Science Fiction Books > 5 GBP to 9 GBP Science Fiction Books > A

Howling Stones.

Advantages: GREAT READ
Disadvantages: NOTHING !!!

Howling Stones. I am a huge Alan dean Foster fan and here is one of his books from his Commonwealth series. You are transported to the lush tropical world of Senisran ( a bit like the Maldives but over the whole planet ) where the islands are all paradises and the seas are vivid greens and blues. The two main characters to this story are Pulickel and Fawn who have been tasked with the job of getting the natives of this world to sign ...
...unconcerned with the treaty and seem naively unaware of the protection a treaty with the commonwealth could provide from other more malevolent and untrustworthy species who also live in and around the universes. chief among these are the Ann, an insectoid species equal and on par with the commonwealth but a very agressive species who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals and desires. And the Ann are interested in Why are the Senisrans unconcerned ...

Maximus-Qualitus 10.02.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Howling Stones - Alan Dean Foster

Not a dog, but not up to scratch either.

Advantages: Good basic story, good characters
Disadvantages: Lack of attention to detail, dodgy science

...there's no real data on Coyote other than it could probably support life? Reading the blurb on the book ("A novel of interstellar exploration") would suggest that Coyote was a science fiction novel. My first thought was that it would be something similar to Arthur C Clarke's 'Rendezvous with Rama', which is one of my favourite books. However, that's not really the case. Coyote's origin is as a series of eight short stories, all of which have been ...
...Coyote is always there, the focus at all times remains on the characters. It's very much about the people involved, which isn't really a pure science fiction story in my opinion. I'm not sure how much work was done on the stories before they were compiled into this novel, but it is obvious to me that there are four individual stories here rather than a single, flowing tale. It's not that this is a problem for the most part, because the pace and ...

TheDuke 02.05.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Coyote - Allen Steele

They are out there.

Advantages: A very entertaining and unusual read A treat for horror fans
Disadvantages: Will not appeal to everybody. Too strange for some

...whom he has helped put into prison. He has been called to Washington to testify at a Senate committee hearing, rather than go on leave as he thought that he would be able to. Merry Shadow is a clerk in a Seattle store. She lives alone and has decided that she needs a holiday after seeing things and a relationship that does not seem to be going anywhere. So she is going to see Washington. By fate (?) they meet outside the White house during a demonstration ...
...is explained to him, preferring to try to seek some kind of rational explanation. Merry sees an adventure and she has never had an adventure before. The Shetani would prefer that the mission failed before it started as they can sense the power. They may not see very clearly but can use other senses. They may be of a lazy disposition preferring to get man to do some of their work for them, but they do have a vicious cunning all there own. So the ...

Coloneljohn 06.05.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Into The Out Of - Alan Dean Foster

Closer to Heaven

Advantages: Great character building
Disadvantages: A little slow paced for my taste

Fantasy and science fiction are genres that mesh well together. Some authors have written successfully across both genres, but not usually in the same story. Jaine Fenn has managed to combine both in one book and it's an interesting read. One night, a stranger is found lying unconscious in a bog just outside the village of Dangwern. He appears to have come from nowhere and, apart from a strange piece of cloth lying near his naked body, there is nothing ...
...Unfortunately, this includes the stranger himself, as he is suffering from amnesia and has no idea even where he is, much less how he came to be there. Fortunately for Sais, as he is nicknamed, the boy who finds him is "sky touched". This means he is soon to travel to the City of Lights to be tested to see if he is worthy of being a consort of the goddesses. The village elders permit Sais and the boy's mother Kerin to accompany him to see if anyone ...

Soho_Black 19.12.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Consorts of Heaven - Jaine Fenn

It is not just about football!

Advantages: It's very funny, and oh so true!
Disadvantages: None

The Disc, for those who don't know, continues to float in space, supported by the elephants who ride the back of the great swimming turtle A'tuin. The Hub about which the planet spins is a centre of great magic, and best avoided if you want to live a happy and contented life. At the outer perimeter is the great circle sea which unendingly streams over the rim into the void, which is best avoided if you want to continue to live at all. Most Discians ...
...Smeems, for instance, is the Candle Nave at the Unseen University. He has to worry about keeping the candles not just alight, but properly melted, artistically, gothicly, dribbled, as it were. Of course, there's Trevor to help. And there's Nutt. With two t's. Trevor Likely has a tendency to skive off work whenever possible, and to kick a tin can around. His dad was a legend. Nutt is… well, no-one's quite sure what Nutt is, even him. Goblin isn't ...

hiker 07.12.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett