Category Science Fiction Books

Sep 13 2026
Image

Book Review: The Infinite State by Richard Swan

Title: The Infinite State

Author: Richard Swan

Series: Decurion #1

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 5/5 stars!

The Overview: In this blistering science fiction epic, international bestselling author Richard Swan presents a th rilling tale of survival and an eviscerating examination of totalitarianism.THE INFINITE STATE begins at a flashpoint in the lives of a widowed party member, a disgraced investigator, and a hypersled pilot—entangled in a plot to escape the suffocating authority of a fascist state.

WHO GIVES YOU LIFE?
PATER AETERNUS.

Katherine Fuller’s husband is dead. As an esteemed member of Pater Aeternus—governing party of the fascist, galaxy-spanning Decurion Empire—he has left behind an estate of immeasurable wealth. And Katherine is going to inherit it.

WHO GIVES YOU PURPOSE?
PATER AETERNUS.

Life under the Eternal Father is rigidly stratified, surveilled, and controlled—each new day to be endured, not lived. But with Katherine’s newfound fortune, she is presented with a rare and dangerous opportunity: purchase a virgin world, and create a better, fairer society.

WHO GIVES YOU JOY?
PATER AETERNUS.

But the Empire cannot allow its wayward daughter to succeed. And as Katherine works in secret, recruiting allies she’s not even sure she can trust, she will discover exactly how far Pater Aeternus is willing to go to stop her. Because Katherine is going to create something nobody has seen for many years. A democracy. –Goodreads

Niki’s Review:

If this isn’t already on your TBR, it should be.

I wasn’t sure I was going to like this going in, having a particular aversion to fanaticism in any form. But since Swan had dazzled me before with Tyranny of Faith, I took a leap of faith and dove in anyway.

I was hooked from the first page.

There were a lot of brilliant things going on in this book. World-building that felt expansive. Characters who were anything but perfect but more endearing for it. An ominous overtone to the entire book that made my skin crawl. Superb use of pacing – this thing started with a slow burn and eventually amped up to the point where I lost sleep… I had such an experience with this book even though parts of it were really uncomfortable to read.

There’s something slightly unconventional about the way Swan tells his stories. And it really works for me. The way all three POVs were woven together to give the reader the broader picture of what’s going on in this empire was superb. I can’t think of many books I’ve read lately where I felt a genuine fear and suspense for the characters’ survival. I cannot wait to see where the story goes next in Guerrilla Republic (coming out sometime August 2027) – I need it yesterday!

I listened to this on audio and thought the narrators chosen were a perfect match for their characters. They definitely enhanced the story with their precise delivery and cadence. I think the immersive experience they offered is partly why I was able to lose myself so entirely into the story while tandem-reading (where you read the book while the audio plays in the background). Occasionally it was a bit jarring to hear the same character represented by a different narrator, as is common with multiple narrators for a story when POVs start to merge, but it didn’t take long to acclimate. Highly recommend!

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Karen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Poochtee, Kinsey, Alysa, Derek, Kelly, Grace, Carmen, Leticia, and Leah! <3

Also, I’d like to thank Richard Swan, Macmillian Audio, and Netgalley for the chance to read and review an early copy of this audiobook.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Sep 12 2026
Image

Book Review: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Title: Ender’s Game

Author: Orson Scott Card

Series: Ender’s Saga #1

Genre: Science Fiction

The Overview: From New York Times bestselling author Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game―adapted to film starring Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford―is the classic Hugo and Nebula award-winning science fiction novel of a young boy’s recruitment into the midst of an interstellar war. In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race’s next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn’t make the cut―young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. Ender’s skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister. Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender’s two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives. –Goodreads

Niki’s Review [5/5 stars]:

I’ve read this book twice – once when I was a teenager and again a few years ago, almost two decades later. Both times I read it, I felt the impact of the ending and all the great momentum that got us there. But it was only on the second read that I appreciated all of the more quiet moments of the book and felt like I really got the full experience. There were some grittier things the first time around that my wee little self wasn’t prepared to handle, but adult me wanted expanded on. I’ve since read through more than half of the Ender’s Universe books in chronological order and have enjoyed them thoroughly. I definitely wouldn’t have been ready for them twenty years ago, but right now they are exactly what I’m in the mood to read.

