Daniel Magill (Author of Future In Doubt)

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Daniel Magill rated a book really liked it An Exile Aboard Ship (Shieldmatron Book 1) by M.C.A. Hogarth (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Space based science fiction seems to often fixate on action action action. And while that’s fine, character and theme take a greater place in the better books, regardless of the subgenre. I found An Exile Aboard Ship an engrossing and enjoyable read. ...more
Jan 18, 2026 09:18PM · 1 like · like · see review
Daniel Magill and 4 other people liked STRANGE GIRL BOOK REVIEWS 's review of The Lost History of Ashen: The Chronicles of Lost History: "Sometimes a story grabs you from page one, others you just have to stick with it till the end for it to reveal its true essence. This was the case for The Lost History of Ashen by Chris Walczack, a novel that I honestly found kinda silly at first, be" Read more of this review »
Jan 08, 2026 04:43PM · see review
Daniel Magill rated a book really liked it Of All The Gin Joints In The Universe by Richard Paolinelli (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
One of the great things about science fiction is that you can blend it with pretty much any other genre and it still works – when done well. Of All the Gin Joints in the Universe attempts to blend sci-fi with noir. I’m not a huge fan of noir so I hav ...more
Dec 09, 2025 03:26PM · 1 like · like · see review
Daniel Magill recommended Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street to Ryan McDaniel Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street by Daren Hatfield (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 16, 2025 06:23PM · like
Daniel Magill rated a book it was amazing Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street by Daren Hatfield (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Having written my own books which are soon to start coming out, I’ve also been reading more fiction these days than in many years. And it feels great when you find an author who gets it – how to tell a story that hits all the notes for what the autho ...more
Nov 16, 2025 06:22PM · 1 like · like · see review
Daniel Magill rated a book it was amazing Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street by Daren Hatfield (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Having written my own books which are soon to start coming out, I’ve also been reading more fiction these days than in many years. And it feels great when you find an author who gets it – how to tell a story that hits all the notes for what the autho ...more
Nov 16, 2025 06:20PM · 1 like · like · see review
Daniel Magill is now following Jason Mizer Author of Space Cheese
May 04, 2025 12:47PM · like
Daniel Magill rated a book really liked it The Animal In Us by Jason Mizer (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Animal In Us is not for the faint of heart. However, the story also has a lot of heart. It’s brutal, graphically violent, and at times grotesque as it labors to paint a picture of a ruined urban wasteland in a post-nuclear war Sacramento. The entire s ...more
May 03, 2025 01:56PM · 1 like · like · see review
Daniel Magill and 1 other person liked Johnathan Barazzuol's review of The Shiva Option (Starfire, #4): "13 of 36 Chapters in. Jesus Queen Bug God Murphy Fuck. This space war porn just goes on and on like the mindless, unfeeling and uninteresting bug antagonists. The bug chapters could be made interesting but they are always disappointing in that the au" Read more of this review »
Mar 23, 2025 02:58PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Shiva Option by David Weber. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Shiva Option by David Weber <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

Daniel Magill is accepting questions on their profile page.

Daniel Magill rated a book really liked it

An Exile Aboard Ship (Shieldmatron Book 1)
by M.C.A. Hogarth (Goodreads Author)

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Space based science fiction seems to often fixate on action action action. And while that’s fine, character and theme take a greater place in the better books, regardless of the subgenre. I found An Exile Aboard Ship an engrossing and enjoyable read. Space based science fiction seems to often fixate on action action action. And while that’s fine, character and theme take a greater place in the better books, regardless of the subgenre. I found An Exile Aboard Ship an engrossing and enjoyable read.

It is not an action book. It is a thoughtful, reflective character journey of self-discovery featuring the villain of a previous series by the same author, the Her Instruments series. Surela, in that series which I have not read, apparently leads a coup and tries to take over her planet, which leads to atrocities and quite a bit of suffering for her, some of which plays out in An Exile Aboard Ship.

The good thing is, as this is not the same series, you don’t need to have read the previous one to understand what’s happening here. I never felt confused, and Surela spends quite a bit of time reflecting on her terrible choices in the previous book, and lamenting their consequences.

So, this is primarily a story of conscience, where a person who has done terrible things is forced to enter an entirely new world, realize her insignificance and arrogance, and learn to become a new person. I found that whole arc enjoyable and thought-provoking.

Surela finds herself exiled to a ship and surrounded by ‘Pelteds,’ which are humanoid creatures that resemble animals on earth, except they walk and talk and think and feel like humans. Surela starts off mostly resenting and looking down on them, thinking herself and her somewhat immortal race superior.

But over time, she comes to see that these beings like and respect her, and they even care for her. And, she comes to find she cares about them. So when pirates show up and try to use Surela to again attack the people on her planet she already fought once, she finds herself in a position to take a different path than the one she took before – though this time it will require even more risk to herself, as well as her new friends.

