Tag: Sci-fi

Posted in Book Reviews, Novels, Short Story Collections

REVIEW: Straight Outta Tombstone by Various Authors

Posted on by elishasbookreview

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*No Spoilers*

Come to visit the Old West, the land where gang initiations, ride-by shootings and territory disputes got their start. But these tales aren’t the ones your grandpappy spun around a campfire unless he spoke of soul-sucking ghosts, steam-powered demons, and wayward aliens.

Here then are seventeen stories that breathe new life in the Old West. Among them: Larry Correia explores the roots of his best-selling Monster Hunter International series in “Bubba Shackleford’s Professional Monster Killers.” Jim Butcher reveals the origin of one of the Dresden Files’ most popular characters in “Fistful of Warlock.” And Kevin J. Anderson‘s Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I., finds himself in a showdown in “High Midnight.” Plus stories from Alan Dean Foster, Sarah A. Hoyt, Jody Lynn Nye, Michael A. Stackpole, and many more.

This is a new Old West and you’ll be lucky to get outta town alive!

I don’t read short story collections very often, I find it difficult to jump into a new story after I feel like I know the main characters. However, when I saw this cover at my local library and saw the cover art, I was sold on the concept.

I enjoy the weird wild west genre. Two genres that are polar opposites colliding for one epic story is fascinating to me! This book has fun with the genre, and it’s an enjoyable read!

All of the short stories in this collection are good, but I had some favorites. And some stories that didn’t impress me. These are all good stories in total, but some just didn’t catch my attention.

My Three Favorites (in no particular order)

  • Bubba Shackleford’s Professional Monster Killers by Larry Correia – The first short story in this collection had charm and had my attention from the beginning. The characters were interesting, and I felt the stakes were dire. I would like to hear more from Bubba Shackleford sometime.
  • The Treefold Problem by Alan Dean Foster – A giant mountain man helps a family who is about to lose their home. I felt like this was inspired by Paul Bunyan, the famous lumberjack. I enjoyed the heart and good feelings in this short story.
  • High Midnight by Kevin J. Anderson – I love film noir. This is the story of a zombie detective who lives in a sort of purgatory with all kinds of monsters and the occasional human. The town is throwing a Wild West-inspired celebration. When things start going south, it’s up to our zombie detective to figure out the mystery.

My Three Least Favorites (in no particular order)

  • Chance Corrigan and the Lord of the Underworld by Michael A. Stackpole – This short story had promise, Chance investigates a mining town to figure out what’s going on. With robots guarding the mine, Chance finds a familiar face running the operation. I think this would have been better if it was its own novel. I felt like the ending was rushed and forced. The way this story ended left me disappointed.
  • The Greatest Guns in the Galaxy by Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Ken Scholes – This is the story behind the cover art. Two aliens come to Earth in the 1800s in search of entertainment. However, when greed gets in the way, it’s up to them to deal with the consequences of their actions. Another interesting premise and I felt like the two aliens that caused the mayhem didn’t learn anything in the end. They just call their friends to help them and boom, everything’s fixed. I found the ending to be unsatisfying and I was disappointed.
  • The Key by Peter J. Wacks – The English Crown hires two hired guns to protect this mysterious object called “The Key” from the Russians. With help from some of history’s famous figures, can the gunmen keep the Russian invaders at bay? I felt like this story belonged somewhere else. This was more British undercover mission than western. I enjoyed the premise and ending well enough, but the lack of the Wild West left me bitter.

I would recommend this book to lovers of westerns, science fiction, fantasy, and short stories. This collection was a perfect addition to my Weird Wild West shelf. I would also recommend this if you are looking for new authors or authors you already enjoy.

More Short Stories HERE!

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: Subhuman: Unit 51 #1 by Michael McBride

Posted on by elishasbookreview
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*No Major Spoilers*

At a research station in Antarctica, five of the world’s top scientists have been brought together to solve one of the greatest mysteries in human history. Their subject, however, is anything but human.

Deep beneath the ice, the submerged ruins of a lost civilization hold the key to the strange mutations that each scientist has encountered across the globe: A misshapen skull in Russia. The grotesque carvings of a lost race in Peru. The mummified remains of a humanoid monstrosity in Egypt.

When a series of sound waves trigger the ancient organisms, a new kind of evolution begins. Latching onto a human host–crossbreeding with human DNA–a long-extinct life form is reborn. Its kind has not walked the earth for thousands of years. Its instincts are fiercer, more savage, than any predator alive. And its prey is the scientists who unleashed it, the humans who spawned it, and the tender living flesh on which it feeds.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I enjoy reading books based on conspiracy theories. I have reviewed a few novels in this category. So the summary of this thrilling novel caught my attention.

My only downside is that there were too many characters. I felt like I needed to take notes about who was who and why they were invited to the Antartic research base.

