Written in first person POV, the inhuman protagonist is tracking a vicious murderer and Simpson immediately pulled me into her world. Her snappy writing style and vivid depiction of the crime scene, along with the dilemma facing the Hunter had me turning the pages, wanting to discover what would happen next. It takes a great deal more skill to write a successful short story than it does to write a novel - many bestselling, readable novels can get away with thin characterisation, or clunky dialogue, so long as the author provides a sufficiently compelling storyline. However, in a short story if the character isn't convincing; or the backdrop sufficiently developed; or the dialogue sharp… Read more
Lieutenant Joel Gilmore is part of a multi-species space observation team stationed in a distant solar system, who find themselves attacked by the very aliens they were supposed to be watching. Now Joel and his allies, the enigmatic Rusties, explore the parameters of trust in a lethal confrontation with a deeply alien third species: one with a nasty predilection for mass murder on a planetary scale.
This book was marketed as a YA science fiction, but I had no trouble getting fully engrossed in the story which started with a bang and kept going right to the end, despite the fact that I hadn't read the first book, 'His Majesty's Starship'. The story is told in multiple viewpoint… Read more
I'll be honest, I've tended to avoid Swords and Sorcery tales - especially those set at sea. Having in a former life owned a yacht, I have very limited tolerance for tales that get the sailing wrong... So when my husband kept on recommending this book, I rather grumpily decided that I'd better read a couple of chapters to shut him up before returning to the next cool space opera beckoning. And then became hooked...
Twenty years ago, a barmaid in a harbour town fell for a young sailor who turned pirate to make his fortune. But what truly became of Black Edward Tew remains a mystery - one that has just fallen into the lap of freelance sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse For years,… Read more
