Review: Ghost Planet by Sharon Fisher

Ghost Planet by Sharon Fisher

Author: Sharon Fisher
Publication Date: October 30, 2012
Publisher: Tor Science Fiction
Pages: 352
Genre: Science Fiction, Romance
Source: e-arc from publisher on Netgalley

Book Description from Goodreads:
Psychologist Elizabeth Cole prepared for the worst when she accepted a job on a newly discovered world—a world where every colonist is tethered to an alien who manifests in the form of a dead loved one. But she never expected she'd struggle with the requirement to shun these "ghosts." She never expected to be so attracted to the charming Irishman assigned as her supervisor. And she certainly never expected to discover she died in a transport crash en route to the planet. 

As a ghost, Elizabeth is symbiotically linked to her supervisor, Murphy—creator of the Ghost Protocol, which forbids him to acknowledge or interact with her. Confused and alone—oppressed by her ghost status and tormented by forbidden love—Elizabeth works to unlock the secrets of her own existence. 

But her quest for answers lands her in a tug-of-war between powerful interests, and she soon finds herself a pawn in the struggle for control of the planet…a struggle that could separate her forever from the man that she loves.

Review:

     Earth has become a nearly unlivable wasteland, polluted and dying. So in a stroke of luck explorers from Earth find a planet that has everything they could ever want - lush green landscapes, fresh air and water; but there's a caveat. In their rush to colonize the planet, an alien life form suddenly begins to appear....in the form of a dead loved one, each attached to a specific colonist. If you saw a someone who made a deep impression on you that was supposed to be dead, how would you react? Embracing them with loving arms or with hostility and fear; could you abide by the Ghost Protocol?

     I love the mirror imagery of the cover, with a ghostly Elizabeth and a determined Murphy over the backdrop of a forest hidden in the dark - making it difficult to determine its state. 

     The story begins innocuously enough, Elizabeth a psychology student arriving for her residency on Ardagh 1 and is quickly greeted by her new supervisor Grayson Murphy. These two quickly hit it off, and even discover that they had briefly met on Earth years earlier. But then it becomes apparent that something's off, especially when Elizabeth starts tripping the Ghost sensors and failing every imaginable Ghost test. 

     I do wish that the synopsis would have left out how she died. It is important to know that she dies, it just took away from the shock of the reveal when we're already told. Nonetheless, I love how this book starts! There's a sharp contrast in how Elizabeth is treated before and after. In the beginning she's like any other guest, Murphy provides food and excellent (and flirty) conversation. But as soon as they discover the truth; that she's a ghost and attached to none other than the creator of the Ghost Protocol - which states that there is to be absolutely no contact between ghost and human in order to keep the ghosts complacent and the humans sane enough to continue their jobs. 

     The ghosts were interesting entities. They had physical form, and everyone could seem them. But the way that Ghost Protocol works has made them into zombie like shells of their former selves and they drift about very much like what you'd think a ghost would be like - screaming for attention but never getting a reaction. 

     I loved the character of Elizabeth! She's extremely intelligent, strong willed and confident. She readily adapts to her situation, and my favorite parts were how she found an endless amount of loopholes in the Ghost Protocol to get what she needed, I couldn't help but smile at her ingenuity. She's constantly curious and asks a million questions; which is a refreshing change from characters that just go along with it until something is revealed. Elizabeth actively searches for the answers and has a healthy sense of skepticism when presented with something that seems too good to be true. Fisher crafted a main character that was complex and had a history. Over the course of the story her past clashes with her present as it goes tumbling into her future, and the reader gets to see how she grows and evolves. 

     Murphy - head of Psychology on Ardagh 1 and creator of the Ghost Protocol think's he's met the girl of his dreams, but things couldn't just stay that simple. She's dead, and an alien and completely hands off now. There's so much internal struggle with Murphy, especially since Elizabeth made such an impression on him in the first few moments of the book. My only complaint would be that Murphy is Irish, and I never really got an impression of an Irish lilt when he was speaking; he'd drop a "love" at the end of sentences but to me that immediately made me think of a British accent. 