Man is not what he thinks he is; he is what he hides.

Michael McBride; Subhuman

Other than that negative, I found this book to be enjoyable. It has an interesting premise that the author pulls off fairly well. I felt like this novel was inspired by the Alien franchise. The description of the monsters reminded me of the Xenomorphs in the famous franchise.

I am interested to see how this series progresses from here. I will highly recommend this book to science fiction lovers. If you enjoy conspiracy theories and the Alien franchise, then this is the book for you!

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: Video Game Plotline Tester (The Dark Herbalist #1) by Michael Atamanov

Posted on by elishasbookreview
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*No Major Spoilers*

Would you be prepared to work for free? How would you like to bust your hump for a large corporation 60-plus hours a week without a wage or a single day off for the vague promise of some mysterious perks in the distant future?

You’d refuse point blank, wouldn’t you?

But what if the job in question was playing a state-of-the-art fantasy MMORPG game? And what if this was the only thing you’re really good at? Especially considering that your in-game partner is someone really special to you – and this person already lives a virtual life?

After thoroughly enjoying the Mirror World series, I thought I could continue to follow the virtual-reality genre. Though similar in theme, both series are different in their own rights.

My opinion on the two series is that whichever series you start first is going to be your favorite. Whether you start with The Dark Herbalist or Mirror World series, both are great in their own rights.

Now, my opinion on this book in particular. I enjoyed this book, the thought of a goblin herbalist is a very interesting character. In Boundless Realm, the virtual reality game, Goblins are disliked by most species. However, being an herbalist means you can learn alchemy and make potions to better your chance of survival.

In Boundless Realm, people can kill NPCs as well as fellow players (this causes a criminal marker to be next to their name). This book shows that the NPCs aren’t just complex codes and have cardboard personalities.

The main job description, as the title implies, is to test unusual character/job combinations in order to draw new players to the game. Instead of your typical combinations of characters and jobs, for instance, an Orc Warrior, or an Elf Mage, you can choose unlikely combinations for a unique playing experience.

One of the scenes I found to be most memorable was when the main character, Timothy, found a swamp home to wyverns while exploring and on a quest to kill the queen of the wyverns. The prize he was to claim from completing this quest was very unique, a wyvern egg which allows for one to hatch and raise the creature to become a usable mount in the game later.

In conclusion, I found this book to be overall well enjoyable, it was action-packed and held my attention quite well. There’s a lot more to the story that I haven’t said here, but it’s a fun read for sure.

Posted in Audiobooks, Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: Project Daily Grind; Mirror World: Book 1, by Alexey Osadchuk

Posted on by elishasbookreview
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*No Spoilers*

This exciting and thrilling novel is a LitRPG (literature role-playing game) set in an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) called Mirror World. In this world, you can become a powerful wizard, slay a dragon, become a great warrior, or even rule your own kingdom.

However, for others, they use Mirror World as a way to make money for their families. Same goes for this man, who becomes Olgard. His mission: to make enough money to pay off his loans and to get his dying six-year-old daughter a new heart. So he starts working in the mines, digging away for various minerals and gems.

However, something goes awry as he not only plays the game smartly but the “dying race” that he has chosen becomes more beneficial than others may have believed. What is going on behind the scenes with the developers? Will Olgard survive long enough in this strange new world to see his family again?

This novel caught my eye when I saw the guy standing, looking like a pirate, and the monstrous spider behind him. I wanted to grab this book and read it!

I listened to this novel on audio. The narrator was really creative with the various voices of each character. It wasn’t boring at all to listen to and kept my attention throughout!

This novel also reminded me of an anime called Sword Art Online which is about an MMORPG that takes place in virtual reality. However, the characters in this novel felt more genuine and realistic than the characters in the anime.

This novel is also loosely based on the MMORPG World of Warcraft. There’s orc-like characters as well as wizards, elves, and dwarves.

None the less, I would say if you’re a lover of video games and books, this series is worth a read (or listen)!

Posted in Book Reviews, Novels

REVIEW: Oops, Caught by Alli Reshi

Posted on by elishasbookreview

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In this sci-fi short story, we follow Mark Noland and Officer Gavson as they attempt to escape from an alien prison cell. The mission was supposed to be simple, an in-and-out job. However, due to outdated resources and unexpecting surprises, they are captured and will be killed in gruesome ways unless they can escape.

The LGBT genre is still a niche in the world of fiction, and this is not flat out LGBT, it’s more just hinted at. So I would say it has soft gay subtext involved.

Seeing Noland and Gavson work through their problems as they make an escape attempt is interesting. Their pasts are vastly different, but when it’s your neck on the line, it’s another ball game.

This was an entertaining read. I enjoyed it even though the beginning was a bit tough to start off. If you’re looking for a quick sci-fi read, this could be your book.

Amazon