I’m rating it four stars mainly because the pacing is a bit on the slow side, especially the first 200 pages. And while it’s not an action book, I found it getting a bit repetitive as we again hear Surela discussing her thoughts, actions, and their consequences from the previous story. I felt at some point that I get it, and we can stop rehashing this. That probably would have saved 20-30 pages, in addition to some other cuts that could have been made.

But the writing is distinct and at a high level, and the world building is solid as you can tell it fits into a broader universe that the author has developed well. I’d imagine the rest of the series is probably similar but perhaps a bit faster paced as this one is in many ways setting the stage for where Surela will go.

That said, this book ends in a very satisfying way, and there is no cliffhanger to annoy the reader. ...more

Daniel Magill and 4 other people liked STRANGE GIRL BOOK REVIEWS 's review of The Lost History of Ashen: The Chronicles of Lost History:

The Lost History of Ashen by Chris Walczak

"Sometimes a story grabs you from page one, others you just have to stick with it till the end for it to reveal its true essence. This was the case for The Lost History of Ashen by Chris Walczack, a novel that I honestly found kinda silly at first, be" Read more of this review »

Daniel Magill rated a book really liked it

Of All The Gin Joints In The Universe
by Richard Paolinelli (Goodreads Author)

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One of the great things about science fiction is that you can blend it with pretty much any other genre and it still works – when done well.

Of All the Gin Joints in the Universe attempts to blend sci-fi with noir. I’m not a huge fan of noir so I hav One of the great things about science fiction is that you can blend it with pretty much any other genre and it still works – when done well.

Of All the Gin Joints in the Universe attempts to blend sci-fi with noir. I’m not a huge fan of noir so I have no idea if this has been attempted before, but the author of this book succeeds. He has created a smoky, cynical, corrupt, and wise cracking world like you’d expect in a noir story, but sets it in a future where humans have expanded into other parts of the galaxy.

The story begins with Private Detective Sam Spade, formerly a Galactic Justice agent. But he quit that job in disgust when they started using Halos, a new technology that reads people’s minds and then allows you to write a new personality – or take one from a different person and upload it – onto the mind of the person subjected to it.

That sort of idea has shown up in numerous other stories, so it’s not entirely original, as the story itself makes clear by referencing but not naming the film Minority Report – not to mention the title of the book itself. But the point of this story isn’t to do something new with sci-fi tech. It’s to put that tech in a noir world, and it gets going right away with the appearance of the mysterious femme fatale, Natasha Carter.

And of course, Spade falls for her when she comes to him for help. The story doesn’t have a ton of surprises, but the ones it does have keep you engaged and interested to see what’s coming next.

What worked for me was the solid but simple world-building that does what it needs to do and nothing more. The story never veers too far from its spine, and the characters all belong in the world of the story.

The author has some fun referencing present day films, as well as real people such as Elon Musk, whose distant descendant plays a key role in the story as the inventor of the Halo device.

There are a few flaws in the book, most notably a handful of spelling errors that could have been easily caught with one more editing pass, including inconsistent spellings of the name Callahan. Yes, that Inspector Callahan.

I also felt the story could have had more suspense. It was kind of perfunctory at times. Told in the first person, we sometimes get told what Spade intends to do. And then, he does it. Sometimes it doesn’t go his way, other times it does. But we kind of see where it’s going ahead of time more often than is ideal, and I did feel the ending was a bit overdone a veered a bit too close to a deux ex machina scenario.

Those are the reasons I’ve given it 4 stars instead of 5.

But it’s a fun read that serves the purpose for which most people enjoy noir – slipping into a slimy world with a grizzled but bitter protagonist, and going with him as he tries to set records straight, right wrongs, and get the girl who keeps eluding him. Because the story sticks to its strengths and moves at a brisk pace, it’s a quick and enjoyable read and wins my recommendation. ...more

Daniel Magill recommended Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street to Ryan McDaniel

Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street
by Daren Hatfield (Goodreads Author)

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Daniel Magill rated a book it was amazing

Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street
by Daren Hatfield (Goodreads Author)

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Having written my own books which are soon to start coming out, I’ve also been reading more fiction these days than in many years.

And it feels great when you find an author who gets it – how to tell a story that hits all the notes for what the autho Having written my own books which are soon to start coming out, I’ve also been reading more fiction these days than in many years.

And it feels great when you find an author who gets it – how to tell a story that hits all the notes for what the author is trying to do. From the very title itself and on through the end of the book, Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street delivers.

It is fast-paced, fun, lively, and intriguing. You never feel confused, and always are interested to see what happens next. The dialogue and description are fun, enjoyable, and appropriate to the time period, and the plot moves along at a consistent pace, building up in intensity as our gang of characters learns more and more about the mysterious device they learn about, and the threat posed by a couple rogue businessmen who want to use it for evil. The internal story logic is well-thought out and there are no glaring holes or inconsistencies.

Only one time did I start to worry the story might bog down into something episodic, and then the very next chapter upped the stakes and the story kept moving.

