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Buying Time – Joe Haldeman

In a not so distant future, “immortals” can buy ten to twelve years of extra life at a time through a medical procedure known as the Stileman Proces. The catch? They must give all their assets to the Stileman Foundation each time, and the minimum cost is one million pounds. Dallas Barr, an immortal, becomes aware of a conspiracy to subvert the Stileman Foundation. But the secrets go deeper than that, and he is soon on the run.

A well-paced and interesting science fiction thriller with an interesting premise. Dallas Barr’s journey to stay ahead of the antagonists takes him to various places on Earth, and the asteroid belt, with some very interesting societal models. As is common with Mr. Haldeman, the story veers in unexpected directions, with this one digging deeply into a global conspiracy theme that is just as topical as when the book was written.

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Service Model – Adrian Tchaikovsky

In a mansion, one man lives alone. And one morning, his valet robot accidentally kills him while shaving him. The robot does not know why he did this. After a pointless, Kafkaesque investigation, he is released from service and told to report to “Diagnostics”. Once he gets there. he discovers that Diagnostics is backed up with a long line of robots waiting to be diagnosed. Most of the robots in line are derelict. The robots in charge of diagnostics have come up with a creative solution to mitigate the backlog. On his way to Diagnostics, he discovered that the world is decaying. Human mansions sit derelict. Unused robots languish. How will he resolve his internal programming conflicts, finding his purpose again, and what is happening to the world?

The premise is fantastic, and telling the story from the point of view of the robot is clever. Unfortunately Mr. Tchaikovsky lets the robot’s internal monologue on and on. It gets old and boring very quickly. I gave up about a third of the way through. The very interesting idea and story is buried under extensive and boring internal monologue and exposition.

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How not to get ripped off by Thai bar-girls And how to have a fantastic time In the land of smiles – Andrew Blair

A self-help book on how to make the best of a fun holiday in Thailand, and how to find happiness.

This book is lovely in the way it doesn’t judge, apart fpr those who deserve to be judged, but takes a frank look about what happiness can be, who to trust and not trust, and how not to hide from reality. This could have been much improved by even a casual editing pass, as there are unfortunately a number of basic grammatical errors.

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The Javan War (The Cruel Stars 0) – John Birmingham & Jason Lambright

The backstory of Cadet Lucinda Hardy, from her time as an orphan to her daring exploits during the Javan War.

The timeline of this novella shifts back and forth between Lucinda’s orphan days, putative “present time” during the Javan War, and her time at the naval academy, with a brain injury and memory reconstruction as a framing device. Fast paced and full of action, it is a solid bildungsroman.

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Angels of Pattaya: Inside the Secret World of Thai Prostitution – G.T. Gray

Short interviews with prostitudes and escorts in Thailand, mostly in Bangkok and Pattaya.

A poignant and important documentary project, this book uncovers how these many, many women lead their lives. Mostly coming from abject poverty, they have a chance to build a better life for themselves and their families by entering the “oldest profession”. The interview are candid, uncensored, raw, and while often heartbreaking they are also sometimes full of hope, even joy. The last interview, with an American bar owner, is a perfect capstone.

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Fenrir – Eric Flint & Ryk E. Spoor

Astronomer Stephanie Bronson discovers a interstellar object approaching the Solar System. It turns out to be an alien spacecraft, soon dubbed “Fenrir”, which remains stubbornly silent. As the spacecraft is decelerating, it suffers an apparent catastrophic malfunction. A bold rescue plan is put in place for the enigmatic alien intruder.

An excellent adventure story with high adventure and solid science. Mr. Flint and Mr. Spoor make the plot flow smoothly, with interesting characters, and very engaging prose. Reminiscent of, and purposefully calling back to, a more optimistic time. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Welcome to the Jungle – John Ringo with Casey Moores (Shadow’s Path II)

With his past well and truly in the open, Mike must take steps to secure his enormous inheritance from his adversaries. They run the family trust, abused his mother, and are tied into evil globe-spanning conspiracies.

Mr. Ringo can make reading about legal proceedings and land purchases interesting, and that’s what he does here. There isn’t very much action, and the book seems sometimes like a long political lecture. If you’re a Ringo fan, you’ll probably enjoy it anyway.

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The Archimedes Engine (Exodus I) – Peter F. Hamilton

Over forty thousand years in the future, humanity is established in the distant Centauri Cluster, colonising it with arkships leaving Earth. The early arrivals evolved into posthuman races collectively known as Celestials. Later arrivals, still baseline humans, are now second class citizens in the Celestial dominions. Finn, a Uranic human, meaning he is a human with some ability to directly interface with Celestial system, is the scion of a wealthy family of administrators on the planet Anoosha. Surviving an assassination attempt, he is rescued by two recent arkship arrivals, and sees in them his future independence. Meanwhile, the Celestial noble families play “great games” of power and influence over centuries and millennia. They value stability of dominion, with upstart humans wanting more independence being a major concern.

Even for a Peter F. Hamilton novel, this one has almost overwhelming scope and complexity. Multiple interweaving storylines spanning decades weave a gorgeous tapestry of future society. However, it is sometimes difficult to know who to root for. Finn is the obvious protagonist, and he definitely grows as the story progresses, but there are so many plots and storylines to keep track of that he is often overshadowed by other events, or unmentioned for several chapters. That being said, Mr. Hamilton’s smooth prose and masterful plotting keep the story going.

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Livesuit (Captive’s War I½)

Humanity is engaged in a war with a savage and relentless enemy over vast tracts of space and time. Kirin is a paramedic on a human settled planet. Together with his colleague and friend Piotr he enlists in the Livesuit Infantry, composed of elite troops who spend their entire tour of duty encapsulated in suits made of living tissue. The suit is responsible for feeding, waste elimination, and medical care. Kirin soon begins to suspect that the livesuits have much more sinister aspects.

This excellent novella is very much in the vein of The Forever War. Humanity is lost in a war which, due to the distances involved in both space and time, is well beyond the comprehension of the troops. Friends and lovers will never be seen again once separated, and the end goals are remote and difficult to fathom. Kirin’s slow loss of humanity, both mental and physical, is the perfect metaphor for pointless war.

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Behind the Veil (Transdimensional Hunter III) – John Ringo & Lydia Sherrer

As Lynn Raven and her friends are about to graduate from high school, the Transdimensional Hunter national championships loom. Lynn’s suspicious mind starts to see glimpses of the sinister truth behind the transdimensional monsters, while she also has to deal with bullies, hormones, and keeping the team focused.

The battle scenes and banter are solid as in the previous two books, making this an easy page turner. This installment also develops Lynn’s character, and the storyline in general, moving things forward nicely.

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Ice Trials (Time Trials II) – M.A. Rothman & D.J. Butler

After the events in Time Trials, the team is transported to a new mysterious location in the deep past. Surjan unintentionally shakes things in the civilization they find there.

Unfortunately the first part of this book left me decidedly lukewarm and disinterested, so I have up after about a quarter of the book. The characters don’t engage me as a reader, and unfortunately this particular LitRPG title falls flat.

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Spin (Spin I) – Robert Charles Wilson

One night, when best friends Tyler, Jason, and Diane are children, they escape outside from an adult party. As they watch, the stars disappear from the night sky. Earth has been enveloped in a membrane which will come to be known as The Spin. Who created it, or why, is a complete unknown. As it turns out, time outside the membrane passes thousands of times faster than inside. Within a few decades of time on Earth, the sun will have aged to the point of enveloping the Earth, dooming everyone inside. As Tyler, Jason, and Diane grow up and lead their lives, a culture of fatalism takes root, but Jason, a genius scientist with drive and ambition in spades, has other plans for humanity.

