Deadtree Book Review: What if the government wanted to force us to be better by implantation?

Dominant Species

Written by Ben L. Hughes

Humans, in our current state are frail, prone to diseases and for the most part free-thinking. Dr. Stone and his ego planned to improve on all that with the blessing of DARPA and the Joint Chiefs. Excellent setup for the down fall.

The story is a tale of survival in an environment where an active biological agent is seeking to enslave the human race. It is well told as characters develop, some get killed off, and the internal workings of clan leadership are explored. Every bit of this story is scientifically feasible.

I’m very happy with the quality of this book. Four out of five enjoyment units are thus awarded.

https://www.amazon.com/Dominant-Species-Ben-L-Hughes/dp/1511791721/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483913459&sr=1-10&keywords=Dominant+Species

Audiobook Review: What to do when all of your Enemies are making nano-tech weapons tuned to your genetics.

Shift

Written by Hugh Howey.

Narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds.

Ronnie is a Congressman in the influence sphere of one Senator Thurmond of Georgia. The Senator has a view of the world coming to an end and Ronnie becomes an unwitting instrument in his plan to accelerate it. It appears that DNA tuned attack nanites are the big scare of tomorrow therefore the survivors must live in Silos underground when they are not cryogenically suspended with the help of other nanites.

When Silos become unmanageable they are…reset. This is an excellent piece of literature painting a vision of how a few men controlling too much power can send us all swirling down the toilet bowl. I thoroughly enjoyed this work. Five out of Five.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Shift-Omnibus-Edition-Audiobook/B00CONNQLG

Audio Book Review: Get your Hammer Fever On!

Lucifer’s Hammer

Written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

Narrated by Marc Vietor.

            Tim Hamner is a wealthy bachelor living off of the residuals from his family’s soap business and playing seriously at being an amateur astronomer. Invoking the word “seriously” I mean that he has built his own professional grade observatory high in the Sierras and staffed it with a disgruntled graduate student. Harvey, an ex-war correspondent, wants to make a documentary about Tim’s co-discovered new comet. This leads to lots of people taking an interest, and a lot of others laughing it off…right up until it hits the earth and civilization evolves.

Natural disasters as aftershocks, rioting, Lord of the Flies situations, desperate couplings of frightened people and cannibalism are just some of the areas the story lines brush up against. The folks who were interested from the start coined the phrase “Hot fudge Sundae but on a Tuesday”. As the date approached the survivalists preparing were said to have “Hammer Fever”. After impact, those remaining were reduced to a kernel of civilization and a whole lot of savagery.

The effects of impact were well thought out in this story yet I sense that they were scaled down from what really would have happened. I’m certain the co-authors argued back and forth about how much mayhem would leave them anything to work with in the aftermath for the story line. They did manage to produce an excellent work of Science Fiction. The Narration was well done also with voice range and delivery. Four units of nerdy satisfaction are thus assigned. Carry On!

http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/Lucifers-Hammer-Audiobook/B002V9Z562

Audio Book Review: Taking back the North American Quarantine Zone!!!

The Twelve: A Novel, Book 2 of The Passage

Written by Justin Cronin.

Narrated by Scott Brick.

The original virals from The Passage are still making the rounds a century later with a type of human, Red Eyes, helping them. These Red Eyes, aka collaborators shortened to Cols are a special type of depravity. The sacrifice their own species for snippets of power.

In Texas, the Expeditionary is about run out of wind for the hunt and destroy missions. The government there feels that it is almost more important to keep the fossil fuel sources protected than to go on the offensive against the remainder of the Twelve. There are some dissenters however. Survivors of The Colony, Amy the ageless hybrid, Alicia Denardio – protégé of Col. Coffey and others. They know there can be no end until patient zero and the eleven other original virals are ended.

Book 2 is quite a bit more raw than the Passage in some respects but you knew it would have to be. The blending of fiction and science to paint this post-vampire-apocalypse North American quarantine zone is top notch world building. One detractor for me was the author trying to juggle so many story-lines at once that the reader, or listener, can easily become confused in time and place.

This one gets four out of five entertainment units of your choice. Enjoy!

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/The-Twelve-A-Novel-Audiobook/B009H8KSA8