An interplanetary biker-squad romp that’s less cheesy than the Russ Meyer–esque premise suggests.
Three very different young women in a space-traveling future form a quasi-successful criminal gang.
Set in an unspecified, spacegoing future, Vibbert’s novel revolves around the conceit of “solo-flyers”—zippy little one-seater (very occasionally two-seater) minispaceships, capable of faster-than-light travel. The technology occupies a niche akin to that of motorcycles. The author’s native Cleveland, Ohio, makes an appearance (pretty much as dingy and unfashionable as the present-day Cleveland) as the territory of Ki, a petite, young petty crook, con artist, and aspiring adventurer, who inherits a swanky solo-flyer from a boyfriend dying of a genetic ailment. While joyriding within the solar system, Ki meets Margot, almost her complete opposite. Former low-ranking military and now unable to find a job, the ultracautious Margot has, untypically, overspent her budget on a solo-flyer; she dreads having to go back and live with her stifling Vietnamese parents on Luna. Ki drags her into a police chase and then a fortune-hunting excursion to the distant, exotic planet of Ratana. There, they find a third kindred spirit, Zuleikah, a poor-little-rich-girl member of Ratana’s nobility, for whom solo-flyers are an escape from the boredom of aristocracy. The incorrigible Ki pronounces their trio an official criminal gang—the Galactic Hellcats—and they fumblingly try to pull off their first big caper, the kidnapping of Ratana’s handsome Prince Thane. The prince turns out to be gay and closeted, unhappy in his royal role, and a pawn in a brewing palace coup that was going to put him in jeopardy anyway. Not quite as outwardly comedic as it sounds, the material zips along in extravagant space-opera fashion, with the subplot about Prince Thane making a sort of straight-faced salute to vintage Ruritanian adventure yarns of yesteryear. It overall plays breezily and well, considering the author is revisiting a premise she started drafting in adolescence. Fans of Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat series might take especially well to these idiosyncratic space outlaws, and the material’s gender switches on character roles do not feel forced or gimmicky. The result is a noncondescending space ride suitable for savvy YA readers as well as older genre fans.
An interplanetary biker-squad romp that’s less cheesy than the Russ Meyer–esque premise suggests. (acknowledgments)Pub Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-952283-07-9
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Vernacular Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Buckle up—fans of page-turning SF may find themselves binge-reading this novel in one butt-numbing marathon session.
Like a truck with no brakes speeding down a steep mountain road, Islington’s latest is an adrenaline-fueled SF thrill ride that follows a biomechanically enhanced assassin as he tries to understand his mysterious origins.
The chaotic opening scene gives readers a clear indication of what they’re in for: Contract killer Azure, attempting to complete a mission, is involved in a life-or-death battle with a multieyed biomachine called an Argos. “The thing’s bipedal but has six gorilla-like arms that end in half-metre-long claws,” he complains. After Azure barely dispatches the monster and kills his target, his AI assistant, Atti, informs him of his next job: protecting an elderly—and incredibly rich—woman living in a sprawling underground bunker in the middle of nowhere. “Old Woman,” as Azure calls her, isn’t forthcoming with personal details; all Azure can suss out is that she may be the target of a powerful organized crime syndicate—the same organization that employs him! Is Azure’s ultimate goal to save her or kill her? Although the worldbuilding could’ve been more comprehensive, Islington’s editing choices are brilliant—he strips away the insignificant narrative content to create a streamlined, action-packed adventure with seemingly one goal: to keep the reader furiously turning pages. The various mysteries—Azure’s murky beginnings, the tragic death of his best friend years earlier, Old Woman’s true identity, etc.—maintain the momentum and intensity. The takeaway here is the narrative potential of the characters as well as the plethora of subjects that could be explored more deeply, like immortality for the rich, cloning, and the potential to create bioengineered nightmares for “security.” Islington leaves the conclusion tantalizingly ambiguous. This novel could be the jumping-off point for a memorable series.
Buckle up—fans of page-turning SF may find themselves binge-reading this novel in one butt-numbing marathon session.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781668239247
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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