     Elizabeth and Murphy's romance is forbidden, and difficult to describe. One thing for sure is that it isn't instant love. There are feelings there, and there's a mix of trust, conversations and hardships in conjunction with their alien bond that creates a solid relationship. By the end though, I was completely rooting for these two to work out because they're so adorable together. 

    Fisher takes elements from Biology and Psychology and manages to blend them into this plot with aliens and romance perfectly. There are some terms (especially biology ones) that are used; but fear not, they're expertly explained. Fisher has this amazing knack for showing the reader each possible perspective, and it definitely made me question the ethical implications of what they're doing on this planet. The landscape of this story was constantly changing and evolving as things were revealed. It kept an excellent pace and I never found myself guessing what would happen next - not that I could. 

Overall: 4/5 Hot Cups of Tea!

This story is like a blend of Jame's Cameron's Avatar and Stephenie Meyer's The Host. Fans of either one will LOVE Ghost Planet. For me it was a thoroughly enjoyable read! The ending seemingly ties everything up, and leaves a spark of hope; but I still have burning questions as to what happens to these characters after the book ends! 

     

Review: Four in the Morning by Christi Goddard

Four in the Morning by Christi Goddard

Author: Christi Goddard

Publication Date: May, 2012

Publisher: Immortal Ink Publishing

Pages: 202 pages

Genre: Fantasy

Source: Review copy provided by Rebecca Hamilton! Thank you!

Book Description from Goodreads:

Kathleen Hayson thinks her biggest problem is her mother. The only runner up — her mouth. With a wit sharper than her mother’s perfectly manicured nails, her clever remarks create more problems than they solve.

But it’s not her clever remarks landing her knee-deep in trouble. This time, Josh Colby is to blame. Kathleen’s former childhood friend has become the school’s most stuck up jerk. Before, she’d have told him to piss off and write his own stupid letter to the town slut/minister’s daughter. Now Kathleen’s escalating problems at home force her to reevaluate how flexible her principles are. She agrees to write the controversial letter Josh has requested.

Enter Rigel, a smartass magical creature who invades her room one night, promising he has come to help. When a boy Kathleen hates turns up dead and her mother goes missing, the letter becomes a key piece of police evidence — implicating Kathleen. As she fights her way out of a web of lies, the trust she has in those closest to her shatters. In the end, she’s pushed to a terrible choice: who lives, and who else dies.

Review:

So… my brain is still like this:

- days after reading Four in the Morning because…I can’t even begin to process that incredible jaw dropping ending.

I love that the cover reflects the theme of the story and the main character Kathleen so well.The cool fall day in the background plays perfectly into the creepy mysterious aspects and the cover model who is pale and dressed in black portrays the spitting image of Kathleen.

The story begins with an introduction to Kathleen and several different aspects of her life. She’s always butting heads with her slightly neurotic mother, the school’s most popular boy Josh engaged her writing skills for a love letter, her philosophical best friend Aka and a magical talking white skunk named Rigel shows up in her room to warn her of impending danger.

I loved that the character of Kathleen isn’t your archetype pretty blond, size 0, perky and agreeable heroine. She’s got a snarky sharp wit with a vocabulary that can dance circles around any dimwitted jock and an iron will to endure all the crap her mother or classmates throw at her regarding her appearance and slightly bitter attitude. What was a bit jarring was how well she accepted a talking woodland creature into her life - albeit with some initial assertions that it was a sugar induced hallucination.

The boys of the book were such an amazing mix. Riley - the arch-nemesis of Kathleen, really takes hateful bullying to whole new and terrifying level that left me shaking with a mix of anger and fear for Kathleen. Aka - the cryptic best friend who spoke in riddles and rhymes was interesting, but like Kathleen I had issues understanding him until she shook him and demanded it in simple English. However, Aka surprised me as a character that you could always depend on solidly to be there for Kathleen no matter what. Josh - who originally struck me as a really daft and useless character, ended up showing moments of intelligence and depth that engaged my interest, I’m actually kind of sad that we don’t get to see a more explicit explanation of him, especially after some huge revelations.

A lot of this story revolved around a really traumatic childhood for Kathleen. The character of her mom is all the extremes of a psychotic TV mom, such as being super pretty (by sheer will she could yell her hair back into place), shallow (I think she lives off of other’s praise and approval), with a dash of overly religious cult follower (which probably created Kathleen’s extreme dislike of religions later on) - who expects nothing but perfection from her children. So when you get a wilful disobedient daughter who isn’t afraid of you anymore… it’s a recipe for disaster.

Enter the very “Alice in Wonderland: White Rabbit” character: Rigel the proper British white skunk who shows up during a very difficult time in Kathleen’s life with a dire warning that someone will betray her, and that there’s a great tragedy that he’s there to prevent. But first - he needs to know every intimate detail about her life as he shadows her daily and gives her riddled answers that could rival Aka. I really loved Rigel’s character, he provided a surreal view of the events coupled with fur filled comic relief.

When I was first reading this, I wasn’t really sure what to make of these divergences to all these aspects of Kathleen’s life, it really felt like everything was random and coming at me out of nowhere. I was throughly confused as to what the whole point of the story… right up until the bodies started dropping… then I was HOOKED!

Goddard’s writing style is stunning!! She crafts distinct character voices that I could hear with clarity as I read and she definitely knows how to drive home tense and viscerally graphic details (I can’t look at eggplant the same anymore…). While the beginning was a bit slow to start, it lulled me into a false sense of security. Then it gets dark. I got to this part right before bed - it was a bad idea because as soon as Kathleen starts falling down this insane spiral of murder, missing people, and suddenly boys tripping over her I was screaming in my head “What is going on?!”. Before I knew it, I was taken on an intense plot twist roller coaster that was flinging me in a thousand unpredictable directions, with bombshell after bombshell being dropped until we get to the climactic tipping point and all the horrible secrets are revealed and Kathleen has to decide who pays the price for all the complaints of her life. Then, just when you think Goddard is done, she drops the biggest twist of all - that left Kathleen and I both in utter shell shock. It’s one of those endings where it’s so insane, I still wonder if all of it happened… just for THAT. 

Rating: 4/5 Hot Cups of Tea!

It may have been a slow start, but it was laying the foundation for a knock your socks off ending!!

Mini Blog Tour: Review and Interview: Shadow of the Wraith by Ross Harrison

Mini Blog Tour: Shadow of the Wraith by Ross Harrison

     I'm so glad I could be apart of this tour! Shadow of the Wraith was an awesome read, and Ross Harrison was so much fun to work with! 

    Review:

Shadow of the Wraith by Ross Harrison

Author: Ross Harrison

Publication Date: May 1, 2012

Genre: Science Fiction

Source: Review copy provided by the author, thank you!

Book Description from Goodreads:

It sounds like a simple assignment: track down the mysterious Star Wraith and put an end to its rampage. But when Travis Archer and his team of inept soldiers find themselves the most wanted people in the galaxy - hounded by assassins, terrorists and their own military - they realise the Wraith is just a symptom of a much larger problem…

Finding war raging between one army intent on destroying an entire species, and another that will destroy the galaxy, Travis must put aside his fears and his past to uncover the truth behind it all. To become the hero he’s always imagined.

Review:

To begin, I thoroughly enjoyed Shadow of the Wraith. It’s like the best elements of every science fiction story you’ve ever heard of, brought together into one epic adventure!

The cover features a very classic science fiction shot of a ship with a planet in the background. Only this one features a more ominous tone as a ship ploughs its way through a mess of ships.

The story is told from the alternating views of a mass of several different characters and situations. The story begins with the introduction of the very cocky “space cowboy” ex military man known as Travis Archer as he presents the readers to a future where humans have left a ruined Earth and have taken to living among the stars with other humanoid alien species in an uneasy truce, while he tries to carve out a living currently as a bounty hunter. Then we’re brought to the primary situation at hand as the reader is apprised to the new ruling power of humans - the Terran Alliance and the growing trouble that this mysterious ship the “Star Wraith” is posing to ships that have crossed its path, and never live to tell the story. In an attempt to stop the Star Wraith, the military hires on bounty hunters as a cheap means to deal with this ghost ship…and guess who takes the job?

In the true fashion of space adventuring - Travis begins by going on a galaxy wide mission of assembling a rag tag crew each with a unique skill to contribute to the team. I have to admit, I love watching these crews come together - and the lengths that Travis goes to get the players he wants was incredible! In addition to Travis as the leader, some other crewmen we stumble upon is the reliable ex military best friend, the sexy but deadly love interest and even a comedic relief android. My only complaint really is that while Harrison tries to put unique features and voices to each character, the less prominent characters tend to blur together which was further exacerbated by switching between first and last names randomly when referring to these characters throughout the story.

My favorite character by far was the android Arkuun-Marl, whose constant quest for equality with humans combined with expert battle skills and the much needed one liners that broke the tension in overly serious moments.

After finding the Star Wraith, they soon discover that the ship isn’t what it appears to be at which point they commandeer it in their quest to find the truth, which leads to political intrigue, a secret past and it all lands this misfit crew right in the middle of an age old war.


The villains of the story were constantly shifting, and it was difficult to see who could be trusted and what their motives were. It made for a thrilling adventure as we navigated the minefield of assassins, military personnel and androids to get to the so called "leader". 

While Harrison presented what seemed like a straight forward plot idea, it quickly became apparent that this wasn’t your usual story. Harrison expertly throws curve balls at the reader, and before you know it there’s secrets revealed that completely change the game. I eventually just stopped trying to predict what was going to happen because as soon as I thought I had it figured out, Harrison would drop another bomb that had me reeling.

The characters go through some serious paces as they run across the galaxy hunting down the truth. The technology used in the ships, weapons, armour and bases had considerable thought placed into their design and purpose, which made for richly detailed and thrilling action sections. What completely threw me off was the introduction of some fantasy elements (think mythological creatures) that was a refreshing addition to the usual obstacle course of assassins and androids. Harrison even manages to weave a bit of romance into the story, and while a relationship does eventually form, I think his writing shone primarily in the flirting banter.

All in all, Shadow of the Wraith was an amazing story with witty humour, action, mystery, crazy technology and galactic politics. However, I do feel that it’s more suited to fans who already have a solid science fiction background to thoroughly enjoy the references to Firefly, and Arkuun-Marl’s Star Trek Scotty references. 

Rating: 4/5 Hot cups of Tea!

It's a great read for any science fiction fans! 

Interview with Ross:

1. What inspired you to first start writing?

It was so long ago, I have no idea now. I started writing little stories when I was probably around 7 or so; perhaps even younger. The first one I recall having red in it. And a hill. And a house on the hill. Perhaps some lightning.

I also remember a book about gremlins. There are these trees in Brazil, you see, that bite you. And if you get bitten by a tree, a gremlin starts growing like a big boil, and eventually bursts it’s way out! But it’s ok, because there’s always a good gremlin, too, that helps. I don’t know where that one comes from. It has biting trees; do I really need to explain where the good ones come from?

Anyway, it was quite likely my mother and grandmother. They used to read to me a lot. I seem to remember that first story with the red and the house being written for my grandmother. I also remember drawing a treasure map, staining it with a teabag and trying very hard to convince her I’d found it under the carpet. But that’s beside the point.

Most of the books my grandmother read me were funny ones – The Magic Roundabout, uhhh…and so on – and I wanted mine to be funny too. Of course, at that age, funny consisted of my character hiding under a car to evade his friend’s mother for no apparent reason. Hilarity did not ensue.

As I got a bit older, I found myself wanting to write more serious stuff, but it was based entirely on articles from game magazines (my second serious story was, in fact, Metal Gear Solid 2), and featured such creative imaginings as large wooden crates sitting in the middle of the desert for the characters to hide behind. But, the writing was improving and I was enjoying it. And it was only for me and family anyway, so Kojima can’t sue!

Then came the first novel. The first proper, full-length, serious-with-a-hint-of-humour, entirely original story. It was, I suppose, a thriller about an NSA (I think) agent tracking down the killers of three FBI agents. Or it might not have been; I can’t really remember.

The point is, it was during this book that my grandmother asked if I was going to try to have it published once I’d finished. The idea hadn’t occurred to me. I said no, knowing that it wasn’t even close to good enough, but the idea had been planted.

About halfway through the book, and having just created what I thought was a very clever plot point, my file became corrupted and I lost the entire book. Thankfully, some months earlier, I had emailed it to my granddad, and he had printed it out – as he does with practically everything that passes his computer screen. So I still have some of it, but sadly about half of what I had is gone forever, including the clever…whatever it was.

So that was somewhat upsetting, and I gave up writing for a while. Then, not long before I moved to Ireland, I started writing another book. That book eventually became Shadow of the Wraith. That idea of publishing grew and grew as the book did, until I decided I would go for it. Unfortunately I was stupid and lazy about it, and sent out the book to agents long before it was ready. The subsequent and inevitable rejections were depressing and I gave up for quite some time, but now here I am.

Was all that a little off topic…

2. What are some things that you HAVE to have while writing? (certain snacks, beverages, pens, etc)

I have to have quiet. Or at least noise I can control. Other than that, not much. I can’t work when there’s people around me talking and playing music or trying to be quiet! There’s little more annoying than someone who, in some kind of fake show of courtesy or something, talks to you in a stage whisper because they know you’re trying to concentrate. How the hell does that help? That just makes me have to try harder to hear what they’re saying, and takes away even more focus from my work!!

Anyway…

A nice hot cup of tea is a good start, but I can work perfectly well without one. I’m easily satisfied. Sometimes I need music; either because it will help the scene or in the film in my head, that music is playing, or because I’m getting a bit stuck and the music will help shake me out of that.

What I should not have is the internet. I get too easily distracted. I maybe finish a big chunk of writing, and decide to reward myself with a browse on the internet, and come back three hours later to find I don’t feel like writing.

I also apparently must have little sleep, since the time I most feel like writing is late at night.

3. Who designed the cover?

The ebook cover was designed by Mark Williams, who I found on DeviantArt. I crawled through the work of a lot of people and found the characters he had drawn. He had no scenes like I was looking for, but his work was good enough that I thought he could do what I wanted, so I asked and he said he would. And then…he did.

The hardback cover I did myself. The ships on that cover were from some concept art I had done quite some time ago.

4. Quick, name your favourite sci-fi books/tv shows/movies that were an inspiration in writing Shadow of the Wraith!

Firefly (bring it back, Fox, you inept morons)/Serenity, Star Wars, Reality Dysfunction, Consider Phlebas, Blade Runner, The Fountain (not sure if that’s sci fi).

Many more that won’t come to me at present. But none were particularly influential to my writing. They were inspirations in the way that every experience we have influences us in some way, big or small, but I never thought ‘I like that, I’ll put it in the book’ or anything like that. Plenty of films make me feel like writing after I’ve watched them (less so for books), but again, just because of the adventure and whatnot enthusing me, not because I saw something that I wanted to write myself. If I’m honest, I actually read more fantasy than sci fi – mostly Terry Pratchett.

5. Nerd Curiosity: Who do you like more, Captain James T Kirk or Captain Jean-Luc Picard?

Jean-Luc. He has better hair.

More information about Ross and Shadow of the Wraith can be found at the following: 

Blog - http://ross-harrison.com/

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/StarWraith

Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/AuthoRoss

US ebook - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZBK6QA

UK ebook - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007ZBK6QA

Hardback - http://tiny.cc/ShadowOfTheWraith

Review: The Truce by E. Milan

On A Side Note:
     When I went to the Calgary Comic Expo I grabbed some awesome stuff like these: 

Fabulous prints of Camilla d'Errico's fantastic works of art! That she SIGNED herself! And a couple of Little-Vampires monster button packs that are adorable! 

You also may remember the giant Everneath by Brodi Ashton inspired art piece I did for my final art project, which I got back from my prof (who loved it!) 

So why am I mentioning all this stuff? Well I'm mentioning it because I donated it all to Michelle at The Passionate Bookworm for her to raffle off in her fundraiser so that she can raise funds to make her own art! 

So if you want these packs, I encourage you to go on over to her raffle page here to learn more about what's up: The Passionate Bookworm Fundraising Raffle and if you feel like it maybe donate to get your chance to win these, and a tonne of other stuff (there's some huge book boxes and eBook packages too)! 

Review:

The Truce by E. Milan

Author: E. Milan

Publication Date: January 26, 2012

Publisher: Self Published with Createspace

Pages: 308

Genre: Fiction, Heaven Vs Hell, Angels, Demons

Source: Thank you to the Author for providing a review copy!

Book Description:

When Aaron and Amber die they will wake up in Purgatory. Unable to rest they will do the unthinkable and attempt to walk through Hell itself to find Heaven, and all they have lost, on the other side.

Once in Hell they spark a revolution 2,500 years in the making.


Review:

I haven’t read many stories dealing with the possibilities of the afterlife. The closest I’ve gotten to this subject was probably playing the Dante’s Inferno video game (loosely based on the first canticle of Dante’s Divine Comedy). When I read the synopsis for The Truce I was immediately intrigued as to what Milan’s vision of the afterlife is.

The cover is simple but effective in giving the reader a very surreal introduction into the passage from life to death for Aaron and Amber.

It begins by looking at the seemingly normal lives of three individuals that coalesce into a single defining moment that results in the pivotal deaths of the main characters. The opening to The Truce, I have to say was my absolute favourite part. There was a great introduction to each of the main characters and the heart stopping tension that mounted right before it happened made for an incredible way of snaring a reader’s attention.

The story is told from alternating view points of several different characters, but focuses primarily on Aaron and Amber. It begins with Aaron and Amber waking up in Purgatory and learning the ropes from other Purgatory residents. Purgatory is exactly how you’d imagine it, a place where you stand still in time and wait for your judgement with nothing to do; it could really drive someone mad and I can definitely see why the characters would want to try for Heaven through Hell, anything was better than waiting there for all eternity.

There are some really entertaining action packed moments as they make their journey through Hell and the personal Hells that they each face are imaginatively diabolical. I loved the buildup and the reveals of the back stories of Aaron and Amber, it really put solid reason as to why they were so determined to get out of Purgatory. Then we meet the very unique inhabitants of Hell, and their journey to Heaven becomes so much more complicated when everything is riding on their success.

However, there were a few hiccups I had while reading. I found it incredibly confusing by introducing so many characters and including each character’s personal back story. There was so much information that was unnecessary overall with minor characters that we never see again and this dragged the story. In addition, for me, the voices of the other characters all seemed to take on the same tone and style of speech, which further blurred any lines of distinction. The action sequences were interesting at first, but they became pretty similar throughout each subsequent battles (lots of running, splitting up and swooping). The romance that is inferred between Aaron and Amber feels like it never fully developed, they were more like strangers that clung together during desperate times because that’s all they know. When we finally get to the end, it sort of fell flat when the story was stretched a bit more, it could have been wrapped up in a much neater bow.

The back bone and the idea of this story are solid and it has the potential to be an amazing story. Milan dealt with a theological subject in a very inclusive manner, I liked that it wasn't preachy or offensive. I just feel like it could use some definite refining and polishing before it gets there. 

Rating: 3/5 Drinkable Cups of Tea

It's a good idea, it just feels like it could use some work.