The premise is very clever, and the scope is ambitious. Mr. Wilson takes the reader on a decades-long journey, both in the wider story of Earth and humanity itself, and the much more intimate narrative of Tyler, Jason, and Diane, that veers off in many unexpected directions. The trap of a Big Dumb Object scifi premise is not developing it beyond the obvious, but in this case the author certainly does. Where the novel falters a bit is focusing too strongly on the story of Diane’s descent into religious cults based on The Spin, and Tyler’s actions in response. While certainly the eschatological element of the physical effects is worth exploring, it becomes too long winded, and the somewhat tacked-on side story doesn’t do very much to set up Diane and Tyler’s future anyway. The story goes very dark in places, but that, in essence, is what Mr. Wilson is exploring. How would humanity react when the clock is ticking?

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The Winds of Fate (Make the Darkness Light II) – S.M. Stirling

A few years after their arrival in the Roman Imperial Era, Arthur, now Artorius, and his former students have set the Roman Empire well on the path to rapid economic and military expansion. But just as things seem to going well, they learn than in ancient China, another time traveling team arrived on the same day that they did. These were sent not to prevent future apocalyptic nuclear conflict, but to ensure China ruthlessly dominates the world.

This is a pager turner just like the first installments, especially for a history enthusiast. The subtle and not so subtle changes, engendered by the protagonists are explored in detail, with extensive discussions on the consequences. There are a number of long tangential infodumps, but these are so interesting that they don’t detract from the pacing. The internal struggles of the five “moderns” as they have to grapple with the fact that they will not have lasting peace in their lives are well explored. The battle scenes are excellent, despite being in a way extensive essays on military technology development. One critique is that Mr. Stirling oft repeats the same background facts about various characters, indicating that perhaps one more editing pass would have been in order.

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Defiance (The Spiral Wars IV) – Joel Shepherd

After retrieving the data core from the Kantovan Vault, the crew of the Defiance proceeds to an ancient asteroid settlement known as Defiance. The plan is to uncover technologies and equipment to help them fight the encroaching machine intelligence threat.

The story moves forward some more. Mainly this book stands out for the great action sequences, which unlike in previous books where many characters were wearing semi-obvious plot armour, feel like they have very real stakes.

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Not That Kind of Good Guy (Shadow’s Path I) – John Ringo

Michael is a thirteen-year-old orphan who grew up in a ghetto, raised by a transexual black prostitute. He is also extremely intelligent and a smartarse. For reasons unknown, he is bestowed with superpowers. The Junior Super Corps enlists him, but he doesn’t quite fit in. In the background, world spanning shadow organisations spar within vast hidden conspiracies.

This is a controversial book even for Mr. Ringo. Michael is an fast talking, clever, precocious youngster with ADHD. He does not fit the establishment mould, mostly because he speaks truth often uncomfortable. While the book suffers from excessive infodumps, especially at the start, and is in perhaps too many ways a platform for Mr. Ringo’s ideology, it also exposes harsh truths about society which many people would benefit from hearing. Mr. Ringo can write engaging prose and good action scenes with his eyes clothes. Writing something that delivers a message while having a terribly contrived backstory is quite a feat. If you’re the kind of person who is offended by strong and controversial opinions, you will be offended. I may not agree with Mr. Ringo’s political views as a whole, but I respect him for approaching and explaining them in an honest and mature, albeit often hilariously smartarse, manner.

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Kantovan Vault (The Spiral Wars III) – Joel Shepherd

Our heroes must venture deeper into Tavalai human space in their search for evidence of a conspiracy against not only humanity, but several other species as well. This instalment involves a heist, breaking into a mysterious vault on a planet with a crushing atmosphere.

There is a bit less character development and more story focus in book three, but the great action continues.

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Drysine Legacy (The Spiral Wars II) – Joel Shepherd

The story continues as Phoenix and her crew ventures ever further from human space in order to track down evidence of an ever-vaster seeming conspiracy against the current order. Old and terrifying ghosts from ancient history, in the form of the Hacksaws, machine intelligences that once dominated the spiral, are found to be very much still a presence. The mysterious and advanced alo race, ostensibly humanity’s allies, seem connected to the Hacksaws, somehow.

