Category: Science Fiction

Book Review: The Book of M

~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 7 Comments

39899065Rating Four Star

Title: The Book of M

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Series: No

Goodreads

Book Depository | Dymocks | Booktopia

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review. I also read a large part of this book via audiobook, which was purchased through my own Audible account.

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The Book of M is a one of the best post-apocalyptic fiction I have read in recent years, and it’s hard to believe it’s a debut novel. It’s a poignant examination of human memories and connection, filled with powerful and surrealistic imageries. The last pages of the novel still haunt me, and I keep catching myself thinking about the book’s shadowless world. I did have some issues with the book which I will discuss below, but overall, this book marks Peng Shepherd as an author to be watched – I can’t wait to see what she will come up with next. Continue reading “Book Review: The Book of M” →

Midnight Designs: Iron Gold

~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 14 Comments

Iron Gold Twitter Teaser

NOTE: Post will contain mild SPOILERS for the first Red Rising trilogy! There are no spoilers for Iron Gold, beyond a few quotes you might have seen in other promotional materials.

Two graphics posts within a week is unprecedented, but I’ve been very lucky with my 2018 reads and have loved them enough to create edits. Iron Gold is the first of a new trilogy in the Red Rising series, and it’s a game-changer. I usually get series-fatigue with expanded trilogies, but Pierce Brown keeps me coming back for more with his addictive pacing and morally complex characters. I could go on for pages, but I’ll save it for my review, published next week!

  • Quotes belong to Howler alpha Pierce Brown, official character artwork by artist Magali Villeneuve.
  • The phone wallpapers are free for your personal use only.
  • Please do not edit, repost, redistribute the images.
  • They are made for iPhone 6, but should fit most smartphones.

Iron Gold Darrow Wallpaper

“War eats the victors last.”

Darrow of Lykos is a living legend, after all, he is the man who led the Rising against the Republic. Ten years later, Darrow serves as an ArchImperator in the Republic he helped built – but victory did not guarantee him a happy ending. His journey in Iron Gold is an entanglement of internal conflicts and treacherous external pressures. The Reaper has never felt more human and fallible, and it makes for a damn good story.

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Iron Gold Lysander

“The dream of the Gold is over.”

Although Octavia au Lune is long dead, the powerful ghost of the old Society remains – whether it’s from the war against the Ash Lord, or in The Rim where the pyramid of Society stands unchallenged. Lysander’s narrative is one that I found simultaneously infuriating and utterly compelling, I’ll be back for more.

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Iron Gold Wall Lyria

“They planted us in stones, watered us with pain, and now marvel we have thorns.’

Lyria of Lagalos presented us with my favourite quote from Iron Gold. Liberated with the rest of the Reds through the efforts of The Rising, Lyria and her kin found themselves shackled by bonds of a different sort: poverty, prejudice, and marginalisation by society. Her chapters are filled with rage, but they’re some of my favourites in the book.

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Iron Gold Ephraim

‘Only thing easy is entropy.’

Ephraim ti Horn is disenchanted by society and its promises, made cynical by the tragedies he’s seen unfold. His voice vastly differ from the other characters, and his actions unpredictable – he’s a wild card and I can’t wait for you all to meet him.

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  • Find more of my free book-related designs here.
  • If you enjoyed these free graphics and want to support me, you can find me on Society 6.
  • Alternatively, you can commission me for your custom graphics by contacting me.

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Book Review: Not Your Sidekick

~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 15 Comments

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4-star

Title: Not Your Sidekick

Author: C. B. Lee

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Series? Yes, 1 of 3.

Goodreads

Book Depository // Booktopia

Do you remember Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson? That series where super powered humans emerge in a post-apocalyptic world, quickly dividing society into factions? Well, I have good news for those who enjoyed it – Not Your Sidekick gives you a similar premise, but filled with a whole lot more of diversity and heart. Although it dresses up in superhero capes and fun action – at its heart Not Your Sidekick is the perfect book for anyone who’s ever felt the yearning  to be a part of something more.
not-your-sidekicks

Comic book superheroes and supervillains gets a makeover in Not Yout Sidekick. Aside from action sequences and save-the-world type plotlines, we also get an introspective and character centred novel. While the book was extremely fun during its engaging action scenes and exposition, it shined brightest due to the lovable and diverse cast of characters. Alongside with saving the day, Jess and the crew also have to contend with romantic mixed signals, embarrassing siblings, and the difficulties of finding gainful employment without work experience. It’s comic superheroes at their most relatable. Continue reading “Book Review: Not Your Sidekick” →

Blog Tour: A Diabolically Good Playlist

~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 10 Comments

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I am honoured to host the first stop in the Australian The Diabolic Blog Tour. Today, S. J. Kincaid will be sharing with us her Diabolically awesome playlist.  I love listening to music that inspired or aid the author in the creation of their book, it makes for such a visceral and immersive experience reading experience.

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Try- Pink

When I was conceiving Nemesis’s character, expanding on that girl I’d written only a single page about and wanted to know more, I was listening to this song and suddenly had this image of an immensely powerful, athletic woman charging down a hallway. That helped me figure out just what Nemesis would be, and what a Diabolic would be.

(Aentee’s notes: I love this song, it’s totally my summer anthem. The lines ‘Where there is desire, there is gonna be a flame. Where there is a flame, someone’s bound to get burned’ captures one of the pivotal relationships in this book so perfectly!) Continue reading “Blog Tour: A Diabolically Good Playlist” →

Book Review: A Closed and Common Orbit

~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 7 Comments

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Title: A Closed and Common Orbit

Author: Becky Chambers

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Series? Companion Novel to The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet

Goodreads

Book Depository // Amazon // Dymocks // Booktopia

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Note: This review will contain spoilers for the prequel The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet. Common Orbit can be read as a standalone, although you will be spoiled for part of Small Angry Planet’s ending.

I read Small Angry Planet earlier on this year and it catapulted into my all time favourite list, it’s a scifi bursting with heart and soul. Needless to say, I have been anticipating the release of Common Orbit ever since.

Companion novels are a mixed beast for me, although I love revisiting the world, I am always afraid I won’t love it as much as the original if the characters I grew to love are no longer around. My fears were quickly dispelled as Common Orbit prove to retain all the heart that made me love Small Angry Planet. It also stood on its own two feet as an excellent, thought provoking novel that examines the meaning of family and identity.

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Continue reading “Book Review: A Closed and Common Orbit” →

Recs: Diverse SFF Short Stories

~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 13 Comments

Diverse SFF Short Stories

If you’ve been on Twitter this past week, you’ll notice that the community is abuzz with discussions on representation in fantasy. I can barely believe that it’s still up for debate. I am continually disappointed that while white and heteronormative narrative continues to dominate the genre, we still get people leaping to its defense when someone questions about the absence of diversity.

Somehow, there’s an idea that diverse fiction is a genre unto itself, that we should not demand to see ourselves reflected in popular fiction. In my mind, good fiction should be relatable and to some extent, it should accurately reflect the real world – even if it’s a fantasy.

To soothe my anger at the twitter debate, I went on Tor’s website to read through several of the SFF short stories they publish. I love the fiction published on this site because i) it’s free! and ii) it’s always quality and pushes to be inclusive. At the end of the day, the best way to support inclusive stories is to read them and shout your love to the world about them. So here’s a list of great SFF stories you can enjoy by just clicking on the link!

THE WEIGHT OF MEMORIES by Cixin Liu / translated by Ken Liu

We made a terrible mistake in thinking that replicating memories was sufficient to replicate a person.

Cixin Liu took the world by storm with The Three-Body Problem, one of the first Chinese science fiction to be translated into English. I love how he uses daring ideas on science, and reapplies it to answer questions about humanity. This short story about engineered and inherited memories between a mother and her unborn child captures his style perfectly. Ken Liu delivers a smooth and technically impressive translation, as always. Continue reading “Recs: Diverse SFF Short Stories” →

Book Review: The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet

~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 33 Comments

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5star

Title: The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet

Author: Becky Chambers

Rating: 5/5 stars

Series? Yes, companion novel out this year!

Goodreads

Book Depository // Dymocks // Booktopia

Be Warned: I love this book so much I don’t think I can be trusted to be coherent or impartial in this review. The flawless Kynn of Diva Booknerds recommended Small Angry Planet to me last year – as I trust her in all things bookish I purchased it, and it’s been sitting around on my Kindle for months on end. I want to go back and smack my past-self for ignoring this gem of a book for so long. Small Angry Planet is one of those rare books that has both heart and brain, capable of making you think and feel for a long time after its last pages.

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I don’t read a lot of science fiction, but I do love the genre for exploring contemporary issues in a different setting. Not to mention that space is boundless in its ability to inspire, and the vastness of the unknown is ceaselessly intriguing. Small Angry Planet captures all of the things I love best about the genre, and further delivered a human (or should I say, sapient) warmth to the story. Continue reading “Book Review: The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet” →

Book Review: Radiance

~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 20 Comments

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4-star

Title: Radiance

Author: Catherynne M. Valente

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Series? No.

Goodreads

Book Depository / Booktopia / Dymocks

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Hachette Australia in exchange for an honest review.

I know you’ve heard it before, but I love Catherynne Valente and would gladly devour anything she writes, be it short stories, full-length novels, or daily tweets. I love the way she blends existing myth and folklore to construct sublime new worlds. With Radiance, she brings old Hollywood glamour and the age of silent film into celestial space. The result is an enchanting and dream-like mystery spanning across multiple genres.

“She is dead. Almost certainly dead. Nearly conclusively dead.
She is, at the very least, not answering her telephone.”

Radiance

Continue reading “Book Review: Radiance” →

Book Review: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 46 Comments

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5star

Title: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Author: Claire North

Series: No 😦

Rating: 5/5 stars

Goodreads

Book Depository

TFFLOHA

Some of you might have seen me raving about this book on twitter and Goodreads over the past month. I know it’s still January, but I am fairly confident this book will enter my Top 10 list at the end of the year. It was at once an epic tale traversing through numerous timelines, and a quiet study on what make us human. Continue reading “Book Review: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August” →

Book Review: The Three Body Problem

~ aentee @ read at midnight ~ 42 Comments

4-star

Title:  The Three Body Problem

Author: Cixin Liu

Series? Yes, 1 of 3.

Rating: 4/5

Goodreads

I received this book from Harper Voyager Australia in exchange for an honest review.

One of the first things you’ll learn about me is that I detest physics and maths, I have absolutely no mental aptitude for it.  This is one of the first things you’ll see when you Google The Three Body Problem:

{\ddot{\mathbf{x}}_\mathbf{1}} = -\frac{G m_2}{\left(x_1 - x_2\right)^3}\left(\mathbf{x_1} - \mathbf{x_2}\right)-\frac{G m_3}{\left(x_1 - x_3\right)^3}\left(\mathbf{x_1} - \mathbf{x_3}\right)

{\ddot{\mathbf{x}}_\mathbf{2}} = -\frac{G m_3}{\left(x_2 - x_3\right)^3}\left(\mathbf{x_2} - \mathbf{x_3}\right)-\frac{G m_1}{\left(x_2 - x_1\right)^3}\left(\mathbf{x_2} - \mathbf{x_1}\right)

{\ddot{\mathbf{x}}_\mathbf{3}} = -\frac{G m_1}{\left(x_3 - x_1\right)^3}\left(\mathbf{x_3} - \mathbf{x_1}\right)-\frac{G m_2}{\left(x_3 - x_2\right)^3}\left(\mathbf{x_3} - \mathbf{x_2}\right)

I.e. DO. NOT. WANT.  However, I found that the book was surprisingly engaging and accessible despite its deep rooted background in theoretical physics.  Here’s why!

3body

NON-LINEAR PLOT:

The book follows two protagonists and timeline:

  1.  Ye Wenjie, a physicist who watched her father persecuted and murdered during China’s Cultural Revolution during the 1970s, and
  2. Wang Miao, a scientist researching nanofibre technology in present day.  He’s recruited by the police to investigate a group of scientists.  The reason?  Many scientists around the world have started committing suicide,

Ye’s story is the driving force of this book, watching her father’s execution for the crime of intelligence and progress has changed her fundamentally.  Her narratively examines humanity and the price we pay for scientific progress, it questions whether it’s all worth it.

“It was impossible to expect a moral awakening from humankind itself, just like it was impossible to expect humans to lift off the earth by pulling up on their own hair. To achieve moral awakening required a force outside the human race.”

Next to Ye, Wang is a slightly duller protagonist.  Through his eyes we are able to slowly uncover the rest of Ye’s story, as well as immerse in the titular Three-Body Problem.  Unfortunately, Wang is a bit of a blank slate, however, I did enjoy slowly seeing how he i) goes through the Three Body Game – I found myself cheering for him whenever he advanced in the game and ii) his story (and really, the story of the larger world) connects to Ye’s narrative. Continue reading “Book Review: The Three Body Problem” →