★ 12/18/2017
Pratt, known for his fantasy writing (including the Marla Mason urban fantasy series, written as T.A. Pratt), delivers an entertaining and lively space opera series opener involving deadly ancient mysteries and alien contact. In the 26th century, our solar system is the hub of a thriving network connected by interdimensional wormhole “bridges” that were given to Earth by the Liars, an oddball race of octopus-like aliens. Capt. Callie Machedo and her crew aboard the White Raven fly missions on the rim of the solar system. Their lives are turned upside down when they recover a generation ship that was launched 500 years before to colonize a distant planet. The only crew member left on board the ancient ship, Dr. Elena Oh, brings news of a stunningly powerful—and dangerous—alien race called the Axiom, as well as a bridge generator that would permit travel far beyond the bridges’ limits. The discovery sets off panic among the Liars, and the White Raven’s crew takes on a treacherous mission to rescue Elena’s stranded companions and learn more about the Axiom. The characterizations are familiar, but Pratt’s worldbuilding fascinates, and the plot serves up action and big ideas in equally tasty helpings. This is definitely a series to watch. (Nov.)
This fall, things go from bad to worse in the followup, The Dreaming Stars, the second book of the Axiom series, in which humanity faces an equally grave threat from one of its own. Today, we’re giving you a sneak peek of the action with a reveal of the cover, featuring the art of Paul […]
The Philip K. Dick Award has long been my favorite genre honor that isn’t the Hugo or Nebula. If the “big two” are analogous to the People’s Choice Awards and the Oscars, respectively, think of the PKD as a sort of Independent Spirit Award—eligible works are original novels published first in paperback within the prior […]
Artificial intelligence (AI), by definition, is somehow made, rather than innate. But how do you make an intelligence? It is a billion, trillion dollar question in the real world, and we don’t appear all that close to finding out the answer. But science fiction authors have lots of ideas about how to create intelligence and […]
The Wrong Stars is space opera, but it’s all about the people. Rather than fill his series-starter with loads of exposition about the workings and state of his universe, chameleonic genre author Tim Pratt focuses on how his characters live and interact with each other within it, building worlds through his characters, their alien antagonists, […]