Ender’s Game sits on a pedestal of books that completely dazzled me. What made it so good? First off I think school settings instantly trigger a certain fondness for books. But this school setting took it further by utilizing young brilliant minds in a game that required a lot of tactics and strategy. There were plenty of scenes where we get to see the game played with some very satisfying outcomes. All for stakes getting higher and higher in this incredible momentum build, making it one of the best culminations I’ve ever read. Truly breath-taking stuff. Ender is such a cool character because he quietly breaks the mold, yet still seems poignantly human and relatable.

This was one of my first science fiction books, and it definitely fueled my interest in the genre and set a high standard of expectations. I think my 5-star rating reflects both how brilliantly I think it was written, as well as extra points for what the book meant to me personally in my reading journey. Ender’s Shadow, while different in many ways and perhaps not quite as brilliant on paper, hit me in the same meaningful way and is also one of my favorite books. Love for both of these stories has sustained me through a series that so far has been enjoyable, but not quite as impactful. Either way, I’m loving the journey.

Overall, if you have any interest in science fiction at all and have not read Ender’s Game, you’re sorely missing out. I consider it a staple of the genre.

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Karen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Poochtee, Kinsey, Alysa, Derek, Kelly, Grace, Carmen, Leticia, and Leah! <3

Dave’s Review [5/5 stars]:

This was my second time reading Ender’s Game, and if anything, I enjoyed it even more this time. It remains my favorite science fiction book, narrowly edging out both Dune and Hyperion, which are also near flawless books. Even knowing where the story is going (and perhaps able to appreciate what he is doing because of that), I was impressed by how effectively Card balances an exciting military science fiction story with a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of Ender’s character and psychology.

The battle school setting is a huge part of what makes the book work so well. The zero-gravity battle room provides a genuinely compelling setting for the increasingly complex games, while the competitive environment among the children creates constant tension. What initially appears to be a training exercise gradually becomes something much more serious, and Card does an excellent job of showing how Ender learns to think several steps ahead of everyone around him.

Ender himself is an exceptional protagonist. What I particularly appreciate is how much of the story is devoted to his thought process. We do not simply see that Ender is brilliant—we are allowed to follow his reasoning as he analyzes problems, anticipates his opponents, and develops increasingly unconventional solutions. At the same time, his intelligence is balanced by his empathy and growing isolation, making him considerably more interesting than a typical child-genius protagonist.

One of the things I appreciated more on this reread was how effectively the novel sets up the rest of the series. The ending provides a fascinating bridge to Speaker for the Dead, which is almost completely different in tone and subject matter, while also establishing the foundations for the Shadow books and Bean’s story.

Having read it once before, Ender’s Game remains an incredibly entertaining, intelligent, and well-constructed science fiction novel. After many years at the top of my list, I cannot imagine many books being able to displace it any time soon.

Other books you might like:

Aug 30 2026
Image

Book Review: Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Stories by Andrew Erikson (ed.)

Title: Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Stories

Author: Andrew Erikson (editor)

Series: N/A

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

The Overview: Science fiction and fantasy have gone hand-in-hand since their emergence at the end of the 19th century. Containing the best short stories of the masters of the two genres, this collection brings together the outstanding imaginations of writers such as H. G. Wells, George Griffith, Robert E. Howard and William Morris. Providing both an escape from the troubles of the real world and unique insight, these tales provide an experience that can’t be replicated anywhere else. –Goodreads

Dave’s Review:

This compilation is an journey through the early history of science fiction and fantasy, but I found the quality to be uneven. Some stories, particularly the H.G. Wells and Ambrose Bierce selections, remain interesting because of their ideas and the historical context in which they were written. Others are little more than pulpy adventures that feel dated today. I appreciated seeing how authors from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries imagined technology, space travel, and alternate realities, but too many of the stories were overly wordy, meandering, or simply failed to go anywhere particularly interesting. There are some worthwhile curiosities here, but overall I found the collection more interesting historically than enjoyable as a reading experience today.

As usual with short story collections, I noted my thoughts in a couple of sentences after reading each one, and have compiled them below.

Under the Knife by H.G. Wells. A story about a man undergoing an operation, yet is able to perceive what is happening on both a small scale and large scale via an outer body experience. Interesting for a story written in the 19th century. No doubt it was terrifying going into an operation back then, with a very high mortality rate, especially for anything major.

The Door in the Wall by H.G. Wells. This one is about a door to some sort of alternate reality where life is simple and peaceful. It definitely seems to be a metaphor for different paths in life and making decisions.

Polaris of the Snows by Charles B. Stilson. I was not familiar with the author prior to reading this story. It is a fun, pulpy adventure story that takes place in the Arctic – perhaps somewhat of a polar Tarzan. This was nothing special, just a fun read.

The Artist of the Beautiful by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I have not read Hawthorne since The Scarlet Letter in high school. This story had promise at the beginning, but ultimately did not go in the direction that I thought it might. However, that is probably not unusual for speculative fiction from so long ago. It was also overly wordy and meandering in a few places, but likely just the style of the author/times.

The Darwinian Schooner by W.L. Alden. An interesting idea of a story about a schooner found at sea, but ultimately I felt that it never went anywhere very satisfying. There was potential for a deeper story. Modern authors likely would have taken this concept much further.

A Visit to the Moon by George Griffith. I cannot say that this was a particularly good story, but it was an interesting read due to its age. This was written in 1900, the same time as H.G. Wells’ serialized novel on the same topic. Some of the details seem quite ridiculous today, but it is fascinating to see how some authors envisioned such a trip the better part of a century prior to when it occurred in reality.

Moxon’s Master by Ambrose Bierce. This starts out with “do you really believe that a machine thinks?” No doubt this was a wild statement in the late 1800s, but with AI prevalent everywhere today, it hardly raises an eyebrow. However, this was an interesting relic of a bygone era, complete with outdated perceptions of technology. And the ending, well, still very much relevant in our world today.

Rats in the Belfry by John York Cabot. An eccentric man builds a bizarre mansion and then discovers a portal. This is perhaps a simple precursor to other similar works that have since presented much more expansive ideas based on this concept. Still, this brief story was worth the small investment.

On the Martian Way by Harry Gore Bishop. I was surprised to discover afterward that this was first published in 1907, before the Titanic. I would have guessed that it took some inspiration from that event. Overall it is an average story, with some interesting insight into what we would now say is a pretty archaic view on how “shipping” routes between colonies on different planets might look.

Within an Ace of the End of the World by Robert Barr. This is a story where a world food shortage occurs at the dawn of the twentieth century. It is discovered that food can be manufactured from nitrogen in the air, but of course that then causes other problems. It was written in 1900, and is a bit bland, but it is an early attempt at tackling certain topics which are still pretty relevant today.

The Phoenix on the Sword by Robert E. Howard. A Conan story. I have read a couple of Conan novels long ago. I am not a huge fan. This is more or less what I expected, but at least in short form, it is less of a commitment. It is mildly entertaining, but there is zero depth and it suffers from some very dated tropes that feel a little uncomfortable today.

The Tower of the Elephant by Robert E. Howard. Another Conan story, this one is about a young Conan attempting to steal an artifact from a guarded tower. Again, it is purely an adventure story from another era. It is a good bit of fun with the right expectations, but it lacks any depth. This one is probably slightly more memorable than the previous Conan story in this collection.

The Shadow Kingdom by Robert E. Howard. This predates the Conan stories, and is apparently regarded as a highly influential work, considered to be one of the very first truly gritty sword and sorcery story. Be that as it may, I did not find the story particularly interesting or enjoyable to read. It feels pretentious and needlessly excessive. I guess I can at least say that I have read it now?

The Sea-Witch by Nictzin Dyalhis. I was completely unfamiliar with this author, and perhaps if would have been best left that way. This was an overly long and largely uninteresting story about, well, a witch? It is Viking-inspired, but quite pulpy and I got very little out of it for the time I invested in reading it.

The Dancer in the Crystal by Francis Flagg. This story imagines a scenario where electricity becomes nullified. Despite the strong premise, the story itself is a little underwhelming. Written in 1929 and taking place in the 1950s, the effect of the complete loss of electricity in the story is actually nowhere near as catastrophic as it would be were this to occur in our world today.

The Regent of the North by Kenneth Morris. Cool, a Viking story! Except that I found it to be very mundane. It felt like reading a history book with elegant prose. This style of short story is just so different from what tends to be popular today.

The Folk of the Mountain Door by William Morris. A Nordic tale that was supposedly an influence on early twentieth century fantasy authors. That may be the case, but I did not enjoy reading it. The prose is strong, but archaic, and the text has far too many poems/songs for my liking. I also found the story itself to be pretty unmemorable.

Aug 16 2026
Image

Book Review: Forty Thousand in Gehenna by C.J. Cherryh

Title: Forty Thousand in Gehenna

Author: C.J. Cherryh

Series: The Alliance-Union Universe

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 3/5 stars

The Overview: When forty thousand human colonists are abandoned on a planet called Gehenna for political reasons, and re-supply ships fail to arrive, collapse seems imminent. Yet over the next two centuries, the descendants of the original colonists survive despite all odds by entering a partnership with the planet’s native intelligence, the lizardlike burrowing calibans. –Goodreads

Dave’s Review:

Forty Thousand in Gehenna starts with a fascinating premise that hooked me. A group of humans is sent to establish a colony on an alien planet, only to find themselves increasingly isolated and forced to adapt to an environment that is very different from what they expected. Cherryh does a particularly good job of making the early portion of the story feel uncertain and compelling. There is a real sense of discovery as the colonists struggle to survive and understand their new home. There are many colonists who are named, but the few important characters to the narrative in the early chapters are simple enough to follow.

Unfortunately, my interest began to wane as the novel progressed. The story moves through multiple generations, and while I understand what Cherryh is trying to accomplish, the constant shifts in time and characters made it increasingly difficult to stay invested. The genealogy trees included with the book eventually become almost essential for keeping track of who is related to whom, but needing to consult them also highlights the problem. There are simply so many characters that it becomes difficult to form much of an attachment to any individual. Just as I began to become familiar with someone, the story would move on to another generation. As the story moves further away from the original colonists, that initial sense of discovery and interest begins to fade.

There is a lot to admire here, particularly the ambitious worldbuilding and the ideas about cultural evolution and adaptation. I have found Cherryh’s strengths to lie in creating vast worlds and universes with complex politics, sometimes at the expense of characters and narrative. Here I found the novel more interesting as a concept than as a story. The strong opening ultimately gave way to a book that I admired but left me just a little bit disappointed.

Aug 9 2026
Image

Book Review: The City & the City by China Miéville

Title: The City & the City

Author: China Miéville

Series: N/A

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The Overview: When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined. Borlú must travel from the decaying Beszel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own. This is a border crossing like no other, a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen. His destination is Beszel’s equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma. With Ul Qoman detective Qussim Dhatt, and struggling with his own transition, Borlú is enmeshed in a sordid underworld of rabid nationalists intent on destroying their neighboring city, and unificationists who dream of dissolving the two into one. As the detectives uncover the dead woman’s secrets, they begin to suspect a truth that could cost them and those they care about more than their lives. What stands against them are murderous powers in Beszel and in Ul Qoma: and, most terrifying of all, that which lies between these two cities. Casting shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984, The City & the City is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights. –Goodreads

Dave’s Review:

The City & the City, like most of Miéville’s writing, is one of the most original novels I have read recently. The central premise is so unusual that it is difficult to describe in a cogent manner. Blending a noir detective story with speculative fiction, Miéville creates a world that is truly unique. Even when I wasn’t completely invested in the story, I remained fascinated by the ideas behind it.

The novel follows Inspector Tyador Borlú as he investigates a murder spanning two cities. The bizarre element is that these cities occupy the same physical space, while their inhabitants are conditioned to perceive them as separate. It may be difficult to describe, but the concept is brilliant, and the strange atmosphere of these intertwined cities is probably the book’s greatest strength. The mystery itself is fairly engaging, but it often feels secondary to the exploration of the setting and the social structure around it. I have said before that the setting is the most memorable character in a Miéville story.

For all of its creativity, however, the novel can also be frustrating at times. Although I found this to be one of the easier Miéville settings to wrap my head around, a good bit of effort is nevertheless required to understand the world. The complexity of the world ramps up in certain ways as the story progresses, to where I occasionally found myself struggling to follow exactly what was happening in the latter parts. Borlú is a competent detective and protagonist, but he never develops into a very memorable character, and many of the others blend together or take a backseat to the setting and the ideas. The ending also left me wanting a bit more, resolving the central mystery but without the emotional or thematic payoff I had hoped for.

Despite those shortcomings, The City & the City is well worth reading for its originality alone. It reminded me of Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Tainted Cup (which, coincidentally, I had read just prior to this book) in the way it uses an inventive speculative setting to elevate a detective story into something far more unique. Both books also won the Hugo Award for best novel, perhaps fitting given the way that they creatively blend speculative fiction and mystery. I may not consider it to be a perfect novel, but it will certainly stay with me for a long time to come.

Aug 1 2026
Image

Book Review: Heaven’s River by Dennis E. Taylor

Title: Heaven’s River

Author: Dennis E. Taylor

Series: Bobiverse #4

Genre: Science Fiction

The Overview: More than a hundred years ago, Bender set out for the stars and was never heard from again. There has been no trace of him despite numerous searches by his clone-mates. Now Bob is determined to organize an expedition to learn Bender’s fate—whatever the cost. But nothing is ever simple in the Bobiverse. Bob’s descendants are out to the 24th generation now, and replicative drift has produced individuals who can barely be considered Bobs anymore. Some of them oppose Bob’s plan; others have plans of their own. The out-of-control moots are the least of the Bobiverse’s problems. Undaunted, Bob and his allies follow Bender’s trail. But what they discover out in deep space is so unexpected and so complex that it could either save the universe—or pose an existential threat the likes of which the Bobiverse has never faced. –Goodreads

Niki’s Review [3/5 stars]:

Heaven’s River was a departure from the storytelling format I’ve come to expect from Taylor, and I’m not sure the change did it any favors.

One word: pacing. One of the best things about the Bob books is that they clip along at a great pace. Maybe even too fast in some instances, which makes the moments where he decides to deep dive into a specific story thread even more satisfying and immersive. This entire book was an immersive deep dive that honestly read to me as though it were originally planned as two separate short novels that ultimately got mashed into one.

And here’s the thing: I actually LIKED the direction the story took because it reminded me of my favorite thread from the original trilogy (basking within a cool alien culture). No, my issues lie in execution. Diving in, we had a clear idea on what the objective was, however it was unclear through most of the book how the characters’ actions were actually helping them towards their objective. It felt more like stumbling around and getting fortunate a few times more than successful executions of a plan. And I mentioned pacing… oh my gosh move it along already. There were too many repeating elements and encounters that made the book feel like a lot more of a drag than it needed to be. And what’s more, the aliens they spent time with resembled a completely separate alien species we’d already encountered (the Pav). Call me crazy, but since all the main characters are basically the same, you’d think that would leave enough creativity behind to diversify the aliens just a bit more. Maybe he thinks the universe just needs more otters…

But I rant.

The book has some issues, but I’d say overall I’m still glad I read it to continue the series. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my time with these books this year, and I look forward to reading the next one. The good new is, it’s much shorter. And even though I have a rant to spare for this book, it was still something I enjoyed reading from start to finish. It’s just wasn’t as good as it COULD’VE been, you know?

Pick this series up if you enjoy the cheekier side of scifi. It’s fun without being dumb. Most of the time.

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Karen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Poochtee, Kinsey, Alysa, Derek, Kelly, Grace, Carmen, and Leticia! <3

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Dave’s Review [2.5/5 stars]:

Having enjoyed the first three Bobiverse novels for the most part, I went into Heaven’s River expecting more of the same. While I still found things to like, this is the first book in the series that left me feeling somewhat disappointed. It retains much of the charm and creativity that made the earlier books so much fun, but it also shows some signs that the formula is beginning to wear thin.

The biggest issue is the length. At over 500 pages, Heaven’s River feels considerably longer than the story it has to tell. The central mission is interesting enough, but it is stretched across too many detours and repetitive scenes, causing the pacing to drag for long stretches. Likewise, the series’ trademark humor, which was one of its greatest strengths early on, no longer lands with the same consistency. The pop culture references and self-aware wit are still present, but they have become predictable more often than not, rather than truly amusing.

That said, the novel has its merits. One of the main plot lines of the novel involves the exploration of the Quinlan civilization, which is imaginative and can be fascinating at times, even if the exploration is more drawn out than necessary. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is watching the Bobs continue to diverge into distinct individuals with competing philosophies and priorities. The growing ideological conflicts between different factions add genuine depth to the series and suggest that the greatest challenges facing the Bobiverse may ultimately come from within rather than from external threats. It sets up what I feel would be the most interesting direction for future installments in the series.

Although Heaven’s River still contains flashes of the imagination and charm that hooked me in the first book, it feels overextended at this point. I remain interested in seeing where the Bobiverse goes next, but I hope future installments recapture some of the tighter pacing and freshness of the first couple of novels.