Wesley Britton's Blog - Posts Tagged "science-fiction"

Here’s the latest praise at Amazon for Wes Britton’s The Blind Alien:
“An excellent work of new SF that hearkens back to the classics of Asimov and Heinlein. Told from the viewpoint of the different characters, it is a tale of a man from our earth (Alpha) being unwittingly transferred to a parallel earth (Beta) where he must learn to adapt to new cultures, attitudes, languages at the same time as coming to grips with the loss of his sight. Each of the characters are fully developed and well defined and being able to hear their thoughts about each encounter brings a richness to the narratives. Politics, religion, social mores and relationships are all examined from both without and within. Think "Stranger in a Strange Land" combined with "Foundation" and you may begin to get an idea of the scope and quality of this adventure.

While definitely not a children's book, for anyone who remembers and loves the way SF used to be (before it became all about war and alien invasions) this is a must read! I eagerly await the remaining books and will pester Dr. Britton and BearManor until I get my hands on them.”—Dave Massengale, Amazon review
http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Alien-Bet...



“Spymaster and imaginative author, Dr. Wesley Britton has another big hit! His book takes the reader on a compelling journey of an Alpha earthling who has been spirited to planet Beta. Science-fiction, yes, but much more. The book explores science, medicine, commerce, education, spiritual life, family life and sex on an alternative planet which
at times is insightful and hilarious in its comparison to our own Earth. In an ingenious way, Dr. Britton has created a new grammar and vocabulary to continually intrigue the reader. A true winner!” –Bobbilas, Amazon Reviewer

http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Alien-Bet...

Note: I admit being very surprised learning Barbara Barnett was publishing a sci fi novel, The Apothecary's Curse, coming Oct. 11. I knew her as one of the main motors who were at the helm of BlogCritics.org when I used to write for them. I not only reviewed her non-fiction history of TV’s House, M.D., I interviewed her about the book on online radio’s “Dave White Presents.”

While I haven’t read The Apothecary’s Curse yet myself, here’s what I’ve learned about it:

"Anne Rice meets Michael Crichton" in this genre-bending historical fantasy-thriller mixes alchemy and genetics as a doctor and an apothecary try to prevent a pharmaceutical company from exploiting the book that made them immortal centuries ago.

In Victorian London, the fates of physician Simon Bell and apothecary Gaelan Erceldoune entwine when Simon gives his wife an elixir created by Gaelan from an ancient manuscript. Meant to cure her cancer, it kills her. Suicidal, Simon swallows the remainder--only to find he cannot die.

Five years later, hearing rumors of a Bedlam inmate with regenerative powers like his own, Simon is shocked to discover it's Gaelan. The two men conceal their immortality, but the only hope of reversing their condition rests with Gaelan's missing manuscript.

When modern-day pharmaceutical company Transdiff Genomics unearths diaries describing the torture of Bedlam inmates, the company's scientists suspect a link between Gaelan and an unnamed inmate. Gaelan and Genomics geneticist Anne Shawe are powerfully drawn to each other, and her family connection to his manuscript leads to a stunning revelation. Will it bring ruin or redemption?

“Anne Rice meets Michael Crichton in this fever dream of a fantasy. . .will keep readers up well past their bedtime. Highly recommended!” —Jay Bonansinga, New York Times–bestselling author of The Walking Dead: Search and Destroy

“An irresistible blend of fairy folklore, science, and suspense that’s sure to keep you reading late into the night.” —Shanna Swendson, author of Enchanted, Inc.

“A new narrative world lovingly created with an Old World touch. . .” Jane Espenson, Writer/Producer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica, Once Upon a Time

“Myth, medicine, and immortality, braided together like the border of an illuminated manuscript.” —Doris Egan, screenwriter, novelist, and writer and co-executive producer of House

Pre-order from Amazon.com

Visit BarbaraBarnett.com

The Ego Cluster is a novel that easily falls into the “hard science” fiction category, meaning believable science and not fanciful spaceships or exotic aliens is what the story is all about.

