Steve Umstead's Blog, page 15

Are books worth more than gas station coffee?

Normally my blog posts are very reader-centric (book reviews, random thoughts and ramblings), but I just received a Twitter DM last night (actually several in a row) I really wanted to talk to someone about. And since authordom is a lonely profession, I figured I'd blab about it here and see what other authors (and [...]

Throwing in the towel on one of my favorite authors' novels

I can't believe I'm going to say this, and it pains me to do so, but…I just threw in the towel on a novel by one of my favorite science fiction authors, maybe even THE favorite: David Weber. I picked up the latest in the Honor Harrington series, Mission of Honor, a few weeks back [...]

Offsite writing – does it work for you?

Happiness to me is an open power outlet at Panera or Barnes & Noble, a refillable cup of coffee, and some mindless background buzz from fellow humans. And with any luck, crappy wifi so I can concentrate on the task at hand – writing. However, sometimes I find myself drifting off and paying attention to [...]

New excerpt from Gabriel's Revenge, Book 3, releasing in December!

Coming into the home stretch to get Gabriel's Revenge, the final installment in the bestselling scifi-adventure trilogy, released! Here's a bit from an early scene:   Gabriel felt the tension of the bridge atmosphere ratchet up a notch as he pushed his way through the hatch. The last time he had been here, several hours [...]

Excerpt from the forthcoming Gabriel's Revenge, Book 3!

How about a little space battle to whet your whistles? Gabriel's Revenge, coming soon! Oh, and a little mockup of the cover-in-progress…   The black hammerhead shape of the NAFS Richard Marcinko slid through the wormhole terminus in a crackle of electromagnetic energy. Her hull shimmered as it dumped the extra charge into space and [...]

Review: The Prodigal's Foole by RB Wood

REVIEW:  Demons and magic, shotguns and explosions. That's how I described The Prodigal's Foole by R.B. Wood to my 11 year old son who asked me what the book was about. His attention span is short (what 11 year old's isn't?) so I had to summarize, and there's so much more. Hence, a book review. [...]

Book Review: Unspoken Stories by B.C. Young

REVIEW:  Want to win a copy of the book? See the bottom of the post for details! I'm not normally a short story reader; I prefer my time to be spent with full length, involved works, but the concept of Unspoken Stories (according to the author's blog, named because without some friendly motivation and a [...]

Review: In Her Name Empire by Michael Hicks

REVIEW:  I have to admit, before I even get into this review, that I'm a fussy reader when it comes to genres. I like a very specific, narrow type of science fiction. I certainly read all types – Hamilton, Clarke, Heinlein, Baxter, etc. – and enjoy them, but there's a type of scifi, I suppose [...]

Book Review: A Line In The Ice by Jamie Craig

I dig a good, original science fiction story – not the typical spaceships full of aliens landing on Earth/only Will Smith can save us story. When I read the opening chapter of A Line In The Ice, it sounded utterly fascinating, so I jumped at the chance to read and review. I was not disappointed. [...]

Review of Shattered Destiny by Shay Fabbro

REVIEW:  The Mekans are arriving, the galaxy is about to face its greatest danger, and the Chosen are in trouble. So goes the second installment in the Portals of Destiny series from Shay Fabbro, Shattered Destiny. I thoroughly enjoyed Book 1, and was waiting not-so-patiently for Book 2, as I felt after reading Book 1 [...]