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

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

Cities in Flight

Advantages: Good read
Disadvantages: A bit thin on details

Cities in flight. Chris is a nosey teenager and one day that nose gets him into trouble. He is snooping around the outskirts of a town called Scranton hoping to see the town 'lift off' as it launches itself into space but he misjudges and is inside they Spindizzy field when they engage themselves and he is carried up and into space. He will never see his old life again. He goes on an adventure with the town but is then traded over ...
...inhabitants of the flying space cities have air, food and water aplenty but apart from some trading with other cities whom they rarely meet, it is not gone into in any detail, disappointing. The story apart from that is fairly good and the main character is a poor boy made good. There are some space fights and battles planet side and more unique Sci-Fi techno that is used making this a decent if short novel. All in all worth a read if you come ...

MaldivesHoliday 10.02.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Cities In Flight - James Blish

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

From Dead to Worse

Advantages: Good read
Disadvantages: Lots of threads, can be confusing

...A failed attempt of takeover from werewolves in another area results in Alcide becoming the new packleader. This, however, comes with a price which is the death of a few weres in the community including the previous packmaster Patrick, Maria-Star, Alcide’s girlfriend. As for the vampires, the explosion in the vampire summit results in the loss of various main personnel in Queen Sophie’s court and the King of Nevada, Felipe, grabs the opportunity. ...
...Louisiana apart from Eric and his gang. Eric surrenders to the new regime and manages to keep his area. And with Sookie saving the King from the attack of the Sophie’s last surviving child, Eric is slowly gaining the trust of the new King. And as for our heroine Sookie, a surprise meeting with her great-grandfather Niall reveals her heritage of being part-fairy. This completes Andre’s discovery of Sookie having fairy blood. And also explains the ...

medgenie 21.11.2009 · Read full review
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Review of From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris