Finches of Mars by Brian Aldiss

Blurb: Set on the Red Planet, it follows the stories of a group of colonists and the problems they have in setting up a new society. Life can be sustained by new life will not prosper – the women on the planet only ever give birth to stillborn children.

Red Mars by Kim Robinson

Blurb: Brilliantly imagined, breathtaking in scope & ingenuity, Red Mars is an epic scientific saga, chronicling the next step in evolution, creating a world in its entirety. It shows a future, with both glory & tarnish, that awes with complexity & inspires with vision.

Desolation Road by Ian McDonald

Blurb: t all began thirty years ago on Mars, with a greenperson. But by the time it all finished, the town of Desolation Road had experienced every conceivable abnormality from Adam Black’s Wonderful Travelling Chautauqua and Educational ‘Stravaganza  to the Astounding Tatterdemalion Air Bazaar.

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The post 3 Books Like "The Martian" PART 2 appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

If  you enjoyed and lol’ed (in some places) while reading Andy Weir‘s (see Andy Weir’s interview) The Martian (read book review here), the story of an astronaut Mark Watney, who struggles to survive, alone on the red planet. Maybe, you’d watched the movie directed by Ridley Scott, in which Matt Damon portray’s Mark Watney. Maybe, you just more of the red planet. Whichever the case is, you’d want to take a look at these books.

Moving Mars by Greg Bear

Blurb: Moving Mars is a story of human courage and love set within the greater saga of a planetary liberation movement. Mars is a colonial world, governed by corporate interests on Earth.

No Man Friday by Rex Gordon

Blurb: Quite Similar to The Maitian, but is more adventurous.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Blurb: In The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury, America’s preeminent storyteller, imagines a place of hope, dreams, and metaphor; of crystal pillars and fossil seas, where a fine dust settles on the great empty cities of a vanished, devastated civilization.

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Pages: 219, Kindle Edition

Published: September 2017

Cover Rating: 3/5

How many science fiction books you have read on the future of out species? Out of them, how many are dystopian? Recently, I watched Blade Runner and I liked the flying cars. What if the occurrence of changes are dystopian not as the society but for the large corporations of the world of today. What if Apple becomes obsolete?

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Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee

Blurb: Yoon Ha Lee’s critically acclaimed Machineries of Empire trilogy continues with Raven Stratagem, coming from Solaris Summer 2017.

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss

Blurb: With the assistance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Mary continues her search for the elusive Hyde and soon gathers around her more women, all of whom have been created through terrifying experimentation: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherine Moreau, and Justine Frankestein. When their investigations lead them to the discovery of a secret society of immoral and power-crazed scientists, the horrors of their past soon arrive as well, and it is up to the five of them to stop the malicious machinations of the Société les Alchimistes. It is time for the monsters to triumph over the monstrous.

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Beren and Lúthien by J.R.R. Tolkien

Blurb: Edited by Christopher Tolkien, attempts to extract the story of Beren and Lúthien from the comprehensive work of The Silmarillion, in which it was embedded; but that story was itself changing as it developed new associations within the larger history.

Forever On: A Novel of Silicon Valley by Rob Reid

Blurb: A group of young Silicon Valley engineers builds a new global social network…that becomes a sentient AI with the personality of a Buzzfeed-crazed teen girl.

Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton

Blurb: Michael Crichton, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Jurassic Park, returns to the world of paleontology in this recently discovered novel—a thrilling adventure set in the Wild West during the golden age of fossil hunting.

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Thrawn by Timothy Zahn

Blurb: In this definitive novel, readers will follow Thrawn’s rise to power—uncovering the events that created one of the most iconic villains in Star Wars history.

Walkaway by Cory Doctorow

Blurb: Cory Doctorow’s first adult novel in eight years: an epic tale of revolution, love, post-scarcity, and the end of death.

Proof of Concept by Gwyneth Jones

Blurb: On a desperately overcrowded future Earth, crippled by climate change, the most unlikely hope is better than none. Governments turn to Big Science to provide them with the dreams that will keep the masses compliant. The Needle is one such dream, an installation where the most abstruse theoretical science is being tested: science that might make human travel to a habitable exoplanet distantly feasible.

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The post Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Read in April 2017 appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Chalk by Paul Cornell

Blurb: Paul Conrell is a versatile TV/novel writer for Doctor Who, Batman & Robin & Wolverine. In his latest book, Cornell  plumbs the depths of magic and despair in this brutal exploration of bullying in Margaret Thatcher’s England.