I also wanted it to deal with some of the thornier questions raised by its unique approach to time travel. At first, it seemed to be avoiding them altogether, but as the story progresses, the questions raised by the time travel technology they’re working with get addressed as a key part of the story. Is it wise or right, or even beneficial, to be using this the way we’re using it?

Are bad things always something we should want to prevent from happening, or should we just let life go, even when it doesn’t go well? Is controlling fate a good thing, even when the outcome seems good?

The story, written in first-person, introduces us to Parker Riley, a teen-ish boy in the early 1900s in a fictional small town. The author does very well in putting us back in that time, featuring details of daily living that make you feel like you’re there, and this is achieved in the first chapter – where it should be – while also getting the story going right away.

Parker soon meets Cora, a young and brand new widow, and her teen daughter Cassandra. As Parker gets feelings for Cassandra and happily takes them around his town, they meet a stranger character named Doyle who Parker later learns possesses a device that allows him to turn back time – but only for himself and only for limited amounts of time.

It’s enough time to prevent mistakes and tragedies, and this is what Doyle’s been doing. But when Parker accidentally discovers Doyle’s secret, the cat is out of the bag, and Doyle has to let Parker into his world.

From there, the adventure begins, and it keeps going strong through the rest of the book, including the eventual showdown with a couple shady villains out to use the time travel tech for their own ends.

It’s a delightful story, and I found it quite refreshing after reading a couple duds previous to this. Even better, I then gave it to my 10 year old son, and he loved it, finishing the whole thing in a couple days.

If you want a well-crafted story that’s fun, crisp, creative, and also clean enough to share with any age, Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street is a great find. ...more

Daniel Magill rated a book it was amazing

Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street
by Daren Hatfield (Goodreads Author)

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1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Having written my own books which are soon to start coming out, I’ve also been reading more fiction these days than in many years.

And it feels great when you find an author who gets it – how to tell a story that hits all the notes for what the autho Having written my own books which are soon to start coming out, I’ve also been reading more fiction these days than in many years.

And it feels great when you find an author who gets it – how to tell a story that hits all the notes for what the author is trying to do. From the very title itself and on through the end of the book, Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street delivers.

It is fast-paced, fun, lively, and intriguing. You never feel confused, and always are interested to see what happens next. The dialogue and description are fun, enjoyable, and appropriate to the time period, and the plot moves along at a consistent pace, building up in intensity as our gang of characters learns more and more about the mysterious device they learn about, and the threat posed by a couple rogue businessmen who want to use it for evil. The internal story logic is well-thought out and there are no glaring holes or inconsistencies.

Only one time did I start to worry the story might bog down into something episodic, and then the very next chapter upped the stakes and the story kept moving.

I also wanted it to deal with some of the thornier questions raised by its unique approach to time travel. At first, it seemed to be avoiding them altogether, but as the story progresses, the questions raised by the time travel technology they’re working with get addressed as a key part of the story. Is it wise or right, or even beneficial, to be using this the way we’re using it?

Are bad things always something we should want to prevent from happening, or should we just let life go, even when it doesn’t go well? Is controlling fate a good thing, even when the outcome seems good?

The story, written in first-person, introduces us to Parker Riley, a teen-ish boy in the early 1900s in a fictional small town. The author does very well in putting us back in that time, featuring details of daily living that make you feel like you’re there, and this is achieved in the first chapter – where it should be – while also getting the story going right away.

Parker soon meets Cora, a young and brand new widow, and her teen daughter Cassandra. As Parker gets feelings for Cassandra and happily takes them around his town, they meet a stranger character named Doyle who Parker later learns possesses a device that allows him to turn back time – but only for himself and only for limited amounts of time.

It’s enough time to prevent mistakes and tragedies, and this is what Doyle’s been doing. But when Parker accidentally discovers Doyle’s secret, the cat is out of the bag, and Doyle has to let Parker into his world.

From there, the adventure begins, and it keeps going strong through the rest of the book, including the eventual showdown with a couple shady villains out to use the time travel tech for their own ends.

It’s a delightful story, and I found it quite refreshing after reading a couple duds previous to this. Even better, I then gave it to my 10 year old son, and he loved it, finishing the whole thing in a couple days.

If you want a well-crafted story that’s fun, crisp, creative, and also clean enough to share with any age, Nothing Ever Happens on Main Street is a great find. ...more

Daniel Magill is now following

Jason Mizer

Author of Space Cheese

Daniel Magill rated a book really liked it

The Animal In Us
by Jason Mizer (Goodreads Author)

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Animal In Us is not for the faint of heart. However, the story also has a lot of heart.

It’s brutal, graphically violent, and at times grotesque as it labors to paint a picture of a ruined urban wasteland in a post-nuclear war Sacramento. The entire s ...more

Daniel Magill and 1 other person liked Johnathan Barazzuol's review of The Shiva Option (Starfire, #4):

"13 of 36 Chapters in. Jesus Queen Bug God Murphy Fuck. This space war porn just goes on and on like the mindless, unfeeling and uninteresting bug antagonists. The bug chapters could be made interesting but they are always disappointing in that the au" Read more of this review »