Posts tagged ‘sci-fi’
David Macinnis Gill’s Black Hole Sun Jess’s review
I’m on a bit of an unintentional planet Mars kick right now. This time, we land on the planet to follow Durango, a Regulator (which is kind of like a samurai or warrior) who has sworn to finish a job his fellow colleagues thought he was crazy to take in the first place – teach a group of the planet’s miners to defeat the dreaded Dreau, a fearsome-looking tribe who believe the miners are hiding treasure within the subterranean tunnels of Outpost Fisher Four – the south pole of Mars. Quite an entourage joins Durango in his fight; including his beautiful, fearless charge Vienne (yes, eye-roll here, sparks fly, but it’s a cool romance) and his former chief, Mimi, who has been implanted into Durango’s brain as artificial intelligence.
Read it if: you like a rollicking, almost swashbuckling-style adventure with really well crafted action sequences.
What separates it from the masses: is Mimi and her dialogue with Durango. For a character who is incorporated into the body of another person, she sure does have an enormous presence – bright, bubbly, sassy, and wicked to her host.
If it were a movie: it would go gagbusters. The dialogue! The action! And from the get go, in my head, Mimi was voiced by Kristin Chenoweth – that dry, quick southern US accent and rapier wit suits her perfectly. (Hmm, seems I’ve been watching too much West Wing…)
Details for parents: it’s violent, there’s blood, mainly inhuman things die, but it’s not overly descriptive. Expletives are delightfully ye olde worlde like – what a great word is carking!
Jess
David MacInnis Gill’s BLACK HOLE SUN Amelia’s review
Action! Adventure! Hilarity! Join Durango and his motley crew of mercenaries as they try to make a living on a futuristic, militarised Mars. This book is absolutely fantastic and had an iron grip on my attention the moment I cracked the spine! Amelia
Lara Morgan’s Genesis: Book One in The Rosie Black Chronicles
Rosie Black lands in hot water when she sets off a tracking device attached to a mysterious box she finds whilst scavenging on the waterfront in her hometown of Newperth. Now a wanted woman by several parties (all of varying degrees of sinister shadiness), Rosie sets off on a quest that takes her to Mars, where she discovers the truth about the deadly MalX virus that killed her mother and threatens the lives of the less fortunate inhabitants of Earth. Rosie is joined by cool Aunt Essie, Pip – who has a lot to hide behind his dishy slacker exterior, and Riley, Pip’s ‘boss’, who’s seriousness drives the plot along and let’s you know that this is not all space jokes and flirting.
Read it if: you like action driven speculative futures.
What separates it from the masses: is the believability of the class structure (the haves are “Centrals” – they live in the better parts of the center of town and the “Bankers”, of which Rosie is one, are the have-nots) and the concept of a genetically mutated version of malaria bringing serious risk to the Australian population.
Satisfaction factor: who doesn’t want to see an Aussie chick fulfilling her dream of landing a spacecraft on Mars (albeit in a rather risky, crash-landing situation)?
If it were a movie: Rosie would be played by Chloe Grace Moretz, who’s awesome Hit-Girl made the movie Kick-Ass jump from standard fare to classic tongue-in-cheek super hero flick.
Chris
Jon Page
