Spotlight – Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky is quite possibly the most loved book the The Write Reads team has had on a book tour. I’ve not seen one negative comment yet.

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Goodreads  –  Amazon

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Blurb

This high-stakes space-based adventure will be perfect for those who loved Children of Time, also by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

The war is over. Its heroes forgotten. Until one chance discovery . . .

Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade his mind in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers.

Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien enemy. Many escaped, but millions more died. So mankind created enhanced humans ¬such as Idris – who could communicate mind-to-mind with our aggressors. Then these ‘Architects’ simply disappeared and Idris and his kind became obsolete.

Now, Idris and his crew have something strange, abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects – but are they really returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy as they search for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, and many would kill to obtain it.

Praise for Adrian Tchaikovsky:

‘Brilliant science fiction’ – James McAvoy on Children of Time

‘Full of sparkling, speculative invention’ – Stephen Baxter on The Doors of Eden

Shards of Earth is the first thrilling instalment in the Final Architecture trilogy – by the Arthur C. Clarke award-winning novelist Adrian Tchaikovsky.

About the author

Adrian Tchaikovsky is the author of the acclaimed Shadows of the Apt fantasy series, from the first volume, Empire In Black and Gold in 2008 to the final book, Seal of the Worm, in 2014, with a new series and a standalone science fiction novel scheduled for 2015. He has been nominated for the David Gemmell Legend Award and a British Fantasy Society Award. In civilian life he is a lawyer, gamer and amateur entomologist.

Australian authors I have loved.

I originally posted this in 2018 and I wanted to update it a little to add some other Australian authors that I have since discovered and thoroughly enjoyed. It’s going to make it a chonky post so I hope you make it all the way through.

John Marsden – born in Victoria in 1950, he had an interest in writing from a young age. He was a teacher and has written many books, he is successful internationally as well as at home.

The Tomorrow when the War Began series was my favourite series as a young teen. A group of kids go camping for a weekend and when they get back they discover that their area/country has been invaded. Their loved ones are held captive, so they do the only thing they can do – Guerrilla warfare. Ellie and her friends are a diverse bunch with many skills, they use these country kid skills to cause mayhem for the invading forces. I absolutely loved the idea of kids kicking arse and taking it to the bad guys. The relationships between the kids were complex and well written. John Marsden didn’t skim over the details, he handled the mental challenges the kids faced really well, the fallout for them. It’s not all sunshine and lollipops, these kids go through hell and their mental health reflects this. I still reread this series every couple of years. I cannot wait for my daughter to read this series. There are seven books in the series and I just discovered a follow-up series called the Ellie Chronicles that I have yet to read.

(2021 update – My daughter was not a fan of this and didn’t even make it through the first book… Does this mean I failed as a mum? lol)

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Goodreads  –  Amazon

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Favourites of 2020

Well it’s a week or so later than I originally planned, but finally it’s here. My wrap up of 2020. Life wise all has been well here, where I live we have managed to avoid, for now, Covid affecting our lives too much. The kids had a couple of weeks off school and a lot of business was closed for a while. I was off work for six months, but a lot of other people were affected way more than us. My daughter and I have started volunteering at a wildlife hospital, my son has taken up a new sport and I’m looking forward to trying new things in 2021 (Well maybe saying that I’m looking forward to new things is a bit strong lol). I also fell in love with reading middle grade books and they kept me reading while I was teetering on the verge of a massive slump.

Looking ahead – 2021

New year means new books!! I thought I would have a look ahead and showcase a few 2021 releases that I’m super excited for.

What’s on my TBR – NetGalley Edition

NetGalley, the light of my reading life and the bane of my reading existence. I was recently having a squizz through my NetGalley back list and to be honest it’s pretty depressing. Like many, I went hard early on, never expecting to be approved for anything and it got out of control. Then I went full ostrich, stuck my head in the sand and I’ve been ignoring a heap of them ever since.

If you think this is me finally ready to deal with my 2018 chaos, you would be wrong. I’ll reveal that shame in another post. (Maybe by then I’ll have made some headway through it.) This time I wanted to talk about the exciting reads I’ve got that are coming out in 2021.

Doors of Sleep: Journals of Zaxony Delatree by Tim Pratt

Doors of Sleep popped up at the perfect time on Netgalley. I wanted a Sci-fi, but none of the books in my collection were calling my name. This one called to me instantly, I loved the cover and the premise was super intriguing.

Synopsis – Every time Zax Delatree falls asleep, he travels to a new reality. He has no control over his destination and never knows what he will see when he opens his eyes. Sometimes he wakes up in technological utopias, and other times in the bombed-out ruins of collapsed civilizations. All he has to live by are his wits and the small aides he has picked up along the way – technological advantages from techno-utopias, sedatives to escape dangerous worlds, and stimulants to extend his stay in pleasant ones.

Thankfully, Zax isn’t always alone. He can take people with him, if they’re unconscious in his arms when he falls asleep. But someone unwelcome is on his tail, and they are after something that Zax cannot spare – the blood running through his veins, the power to travel through worlds…

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You can see why I had to have it right, how cool does it sound? And that is where my love affair with the book ended. It’s not terrible, it’s not great, it’s pretty meh. I know I sound like an asshole, but the book was totally lacking excitement, suspense, thrills. For a book that should have you a little on the edge of your seat, I just didn’t care. The book was written in such a way that all of the problems Zax faced were easily solved.

Minna was a cool character, so cool in fact, she could fix basically everything. Zax gets his arm chopped off, she grows him a new one. He needs to stay awake longer, she alters his brain. Need to set a trap or two, she can do it. Get trapped on a space station, she can alter her own blood to give herself Zax’s powers. There is never any real danger.

And the villain in this whole piece? He feels like a caricature of a bad guy from Captain Underpants.

Another reason I think I had such a hard time getting into this is because time just flits by. 6 months can be jumped in a page. Also because so much happens off page, we are told about it in massive monologues. After the second time this happened I could feel my brain starting to check out and to be honest I’m surprised I finished it.

I was really bummed about this one. The idea was pretty cool, very Sliders, but the execution didn’t work for me at all. I needed the stakes to be higher, I needed some tension and I needed to want the characters to survive.

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Goodreads  –  Publisher: Angry Robot  –  Released: 12/1/2021

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Stacking The Shelves – Sci-Fi Month Edition

A post where I can brag about my new books? Yes please. Granted I definitely won’t have something to post every week, I’ll just do it as required. I will be including everything from my purchases, to NetGalley, gifts and books from authors. For more information head over to Tynga’s reviews.

I have spent this month reading all the reviews and recommendation posts and one thing I have realised is that the sci-fi genre is huge. There are so many different sub genres that pretty much anyone could find something they like. While I have been doing my best not to purchase every awesome book I see, I have been very inspired.

The Secrets of Star Whales by Rebecca Thorne

Once again middle grade stories of wonder and magic are getting me through. This was a wholesome, heart breaking read about a boy who lost his father and the lengths he will go to, to feel close to him again. It was a tale of friendship, grief and self discovery. It had it all.

WWW Wednesday

Today I have a super simple post to let the world know what I’m reading. Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, you answer 3 questions and hey presto, you are all done.

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Kickass books I haven’t reviewed…

I don’t review every book I read, I would be so burnt out if I tried. Sometimes if a book is outside of my comfort zone and very good, I don’t feel qualified to review it. Like nothing I say would be good enough. When I love a book and can’t pull a review together I sometimes talk about it on Twitter a couple of times and move on. But it’s time to change that. It’s time to highlight kickass books that for whatever reason I haven’t reviewed.