The character-driven plot centers on idealistic scientists Ethan Hendersen who seemingly discovers a gene cluster that controls much of self-interested human decision making. By altering those genes, Hendersen believes he can diminish sociopathic tendencies, change humankind to be more empathetic, logical, gain mental clarity, and be less narrow-minded.

Working for a company dominated by just such a sociopathic bureaucrat, Hendersen teams with fellow scientist Amelia Holt. The two form a romantic and professional relationship as they conduct experiments not sanctioned by the company. Things begin to spiral out of control when they are forced to resign from their employer before they take their experiments to a secretive laboratory where they learn their goals are far from those of their apparent new boss, Stefano Croce.

Battle lines are drawn when their ostensible supervisor, Dr. Doug Ashton, learns how they are all being duped by a dangerous cartel who wants to use any new drugs to destroy politicians wanting to empower the people at the expense of rich corporations. At the same time, governments and those greedy corporations don’t want to address the growing threats from global warming, and environmentalist Professor Caleb Fuller becomes part of the small group of Henderson, Holt, and Ashton, who are the only ones who can save humanity from near genocide.

In terms of action and increasingly fatal encounters across Australia, The Ego Cluster is a slow burner. The first part of the book takes place mostly in or near laboratories where Cole establishes his characters, sets personality conflicts in motion, and deftly demonstrates how all the science is plausible. On one hand, the possibilities of Hendersen’s research show promise and hope for the future. On the other, just what are the consequences of untested drugs in the general populace? Who has the right to determine what direction humanity should take?

In short, The Ego Cluster is both readable and cerebral, a book for those who like engaging characters who get swept up into ever-increasing webs of intrigue and danger. The philosophical points Cole is making are delivered with subtlety, although the villains are very dark indeed and the heroes are obviously admirable from their first appearances. Well, most of them. Cole has many surprises as the circles of deception come into clearer and clearer focus.

You could consider The Ego Cluster as much a mystery as science fiction, and that’s not a bad hybrid. When you finally set the book down, you might find yourself wondering just how feasible it all is. When the chips come down the way they do, what choices would you make if it was you?

This review was first published at BookPleasures.com:
goo.gl/vyNqtf


Order the Ego Cluster at:
https://www.amazon.com/Ego-Cluster-di...

Janus Quadrifrons
Spark D' Ark
Publication Date: September 22, 2016
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC

“Forget what you know about a storyline that has a starting point, something interesting after that and finally an epilogue.
[This book is] a mind game, an adventure to perception . . . Once you are certain of something, I will take that “something” away.
Remember. It’s a game and you are playing along with the characters.”

The opening to the “Prologue” to Janus Quadrifrons is a good set-up for the kaleidoscopic roller-coaster ride to follow. You might suspect, after reading that opening, trying to draft a synopsis of the trip to come would be near impossible and also rather unfair to new readers.

It doesn’t take many pages to realize that “Janus,” the narrator of the yarn, is never sure what is reality and what isn’t. Does he or she really have the power to get into other people’s minds and look through their eyes? Is she insane, her, or his, mental faculties distorted by brain cancer? Or is he the subject of mind-altering experiments using drugs and strange devices? Are the people Janus interacts with really there or pieces of his/her imagination, are they living or dead? Are their identities being manipulated in some unknown way? Is time being bent or reversed with blackouts robbing Janus of his memories? What is truth, is there such a thing, and what is illusion? Who are the hunters, who are the killers, and who is killed and who is hunted and why? How many times can one person die and return?

Author Spark D' Ark is all about posing questions with questionable answers and posing riddles with illusory solutions page after page. As her surreal stew comes to a boil, Spark stirs in the Prometheus virus which connects with mega-genes that open the memories of ancestors in the genetic code and clones pregnant with clones and the protagonists apparently trapped in time loops that return them to events decades ago when everything began. Or is it all a recurring dream?

The author dedicates her book to readers who don’t finish the book, apparently anticipating a readership who opt not to keep up with the game. I can sympathize with such an audience. Janus Quadrifrons isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea as it isn’t designed to meet most literary expectations, just as Spark signaled in her “Prologue.” On the other hand, other readers are likely to enjoy the psychological journey, especially those accustomed to the tricks of post-modern literature. In particular, no one should feel cheated by the “variant” endings in the payoffs in the final two chapters. Of course, there’s no shortage of sci fi yarns featuring characters dealing with shifting identities or manipulated consciousnesses.

For the record, Janus Quadrifrons seems crafted to be a stand-alone story, not the launch of a new series. As it happens, English is not the author’s first language—Greek is. Some of the character names have Greek roots and are used as archetypes for their symbolism. However, there are very few indications this book was written by someone using English as a second language. It’s not a long book, so come on in, bring no preconceptions with you, and go where no one has traveled before.


Order Janus Quadrifrons at:
https://www.amazon.com/Janus-Quadrifr...

This review was first published at BookPleasures.com at:
goo.gl/M4iP2R

The Gemini Effect
Chuck Grossart
•
• https://www.amazon.com/Gemini-Effect-...

The opening pages of The Gemini Effect signal that this is a story full of horror, the sort of horror you will find when relentless mutant monsters are set loose on a mostly defenseless American mid-West. The hordes of first vampire/zombie rats, then affected humans, and finally killer birds create a terror that simply never relents in an extremely fast-paced thriller.

Chuck Grossart is very descriptive of the rather implausible events (how could thousands of killer creatures be created in such a short time period?), of the military equipment and personnel, and of the scientists seeking a solution to the expanding apocalypse.

He’s less successful when he interjects a second plotline, of third-generation Soviet sleeper agents with the power to immobilize the president of the United States. It’s as if two books were squeezed together which works on some levels, but the White House storyline is even more implausible than the hordes of seemingly unstoppable monsters transforming and replicating underground.

The author deserves major kudos for his storytelling style which makes this novel a page-turner that engages the reader for much of the novel. I admit, I never understood why the creature’s quickly established weakness of being unable to endure light was never developed into useable weapons and the nation’s leaders resort to other devastating options to kill the mutants. The final chapters are even more difficult to accept as the entire globe erupts into various wars completely unrelated to the American scourge. It would be unfair to describe the ending other than to say much of what happens doesn’t make much sense, considering the biological agent that accidently started it all shouldn’t have the clout to do what it does.

Still, I recommend The Gemini Effect for readers who like their reads fast and furious with little in the way of character development. For the record, the book is apparently a substantial revision of an earlier edition titled The Mengele Effect, a title that actually makes more logical sense. While the book seems to be a stand-alone effort, there are threads left dangling for at least one possible sequel.

This review was first published at BookPleasures.com at:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...

Most readers who pick up A World Between will know it’s about huge chunks of the Earth vanishing into nothingness. Beyond that idea, readers should come to the book with no expectations, no preconceptions whatsoever. For author Robert Herzog doesn’t tell a story that is predictable in either style or substance on any level.

For example, the book opens with several situations in Africa, China, and the U.S. where groups of witnesses encounter strange physical gaps in the world around them. Strangely, only these witnesses are aware of the phenomena. In particular, while one of the weird disappearances is of a beach about an hour from New York City, the press doesn’t seem to know about it. Law enforcement does, but isn’t too concerned. Another setting is one wall of the Grand Canyon gone into the void, but a congressional delegation is much more worried about skinny-dipping nudity on public park land than the loss of a canyon wall.

At first, there isn’t much urgency in the investigation into these disappearances, even though the UN takes jurisdiction as the situations are international in scope. The lady put in charge is Susan Corpora, a relief worker who has no science background whatsoever. For some time, she’s wrapped up in finding living space and a private computer headquarters in New York where she brings in physicist David Alta-force who, in turn, brings in colleague Driscol Sebastian for help. Another partner is police detective Sal Antifermo who has strong opinions about good wine.

