by T.A. Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 31, 2022
A satisfying, action-packed climax to a sprawling space epic.
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Humankind fled to a mysterious planet to escape hideous cyborgs, but now they find themselves confronting the monstrous machine-creatures again in this SF series installment.
Bruno concludes a trilogy with this volume, begun with In the Orbit of Sirens (2020). In a spacegoing future, human refugees fled their home system to avoid the Undriel, a shape-shifting cyborg race determined to assimilate all humanoids. A generation later, on the distant world of Kamaria, the settlers assume the danger is behind them—but then an Undriel dreadnought, hundreds of years old, rises from hibernation in the sea. Kamaria already has a native population of technologically advanced bird-people, the auk’nai, who’ve suffered grievously due to the actions of the new human arrivals. The relationship between humans and the auk’nai are at a low point as the new Undriel threat dawns, but a few key colonists from the science-minded family of resourceful Denton Castus have tapped into Kamaria’s primordial forces and may hold keys to fighting back. Bruno has infused the material with massive amounts of extraterrestrial mythology, alien (and avian) metaphysics, and seemingly supernatural events that may puzzle even regular readers of SF/fantasy. However, these same fans will have no problem grokking the horrific, engaging Undriel, who are reminiscent of the Borg from the Star Trek franchise as well as the Decepticons from the Transformers films; they’ll also appreciate the wily strategies to probe the weaknesses of this relentless, grotesque foe. The hefty book features a storm of kinetic battles that should satisfy readers who enjoy video game boss fights. In the hands of a lesser storyteller, the mayhem might have become a dizzying maelstrom, but Bruno manages to efficiently pull all the narrative strands together, thanks in part to scenes involving a psychic power called “Shade walking,” which provides exposition and breathing space.
A satisfying, action-packed climax to a sprawling space epic.Pub Date: May 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73464-709-9
Page Count: 494
Publisher: Tom Bruno Author
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Blake Crouch ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 26, 2016
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.
A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.
Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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BOOK TO SCREEN
by Ernest Cline ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 16, 2011
Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.
Video-game players embrace the quest of a lifetime in a virtual world; screenwriter Cline’s first novel is old wine in new bottles.
The real world, in 2045, is the usual dystopian horror story. So who can blame Wade, our narrator, if he spends most of his time in a virtual world? The 18-year-old, orphaned at 11, has no friends in his vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City, while the OASIS has captivating bells and whistles, and it’s free. Its creator, the legendary billionaire James Halliday, left a curious will. He had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate. Old-fashioned riddles lead to three keys and three gates. Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, is the first gunter (egg-hunter) to win the Copper Key, first of three. Halliday was obsessed with the pop culture of the 1980s, primarily the arcade games, so the novel is as much retro as futurist. Parzival’s great strength is that he has absorbed all Halliday’s obsessions; he knows by heart three essential movies, crossing the line from geek to freak. His most formidable competitors are the Sixers, contract gunters working for the evil conglomerate IOI, whose goal is to acquire the OASIS. Cline’s narrative is straightforward but loaded with exposition. It takes a while to reach a scene that crackles with excitement: the meeting between Parzival (now world famous as the lead contender) and Sorrento, the head of IOI. The latter tries to recruit Parzival; when he fails, he issues and executes a death threat. Wade’s trailer is demolished, his relatives killed; luckily Wade was not at home. Too bad this is the dramatic high point. Parzival threads his way between more ’80s games and movies to gain the other keys; it’s clever but not exciting. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate “epic throwdown” fail to stir the blood.
Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-307-88743-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
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