.

I'm hoping to get a copy to add to my collection.

The Sound of Death in Estonian

My alien murder mystery story The Sound of Death, which was first published at IGMS, is out today in Estonian at Reaktor magazine. This is the first translation of this story. 

It's my second story in Reaktor and my third to be translated into Estonian, following Travel by Numbers in Algernon and The Righteous Indignation of the Naked Mole Rat in Reaktor last year.

Venus of Venus Published

The July issue of Shelter of Daylight magazine is now out, which includes my story Venus of Venus. It's an interplanetary tale of reality TV and geology.

Book Review: Zodiac by Neal Stephenson

Written in 1988 before the publication of his other various well-known, award-winning and huge novels, Zodiac is Neal Stephenson’s fast-paced and irreverent eco-thriller that mixes organic chemistry with environmental campaigning and zany humour to produce an indefinable cocktail of a novel.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Book Review: Stormblood by Jeremy Szal

I met Jeremy Szal briefly at WorldCon in Dublin last year. That’s all there is to that story I’m afraid. 

Stormblood is his debut novel, a 500-page military, crime, action, slightly gothic, space opera thriller of epic scale and gritty detail. The front cover presents a futuristic Gotham-Cityesque panorama with the brooding figure of Vakov Fukasawa facing it head on.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Vietnamese Trio

I'm very excited to announce that a trio of my stories has been accepted for publication by Vietnamese literary webzine ZZZ Review.

I don't have confirmed dates yet, but these three stories will be making an appearance in Vietnamese at some point:

Englebert

The Gondolier

The righteous Indignation of the Naked Mole Rat

Book Review: Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman

It’s difficult to come up with a truly original and unique human society in which to set your story. Even when writing about other planets and other times, we tend to end up with societies that have some basis in current or past human cultures. Authors who invent new alien species can often have more scope in the variety of cultures they create but, in general, humans are humans and their societies are comfortingly familiar to us. 

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Book Review: Critical Point by S.L. Huang

Critical Point is the third Cas Russell novel by S.L. Huang, a mathematics graduate and stuntwoman who has used her experience to create the unlikely yet fabulously effective mathematical genius mercenary/private detective Cas Russell.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Observers Audio Version

The audio version of my flash fiction story Observers is out now at Tall Tale TV

This is my third story there, following on from Escapades in Time and The Righteous Indignation of the Naked Mole Rat last year, all read by the entertainingly talented Chris Herron.