Science Fiction Books > H Science Fiction Books

Whimsically Equine (Tim the Tiny Horse - Harry Hill)

Advantages: funny and gentle
Disadvantages: slight

...make an attempt at reviewing Tim as a stand-alone. I am happy to say that it acquits itself well. Tim is a horse, blue and so tiny that he lives in matchbox with a tic-tac box for a conservatory. A single Hoola-Hoop makes his lunch (he prefers barbecue beef flavour) and a fly (called Fly) is his best friend. Tim doesn't do much - apart from a few not very successful attempts at making it big in the media he seems to spend his days watching television ...
...necessary for enjoyment. For example, Tim has a bit of obsession with a newsreader called Anna Ford: I don't have a television so I am not familiar with Ms Ford (I checked and she's real and not a character in Tim's milieu), but I can still appreciate Tim's heartache. There is a wealth of astute observations of our modern lives in Tim's adventures and some of them brought tears of recognition to my eyes. I particularly enjoyed Tim's foray into the ...

magdadh 20.05.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Tim the Tiny Horse - Harry Hill

Is Dune the best SF novel ever?

Advantages: Scope, detail, characters, worms, spice!
Disadvantages: I really can't think of any

I first read Dune back in 1985 mainly because there was a big movie of the book coming out. Since then I've read it a number of times and I think it's probably my favourite novel. The book can be read on many levels. I find myself enjoying it for two reasons. First of all it's a great adventure story with Paul and his mother on the run from the evil Harkonnens across the strange desert world. Different factions are working behind the scenes to leverage ...
...for the unique universe Herbert created. The details fly off the page. The descriptions of the Great Houses, the Sisterhood, the Guild are totally convincing. And the little details such as the workings of a stillsuit add more layers. If you've not read it then give it a chance. If you have read it then read it again! ...

chevron999 01.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Dune - Frank Herbert

Meagre Offerings...?

Advantages: Goes along at a cracking pace with excellent side characters
Disadvantages: Involnurability and losing it's detective inclination

Being the seventh in a series, I firstly must strongly suggest that the previous volumes are read prior to this one, as it will give you more depth to the characters. As many serialisations do, there are sections in the book that refresh the memory, but these are often brief, and not as fullling! Anita Blakes world is filled with all the things that go bump in the night, vampires, zombie, werewolves, wererats and so on. From what I took from the ...
...roots, supporting the RIP Team to discover the source of the fires that seem to be directed towards vampire owned businesses, and I have to admit, the fact that Anita now fraternises with the beasts more than the humans did make for an interesting take, particularly in how the human RIP Team now deals with her. However, it ended up being more about Anita's relationship with her current and past boyfriend, and how Anita is increasingly becoming superwoman. ...

Sa1sysoo 29.03.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Burnt Offerings - Laurell K. Hamilton

Welcome To A Dark Future

Advantages: Long and complex – and only the first part of the trilogy
Disadvantages: Long and complex – and only the first part of the trilogy

...would be impossible to compress the contents of its 1,221 pages into two hours, and still tell a coherent story. Remember what happened with "Dune"? The Reality Dysfunction is the first part of a space opera on the grandest possible scale. Peter F. Hamilton shows the same careful thought and consideration of consequence that was evident in his debut novel, "Mindstar Rising", only this time he has extrapolated all the way out to the beginning of ...
...the effects of global warming; great storms torture the surface, and Man lives under protective domes that cover whole cities, linked by a rapid transit system that can cross the Atlantic in 45 minutes. But Earth is not the setting for the first part of the "Night's Dawn" trilogy, merely the psychological background. The main plot follows the events that unfold on Lalonde, a recently opened colony world orbiting a far distant star. One of Hamilton's ...

TallTone 25.09.2001 · Read full review
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Review of The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton

Robert Heinlein, First and Best

Advantages: A very entertaining thoughtful reat
Disadvantages: Not to every ones liking

Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinlein. Published in 1959. Very brief synopsis:- With this book you follow the life of one Juan (Johnny) Rico from his enlistment in the Federal Service, Mobile Infantry, up to his command of a platoon of these troops in an Interstellar war. Mankind is facing a Bug like alien species, something like a giant ant crossed with a spider. Johnny Rico comes from a background of wealth and privilege and through peer pressure ...
...who has completed a minimum two year service has the Right to vote. Not everybody wants to serve and thus vote. A good part of the book is taking up with his time at boot camp and the training he undergoes. Running in the background that we are not aware of is the situation that is getting steadily worse, going from normal peace time through a state of emergency to a full war. The reasons for this we are not told. This book is written in the third ...

Coloneljohn 18.04.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein