Soulminder by Timothy Zahn

Adrian Sommer had a life changing event on the death of his child.   He dedicated the rest of his life to the memory of his son.   The result was Soulminder that protected the souls of the deceased.

This book rattles a lot of cages.  The premise of souls leads to religious overtones.  The capture of the soul, leads to satanic concerns.   The uses that such a  device can be angelic to demonic.   Much of the book deals with the issues that such a machine could create.   I was reminded of late night philosophic discussions, often fueled by alcohol, while in college. 

Zahn put together a very good book that provides a wealth of thought provoking topics.   This book could keep an avid book club busy for months.

I recommend it.    

I'm always shocked when I find an author without a website, particularly a scifi author, however I could not find one for Zahn.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimothyZahnThis book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

The Cyborg From Earth by Charles Sheffield

I didn’t realize this was a young adult book when I ordered it. Despite being a long way from a young adult, I enjoyed the book. Very quick read as you would expect. The book had a simplistic but nevertheless enjoyable plot with likeable characters. If you are looking for a very quick read or have a teen in your life I recommend the book.

Body of work of Charles Sheffield

Review: http://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/2008/07/cyborg-from-earth-charles-sheffield.html

Website: Baen’s site for http://www.baen.com/author_catalog.asp?author=csheffield

Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber

I loved the book and strongly recommend it. That is how I usually end a review of a David Weber book. Once again the man amazes me. He grabs you on the first page and squeezes your imagination and attention until you finish the book. This has to be the opening novel of a series. Please David, let it be the opening book as I want to read more!

Again you have a very strong female protagonist. (kind of) A new universe, a new group of villains and heroes entertain you for the whole book. Big old pussycat that I am, Weber once again brought tears to my eyes with the willingness to sacrifice that his larger than life characters often demonstrate. Weber has successfully combined high tech tools with a setting than Horatio Hornblower or Frodo would be happy traversing. Read the review at the link if you want, but if you like Weber, just go get the book. If you have never read Weber, this is a great book to begin a love affair. (strictly platonic) I loved the book and I strongly recommend it.

Body of work of David Weber

Review: http://www.scifi.com/sfw/books/sfw14817.html

Web site: http://www.davidweber.net/

Sacred Stone by Clive Cussler & Craig Dirgo

Sacred Stone was ok. The story was entertaining but if you weren’t already familiar with a lot of the characters, you would be uncertain of their identity. The book read choppy. The chapters were often very, very short, as in one or two pages. The premise was excellent but the delivery was less than elegant. Dirk Pitt was supplanted by Juan Cabrillo, chairman of the Corporation. The Corporation is a multi-tasking band of mercenaries with good hearts. They are pro-USA but will work with some of our allies. They have close ties to the government and often receive sub-contracts from organizations like the CIA. Actually the subcontracting theme infused a sense of realism to the story considering recent government and corporate behavior. The book is worth reading, the premise is altogether too likely but this book isn’t up to the Cussler standard of excellence.

Body of work of Clive Cussler

Review of the book: http://www.cusslermen.com/SacredStone.htm

His site: http://www.cusslerbooks.com/

Titan A.E. An Animated Treat

Titan A.E.
This animated movie has been around since the year 2000 and I finally got to see it. Hulu has it on their site to watch for FREE. The animation is good, dated compared to some recent features but still good. The story line is similar to the Battlestar Galactica series but it wraps it up in a nice watch able package in just over 1.5 hours. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and it is certainly one you can watch with the kids, although the Dredge (evil energy beings) may scare the very little ones. I am surprised this wasn’t a bigger deal at the box office. The premise is that mankind is making a splash in the interstellar community and the Dredge decide that man’s potential is so great they must destroy Earth before man can achieve their potential. They succeed in destroying the earth (first few minutes so it really doesn’t screw up the plot for you) but not before the Titan A. E. escapes along with a host of refugees. The rest of the movie is about the search for the Titan, the most advanced ship/machine in existence and what happens when it is found. Nuke some popcorn, pull up your computer and watch this puppy, if you have seen it, watch it again, if you haven’t seen it, you will enjoy the premise that we (mankind) have the potential to work together and achieve greatness.

Lone Star (Stellar Ranger) by Steve Perry

Apparently Baldacci decided he needed more action in his books. Well, he certainly went over the top on this one. The book has kidnapping, murder, sex, swat teams, guns, more guns, drug abuse, radical fringe groups, wealth, privilege, anguish, guilt and more of the same. This is a serious page turner whose major theme is dealing with guilt and anger. That isn’t going to be obvious until you work through the book. Some solid psychiatric principles were at work in this book. Baldacci writes a truly compelling tale. Read it!

Body of work of Steve Perry

Review: From BooklistThe author of the highly successful Matador saga seems in his new series, Stellar Ranger (of which this is the second book), to be thumbing his nose at all the old guard in sf who roundly denounce translating western plots into sf settings. For to a degree that is certainly what Perry is doing: Stellar Ranger Cinch Carston would get along famously with Wyatt Earp or Texas John Slaughter. Perry does, however, also tell a highly readable sf action story with his usual exuberance of incident and breakneck pacing. The plot involves Carston's being sent to a jungle world to round up three rebels who are, however, rebelling against attempted genocide, which puts the matter in a different light and, in due course, Carston on a different side. Perry clearly has fun writing action sf; his readers are likely to have an equally enjoyable time. Roland Green


Web Site: http://home.comcast.net/~perry1966/contact.html

My Own Kind of Freedom (A FREE Firefly Novel) by Steven Brust

Firefly was one of the better scifi shows that never made it. The theme was reminiscent of the Confederate soldiers who headed west looking for freedom from the winning Union soldiers after our civil war. The show had great characters, lots of good action and not a lot of cheesy aliens. Apparently Brust was a fan as well and wrote a FREE novel following the Firefly show. His characters ring true to the ones in the show and it is an entertaining story. For you disappointed Firefly fans, here is a chance to catch up with Mal and crew. You can download the story for FREE at Brust’s site listed below. Enjoy!

Body of work of Steven Brust

Serenity Ship Photo from http://praxeology.net/unblog05-05.htm

Firefly Cast Photo from: http://www.crazyabouttv.com/

Website: http://dreamcafe.com/

Worlds of Honor Anthology by David Weber

Number 2 in the Worlds of Honor Series.

Five stories from the David Weber Honor Harrington universe.
“The Stray” by Linda Evans.
“What Price Dreams” by David Weber
“Queen’s Gambit” by Jane Lindskold
“The Hard Way Home” by David Weber
“Deck Load Strike” by Roland J. Green
I don’t usually read short stories. I find my subscription to Analog easily satisfies my appetite in that area. I am really glad I read this anthology. Linda Evan did a terrific story on treecats as did David Weber. Lindskold did a good political piece on Manticore. “The Hard Way Home” gave us another glimpse of Honor which is always good. “Deck Load Strike” was the weak link. It was ok but didn’t hit me like the other four stories. Treecat stories will apparently always appeal to me as those on Honor Harrington, the space faring Horatio Hornblower. Weber’s skills in entertaining are difficult to surpass. Read this book.

