Category: Book Review
Genome by Gary Alan Henson
(Cover picture courtesy of Createspace.)
Jack Thomas is amazed to find himself heading the company of his dreams, nestled in the high-tech backdrop of beautiful Boulder, Colorado.
Built with his best friend and partner Frankie, the bio-genetics company has achieved success far beyond their wildest dreams. The company is poised to revolutionize the treatment of cancer and other diseases.
The only thing missing is Jack’s highschool sweetheart, Emily, who was brutally murdered, her killer never found.
With the help of PIP, a sexy artificial intelligent assistant, and beautiful green-eyed psychic, Samantha, Jack risks his life using the latest genetic technology to delve into a terrifying world of spirits that he didn’t even know existed.
Genome explores the boundaries between what we can create and what we may never fully understand—science and the afterlife, chance and destiny, and a love that crosses the chasm of life and death.
[Full disclosure: Gary Alan Henson sent me a free print copy of his book in exchange for an honest review.]
First off, I absolutely loved the blend of science and magic in Genome. Science has never been my strongest area, so I won’t even begin to pretend to understand half of the technical information Gary Henson included in his debut novel. However, the spirit world that Samantha and Jack encounter is very well-developed and is an interesting contrast to the logical, scientific parts of the novel. It’s not very often that you see a novel where there’s both science fiction and a bit of fantasy, but this odd combination works very well in Genome. If you’re a real science fiction lover, this book is perfect for you because of the insane amount of research Gary Henson obviously did to bring Jack and Frankie’s futuristic company to life.
The main characters like Samantha, Jack and Frankie were very well fleshed out. This was definitely helped by the fact that we got to look inside all of their heads, which also helped move the plot along. There were no sections that really dragged in the book because we could see the motivations and thoughts of all the major characters. Combined with some amazing plot twists, this made for a really fast-paced read.
However, I don’t feel that the characters lived up to their full potential because of the point of view Gary Henson chose. Genome is told in a sort of third person omniscient present tense, meaning that the narrative is in third person and switches between characters frequently but is also told in present tense (i.e.: he goes to the supermarket and picks out a nice fresh apple). This isn’t so much confusing as it is irritating at points because we are being told what happens rather than being shown.
I think part of the problem with the writing was that this was Gary Henson’s first novel. Now don’t get me wrong—it’s very good for a first novel—but I don’t think it lived up to its full potential. The writing wasn’t as polished as it could have been, some of the dialogue was stiff and there were some minor typos (mainly missing quotation marks).
Still, the plot twists, great world-building, realistic characters and the amazing amount of research that went into Genome suggest that we’ll see even better things from Mr. Henson in the future.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
Arlo and Jake Enlist by Gary Alan Henson
(Cover picture courtesy of Gary Alan Henson.)
Jake’s retirement consists of beer, brats, watching beach bunnies pass by his patio deck and trading wisecracks with Arlo, his pet chameleon. OK, so it’s a one-sided exchange, Jake doesn’t mind.
That all changes when they are conscripted into service for the Federation of Thirteen Galaxies. (Twelve actually. They lost one of the Galaxies but it’s too expensive to change all the letterhead, so there you go.)
Book One, ‘Arlo and Jake Enlist’, follows the adventures of our dippy duo as they are snapped off the beach and into service as ABSs (Able Bodied Spacemen).
[Full disclosure: Gary Henson sent me a free print copy in exchange for an honest review.]
Arlo and Jake Enlist is the sort of novella you can curl up in your favourite chair for an hour or so on a dreary day and laugh out loud over. It’s both a spoof of science fiction and a good read all rolled into one 89 page book.
Now, just because this is a spoof doesn’t mean the characters aren’t interesting or well developed. They definitely are. Jake is kind of a lonely old man who fills his days drinking on the beach and watching girls with his pet chameleon, Arlo. But watch out once they get in space! Arlo develops a great personality for comedic effect and has that kind of biting sarcasm that I love. And Jake, well, what’s not to like about him? He’s snarky, curious and, at times, quite philosophical.
The plot moves along very quickly since this is a novella, so you definitely won’t experience the usual plot slump in the middle. There’s also plenty of hilarious situations that made me quite literally laugh out loud, but there are times when Arlo and Jake Enlist is serious. Gary Alan Henson found a balance between writing a great spoof and writing a good novella—a difficult achievement in my opinion.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
There Comes a Prophet by David Litwack
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
A world kept peaceful for a thousand years by the magic of the ruling vicars. But a threat lurks from a violent past. Wizards from the darkness have hidden their sorcery in a place called the keep and left a trail of clues that have never been solved.
