Tag: reviews

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

I’m going to add Emily St. John Mandel to the list of authors I read obsessively. Each one I read always seems to be better than the last. Some authors with this many books under their belt often forget how important it is to be merciless during editing.

Sea of Tranquility

This is one of those books that my wife (along with the Matt Smith) would probably describe as “a bit Sea timey-whimey”.

The book follows the circular rise and fall of Gaspery Jacques-Roberts, a fecklessly unremarkable individual with a high-achieving sister, Zoey. Through his sister’s connection with the Time Institute, and following a rigorous five-year training programme, Gaspery graduates as a field operative: entrusted to travel through time, correcting anomalies that could impact the Institute’s agenda.

The rules of time-travel are strict, and punishment for breaking those rules are harsh and permanent, and that, for Gaspery, is where the trouble starts. …

Continue reading “Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel”

Cry Pilot by Joel Dane

Cry Pilot

Following the collapse of governments (yes, all of them), vast corporations step in to take over the running of the planet, providing housing, security and technology to the districts in which they operate.

They also are responsible for fighting the biological “machines” they spawned to fight their wars.

Kaytu joins one the corporate armies as a Cry Pilot: an operator of a mech designed to engage these creatures. Kaytu intends to use this as a stepping stone into the regular corporate army. There’s just one small snag: Cry Pilots rarely survive their first encounter.

Continue reading “Cry Pilot by Joel Dane”