C. Alex Smith's Blog

Gunships and Goodbyes by Casey White The last time Rick encountered the invincible aliens known as the Tamani, he lost his left arm, his best friend, and his self-respect. Nursing such devastating losses, he decides to quit the corporate military unit protecting off-world settlers, TerraCorp, and take up the life of a Duster—a mechanic who flies between remote worlds fixing the outdated tech that keeps the colonies running.  Zooming about the galaxy, his life is safe, but he’s alone except for a cat that he inherited when he purchased his ship—a cat who hates him. Then an old friend calls to check up on him and tells him TerraCorp has discovered the Tamani are about to annex sector Rimward 27-A. TerraCorp knows they can’t evacuate all the settlers in that sector, so they are just quietly slipping away and abandoning the colonists to certain death.  Rick’s a long way from Rimward 27-A, but it’s the home of his best friend’s widow—a woman he’s sworn to protect. He races his sm...

An Arctic Climate Fiction Boiling Over with Tension For decades the sea ate the land, causing the collapse of human society. In the absence of governance, humans turned to new mind-numbing drugs, human experimentation, and bloodshed.  Lots of bloodshed.  What survives from those days is a disease nicknamed “the breaks,” a universal hatred for the survivors of The Hive Project, and Qaanaaq–home to a melting pot of a million refugees. Qaanaaq is a new city built on oil rig scaffolding over the deep waters of the Arctic north of Iceland and east of Greenland. It sits over a geothermal vent which warms the city. Glaciers provide fresh water and human waste is cycled into methane that lights its lamps. Currently, it's struggling against an epidemic of the breaks, a disease that fills the victim’s heads with the memories of its previous casualties until the sick lose themselves in hallucinations and madness. A survivor of the Hive Project has just arrived in Qaanaaq. Unaware of th...

Canailles Commit a Wicked Caper Leigh Bardugo’s characters are as layered and complex as her worldbuilding. This set of books takes place in Ketterdam, a city of canals, immigrants, mob bosses, gambling, human trafficking, and thieves—the Las Vegas of the Grishaverse. Just like Las Vegas, it’s populated by characters with deep history (baggage). Kaz “Dirty Hands” Brekker has a reputation for getting the job done, no matter how illegal. He does this by scouting out the best talent in the city. Inej was chosen because she was raised in a Suli circus to be their knife throwing and acrobatic act. Now she works as Kaz’s body guard and spy. Jesper is a sharp-shooter with a gambling problem and a secret. Nina can crush a man’s heart by looking at him, but she can also heal and alter your appearance. Wylan has skill with explosives. And Matthais was a member of the drüskelle (or witch killers) until he fell in love with Nina. But is his love strong enough to make him betray his beloved nation ...

  I confess. I did something I rarely do. I didn't finish this book. It spent a year on my nightstand and I read up to page 565 of its 771 pages (73%). At night, I turned to where I'd left off a few days ago, a week ago, a month ago, and then I'd put it back and pick up something more entertaining.  Yeah. I know. National Bestseller. Pulitzer Prize. It's all right there on the cover. But still, by the time I quit, this book had become a sort of torture.  It started out fine. I rooted for Theo with the same conviction I had rooted for Pip in Great Expectations . But as the pages wore on, the misfortunes and poor decisions took their toll--on me. When Theo's loser friend Boris shows up again I just couldn't take it. I knew it would ruin everything in Theo's life and I didn't feel like actually reading that again.  Don't get me wrong. The prose is beautiful. I felt like I, the country bumpkin, had been transformed into a native New Yorker. That I was in...

Better than the First Book!                                                                                       The earth under England has dissolved and England is a free floating “raft” of an island. England’s elite blow up the mooring to the mainland and British citizens become isolated from the rest of the world’s climate catastrophe. Too busy with their own issues of famine, disease, and dividing precious resources and power, those closest to the shore are easily deceived by those advantaged enough to live near the center.  But every lie has a price. Dr. Savanah Selbourne’s price for signing off on the lies the Centre tells the Periphery is to keep here son, Ethan, born to her partner, Grace. But six years of misleading the people of the Periphery has its...

  I know I'm going to get slammed for this review, but I got to be honest. This one really didn't capture my imagination. I liked the idea of an America littered with our outdated religious beliefs, but I found this book bloodthirsty and rambling. Sorry, Neil.  In the end, it felt a little pointless. Maybe that's what Gaiman's saying about religion in the first place. 3 out of 5 stars 

Writing Deep Point Of View: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors by Rayne Hall My rating: 5 of 5 stars Improve Your Reader's Experience Immediately Deep POV puts your reader inside your story in the main character’s head—just where they want to be. The technique involves understanding how to fool the subconscious with language to create that engrossing reading experience. As with all of Raven Hall’s writing books, the advice is simple, clear, and actionable. You can incorporate these techniques in your writing immediately and improve how your story is perceived. View all my reviews Euphonics For Writers: Professional Techniques for Fiction Authors by Rayne Hall My rating: 5 of 5 stars We are used to thinking about the subtle shades of meaning different words for the same thing possess. Could part of the difference between homonyms be the sounds that make up these words? The science of euphonics proposes that the sounds used to pronounce words create different emot...

Prof. Savannah Selbourne is a tough character to love. She’s frequently sarcastic. She kisses ass, and climbs the ladder at work. She thinks of her interns as numbers, and hides from them instead of teaching them. She has no idea why they have such a difficult time approaching her. But she is also loyal. Loyal to an eccentric cast of friends. Loyal to her wife, who is sinking into a deep depression. And loyal to a government that treats her like a second-class citizen and denies her the one thing her wife needs—permission to have a baby. At last, Savannah’s day has come. She is getting a promotion and a raise that will put a bigger apartment within her reach. Finally she has a shot at achieving her wife’s dream of having a baby. But the journalistic responsibilities that come with her new job lead her to the mystery of the Poison Maker. The closer she gets to the truth about this mysterious figure, the father she gets from her goals, and her loyalty to her nation is about to crack unde...

  Good News. Bad News. Good news . Our first contact with alien life is a microbe that can solve all our energy woes.  Bad news . It’s also a deadly disease. Good news . A nearby star system likely holds the key to unlocking the microbes energy potential without succumbing to the disease. Bad news . Disgraced astro-biologist Ryland Grace is the sole survivor of his crew and he can’t remember his own name, let alone why he was sent to this solar system. Good news . Dr. Grace gets help from a world famous engineer. Bad news . The engineer doesn’t speak English and is trapped on another ship. Good news : The two astronauts become unlikely friends. Bad news . The two have to overcome a vast chasm of cultural differences and communication problems in order to team up and save both their peoples.