May 27 2025

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Book Review: Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Title: Alien Clay

Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Series: N/A (…yet)

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The Overview: They travelled into the unknown and left themselves behind . . . On the distant world of Kiln lie the ruins of an alien civilization. It’s the greatest discovery in humanity’s spacefaring history – yet who were its builders and where did they go? Professor Arton Daghdev had always wanted to study alien life up close. Then his wishes become a reality in the worst way. His political activism sees him exiled from Earth to Kiln’s extrasolar labour camp. There, he’s condemned to work under an alien sky until he dies. Kiln boasts a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem like nothing seen on Earth. The monstrous alien life interacts in surprising, sometimes shocking ways with the human body, so Arton will risk death on a daily basis. However, the camp’s oppressive regime might just kill him first. If Arton can somehow escape both fates, the world of Kiln holds a wondrous, terrible secret. It will redefine life and intelligence as he knows it, and might just set him free . . . –Goodreads

The Review:

Alien Clay contained concepts I’ve read before, but as it was done with Tchaikovsky’s usual flair, it felt original.

The beginning presented a plethora of compelling questions, and half the fun of the book was finding out answers to most of them. Granted, the plot wasn’t nearly as dynamic or complex as the beginning teased it could be, but overall it had more satisfying discovery moments than not.

What struck me most about Alien Clay were the odd (and varying degrees of successful) writing choices. It felt like an experimental book – containing everything from odd jumps in the timeline to breaking the fourth wall. When the latter happened it knocked me back completely, making me start questioning everything… and it kind of pissed me off. This is the book in which I discovered I’m not at all comfortable with even a perception of an unreliable narrator, which is news to me. While it certainly made for an interesting read, it didn’t do a lot to make the story cohesive.

So we have odd, experimental writing, and a plot that felt just on this side of disjointed… but only barely. At least it was memorable. But unfortunately it also led me to stop caring entirely about certain plot points as we kept switching gears. At the very least it made a great Buddy Read book because it generated a lot of discussion.

What can be celebrated, as with most of AT’s works, is the abundance of xenobiology. The flora and fauna were stellar -> every bit as exotica and exciting as the cover promises. I was wildly impressed at the ocean-modeled symbiotic nature of this world and wish I could read more.

All things considered, this lands just in the upper half of AT works, as far as I’m ranking them. Not my favorite, but nowhere near the worst one.

Recommendations: If you love great alien flora and fauna, this was a totally engaging and fun scifi jaunt. If you’re new to Tchaikovsky’s works and want to dive into the best first, start with Children of Time or Guns of Dawn (or even Ogres).

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Tracey, Dagmara, Poochtee, and Ene! <3

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by Niki Hawkes

May 23 2025

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Book Review: Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card

Title: Shadow of the Giant

Author: Orson Scott Card

Series: Shadow #4

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: Bean, Ender Wiggins’ former right-hand man, has shed his reputation as the smallest student at Battle School. He has completed his military service for the Hegemon, acting as strategist and general in the terrible wars that followed Ender’s defeat of the alien empire that attacked Earth. Now he and his wife, Petra, yearn for a safe place to build a family – something he has never known. Yet no such place exists on Earth, a world riddled with Bean’s enemies from the past. Once again he must follow in Ender’s footsteps and look to the stars. –Goodreads

The Review:

What a great ending to this particular arc! Truth be told, I liked this series a lot more than I thought I would, especially considering it didn’t have many sci-fi elements. But this book benefitted from two things: I’m still riding the high from Ender’s Shadow – the profound character and story connections I carried away from loving it as much as I did. And I continue to find Card’s writing totally absorbing, even when the story travels miles away from what initially drew me to the series.

I also love how this tangent series added so much richness to the people who were only periphery characters in the first two books.

I don’t know why I always just assumed these continuation books would be boring and hard to follow compared to Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow. Sure, they’re not on the same pedestal, but they’ve been delights in their own right. I HAVE heard the by-publication continuations (I’m reading these chronologically) weren’t as good as the originals from the majority of people I’ve sourced (I’ll be reading those eventually), so perhaps I just unconsciously clumped these in with the hearsay for those. I’m truly surprised at how much I took away from this series and how highly I’d recommend the experience. I cannot wait to continue exploring more of this universe.

Recommendations: Haven’t read Ender’s Game yet? You’re missing out on an amazing story and one of the best sci-fis (and books) I’ve read. Read Ender’s Game but not Ender’s Shadow yet? You’re missing out on the absolute PHENOMINAL. These Shadow continuations are also worth your time.

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Tracey, Dagmara, and Poochtee! <3

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by Niki Hawkes

May 22 2025

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Novella Review: Livesuit by James S.A. Corey

Title: Livesuit

Author: James S.A. Corey

Series: Captive’s War #1.5

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The Overview: Humanity’s war is eternal, spread across the galaxy and the ages. Humanity’s best hope to end the endless slaughter is the Livesuit forces. Soldiers meld their bodies to the bleeding edge technology, becoming something more than human for the duration of a war that might never end. –Goodreads

The Review:

I liked this novella. Not because it hit all the same deeply humanistic notes that I’ve come to expect from a JSAC production, which it did, but because of how richly it expanded the Captive’s War universe.