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

Blurb: The first novel of a new space-opera sequence set in an all-new universe by the Hugo Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author of Redshirts and Old Man’s War.

Luna: Wolf Moon by Ian McDonald

Blurb: In an unstable lunar environment, the shifting loyalties and political machinations of each family reach the zenith of their most fertile plots as outright war erupts. Luna: Wolf Moon continues Ian McDonald’s saga of the Five Dragons.

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The post Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Read in March 2017 appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Will 2017 be the year we finally get our hands on The Winds of Winter? I am eagerly waiting for it and I am sure you excited too. Thus, while we both wait for George R. R. Martin to finally disagree with Game of Thrones TV show’s producers and to show gratitude towards the thirst of his fans and readers, we still have plenty to read and crave for in particular genre of science fiction as well as fantasy.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman 

Blurb: In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki, son of a giant, blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Gilded Cage by Vic James 

Blurb: Debut. Our world belongs to the Equals — aristocrats with magical gifts — and all commoners must serve them for ten years. But behind the gates of (alternate-modern day) England’s grandest estate lies a power that could break the world.

Star Wars Aftermath: Empire’s End by Chuck Wendig

(expected publication: February 21)

Blurb: Following “Star Wars: Aftermath” and “Star Wars: Life Debt,” Chuck Wendig delivers the exhilarating conclusion to the “New York Times” bestselling trilogy set in the years between “Return of the Jedi” and “The Force Awakens.”

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

Blurb: The battle between four magical Londons comes to a head in this stunning finale to the New York Times bestselling Shades of Magic trilogy by rising star V. E. Schwab.

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The post Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Read in February 2017 appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Seldom do I come across a Science Fiction book that is based completely swoops Indian Mythology. The Code of Manavas: Beyond the Realm by Arpit Bakshi is the one I recently came across that talks about Indian Mythology and Science Fiction at the same time. It’s a task that has to be stir considerably for a reader to digest the mix. There are books in which mixing mythology with fantasy/science fiction is not done with considerable amount. A reader might feel something or the other lacks. The amount of lack does create an imbalance in a reader’s mind.

However, Arpit Bakshi’s book does not fails to create that imbalance. He does a good job there. The plot follows a young protagonist Krishna, who is a scientist and the founder of Bhoomidium, an organic compound which is helping Bhooma, the only remaining land on the whole planet, to survive. This organic material is a healing source but has effects on humans and turning them into powerful beings a.k.a. Manavas. Everything has its price which is irrelevant to time. The organic material cannot stop the geological changes whose occurrences is what Bhoomidium is the outcome. Thus remains possibility of leaving as an alternative solution. The question remains, how?

That’s for protagonist of the story and the readers to find out. The book is certainly set in future, the year: 2050.2.x. This is just like a semantic versioning of a software application. Since we, nowadays, in reality we face, we are doing semantic versioning of everything, it is possible in future that we might be doing semantic versioning of days, months and years as did Arpit Bakshi.

The book has a slow start but eventually gather its momentum. Elements that focus on the protagonist, whose the base element os the book, such as his own emotional struggle, are not up to the mark. The characterisation suffers to much of the mythology and fails to enhance that. There is an extra layer of complexity which does works well as the story gains momentum, so that was not entirely satisfactory from a reader’s point of view.

2 out of 5!

The post BOOK REVIEW: The Code of Manavas by Arpit Bakshi appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.

Enterprise: The First Adventure is a part of the Star Trek: The Original Series. Star Trek is a fascinating world of its own. Like our world, it represents it consists interesting cultural diversity with characters like Spock who is as emotionally stable as a rock.

Enterprise:The First Adventure is the book about the first time captain James T. Kirk, the youngest man to be promoted to the rank of captain in Federation history. He takes of the Enterprise for the first time. Spock, Sulu, Scotty, and Janice Rand are among some other characters who try to adjust to their new captain and are introduced as it is really the beginning.

The author Vonda McIntyre makes the story interesting, by her steady narration. The plot drives forward as the characters get indulge with themselves. Te science fiction thing is limited in this book to general Star Trek SciFi stuff. The story focuses on the crew as they put aside their differences when a monstrous starship appears on their nascent flight path.

If you are getting into Star Trek, this is a good book to start or get familiar yourself with.

3 out of 5!

The post BOOK REVIEW: Enterprise by Vonda N. McIntyre appeared first on Confessions of a Readaholic.