For much of the book, we spend time with these four in their NYC apartment/computer lab where Susan runs reports over to the UN, sleeps with David and becomes his muse, and doesn’t do much else. Only once do they really take a field trip, in the most exciting scene in the book where their helicopter is nearly pulled into the Grand Canyon void. Mostly, Susan listens to David and Sebastian toss out concept after concept from theoretical physics as they try to figure out what’s going on. Some chapters, in fact, could be considered dramatized physics lectures on fractals, waves, and particles.

Herzog excels in two significant ways. First, he is gifted with descriptive writing, making all the settings, especially the streets and buildings of New York, vivid and clearly based on first-hand experience. Second, he is convincing when he describes the bureaucracy and the convoluted political processes that control the rather limited investigation into what you’ think would be addressed more like a crisis than a bizarre mystery or scientific riddle. It takes almost 100 pages for the scientists to dive into their computers in earnest, nearly a hundred more before they try any sort of experiment to probe a void. The final very philosophical third of the book is where the scope widens, deepens, and brings several plots to a head.

So A World Between is a low-key slow-burner with vivid characters who are multi-dimensional. The dialogue is mostly quite human in between the long speculative speeches about the make-up of the universe and what might account for lost pieces of our planet. No one is likely to anticipate the ending or the reasons for it all.

Certainly, there’s an audience for this breed of very “hard science” fiction, especially those with some background or knowledge of physics, analytical geometry, and other mathematical disciplines. If you’re into action-adventure, alien visitations, or explorations of dystopian futures, this isn’t a read for you. But it’s very worthwhile reading for those willing to let a cerebral story build and develop and go where human will, science, and suppressed emotions take us.


This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Oct. 13, 2016 at:
goo.gl/5wbR7v


Purchase A World Between at:
https://www.amazon.com/World-Between-...

Announcing:

First Contact book 2 of The Secret King scifi series - coming 20/12/2016
By Dawn Chapman

With their journey from planet Letháo fraught with peril, the Aonise finally arrive at what they hope will be a new home. Earth offers a new start for the displaced race, and Kendro, King of the Aonise, desperately seeks a peaceful end to their voyage. However, once they make first contact, not all is as expected. Some humans are not as welcoming to the alien species, and their resettlement onto Earth is faced with resistance from splinter groups determined to drive the Aonise away from their planet. Coupled with internal strife, can Kendro appease all, or will greater misfortunes come to pass?

Excerpt

A loud ringing echoed through the house. Prime Minister Robert Walker bolted upright. His wife, Christine, still slept, her chest rising and falling in even breaths. Is that… the...
His heart pounded in his chest, as the ringing stopped. Silence. No…
Glancing at Christine, he let out a breath seeing she hadn’t stirred. The chemo from yesterday had wiped her out. They were trying to rest, and now, he was terrified what little rest they’d had at their country holiday home would be ruined. As the phone rang again, Walker threw the covers off, and reached out for it. Damn, this will wake her.
Monday, 23rd Sept 2041 – 1:14 AM flashed on his clock.
Picking up his phone. Walker hit answer, and slid out of the warm bed into the cooler air of their hallway.
“Hello.”
Christine murmured, turning over, and searching blindly in the bed for him.
“Robert?” The Chief of Defence’s adrenaline-pumped voice almost screamed across the line. Walker listened to words he never thought he’d hear. “We’re at Threat Level Critical. A copter is on its way. Suffok will meet you at the nearest hotel conference room.”
What? Critical? The UK hadn’t issued critical status ever. What on Earth is going on?
“I’ll be right there.” Then, Walker thought of Christine. He couldn’t leave her alone. Not tonight. Phoning his sister-in-law, he asked her to come over and stay with Christine.
There were highly trained nurses stationed in the house, but they weren’t family. Guilt clutched at his conscience, as he headed back to the bedroom and dressed.
Christine had settled back, and he perched on the end of the bed, stroking the back of her head. “I’ve got to go out. Ani is on her way. She’ll stay with you tonight.”
His wife turned to face him. “At this hour, seriously?” The annoyance on her pale face and bloodshot eyes spooked him.
Walker sighed. Christine knew his job came before lots of things. “I’ll see you for dinner.” He kissed his wife gently on the forehead.
Christine didn’t respond. She turned her head away from him. Concern filled him, as he gave her one last look before hurrying to the door. He had no way of knowing if he would be home for dinner today, or next week.



About the Author

Dawn Chapman has been creating sci fi and fantasy stories for thirty years. Until 2005 when her life and attention turned to scripts, and she started work on The Secret King, a 13-episode Sci Fi TV series, with great passion for this medium.

In 2010, Dawn returned to her first love of prose. She’s been working with coach EJ Runyon who's encouraged her away from fast paced script writing, to revel in the world of TSK and Letháo as an epic prose space journey.
Dawn has also had success with a web series, co-written with 'Melvin Johnson', produced by Nandar Entertainment.
This year her experience of working with Producers/Directors from the US and AUS has expanded. From Drama, Sci Fi to Action, Dawn's built a portfolio of writing, consulting and publishing.

Books by Dawn Chapman

The Secret King, Lethao
The Secret King Lethao – audio book
The Truth Hurts – novella audio book
Bree’s results – novella audio book
https://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Chapman/e...


Coming soon

First Contact book 2 of The Secret King scifi series - Release 20/12/2016

The Secret King – anthology TBA

How to find Dawn Chapman

Face book fan page - https://www.facebook.com/TheSecretKing
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Chapman/e...
Twitter TSK - https://twitter.com/
Twitter Dawn Chapman - https://twitter.com/kanundra
Website – https://www.thesecretking.com

For years, I’ve known of Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer’s When Worlds Collide (1933) and After When Worlds Collide (1934). But, somehow, these novels just didn’t get on my reading list. Until now.

It’s perhaps redundant to talk about the influence of these books, especially as so many important sci fi tropes were introduced in these novels. (note 1) I was astonished to see just how modern the stories remain with a vitality that hasn’t dimmed in over 80 years. I admit I had expected books that would remind me of pulp magazine stories with Flash Gordon trappings and outlandish gimmickry that might serve well in a B-movie. How wrong I was.

When Worlds Collide did have magazine origins. It was first published as a six-part monthly serial from September 1932-February 1933 in Blue Book magazine, illustrated by Joseph Franké.

The story opens when Sven Bronson, a South African astronomer, discovers that a pair of rogue planets from another galaxy, Bronson Alpha and Bronson Beta, are coming closer and closer to earth. In eight months, they would pass close enough to cause the end of our world. On a second pass, Bronson Alpha would crash into our planet—hopefully, Bronson Beta would be habitable if any humans can get there as the planet begins its new orbit around our sun.

In very short order, scientist Cole Hendron leads the effort to create first one, then two atomic powered spaceships, essentially new “arcs”, to carry survivors to Beta. As both planetary bodies will make one pass before coming around a second time, the moon is destroyed as tidal waves sweep inland at a height of 750 feet along with volcanic eruptions and earthquakes that reduce earth’s population in giant numbers. Angry mobs begin to ravage the United States, many refusing to accept what the scientific community is telling everyone.

Hedron sets up a large camp where the spaceships are being built, a prospect that only works when a team finds material tough enough to make rocket tubes capable of withstanding the heat of the atomic exhaust. The camp loses roughly half of its 1,000 inhabitants when a mob army attacks, killing many before being defeated by a blast from the rocket engines.

The American ships carrying around 600 people make a successful landing on Bronson Beta after a 90 day journey, although they lose contact with each other. Happily, Beta is indeed habitable by humans.

The sequel, After Worlds Collide, was published quickly on the heels of its predecessor. It too first appeared as a six-part monthly serial from November 1933–April 1934 in Blue Book magazine. In it, the Americans learn about fantastic if empty domed cities full of very advanced technology and livable structures left behind by the people who had once lived on Bronson Beta before they disappeared when the planet was sent on its space voyage far from their home star. In addition, the survivors learn other ships made successful landings, but several of them from Japan, Germany, and Russia attack first the British and then the Americans in order to impose their rule over all humans. Hedron dubs them the Midianites before he dies, like Moses, in view of the domed city his people will live in.

Because of the planet’s elliptical orbit, Beta gets colder and colder and one night, the Midianites disconnect the power supply to the city of Hendron's people. In a very rushed conclusion, four Americans and one British female who escaped from the slavery of the Midianites infiltrate the dome of the “Dominion” colony and take out its leadership. The book ends on a very positive note, clearly leaving open possibilities for a third volume, but no sequel was ever published or apparently written.

There is much to praise for both these novels. A decade before actual atomic power was created and Three decades before Mercury space capsules were launched, the authors present seemingly plausible scientific discussions, at least for the general reader, of how the rocket ships were engineered, constructed and powered. (note 2) From beginning to end, the Worlds Collide books had considerable believability and continue to be just as realistic now as much as back in the early 1930s, despite obvious issues like Bronson Alpha being so large it would have done much more than allowed in the book.

The fantastic adventures were grounded by the well-drawn characters. There’s Tony Drake, who accepts the leadership mantle from Hedron even as he competes with Dave Ransdell for that position as well as the affections of Eve Hedron, the alluring daughter of the scientist. There’s also writer Eliot James who becomes the survivors’ historian.

All these characters deal with moral and philosophical issues in the wake of earth’s destruction, such as how marriage between one man and one woman will no longer be workable as females now outnumber men and everyone has a responsibility to rebuild humanity from the comparatively few survivors.

In 1951, Paramount Pictures released a film adaptation of When Worlds Collide produced by George Pal with a script written by Sydney Boehm. Not surprisingly, the book’s plot is streamlined with character names changed and some story points emphasized but not others. (note 3) While there was talk of filming After When Worlds Collide, box office returns for WWC didn’t suggest much success would result. Reportedly, a remake is being discussed now with possible involvement of Steven Spielberg. Stay tuned.


Notes

1. A list of tropes is available at:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php...

2. According to Wikipedia, Philip Wylie was at one time an adviser to the chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee for Atomic Energy which led to the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission.
During World War II, writing The Paradise Crater (1945) resulted in Wylie’s house arrest by the federal government; in the novel, he described a post-WWII 1965 Nazi conspiracy to develop and use uranium-237 bombs, written months before the first successful atomic test at Alamagordo – the most highly classified secret of the war.
His 1954 novel Tomorrow! dealt graphically with the civilian impact of thermonuclear war to make a case for a strong Civil Defense network in the United States, as he told the story of two neighboring cities (one prepared, one unprepared) before and after an attack by missile-armed Soviet bombers. This was adapted in 1956 by ABC Radio, as a one-hour drama narrated by Orson Welles.

3. According to Wikipedia, Edwin Balmer helped create (with artist Marvin Bradley) the syndicated comic strip Speed Spaulding, partially based on the Worlds Collide series, which ran from 1938 through 1941.

For more on Speed Spaulding, check out:
http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/20...

and

http://strippersguide.blogspot.com.br...

On Dec. 20, Wes Britton will be one of the participants in an FB event to celebrate the launch of Dawn Chapman’s new SF novel, First contact which Wes reviewed last week at BookPleasures.com and this blog.

Here is the link to the event.
https://www.facebook.com/events/11825...

It starts at 12.00 EST on December 20th. There will be special guest authors of science fiction and fantasy coming in to talk about the genre, their books and to have some fun.

Wes is providing 5 posts for one half-hour of the event that will plug his Beta-Earth Chronicles.

Everyone is invited, especially readers who love this genre. We hope to see you at the party.