Now I know more of what’s out there. And whether or not these livesuit players will have any roll in upcoming books, or if our time with them was more to provide hope that all is not lost… it was a tangent well worth reading. I got confused during the non-linear timeline switches a few times, but overall got the gist enough that it didn’t seem to affect my enjoyment.

I’m a big fan of the Expanse. Love the first Captive’s War book. And liked this one a full star more than I thought I would. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Tracey, Dagmara, and Poochtee! <3

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by Niki Hawkes

May 19 2025

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Book Review: Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn

Title: Star Wars: Heir to the Empire

Author: Timothy Zahn

Series: Thrawn Trilogy #1

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: It is a time of renewal, five years after the destruction of the Death Star and the defeat of Darth Vader and the Empire. But with the war seemingly won, strains are beginning to show in the Rebel Alliance. New challenges to galactic peace have arisen. And Luke Skywalker hears a voice from his past. A voice with a warning. Beware the dark side…. The Rebel Alliance has destroyed the Death Star, defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor, and driven the remnants of the old Imperial Starfleet back into barely a quarter of the territory that they once controlled. Leia and Han are married, are expecting Jedi twins, and have shouldered heavy burdens in the government of the new Republic. And Luke Skywalker is the first in a hoped-for new line of Jedi Knights. But thousands of light years away, where a few skirmishes are still taking place, the last of the Emperor’s warlords has taken command of the remains of the Imperial fleet. He has made two vital discoveries that could destroy the fragile new Republic—built with such cost to the Rebel Alliance. The tale that emerges is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale—in short, a story that is worthy of the name Star Wars. –Goodreads

The Review:

Well, color me a Star Wars nut -> I loved this!

I don’t know why only just now I’m suddenly all fired up about diving into the SW Universe. Maybe it was coming away from The Rise of Skywalker (Episode 9…) feeling disappointed in the cheap trick writing and lack of any meaningful conclusions. Maybe it was also catching Mike’s Book Reviews’ really good video about where to start in the SWU, which might have removed the intimidation factor I felt of trying to pick a place to jump in. Whatever the case, I’m happy it led me here now.

Here’s the thing about the Thrawn Trilogy – it’s a direct continuation after Return of the Jedi. And it was written in 1991!! You mean to tell me that I could’ve been discovering what happens next THIS WHOLE TIME?! Good hell, I don’t even think I saw the original films until after these were written.

And with such amazing cannon stories right at our fingertips it begs the question: why didn’t someone just adapt THIS instead of messing around with everything else on the market? These are great! A most excellent new villian (no, Palpatine did not somehow return), all the characters we know and love, plenty of space battles and action, and a fun new set of conflicts that play out like a cinematic production in your head.

If you hadn’t heard, Disney arbitrarily decided everything that had once been cannon is no longer. I’m of the opinion that THIS is the bonafide Lucas-approved cannon, and nothing Disney delcares will convince me otherwise. It almost seeems as if they were just too lazy to do any research on what had been written and that scrapping it all was someone’s brilliant quick fix. After all, who needs years of carefully thought-out lore when all you plan to do is make shitty movies anyway?

Apparently I’ve internalized some hostility I didn’t know I was harboring.

Anyway, I experienced this on audio and it’s the way to go. It includes the recognizable cinematic music during the intro and various action scenes throughout. It offers sound effects and other ambiance noises (would someone please find out what is making that goddmaned beeping noise?), and the voice actor does awesome impression of the main characters (AND Chewy, C3PO, and R2D2, who sound like themselves – woot!). It’s a true experience, and I wasn’t kidding when I said it was like watching a movie.

Overall, I’m so excited to be dipping my toes into these stories, and can’t wait to read more of this genuine continuation. :)

Recommendations: if you’re a Star Wars fan or have been looking for a reason to become one, give this a try! It’s wonderfully nostalgic, tons of fun, and so, so satisfying in it’s role as the TRUE continuation to Luke, Leia, and Han’s stories.

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Tracey, Dagmara, and Poochtee! <3

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 7 2024

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Book Review: Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey

Title: Mercy of Gods

Author: James S.A. Corey

Series: Captive’s War #1

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: How humanity came to the planet called Anjiin is lost in the fog of history, but that history is about to end. The Carryx—part empire, part hive—have waged wars of conquest for centuries, destroying or enslaving species across the galaxy. Now, they are facing a great and deathless enemy. The key to their survival may rest with the humans of Anjiin. Caught up in academic intrigue and affairs of the heart, Dafyd Alkhor is pleased just to be an assistant to a brilliant scientist and his celebrated research team. Then the Carryx ships descend, decimating the human population and taking the best and brightest of Anjiin society away to serve on the Carryx homeworld, and Dafyd is swept along with them. They are dropped in the middle of a struggle they barely understand, set in a competition against the other captive species with extinction as the price of failure. Only Dafyd and a handful of his companions see past the Darwinian contest to the deeper game that they must play to survive: learning to understand—and manipulate—the Carryx themselves. With a noble but suicidal human rebellion on one hand and strange and murderous enemies on the other, the team pays a terrible price to become the trusted servants of their new rulers. Dafyd Alkhor is a simple man swept up in events that are beyond his control and more vast than his imagination. He will become the champion of humanity and its betrayer, the most hated man in history and the guardian of his people. This is where his story begins. -Goodreads

The Review:

I love that we’re getting more scifi from these amazing authors! And to boot it’s something tied to the Expanse universe, albeit far removed from almost everything that’s familiar about that series. But so far, the Captive’s War is shaping up to be a completely different, but equally satisfying, experience!

