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First Strike
-- SNEAK PEEK: Stella STELLA JAYNE WALSH FROZE, the hair on the back of her neck rigid as her body reacted to the sense that someone was behind her. Relax, she thought. You know what to do. A creak in the floor gave the person away and Stella whipped around, snatched the man’s fingers, and bent them back on his hand. He cried out and fell back. She thrust her palm into his chest and, as he coughed, she sent him to the ground by kicking his legs out from under him. He grunted as he hit the floor, cringing from the pain. She pounced on top of him and punched him in the chest again. “Okay! Okay! Stop!” he shouted. “Stella, that’s great, no, I think you, yes—” said another man behind her. Her self-defense coach called to her, and his hands touched her arms. “Wow! Great job, Stella,” Brian said, “but what’s one thing we could have done differently here?” He turned to address the rest of the class as they stood in a circle around Stella and Dan. Brian pulled Dan up from the floor, and Dan shook his head as he massaged his sore fingers. Stella was about to apologize when her phone rang, calling to her from her bag on the bench next to the sparring area. It was the special ringtone for the hospital, Mercy General. “Hello,” Stella said. “Yeah, oh … okay. I’ll be right there.” When she hung up, she felt a touch on her arm. “It’s 2019, Stella. I can’t believe you still have a flip phone,” said her friend Sarah. “I know, but I only need it for actual phone calls, and I hate texting,” Stella said. She zipped up her winter jacket and brushed her hair out of her face. “You okay?” Sarah asked. “Yes, I’ve got to get into surgery, but other than that—” “No, I mean, you kind of pissed off Dan, I think.” They both glanced over their shoulders to see Dan scowling at them from the other side of the room. “He’ll be fine,” Stella said. “Are you sure you’re all right? It’s not been that long since the shooting.” 
Giveaway! --
My thoughts:
Honestly, this book was so much fun! Just plain, good fun! It isn't always easy to strike the right kind of balance between humour and action in a sci-fi book, but First Strike with its upbeat, tongue-in-cheek tone checked all the boxes for me. The main characters were adorably sweet: Stella, dedicated to her chosen medical field of saving lives in ER, Drew, whose optimism and open-mindedness is absolutely contageous, Rider with his tough ethical diemma, Zimmer, who, despite his best efforts, will never go unnoticed due to his sartorial choices and many others equally likeable- I loved them all! Even the main villain (or should I say villainess?) is memorable in her inexplicable love of everything related to one particular colour! There's an underlying message of cooperation, fairness and inclusion, and it is very refreshing to have strong female characters who aren't teenagers or young adults. The story is told in short and snappy chapters that take the reader on a space adventure where the main charcters have to quickly adjust to the new environment and make life-and-death decisions, following their instincts, moral compass and sometimes relying on luck. I wish the trading practices on Kodon were more unequivocally condemned and I wish we learnt more about the achenemy race's actions (not just their looks) to understand the situation, but I guess we will in the following books. If you're a fan of unusual superheroes and/or love Star Trek, don't miss this one!
