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You are here: Home / Archives for murder mystery

Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts

By John Folk-Williams

Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts

Adam Roberts’ Lake of Darkness is an absorbing story of utopia and evil in a space opera drama that spans multiple worlds, all of which enjoy a post-scarcity civilization. It’s probably not for everyone, though, since it is heavy on philosophical talk and dense descriptions of the physics of black holes and faster than light […]

Filed Under: Space Opera Tagged With: Adam Roberts, black holes, evil, good society, murder mystery, spaceships, spacetime, utopia

Machine Vendetta by Alastair Reynolds: A Prefect Dreyfus Novel

By John Folk-Williams

Machine Vendetta

Alastair Reynolds has produced a fine, fast-paced thriller in Machine Vendetta, the third, and apparently final novel in the Prefect Dreyfus Emergencies series. The series, set in the Revelation Space universe, specifically the Glitter Band of ten thousand habitats orbiting Yellowstone, began in 2007 with The Prefect, now called Aurora Rising. We had to wait […]

Filed Under: SciFi Mystery-Thriller, Space Opera Tagged With: Alastair Reynolds, artificial intelligence, clones, memory, murder mystery, Revelation Space, spaceships

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older

By John Folk-Williams

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles

I’m way ahead of the publication date for this one, but I couldn’t resist jumping right into The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by the remarkable Malka Older. This is Book 2 of the Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti, my favorite detective couple since Holmes and Watson, and it’s another beautiful and charming story. As in […]

Filed Under: SciFi Mystery-Thriller Tagged With: Malka Older, murder mystery, relationships, ruined earth, sapphic love, space colonies

Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse

By John Folk-Williams

Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse

Rebecca Roanhorse has created a stark fantasy world in the weird west of her powerful novella, Tread of Angels. From its brilliant opening, as a dark and violent wind blowing off a mountain called Abaddon storms into the grim town of Goetia and slams down Perdition Street into the Eden, its main den of gambling […]

Filed Under: Secondary World Fantasy Tagged With: demons, fallen world, identity, inequality, memory, murder mystery, racism, Rebecca Roanhorse

Far from the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson – A Review

By John Folk-Williams

Far from the Light of Heaven

In Far from the Light of Heaven, Tade Thompson, author of the Wormwood Trilogy, constructs a fine murder mystery on board a colony space ship in methodical detail. Step by step he introduces characters and settings, with just enough detail to bring each person to life and give each of their worlds its full reality. […]

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Afrofuturist, alien life forms, artificial intelligence, colonialism, colony ship, murder mystery, robots, spaceships, Tade Thompson

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Something is struggling to be born in this damaged and inspiring world, and I believe science fiction and its speculative cousins are helping us figure out what it is. It’s pushing the imaginations of fiction writers to bend and twist familiar forms to try to capture the forces that are hurling us into a barely conceivable future. This blog is my small way of exploring the half-perceived … Read More about About

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