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Archives for November, 2013 - Page 4
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Book Review: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie My rating: 5 of 5 stars A refreshing take on space opera, and a fascinating main character (a self-aware spaceship AI that inhabits multiple bodies simultaneously). We are introduced to the main character, who is a spaceship AI in multiple bodies, through the events of an annexation of a world. We see things from multiple points of view which all represent the same character. Through this story, told as flashbacks from another sequence, we find out about how the Radch works, and the values that empire has. The scenes are well written and avoid grand expositions, instead there is a gradual burn towards the climax. One of the interesting features, which I liked, was that in the Radch language there is no gender pronoun, everyone is 'her/she'. This is used to indicate when the speech…
Imperfect: Scene 10 – Followed
Imperfect Followed I woke up just after nine in the morning, feeling a little refreshed, but hungover from my extended stay with Special Branch. It was going to take some time to work out how to play this out, because although I wasn’t in a cell, there was no reason to believe that I was out scot free. As I lay pondering this I suddenly remembered that it was Sunday. I jumped out of bed and made for the shower room, I needed Huw to be looking his best for his habitual trip to Church. I had a quick shower, shave and briefly polished a pair of brogues. Then I dressed in Huw’s finest tweed suit, and a freshly ironed shirt from the wardrobe. I always took these to a cleaner round the corner so there was a fresh supply.…
Sale – Perfects, Imperfect & Crisis Point by James Kemp
So from now until 30th November the three novellas from last year's NaNoWriMo will be available for free from Smashwords with the coupon codes below. Perfects go to and at the checkout use coupon code SH37X. Instead of paying $ you will get it for free. Imperfect is at and at the checkout use coupon code PL55Q. Instead of paying $ you will get it for free. Crisis Point is at and has coupon code EV72G. So please, go download a copy of my books and then come back and tell me what you think of them. Feel free to leave honest reviews anywhere you like too. Thanks. Related articles Save on seven NaNoWriMo themed books for $ Each! #Kindle Writing Daily Deal! NaNoWriMo 2013 - Still brainstorming It's that month again
Book Review: Equoid by Charles Stross
Equoid by Charles Stross My rating: 5 of 5 stars My daughter has just brought home a sparkly unicorn, and I am very This is a Laundry files short story featuring Bob Howard. In this outing Bob has to deal with a report from a well qualified DEFRA vet who harbours suspicions of a potential outbreak of Equoids. The file Bob is given as briefing contains the letters of one HP Lovecraft that tell of HPL's own experience of contact with an Equoid outbreak. This is a highly entertaining story that provides a twist on unicorns and gives them an interesting life cycle which is truly horrific. It also has some laugh out loud points too. UPDATE: this has been nominated for a 2014 Hugo Award, which is well deserved. One of the best I read in 2013. View all…
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Imperfect: Scene 09 – Free
Imperfect Free I had spent over five hours in the police station and still hadn’t been arrested. It was quite late and I wanted to go to sleep, so I rested my head on my arms on the desk in the interview room and nodded off. Not the best plan for staying alert under interrogation, but better than staying awake for days, and also in character for Huw. As I was dozing blue pinstripe reappeared, with Fletcher just behind him. I woke with a start and then remembered where I was. Blue pinstripe looked uncomfortable, which was odd. He sat down opposite me and Fletcher remained standing at the open doorway. “Mr Powell, I’m Inspector Smeeton. I’m sorry we’ve kept you this long, it has taken some time to check your credentials.” “Inspector, I’m always happy to help the guardians…