Well that took a few turns that I wasn’t expecting. We’re six books in so I don’t really want to get into too many details on plot. There’s another big time jump here, two hundred years, and Hadrian is starting to feel old at this stage. He’s basically checked himself out, given up on the …
Category Archives: Science Fiction
Ashes of Man by Christopher Ruocchio
A slower paced book but still a great read. For the first time between books there is no time jump and we start off exactly where we finished at the end of Kingdoms of Death. Hadrian and Valka are still recovering from what happened but they are inevitably drawn back into the Empire and the …
Kingdoms of Death by Christopher Ruocchio
That was one of the bleakest books I’ve ever read, still in shock. Hadrian and Valka have been in ‘exile’ for their own safety for almost a hundred years after the events at Berenike. However he is tasked by the Emperor himself to travel as an ambassador to the Lothrian Commonwealth, another human empire, to …
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Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
An interesting premise but I struggled with the main character. Our main protagonist, Professor Arton Daghdev has been sent to the planet Kiln for offences against the Mandate on Earth. He’s considered a revolutionary and so is sent on a one way journey where he will spend the rest of his life as labour on …
Never Let Me Go by Kazou Ishiguro
An incredibly sad and disquieting book. Kathy is a carer, looking after ‘donors’ as they recuperate. However she is coming to an end of her time doing this and so reminisces about her childhood in a grand children’s home called Hailsham and her friendships there, particularly with best friends Ruth and Tommy. It’s such a …
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
A brilliant premise but a very unrelatable main character. Wang Miao is a researcher into nano-materials and up to now his life has been relatively ordinary. One day however, a few police officers come to his home and bring him to a meeting where he learns that scientists, particularly theoretical scientists, are being targeted somehow …
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
This just wasn’t for me. We start off pretty much where we left off at the last book. However then some fairly random stuff happens, our characters separate and then re-unite at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe before randomly separating again. Honestly I really didn’t like this book. I’m not sure if …
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The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The humour didn’t quite land for me unfortunately. Arthur Dent is having a very bad day. He only recently found out that his house is due to the demolished by the local council to make way for a town bypass. What he doesn’t know is that the whole earth is also due to be demolished …
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Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky
A great end to a fantastic series. There’s been a forced truce called between the various earth and alien factions but it is a very uneasy one. Elements of both Hugh and the Parthenon are looking at ways around it while Idris and the crew of the Vulture God are still trying to use the …
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Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky
A step up in scope and action. Not too long has passed since the events of the first book. The Architects have returned with a vengeance and have even started to work on worlds that have Originator artefacts on them. Idris is working with the Parthenon on their Intermediary program which has obviously not gone …
Barry's Bloody Books 