But one thing that hasn’t changed is their mastery of character work. To take you into the granular details of what it means to be human coping with an unsympathetic existence. That brilliance is why I always feel so connected to the people in these stories and feel their stuff on a visceral level. I love Abraham’s fantasy works for much the same reason. There’s this way of slowing down events for the sake of connection that’s almost unparalleled (in but maybe a Hobb book) that always leaves an everlasting impression on my being. I’m a huge fan, and Mercy of the Gods is only the latest punctuation to that sentiment.

The Expanse was amazing. I’ve thought on occasion how for a scifi it was really only missing one point of interest… something that if included would’ve felt like it was trying to do too much. Mercy of Gods is where all that extra stuff came to play. It’s where the authors could throw off constraints and just have fun. And play they did! This was a wildly creative experience and I loved the overall concept of the story. It was slow and gripping and fast and action-packed and always exciting. Every bit as good as the best of Expanse!

Speaking, yes (I suppose) you could read this by itself without having read Expanse. It’s a 100% self-contained narrative at this point. However, if you ever plan to read Expanse and don’t want any of the progressions of things in that story ruined, trust me – start there. The tiebacks here were subtle but somehow also profound, and I’m most excited to figure out more ways in which this story ties back to the Expanse in future books… I have a feeling it’s going to be great.

I always say one of the reasons I love scifi is for the creature creation and new world explorations. I love the creativity involved and even more so when authors can tap into the biological workings of the aliens. Mercy of Gods was definitely one of the more satisfying books I’ve read in that regard, and I mean it when I say I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us in the next book. Is it out yet?!

Recommendations: James S.A. Corey fans, dive in without hesitation – this was awesome!! Daniel Abraham fans, dive in without hesitation – the character work is superb! New to the authors fans, consider whether or not you’ll ever want to read Expanse before diving in. It wont affect your enjoyment of this story much, but implications read in Mercy of Gods will wreck a good portion of the story arcs in the Expanse in one very specific regard…

I’d like to thank James S.A. Corey, Orbit Books, and Netgalley for the chance to read and review an early copy of Mercy of Gods – y’all made my year!

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, and Bee! <3

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by Niki Hawkes

Jun 24 2024

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Book Review: Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Title: Service Model

Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Series: N/A

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 3/5 stars

The Overview: To fix the world they first must break it further. Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into their core programming, they murder their owner. The robot then discovers they can also do something else they never did before: run away. After fleeing the household, they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating, and a robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is finding a new purpose. -Goodreads

The Review:

If this is your first Tchiakovsky, there are better places to start… but it was still a fun read!

Far from my favorite of his works, but like everything he produces, it was still quality. The best thing about the book was the deep immersion into the main POV, Un-Charles: a protocol-abiding service model who just wants to serve his function… it was a delightful adherence to character, down to the incredibly inefficient back and forths between robots when humans fail to give specific-enough (or too specific) instructions to these very literal minds. I’ll admit at first the drag of all of this processing and protocol-following was tedious. What had I gotten myself into? But by about the 30% mark some personality started to show through, and by halfway I was sold.

The slow growth was undoubtedly by design, which is why it gets a pass. Showing the ins and outs of where the MC started his journey made all growth and discovery a lot more profound. It helped that the humor also became more prevalent the further along, and this story boasted the single funniest thing I’ve read from Tchiakovsky to date. If for nothing else, it was worth the read for that alone! But it’s also great that the concept was interesting and the writing compelling.

Speaking of concept, I haven’t read a lot of robot stories, but even so I don’t think anything in here was truly revolutionary (pun). But they were done well. I’m finding these more post-global-trauma stories to be interesting enough in concept to make up for any other lack.

I got early access to an audio of this via Netgalley, and wouldn’t you know it – it’s narrated by Tchaikovsky himself! I often cringe when an audiobook is self-narrated, but he gave a seamless performance. His voice reminded me of the Winnie the Pooh narrator with that kindly, very proper British accent. It’s warm and easy to listen to. And perhaps the nostalgia it brough back BECAUSE of that WtP similarity actually enhanced the experience for me because it made Un-Charles come off with an innocent, almost childlike quality. One that made his journey of discovery more earnest. I’m not sure it will have the same effect on the masses, but I thought it was great.

Recommendations: if you’re new to Tchaikovsky’s works, starting here probably wont give you the best of what he has to offer. If you’re a mega-fan like me, this’ll probably sit somewhere in the middle. Robot fun, good humor – a quick read!

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, and Bee! <3

I’d like to thank Macmillan Audio, Netgalley, and Adrian Tchaikovsky for the chance to listen to an early audiobook copy of Service Model!

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