Teens Become Ancient Warriors As They Attack Invading Space Aliens -- Review of James Cambas's "Traitors"

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

 

July 9, 2016

 

Teens  Become  Ancient  Warriors  As  They  Attack  Invading  Space  Aliens

A Review of

James Cambas Traitors:  Book 2 of Ancient Warriors Series (2014)

                            271 pp   $10.99   ISBN: 978-1494875374

Reviewer:  Forrest Schultz

     In the science fiction series which Coweta County author James Cambas is writing, space aliens from Xynoffus are attempting to conquer the Earth.  They begin by surreptitiously arriving and taking control of the bodies of humans so that we are unaware that these aliens are Among Us, (the title of the first book in the series).  In the second book, Traitors, they are now also in the process of openly appearing to several selected humans whom they convince to join the conquest by promising them rulership over various cities under the direct command of the invasion leader GroThar.  The only opposition the Xynoffans meet is a small group of teenagers, revealed in this book as “Ancient Warriors”, who are able to draw upon the arcane powers of several unearthly “Cubes”.

     The use of this term “Ancient Warriors” along with the special Cube powers and some of the atmosphere in these books is similar to that found in comic books of super heroes.  Therefore I was not surprised to learn that Cambas is planning to publish a comic book version of these ancient warrior tales, and is already in the process of designing super hero garb, which is already appearing in a bookmark.  You can learn of these and other new developments by checking the website www.amongus2012.com.      

The Best Alien Contact Story I Have Ever Read -- Review of Robert Silverberg's "The Iron Star" in the Humanity 2.0 anthology

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

 

July 9, 2016

 

The  Best  Alien  Contact  Story  I  Have  Ever  Read

A Review of Robert Silverberg’s “The Iron Star” on pp. 173-195 of

The Short Stories Anthology Humanity 2.0 ed. By Alex Shvartzman (Arc Manor, 2016)

[Advance Reading Copy] Scheduled for Publication Oct. 30   271pp   ISBN: 9781612423098 

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

     Although most of the short stories in this anthology contain some thought-provoking ideas concerning the possible impact of space travel upon the human race, Robert Silverberg’s story stands out as unforgettable and of great importance in showing the potential danger of meeting extraterrestrial intelligent beings.  In his story one of our spaceships, while investigating the effects of a supernova comes into contact with a space ship of ETs who had lived on a planet orbiting this star before it went nova.  When the captain contacts the leader of this ET ship he learns from the ensuing conversations two important facts about these ETs:   that they are “ethically challenged” (i.e. all they care about is themselves), and that they are unaware of the existence of black holes.  Using these data he devises and then implements a plan which solves the problem. (See if you can guess what it is!) 

                                

 

"Gatefather"/"Ender's Game" Similarity: Things Are Not Always What They Seem To Be -- Review of Orson Scott Card's "Gatefather"

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

January 11, 2016

Gatefather/Ender’s Game Similarity:

Things Are Not Always What They Seem To Be

A Review of

Orson Scott Card Gatefather (Tor, 2015) 

                                383pp   $25.99   ISBN: 978-0-7653-2659-1

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

     I highly recommend Osron Scott Card’s book Ender’s Game (but NOT the movie, which is a gross distortion of the book).  The story in the series it launched is not only a good read, but also teaches us that things are not always what they seem:  in this case Ender’s apparent victory was actually Xenocide.  The same principle is found in Card’s latest book Gatefather:  contrary to what seems to be the desideratum (opening the Gate), the Gate actually should be kept shut lest a great evil is set free.

     By the way, I am not giving away the story because the inside book jacket tells us this in its concluding paragraph!  It is surprising that the publisher did not preface this paragraph with a spoiler alert.  But the jacket did not contain the warning to the reader of the inane actions and dialogues of the immature teens with which the book opens, for which reason I ceased reading immediately – I could not take any more of it!   In that respect this story differs from Ender’s Game:  those dummies are not even in the same league with Ender!

Girl Genie Gets Her Wish: Review of Stellar Guild Book "Wishing on a Star"

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

 

January 7, 2016

 

Girl  Genie  Gets  Her  Wish

 

A Review of a Stellar Guild Series Book:

 

Jody Lynn Nye With Angela Adams Wishing on a Star (Arc Manor, 2015)

                  $14.99    264 pp    ISBN: 978-1-61242-264-0

 

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz                

 

     Like the traditional magic lamp tales, this modern one includes the challenge of exercising wisdom in the selection of what to wish for.  But its focus later shifts to the "genie" -- a teenage girl who needs to mature quickly if she is going to defeat the villain.  The satirizing of show biz in the first part of the story is well deserved but rather old hat.  The fascinating part of the tale is the replacement of the traditional almost robot-like genie with a very human one who becomes the hero.  And, of course, it is very modern in having a female playing a traditionally male role.

 

     Information on this and other Stellar Guild books is available at www.phoenixpick.com 

 

A Wacky Tale About Crosses In Way-Outer-Space: Review of the Stellar Guild Series Book INCI

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

 

January 4, 2016

 

A  Wacky  Tale  About  Crosses  In  Way - Outer - Space

 

A Review of This Stellar Guild Series Book:

 

Mike Resnick with Tina Gower INCI (Arc Manor, 2015

                                                  175 pp   $14.99   ISBN: 978-1-61242-266-4

 

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

 

     This book is set in way-outer-space and so far out into the future that the people there are unaware of any religious sacrifices other than Christ's on the Cross, i.e. they know nothing about pagan religions conducting animal and human sacrifices, nor of Norse mythology in which the god Odin sacrifices himself on a tree.  In the Christianity we know today it is a heresy to believe that any sacrifice other than Christ's is salvifically efficacious, but in the Christianity in the far out future of the book under review heresy is to believe that there even WERE any other sacrifices (!!), so that missionary Joshua Barker is called a heretic when he claims to have evidence that extraterrestrials sacrificed one of their own on a cross, a picture of which is displayed on the front cover, which needs to be seen to really appreciate the humor of this !!  (It is also good for ridiculing the notion of intelligent extraterrestrial life!)

 

     There is also humor in the other main character of the story, the iconoclastic journalist Gar Matthews, who among other things, talks to the computer on his space ship as though it were human, and who provides a dramatic climax to the tale when he is crucified as a martyr, which, by the way, pokes fun at one thing Christianity does regard as a heresy, namely the martyr theory of Christ's crucifixion!

 

     Information on the Stellar Guild series concept is found in Mike Resnick's introduction and also at http://www.phoenixpick.com/ 

Wars, Spies, and Empires: Review of Andrew M. Seddon's "Wreaths of Empire"

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/

 

December 29, 2015

 

Wars,  Spies,  and  Empires  In  Outer  Space  

 

A Review of

 

Andrew M. Seddon Wreaths of Empire (Splashdown Books, 2015)

                                258 pp   $12.32   ISBN: 978-1-927154-45-8

 

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

 

     Wreaths of Empire is a well developed and well written story about espionage and political intrigues in advanced civilizations in outer space about 500 years in the future..  You will find enough discussion of the pertinent science and technology to give the story verisimilitude and to qualify it as "space opera", but not enough for it to be regarded as "hard" SF.  The central character, Space Navy Officer Jade, is attractive and easy to empathize with, esp. because of her concern for people and for the ethical and philosophical significance of the events in which she is involved, which focus upon an inept attempt to end the warfare between two empires -- one which is human and the other alien.  Like Isaac Asimov, I have never seen a story with a believable alien, but, as in most well written SF, I was able to accept the aliens in this tale for the sake of the story, and soon found myself even empathizing with them, which is a sign of a good writer.

 

     Information on the author is available at http://www.andrewmseddon.com/  and www.splashdownbooks.com/our-authors/andrew-m-seddon 

Salvation History Analogy Set On A Space Colony -- Review of "The History of the Earth-9 Colony" by Manuel Alfonseca

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Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258

Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com

 

December 8, 2015

 

Salvation  History  Analogy  Set  On  A  Space  Colony

A Review of

Manuel Alfonseca The History of the Earth-9 Colony (Create Space, 2015)

                                  177 pp   $8.99   ISBN: 9781512206739

 

Reviewer:  Forrest W.  Schultz  --  SPOILER   ALERT  -- (review gives away story)

 

     The history indicated by the title of this science fiction tale is an analogy of the salvation history in the Bible.  For instance, Satan is depicted as a giant crab who can only be defeated by the Christ-figure in the story, Who shrinks him down to a teeny size, which is reminiscent of the famous medieval painting which shows Christ stepping on a mouse-size bound Devil! 

 

     The stage upon which the drama is enacted is described as a planet very similar to Earth, but we are not told when the narrated events occur.  We do know it is in the very far future from this humorous statement (on p. 131) by one of the main characters (who is very concerned about their fate):  “As someone said far, far away in the past, ‘It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future…’  .”  Of course, the person referred to is the late Yogi Berra.  And I do believe that if Yogi were present on this planet when the giant crab was about to kill everyone there, he would have uttered his most famous saying, “It ain’t over till its over!”, his zany way of saying that God has the last word!  The story is a good read.

 

     The author is an engineer, a college professor, and a writer of science articles as well as fantasy and science fiction stories.  He has been inspired and influenced by the stories of C. S. Lewis and is a member of a C. S. Lewis email discussion group (called Spare Oom) which is where I learned of him.  Information is available on his blog http://populscience.blogspot.com/