Lincoln Cole's Blog, page 15
March 13, 2017
Author Feature: J.A. Christy
Today I will be featuring J.A. Christy!
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SmartYellow™ is the story of a young girl, Katrina Williams, who finds herself on the wrong side of social services. After becoming pregnant with only a slight notion of the father’s identity, she is disowned by her parents and goes to live on a social housing estate. Before long she is being bullied by a gang involved in criminal activity and anti-social behaviour. Seeking help from the authorities she is persuaded to return to the estate to work as part of Operation Schrödinger, alongside a surveillance specialist. But she soon realises that Operation Schrödinger is not what it seems.
Exploring themes of social inequity and scientific responsibility, J.A. Christy’s first speculative fiction novel leads her heroine Katrina to understand how probability, hope and empathy play a huge part in the flow of life and are absent in the stagnation of mere survival. As readers we also start to question how we would know if the power of the State to support and care for the weak had become corrupted into the oppression of all those who do not fit society’s norms.
SmartYellow™ offers a worryingly plausible and chilling glimpse into an alternate Britain. For the sake of order and for the benefit of more fortunate members of society, those seen as socially undesirable are marked with SmartYellow™, making it easier for them to be controlled and maintained in a state of fruitless inactivity. Writer, J.A. Christy, turns an understanding and honest eye not only onto the weak, who have failed to cope with life, but also onto those who ruthlessly exploit them for their own ends. At times tense and threatening, at times tender and insightful, SmartYellow™ is a rewarding and thought-provoking read.
March 12, 2017
Underneath is 100% Free for a Limited Time!
Author Feature: Kevin George
Today I will be featuring Kevin George!
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The Great Blue Above… The White Nothingness… The Sky People… These only exist as whispered stories for those who live in the City Below, humanity’s final habitat located far beneath the snowy surface. Ruled by the ruthless Jonas family for generations, its citizens are fed lies by King Edmond, who controls the largest section of city and its army of guards. But the leaders of other sections begin to question the city’s history and King Edmond's divinity, and their children dream about escaping through the guarded tunnels to find out the truth...
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March 11, 2017
Author Feature: Sean Seebach
Today I will be featuring Sean Seebach!
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When Alan Decker returns to the small town he and his sister grew up in, he realizes that the parts people play haven't changed, only the players. A new preacher arrives in town just as crazy events begin to occur and no one is sure whether or not he is to blame.
Alan tries to steer clear of the happenings, but is forced to get involved when his sister goes missing. He isn't afraid of any occult superstitions where his sister in concerned, but he is afraid she may have fallen off the wagon and returned to old bad habits.
Nothing is quite as it seems, and Alan is about to fall deeper into a world he isn't sure he even believes in.
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March 10, 2017
Author Feature: James Aaron
Today I will be featuring James Aaron!
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As a recruit in the United Reclamation Commission Army, Parc Parvel's got thirty days before his first mission hunting lost colonies for the Galactic Authority. Thirty days to master an arsenal of weapons as likely to kill him as the enemy. . . It soon becomes clear the URCA doesn't care if recruits live or die. In fact, imminent death might be the real training plan. . .
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March 9, 2017
Book Review: The Pursuit of Time by William H. May
Today I will be reviewing The Pursuit of Time by William H. May, which was an OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day!
About the Book [image error]
In the year 2038 as the world struggles to adapt to energy shortages and the effects of global warming, advances in medical technology make human brain transplants possible. This story chronicles the effect this advance has on society and the fight by one dying man to extend his life with the help of his attorney friend. It challenges stereotypically held views of the elderly and their capabilities.
ReviewIt was nice seeing this book as something of an upbeat futuristic book rather than something that is dystopian and talks about the world declining over time. It was a good change of pace, especially considering how the world has been going recently. I also appreciated the fact that this book wasn't about a young man, because it seems like all sci-fi is about children and young adults rather than older people.
John Axelton was a great character, and the fact that this book challenged commonly held beliefs about what they are allowed to do. Myra was an interesting character, fairly well created, but I would have liked to see much more of her in the book. She felt more like a side character and just something to bounce plot ideas off of rather than something the author put a lot of work into.
The medical aspects of the story are also fairly well put together and the idea of the transplants to prolong the ideas of the super intelligent was interesting. The science felt reasonable, and not even that far-fetched, and I thought the author did a good job of presenting it and its ethical costs.
This book had some missteps in it, but it was all around an enjoyable read. I will give it 4 out of 5 stars and say it is worth reading for people who like sci-fi books set only a short ways into the future and with some upbeat ideas wrapped inside of it.
Check it out at Online Book Club!Author Feature: Lee Isserow
Today I will be featuring Lee Isserow.
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Sarah wants a revolution in her life.
Ever since her parents were murdered, she's been directionless, and finds herself joining a clinical trial. But this trial isn't going to win any ethics awards...
Paranoia flows as experiments are carried out on their waking and sleeping bodies.
The trial is changing them. Programming them. Installing false memories, removing emotions.
If they don't do something before their tenure ends, they might not be human when they leave...
Assuming they survive that long.
March 8, 2017
Author Feature: Eustacia Tan
Today I will be featuring Eustacia Tan
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It has been eight years since the Nutcracker has defeated the Mouse King, and he is still a cursed doll. The Nutcracker’s one desire is to break the curse, allowing him to take his rightful place as King and make Marie his queen. But nothing has worked.
The Nutcracker grows more and more desperate as time runs out and Marie begins to move away from him. One day, he uncovers a dark secret about his kingdom and decides to use the knowledge to reverse the curse and claim his destiny. The Nutcracker will do anything to reach his goal and have Marie rule by his side. This will be his happily ever after.
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Queen Beauty and King Charming lived happily ever after. At least, until the birth of their daughter. Despite their invitations, none of the fairies show up to give the princess a name-blessing, something Beauty is determined her daughter should receive. Rashly, she decrees that her daughter will either have a name-blessing or no name at all. With that one decision, she unwittingly casts a dark shadow over the land.
Growing up, the princess shared her mother's dream of getting a name-blessing, but that's the only thing that they have in common. For everything else, there's the Lady in the Mirror. The Lady listens to her, and unlike her father, isn't afraid to criticise her mother, Beauty.
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Book Review: The Alienation of Courtney Hoffman by Brady Stefani
Today I will be reviewing: The Alienation of Courtney Hoffman by Brady Stefani which was an OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day for March 3rd!
About the Book [image error]
Fifteen-year-old Courtney wants to be normal like her friends. But there’s something frighteningly different about her—and it’s not just the mysterious tattoo her conspiracy-obsessed grandfather marked her with when she was a child. The last thing Courtney wants to do is end up crazy and dead like her grandfather—but what about the tattoo? And the alien scouts who visit Courtney in her bedroom at night, claiming to have shared an alliance with her grandfather?
With her new friend Agatha’s apocalyptic visions, Courtney begins connecting the dots between the past, present, and future—of her bloodline, and the ancient history that surrounds it. So is she going mentally insane, like her family claimed her grandfather did, or is she actually a “chosen one” with ancestral connections to another world? Either way, Courtney has a mission: untangle her past, discover the truth, and stop the apocalypse before anyone from school finds out she’s missing.
This actually reminded me a little bit of stories like the Sixth Sense and the idea that one person can see something that no one else can. Courtney has some fascinating problems to deal with in this story, like the idea that she might actually be seeing real aliens, and that turns this into a psychological thriller as much as a sci-fi story about aliens.
I liked Courtney as a character, and it was nice to see the plot center around her and really bring her to the forefront. It was like trying to piece together a puzzle and find out if this was really happening or some sort of a mental illness, and the fact that everyone else around her was so well-written made the story that much better. Everyone else seemed to be trying to come to terms with what she was dealing with from the perspective of reality, so they were wondering if she was going crazy or something else was wrong, and it formed a realistic separation between her and her family and friends.
This was one of the better stories I've read in a while, and I have to give it a five out of five rating because it was really well put together and unique, but if anything I would say that the cover artwork could use a little bit of work to really help this book out! I feel like a lot of people might miss it simply because it is difficult to tell what the story is from the cover, and it certainly doesn't do it justice.
About the Author
Brady G. Stefani has a bachelor's degree in creative writing, and a graduate degree in law. During law school, he interned with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, where he interacted with patients suffering from severe thought disorders, including numerous patients presenting with subjectively real memories of being visited and abducted by alien beings. It was through his study of these patients, along with his own struggles with anxiety and cognition, that Stefani became aware of just how deceiving, mysterious, and powerfully resilient the human mind can be.
In an effort to provide awareness of mental suffering, and spread hope to all those touched by it, Stefani is focused on writing YA novels that explore the experience of being different, and the other-worldly places our boundary-less imaginations can take us. Alienation is his first novel. But with two works currently in progress, the journey has just begun.
