Review: Blindsight (Firefall #1), by Peter Watts, 2006

Blindsight by Peter Watts
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Blindsight (Firefall #1), by Peter Watts, 2006

Talky like Asimov, hints of Heinlein's style, and world-building with the likes of Stephenson-- all of which are my least favorite aspects of those authors I respect. The story is about a crew of transhuman astronauts, and a vampire sent to investigate a possible "first-contact" alien in the Kuiper belt.

While there were some interesting characters, not enough time was spent on them. I suppose it can be viewed that there were too many characters-- not a lot of whom had a profoundly compelling story arc. A missed opportunity, indeed. 

The novel also suffers from too many ideas which did not have a direct and significant contribution to moving the plot along. Please don't misunderstand me, some concepts were brilliant, odd, and depressing, but it was too much world-building for a thin plot for my liking.

I think it's best to start this book with a glossary of characters and commit them to memory before venturing on to read.

I rate this book 2 out of 5 stars.

#Blindsight #Firefall #PeterWatts #SpaceVampire #Transhuman

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Fear the Sky (Fear Saga #1), by Stephen Moss, 2014

Fear the Sky (Fear Saga #1), by Stephen Moss, 2014

Riveting, gripping and just absolutely brilliant!

Easily classifiable as an action and thriller story, this book is definitely hard science fiction at heart. And what a fantastic job the author does and hitting all the genre points.

The story starts with a slowness that is crafted to lull you into a false sense security and hints at a larger impending doom looming in the sky and the invasion headed to Earth. Although there are quite a bit of members, the cast of characters is slowly introduced;  along with their brief backstory that helps make them memorable when they appear later in the book.

The book is a bit long and could have easily been two separate novels. The first half of the book spends a lot of time building a cat-and-mouse spy-style thriller and ending it with awesome fight sequences and close quarter hand-to-hand combats.

The second half of the book seems to have a shift of characters and a new focus. While the storyline is not quite as tight as the first half of the book, it does fit congruously to the overall story arc of the book as ties off some of the loose ends.

My favorite characters:

Lana Wilson (female alien robot, total-bitch princess from alien world)
Ayala (female Mossad intelligence/counter-intelligence agent)
Shaheem (male alien robot, turns into a double agent)
John Hunt (male alien robot, double agent)
Neal (human scientist)
Lori West (human scientist)

I would have rated the book five (5) stars, but I feel some portions of the second half of the book falters a bit.

My Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5 out of 5 stars) - I really really liked it.



Book Description by Author:

In eleven years time, a million members of an alien race will arrive at Earth. Years before they enter orbit, their approach will be announced by the flare of a thousand flames in the sky, their ships’ huge engines burning hard to slow them from the vast speeds needed to cross interstellar space.

These foreboding lights will shine in our night sky like new stars, getting ever brighter until they outshine even the sun, casting ominous shadows and banishing the night until they suddenly blink out.

Their technology is vastly superior to ours, and they know they cannot possibly lose the coming conflict. But they, like us, have found no answer to the destructive force of the atom, and they have no intention of facing the onslaught of our primitive nuclear arsenal, or the devastation it would wreak on the planet they crave.

So they have flung out an advanced party in front of them, hidden within one of the countless asteroids randomly roaming the void.

They do not want us, they want our planet. Their Agents are arriving.

The Android's Dream (The Android's Dream #1) by John Scalzi, 2006

The Android's Dream (The Android's Dream #1) by John Scalzi, 2006

Not entirely what I expected from John Scalzi after reading much, if not all, of his books.

The book, story, characters, descriptions, scenarios, etc., were all super packed- there was just a lot of information compressed in this story. Specifically in the first half.

The latter half of the book was fast-paced and action oriented and really made up for the former.

The ridiculousness of the circumstances and situations was nothing short of brilliant in the way it all worked together.  I have to admit, I had a couple of chuckle out loud moments.

I would have liked this book a lot better if the whole book were as good as the last quarter of the book.  I found myself trudging though some parts during the first half, and not really knowing where all of it was headed. It wasn't until towards the end when all the threads wove together a great story.

My rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 out of 5 stars) - I liked it.

Here is the author's description of the book:

A human diplomat kills his alien counterpart. Earth is on the verge of war with a vastly superior alien race. A lone man races against time and a host of enemies to find the one object that can save our planet and our people from alien enslavement...

A sheep.

That's right, a sheep. And if you think that's the most surprising thing about this book, wait until you read Chapter One. Welcome to The Android's Dream.

For Harry Creek, it's quickly becoming a nightmare. All he wants is to do his uncomplicated mid-level diplomatic job with Earth's State Department. But his past training and skills get him tapped to save the planet--and to protect pet store owner Robin Baker, whose own past holds the key to the whereabouts of that lost sheep. Doing both will take him from lava-strewn battlefields to alien halls of power. All in a day's work. Maybe it's time for a raise.

Throw in two-timing freelance mercenaries, political lobbyists with megalomaniac tendencies, aliens on a religious quest, and an artificial intelligence with unusual backstory, and you've got more than just your usual science fiction adventure story. You've got The Android's Dream.