For the Strange and Surprising: Where the Mongrels Are
GIVEAWAY! Hosted by:
My thoughts:
For the Strange and Surprising is one of those books where you get swept away and transported in a new, fascinating orld right from the word Go. I loved the riches and colour scheme of the cover book and couldn't wait to delve in into this story which proved out both imaginative and totally original. Twenty two year old Ada is still grieving the death of her father and is on a fishing trip when she gets into a terrible storm. Ada has to swim for her life to escape a watersprout and sharks and I was absolutely mesmerised by how the author engaged all my senses in these opening scenes. The book got better and better with every page and kept me up until small hours. In the aftermath of the strorm Ada ends up on a mysterious island which is not on Earth where she has to navigate a new world full of unexpected dangers. I really liked the protagonist Ada- she's complex and flawed and the author does a wonderful job revealing the hidden depths of this strong and open-minded character as the book progresses. There are also four male protagonists, Ecaeris, Tallodus, Imryll and Connac,each of which is bringing out a different angle, a different side of Ada's personality. The banter is delicious and the tension is palpable. I'm not ususally a big fan of multiple POVs, but here it works surprisingly well. A very entertaining start to a new series with fantastic world-building, intriguing characters, adventure and humour- can't wait to read the second book! Thank you to Giselle from XBT, the publisher and the author for the review copy, provided in exchange for an honest opinion.  Thank you to Rachel from rachel's Random Resourses for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for The Night Has Seen Your Mind, a new science-fiction thriller by Simon Kearns.  The Night Has Seen Your Mind Tech billionaire, Mattias Goff, has invited five creative professionals – programmer, pianist, writer, actor, and photographer – for a monthlong residency at Crystal Falls, his Arctic retreat. Researching brain waves, and especially the enigmatic gamma wave, Goff asks his guests to wear a kind of EEG cap in order to record the electrical activity in their brains while they engage with their respective disciplines. Although they will be paid $5million each for the experience, they all start their sojourn a little wary – some more than others. Cut off from the outside world in the stunningly beautiful, if stark, Alaskan winter landscape they immerse themselves in their work. Soon, though, reality seems to be shifting. What is Goff really researching? Are his guests only being observed, or manipulated?  Purchase Links Elsewhen Press / Amazon My thoughts: The Night Has Seen Your Mind is a fascinating science fiction thriller with a touch of mystery, survival and even horror. At times I thought I knew where the author was taking me, at other times I was surprised by the development of the events and the changes the characters were going through. What is this all about? 5 representatives of 5 different creative professions are approached by the assistant of a reclusive billionaire and offered five million dollars in return for spending a month in a remote house in Alaska, doing their regular professional activities: coding, playing the piano, writing a novel, memorising lines and preparing to act a small part in an upcoming movie, and taking photos of this research project. Our characters see this as an opportunity and are quite happy to participate. all they will have to do is wear a cap registering their brain activity to provide the billionaire scientist research data. It soon becomes apparent that there's a lot more to this experiment, things they hadn't bargained for. I don't want to spoil the story by giving away the plot which I found really good. What I liked the most was the characters- the author took great pains to make them all as different fromeach other as possible, they all have unique voices and personalities and develop in their own unpredictable ways. You will like some of them, empathise and perhaps get annoyed with their actions, and will want to find out what will happen to them in the end. The story is told in short, snappy chapters and we get alternating perspectives that give us a better insight into the minds, thoughts and feelings of the characters. Another fabulous thing about this book is its atmospheric setting. There is something special about the loneliness, harsh and unforgiving beauty of the Arctic circle that almost immediately makes you think of survival and what makes us human. I definitely enjoyed the book and would recommend it to sci-fi fans. The science part isn't too technical and is quite easy to follow. As it often happens with the best books in this genre, it is more about exploring 'What if...' and 'Are we ready for this?, about seeing ourselves through somebody else's eyes and asking deeper questions about our nature.I'll be definitely looking forward to reading more from this talented author. Thank you to Rachel, the publisher and the author for the free review copy. All opinionsaremy own and were not influenced in any way.  Author Bio Simon Kearns was born in London in 1972 and grew up in Northern Ireland. In his teens he returned to London to study philosophy. At the end of 2004 he moved to the south of France where he lives with his partner and two children. His debut, Virtual Assassin, (Revenge Ink, 2010), explores personal responsibility in a corrupt society. It was followed by Dark Waves, (Blood Bound Books, 2014), about a powerful haunting and the scientist determined to debunk it. His stories have appeared in publications such as The Future Fire, Litro, The Honest Ulsterman, and on numerous websites. He revels in etymology, guitar, gaming, and the science of superstition. Social Media Links – https://www.facebook.com/simonkearns13 https://twitter.com/spiralisation http://simonkearns.com  Thank you for reading the post! Have a wonderful Wednesday! If you wouldlike to know what other bloggers thought of the book, here is the full blogtour schedule:  |
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