Body of work of David Weber

Review from Publishers Weekly
It is Weber's wondrous treecats, not his popular woman warrior, Honor Harrington, who ultimately dominate this five-story collection. The book features the work of four authors, despite the solo cover credit, and is an obvious attempt to provide something for every taste in Weber's fandom, as was last year's More Than Honor. In the space-faring universe of Weber's novels (In Enemy Hands, etc.), Honor defends her gallant Star Kingdom of Manticore with the irresistible classiness of the British military and the legendary brassiness of the U.S. Marines, as well as with the quasi-telepathic aid of her treecat, Nimitz. In Weber's "The Hard Way Home," an episode drawn from Honor's early career, and in Roland Green's lively and inventive (if Honor-less and treecat-less) "Deck Load Strike," the Manties' opponents are the creepy People's Republic of Haven and their nasty allies, wittily modeled on Earth's familiar petty dictators, drug lords and religious fanatics. Except in the Green piece and in "Queen's Gambit," Jane Lindskold's soggy coming-of-age tale about Honor's monarch, the empathic alien treecats of Honor's home planet steal the show. Even though Honor is yet unborn and thus missing from the action in Linda Evans's "The Stray" and Weber's other entry, "What Price Dreams?," both stories appealingly oscillate between human and 'cat sensibilities in the earliest stages of the treecats' poignant association with their human partners. All five stories, though uneven taken together, provide intriguing background glimpses of Honor's?and Nimitz's?worlds.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

David Weber’s web site is under construction.

The dust of other days by Bob Lock

I stumbled on this blog while looking through blogcatalog, he had visited someone else's blog and Bob's sounded interesting. Well, that was a worthwhile stumble. I haven't read all his work yet nor have I looked at all of his blogs. If this story is a taste of his work, I am looking for a full course meal. The story reads well with a nice twist at the end. I liked it and I am not a big fan of short stories. Better yet, I commented on it and got a nice return email from the author. Try that with one of the big name authors, you will wither away and die before they ever respond to a reader. Kudos to Bob Lock and check out his blogs.

http://bob-lock.blogspot.com/http://www.scifi-tales.com/

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robert.lock2/07-V2/index.html

http://www.flamesofherakleitos.com/

http://www.screamingdreams.com/

The Horse Clan Series by Robert Adams

This is a long series in a post-holocaust world. I enjoyed it. Adams get a bit preachy at times. He may not have an agenda but you are definitely subjected to proselytization. Regardless they are enjoyable books and entertaining to read. I am always a sucker for telepathic animals. I always wondered what the heck my dog was thinking when he did that. It also amused me when she stuck her nose in inappropriate places and seemed to enjoy the discomfort it engendered. Since I wasn’t lucky enough to have a telepathic dog, I always enjoy stories with telepathic/intelligent animals.

Kind of search through the drift to find the Horse Clan Robert Adams

A good site for the horse clans. http://us.geocities.com/evilsnack/horse.htm

These are the horse clan books I have read and I recommend them.
A Man called Milo Morai
A Woman of the Horse Clans
Bili The Axe
Cat of Silvery Hue
Champion of Last Battle
Coming of the Horse Clans
Death of a Legend
Friends of the Horse Clans
Horse Clan Odyssey
Horses of the North
Madman's Army
Memories of Milo Morai
Revenge of the Horse Clans
Savage Mountains
Swords of the Horse Clans
THe Clan of the Cats
The Patrimony
Trumpets of War
Witch Goddess

The Mushroom Planet Series by Eleanor Cameron

My first love in books is Science Fiction/Fantasy. I love to read and will read a phone book if nothing else is available. However good planning generally makes that unnecessary. A book in each room you frequent, one in the car and your PDA loaded with Baen Free Book downloads means you seldom need to read phone books. The first book I can recollect reading,that was definitively Science Fiction was “The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet”. Tyco M. Bass was a scientist who had wonderful adventures. For some reason I remember “Mr. Bass’s Planetoid” as my favorite of the Mushroom Planet series.
I was impressed enough with the series that when I was a 5th grade teacher 14 years later I read it to my students. They too, seemed to derive a great deal of pleasure out of the series. The series appears to be still in print and available several places. A good site to find the series is:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/eleanor-cameron/

If you want a great introduction to the genre for your children, this is a terrific series to start their adventure.

Nice review of “The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet”. http://www.geocities.com/nodotus/hbreview5.html

Good overview of the author and the series.
http://oldchildrensbooks.com/cameron.php