Nathaniel has grown up longing for more but unwilling to challenge the vicars. Until his friend Thomas is taken for a teaching, the mysterious coming-of-age ritual. Thomas returns but with his dreams ripped away. When Orah is taken next, Nathaniel tries to rescue her and ends up in the prisons of Temple City. There he meets the first keeper of the ancient clues. But when he seeks the keep, what he finds is not magic at all.
If he reveals the truth, the words of the book of light might come to pass:
“If there comes among you a prophet saying ‘Let us return to the darkness,’ you shall stone him, because he has sought to thrust you away from the light.”
[Full disclsoure: David Litwack sent me a print book in exchange for an honest review.]
There Comes a Prophet was definitely not what I expected—in a good way! In what seems to be epic fantasy in the beginning, I expected your typical coming of age story: young hero is reluctantly thrust into a war between two races because his mentor is killed/powers are discovered and ends up saving the world after a long and arduous journey. The reality of David Litwack’s science fiction/fantasy was so far from my prediction that I feel quite foolish now. No, instead of a young hero there are three young friends who don’t seek to rebel against the vicars in the beginning. But then something happens that changes Thomas and Nathaniel must bargain away his freedom in order to save Orah from the same fate.
Nathaniel’s completely selfless bargain is the catalyst for the three friends’ journey and along the way, they encounter people who can see the vicars for what they really are. And what they find at the ‘end’ of their epic journey changes them and their world forever, but not in the instantaneous rebellion way you would expect. David Litwack certainly isn’t an author that falls into the cliché trap and he has realized that societies don’t suddenly change overnight. The ending has a wonderful plot twist and my favourite part is that not everything is resolved yet the ending is satisfying. A surprising number of authors can’t pull this off, but David Litwack has.
My favourite part of There Comes a Prophet was the world-building. The rise of the Temple, the fall of technology and the change back to the old ways is a fascinating story. The information is parceled out in small chunks throughout the novel, so it doesn’t feel like an info-dump at all. Some of the dialogue was a little stiff (even for fantasy), but it didn’t detract from the overall quality of the novel.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Perfect Game by Fred Bowen
From Goodreads
Image Courtesy of Goodreads
Isaac is a perfectionist. This extends to everything in his life, but especially his love for baseball. He dreams of pitching a perfect game 18 batters, all out and of earning a spot on the summer travel team. But Isaac hasn’t learned to handle it when things go wrong. After his latest meltdown, his coach asks him to help out with a Unified Basketball team where intellectually challenged kids and mainstream kids, all play together.
The Show by John Heldt
(Cover picture courtesy of John Heldt.)
Seattle, 1941. Grace Vandenberg, 21, is having a bad day. Minutes after Pearl Harbor is attacked, she learns that her boyfriend is a time traveler from 2000 who has abandoned her for a future he insists they cannot share. Determined to save their love, she follows him into the new century. But just when happiness is within her grasp, she accidentally enters a second time portal and exits in 1918. Distraught and heartbroken, Grace starts a new life in the age of Woodrow Wilson, silent movies, and the Spanish flu. She meets her parents as young, single adults and befriends a handsome, wounded Army captain just back from the war. In THE SHOW, the sequel to THE MINE, Grace finds love and friendship in the ashes of tragedy as she endures the trial of her life.
[Full disclosure: John Heldt sent me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]
I’m so glad that John Heldt decided to return to the story of The Mine to continue where he left off. Only this time, we get to see things from Grace’s point of view and learn how she found her way back to Joel when he fled back to his own time. Then, just when everything seems to be going well, tragedy strikes and Grace is thrust back into 1918. This is where things get interesting character-wise because we learn just how resourceful and intelligent Grace really is as she struggles to cope in another new time. We also learn a little more about how the time travel portals work, although John Heldt never gets into the scientific details. But that doesn’t bother me one bit because the Northwest Passage Series is meant to explore the effects of time travel on people, not how time travel is accomplished.
The plot isn’t what I would call fast-paced until the last 30 pages, but John Heldt’s writing style is so nice that it didn’t bother me at all. Grace drives the plot forward with her actions rather than just reacting to events and it makes for a much more human novel. We feel her anguish at leaving the love of her life and her two children behind, experience her struggle to adapt to a completely different time and feel her confusion about the handsome war hero John Walker. The secondary characters aren’t just two dimensional either; they all have distinct personalities, backstories and react to Grace differently.
The ending felt rather rushed after the steady pace of the first 150 pages, but I suppose it reflects the desperation Grace began to feel as her ability to go back to 2000 was about to be cut off. Still, The Show was a great addition to the story of The Mine and I look forward to reading the rest of the Northwest Passage series.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
*Only available as a Kindle ebook.