The second instalment takes the series more into an adventure direction, as the story itself solidifies into a quest. The crew must track down clues and ancient mysteries, whilst navigating a complex network of shifting loyalties and alliances. The action scenes remain excellent, and the characterisations are solid.

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Renegade (The Spiral Wars I) – Noel Shepherd

Lieutenant Commander Erik Debogande and the rest of the crew of the capital ship Phoenix are going home. One hundred sixty years of war are over, and a victory parade awaits. Erik subsequently reconnects with his family, ultra-rich industrialists with a keen interest in human politics. But things soon go awry as Phoenix’s captain is framed for a crime he did not commit, and the crew must escape the homeworld, taking Phoenix, in order to not meet the same fate.

Mr. Shepherd builds a rich and intricate universe of shifting alliances and complex national interests, both between the various spieces inhabiting galaxy, and amongst the humans themselves. Past history going back tens of thousands of years indicates that no one is without blame in some way, and every race and faction has skeletons in its closet, including humanity, which itself is still traumatised from near extinction. The action scenes are top notch, especially those involving the marines. One gripe is that the descriptions of large ships, space stations and other locales, while comprehensive, are often a bit confusing.

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Not Till We Are Lost (Bobiverse V) – Dennis E. Taylor

The fifth instalment picks up all the storylines from the previous books, and adds more. A pair of Bobs discover the abandoned planets and space installations of an ancient and multiracial civilization. Friction continues with various human factions. A new race is found and their civilization explored. The aliens from Heaven’s River deal with digital life after death. And more.

This book is a hot mess. There are far too many storylines, and only two get the attention they need to be interesting. The dragon storyline is neat, but not necessary for the main story. In essence, only the implications of the ancient civilization that decamped is really relevant. There is a lot of time spent in various meetings where various things are discussed, and only the characters’ snarky and snappy dialogue makes it bearable. The whole thing would have been better off as a short story collection, allowing the reader to focus on one thing at the time in depth.

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The Final Shore (Siobhan Dunmoore IX) – Eric Thomson

Siobhan Dunmoore is assigned as Chief of Naval Operations at headquarters in Geneva by her old friend Kathryn Kowalski, who is now Grand Admiral. They have set themselves the challenge of setting up the armed forces as a fourth branch of government and moving headquarters to the world of Caledonia. Meanwhile, scheming politician and avowed centralist Sarah Lauzier has become Secretary General. Dunmoore, Kowalski, and their allies feel that continued centralisation of power will lead to unrest among the outer worlds, and eventually plunge humanity into a devastating war.

The concept of separating the armed forces from direct political meddling is interesting, but it also raises many ethical questions, the most important one being the matter of oversight. There is also the fact that the armed forces are taking matters in their own hands, which as stated in the book is unconstitutional. In essence, they are rebelling against the government. The ends seem to justify the means here, as not seeking independence would likely lead to hundreds of millions of deaths and a possible slide into barbarism. The author clearly takes the side of the military but does not really explore the opposing arguments, simply casting the Centralists as meddling and deeply corrupt bureaucrats. A deeper discussion than “our heroes are on the side of good” would have benefited the narrative. That being said, this is a competent political thriller, though the last section felt somewhat unnecessary and only seemed added to bring some extra action to the story. This ninth instalment neatly concludes the Siobhan Dunmoore saga.

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On Stormy Seas (Siobhan Dunmoore VIII) – Eric Thomson

Siobhan Dunmoore is assigned to Third Fleet as chief of operations. It soon turns out that she has been posted there to clean up the ineffective and corrupt leadership. Organised crime interests soon try to recruit her into a web of corruption.

An interesting change of pace from the naval action of previous instalments, which was becoming stale, to spy/crime thriller, and well executed. Given the state of the greater political narrative of the series, and Dunmoore’s high rank, having her chase around the Galaxy for more fleet action would have stretched credibility.