Simon Kewin

This imaginative anthology offers such a wide variety of stories, themes, and ideas that it's practically impossible to choose favourites. While the chimera is a unifying thread throughout the stories, the authors deal with the theme in stunningly different ways and interpretations. Although the flavour overall was a little darker than I might normally choose, I still enjoyed the stories and found them thought-provoking, and there is a broad mix of tone in the volume. If you like short show more speculative fiction you will not come away from this anthology disappointed. show less

When Conciliator Magdi accepted the task of mediating a possession disagreement between the planets Gogon, Sejurne, and Arianas over the uninhabited planet Forge, she knew it would be as tough an interplanetary task as diplomacy offered. Little, however, did she know she would wind up investigating the death of a diplomat, nor would she be aware that a tactic she would use would foretell the destruction of Coronade and the empire she had always known.

Three main characters compete for power. show more One demands Forge as a planet to hold a growing population. Another demands Forge as a source of uranium to construct a life-saving power-grid. The third sees Forge as a spiritual “heaven” portion of their religious beliefs. Magdi must consolidate and address their interests while independently investigating their claims of legal rights to Forge. The murder of one of the delegates puts her at odds with everyone and distracts all of them from the elephant in the room, the disappearance of the vessel Magellanic Cloud.

Home World is the first book in the Triple Stars Trilogy as does a fine job of enticing readers to buy the rest of the series. After all, who wouldn’t want to know what looms to destroy the empire as they know it. The disaster is looming throughout Home World but is ignored in the story so little is actually known about the rest of the series. Home World is a fine entertaining standalone tale worthy of four stars, but as I personally dislike these types of marketing techniques, I have discounted it to three stars. show less

I received this ebook as a free giveaway in exchange for an honest review and I just finished reading it last night. In a nutshell, I loved it!!! The premise was fascinating - a DNA detective who hunts down and acquires DNA samples of famous people (usually rock stars) for collectors, a Genehunter, or Genie for short.

The book is set in the future and cloning has become something of an illegal hobby for the rich and bored. They acquire the DNA of someone famous and clone them for their show more personal Zoo. Sometimes the cloning goes wrong and the clones are discarded. If they are lucky they wind up in a refuge, a place where they can be safe. Some are rescued and liberated by activist groups who are against the collection of DNA and what is essentially the buying and selling of human beings as if they are property.

The main character, Simms, is a Genehunter who sees no problem with what he does for a living until he gets caught up in the middle of a mysterious mess between opposing forces of a regulating government agency, a fanatical religious cult and an activist group of which his former girlfriend, and the love of his lire, is now a member. It's a fast-paced gritty novel in the style of Charlie Huston and Richard Kadrey, both authors I also enjoy. Lots of twists and turns and surprises that the reader uncovers along with Simms that forces new perspectives and moral questions.

I'm not usually a science fiction reader, but this book was really excellent and pulled me in from the first page and did not let go. Simon Kewin is a good writer and future world he presents feels real and believable. An excellent read and highly recommended! show less

"What you send out comes back to you threefold. It's the way of nature, the way it should be. And we accept, welcome even, the price paid. After the day there must be night. After the summer, the winter."

This is the price to be paid for practicing magic, only Cait doesn't know that magic exists, or that she is a witch. When trouble from another world suddenly erupts into the basements of the Manchester Central Library, where Cait's grandmother works, Cait must learn about another world and show more the magic within her- quickly. The library houses many special books, some behind bars and some from other worlds. It is one of these books that the terrifying undain and a team of brutal soldiers is willing to hunt down Cait, her grandmother, her mother and Cait's friend Danny, for.

First, I loved that this began in a library, what better place for a dangerous otherworldly book to be stored? I easily fell for Cait's character. She was easily relatable and a strong character, it was fun to see her discover her magic and find strength within herself. I do wish that we didn't leave Cait for so long when the point of view switched to the other, magical world of Andar. There was a lot of world building, back-story and important characters to meet, that tied the story together as it moved along. Fer and Cait's relationship was an interesting surprise. Once the story came back into Manchester and the chase was on with the book, I was much more engaged. Also, learning all of the depth of the book, the soldiers and the ties to Andar was intriguing. The best surprise character for me was the archaeon, a literal bookworm who can supply all of the knowledge of the books it has lived in, and in our world, the world wide web. I hope he shows up again in the next book. show less