SPSFC 4 Review: Mendelson's Return
The first novel I've finished reading for the fourth Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) is Mendelson's Return by Cristóvão Correia. My team Ground Control to Major Tom is trying a different method this time around to determine which of our 32 allocated books should become our six quarterfinalists. Instead of having all seven judges sample 10-20 percent of each book, we've divided the novels so that two judges give each book a full read before deciding whether to recommend it to the rest of the team.
Mendelson's Return is a superhero novel, a subgenre of science fiction that appeals to me as a comics fan. It's about a small group of people called The Gifted who have specific powers like psychokinesis, energy transfer and speed. They don't wear tights and fight crime. Instead they try to stay alive in an ongoing war between three shadowy groups that want to either exploit them or destroy them.
The novel begins with a chase scene that lasts until the halfway point of the book. An observation I've made at times when reading for SPSFC is that a book is taking too long for something to happen. That's not the case here but it may be too much of a good thing.
There are a half-dozen primary characters who are members of the Gifted or their normie friends. I had trouble developing a rooting interest in the protagonists while the long life-and-death chase unfolded across modern Portugal. Most of the propulsive force of the story is recounting the action beat by beat, leaving little opportunity to get to know the characters beyond the occasional aside about their back stories.
The characters who best caught my interest were Heitor and his best friend Eric -- one a square-jawed Gifted hero and the other a non-powered comic shop clerk with no idea the world resembles his four-color fantasies. Their friendship is a simple hook that leans hard on Eric being schlubby and Heitor looking out for him, but I became invested.
While Eric is at the forefront of the story, he serves a useful purpose as the character who gets to learn about the super-powered world and have a psychobilly freakout. Things get weirder later for Eric in a way I won't spoil.
The second half of the novel brings together a protagonist and the powerful relative she's been estranged from for seven years. I was hoping for a detailed character-driven interlude where we learn why the world had become an all-out war of absolute savagery between the groups. Instead a short pause is followed by a many-chapter climactic battle with a huge number of deaths.
This is the start of a series with additional books yet to be released. The end appears to be a table setter for the next book rather than a distinct conclusion.
The visual nature of comic books lends itself to all-out action, but when turned into a novel, it's essential to care about the characters beyond their need to survive to the next page.
The 32 Novels We're Reading for SPSFC 4
Judges have begun reading books for the fourth Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC). The team Ground Control to Major Tom has been assigned our allocation of books to review during the first phase of the contest. For the next three months our seven judges will be reading novels from a scout pile of 32 books to determine which six become our quarterfinalists. The entire team then will read those six books to pick the two that advance as our semifinalists in March 2025.
Here are our 32 books. Click their covers to view each novel’s page on Amazon.Com.
Alien Dissonance by Wendell Warman
Jordan Ackerman garnered degrees in criminal and anomalistic psychology at a very young age. Yet rather than working as a consultant for the FBI, he opted to serve as a special agent where he could be more engaged in bringing criminals to justice. He loves his work, but the untimely death of his parents turns his world upside down. In a mysterious twist of events, Jordan is then asked to head up the Hostage Negotiation Team dispatched to investigate rumors of supernatural activity in the small town of Belmont, Kansas. As an anomalistic psychologist, he rejects paranormal phenomena, but what he discovers could very well mean the undoing of an unknown race of people and possibly the destruction of Earth. With this new knowledge in hand, it becomes a race against time. Jordan’s investigations will literally take him into new and uncharted realms of abnormal and extraterrestrial psychology.
Beyond Luna by Bob Freeman
Soaring through the heliosphere through the asteroid belt on Solar Sail ships, the unlikely crew of the LunaCola finds themselves foraging supplies from earth and sea and hitting up the casinos around Sol to gamble their bounty hoping to increase their pot. Their adventures cross paths with everything from pirates, anarchy, and poker games to jail time. After your cruise through the Asteroid belt, Mars, and Luna, settle down on Earth for a party in the desert. They’ll bring the carne asada burritos and count on you to bring the fun.
Centauri’s Shadow by Ross Garner
Eight years ago they sent a single ship to test our defences. Now they’re building an armada. Cole grew up in the shadow of grief. Kyoko grew up in the shadow of war. Two pilots, separated by time, set out on parallel journeys to Proxima Centauri. What they find could be the start of something new. What they bring with them could be the end of all we know. Readers will find an Earth that is transformed by fear of an imminent invasion; a space station in orbit that acts as a gateway to other worlds; a Martian colony with all of the threat and violence of the Old West; and a distant star where answers can be found. What is "the signal"? A greeting, or a threat?
Drowning Earth by Sean Willson
Her sub can break the underwater speed of sound. But can she outpace the threat of nuclear winter? In 2055, with global tensions nearing the breaking point, humanity teeters on the brink of annihilation. Their only hope lies with Captain Kel Williams and her loyal team, crewing what some call the deadliest submarine ever built. Kel races to stake a claim to valuable undersea biomass—a lifeline that could prolong humanity’s demise. But deadly Russo-Chinese factions lurk in the lightless depths, determined to stop her at every turn. Besieged by threats within and without, Kel finds herself walking a razor’s edge to maintain control. Surrounded on all sides, she relies on her crew’s dedication and her Bull Nuke Oscar Allen to maintain order and avert disaster. Yet unbeknownst to all, salvation may lie in secrets lurking deep beneath the waves. Hidden truths once dismissed as myth. Whispers of impossible doorways and gods long forgotten. With danger at every turn, will anyone escape the deadly snare, or do ancient myths hold the key to humanity’s survival?
Enigma by Ryan Southwick
Two friends, divided by tragedy, race to thwart an insidious plot that threatens humanity’s survival across the galaxy. 10,184 A.D. Britta is heir to the Silverstar legacy and the youngest ambassador in Galilean history. Crystal is the smartest scientist in 10 generations and is happy to live in her lab without talking to anyone—except Britta. Even diametrically opposite interests haven’t managed to separate these childhood friends whose journey has led them to a space station orbiting Enigma, a planet with strange atmospheric properties that nullify their technology. A tragic drop-ship disaster leaves Britta stranded on the planet’s surface, and Crystal fleeing for her life. Each possess a critical piece to diffusing a plot that may allow their ancient enemy to annihilate the Lost Colonies Alliance, from outside and within. Equipped with only her prized hairpin, Britta must survive a harrowing trek across a primitive landscape to have any hope of helping the colonies, while Crystal must embark on a mad flight across the stars in a desperate mission to save her own colony, who are also hunting her for the alleged murder of Britta. Timers on both sides are ticking. If either fails to reach their goal, it could spell the end for the entire human race.
Exoputians by A. J. Pagan IV
As the Second American Civil War wanes, Mary the Exoputian awaits her chance to contact the Folbulae—a highly advanced species of extraterrestrial, only to be hunted down by the dictator of the Sovereign States of America, Vladimir Booth. With rising tides and thawing tundra, the Exoputians—a new species of human genetically created to live in space and communicate with the Folbulae, land in the Republic of Texas following a missile strike on their space station. Mary and the other Exoputians learn of the lies their progenitor taught them, training the space-bred crew to use their novel communication to cure the planet they’d never set foot on. As Mary and the others road trip through racially segregated America, they encounter multiple attempts on their lives to follow through with their once-mission of saving the planet from the climate crisis. Discover with Mary what’s worth saving on a planet prepared to destroy her entire species.
Grave Cold by Shannon Knight
Nyle doesn’t want to be there. But something is very wrong in the District of Portland, and the cold call of death forces his arrival. If he can’t lay the dead fast enough, his long life, begun in Anglo-Saxon England, will end. Portland’s electronic walls do more than keep the mutants out. The government is using them to block Nyle and his kind, the ravens, who roam the world, freeing the dead from their bodies where they remain trapped till a raven’s arrival. Cait, a Portlander working as a beautician, has her own troubles, dodging the GM (genetic modification) police and struggling with rent. But the dead are invading her dreams. Nyle tells Cait that she’s not genetically modified. She’s a necromancer. In the District of Portland, the dead are being trapped indefinitely and used as energy sources. Nyle and Cait must stop the technology from spreading before the abuse of the dead becomes a worldwide menace and they themselves end up on a laboratory table or trapped in a machine.
Hero (The Hero Rebellion 1) by Belinda Crawford
The battle for human evolution begins now. Centuries ago, humans colonised Jørn, a lonely planet on the far side of the galaxy, only to discover that the planet was killing them. The culprit, a native spore, carried on every wind to every corner of the globe. Blending Earth and Jørn DNA saved their crops and livestock, but for humans there was no cure. Instead they took to the skies, turning their colony ships into floating cities that hovered out of the spore’s reach. Today. Hero Regan is a freak; she hears voices, the kind only she can hear. Force medicated and isolated, her only solace is Fink, a six-hundred-kilogram, genetically engineered ruc-pard. They share lives, thoughts, triple-chocolate marshmallow ice-cream and the burning desire for freedom. Their chance comes when Hero is allowed to attend an academy in Cumulus City, but in this super city nothing is as it seems. As Hero is drawn into an ancient conspiracy where two secret societies will stop at nothing to control human evolution, she must decide how much she’s willing to risk to gain her freedom.
Hero (The Hero Rebellion 1) on Amazon
Hounds of Gaia by Sean M. Tirman
Foxhound doesn’t care about the gaps in her memory. Being a Contractor, a kind of spacefaring mercenary, keeps her occupied enough. Rather than dwelling, she rockets around the farthest reaches of the solar system, earning a steady paycheck hunting down ne’er-do-wells and enjoying a semblance of freedom most folks in the outer colonies can’t dream of. So when she receives an urgent prisoner transfer request from a cult starship, she accepts the gig. She figures that transporting a bone marrow-eating serial killer from the cult’s colony back to Earth is just another well-paying job that’ll keep her mind off things. Upon discovering that the suspect in custody is an orphan girl—one that could pass for her much younger doppelgänger—she decides it’s time to get some answers. Before she can piece together who the girl is and how their lives intertwine, a group of violent prisoners aboard Foxhound’s starship breaks free. As the once-peaceful cultists take up arms in response, the Contractor teams up with her mechanized AI assistant and two of the cult’s wayward members to stop the barbaric escapees and elude the grasp of the cult’s radicalized leader. And when that’s done, she can focus on figuring out the secret behind the mysterious, potentially dangerous girl—but will she even want to know the truth?
Imitari by Jenna McLeod
“Earth’s time has run out. You must leave this decaying cradle.” With only a few words, Orinious Xaiv’s deliberately small world is altered forever when he’s named Exim, the leader-elect of the Imitari. A theocratic group of genetically altered beings presiding over the dying Earth. As a “Named,” Orinious receives an impossible task: to recover the lost seeds of mankind. Without them, all is destined for failure, resulting in not only his death—but that of all. Setting out with him on this mission is Veyra, one of the rare Chimaera with an elevated position among the Imitari. An elite personal enforcer, infamous for her ruthlessness and violent nature. She’s ordered to leave her master’s side to protect Orinious—no matter the cost. Forced to work together to survive, they’re confronted by gut-wrenching realizations about themselves, their world, and the true purpose of their mission. Unlikely friendships emerge and a forbidden romance dares to gasp, all while brutal attacks, unrelenting chaos, and bitter deception challenge them at every turn. Tracking down the seeds is only the beginning.
Mendelson’s Return by Cristóvão Correia
What if you were being hunted by terrorists and law enforcement on the same day? The Gifted, people with extraordinary powers who hide them from ordinary people, are torn by a decades-long war between the Order of Thesan, extremists for Gifted supremacy, and the Refuge, which stands for pacifist coexistence. Viviane Greenwell, a badass ex-Refuge operative and a Gifted with psychokinesis and accelerated regeneration, gave up on this war years ago. She just wants to live a normal life. She’d spent the last seven years on the run, trying to evade both The Order and the GSA, a special law enforcement agency that tries to control all Gifted and hunt down The Order’s operatives. The Order wants to capture her and convert her, or worse. And the GSA wants to lock her up for breaking the rules. When she returned to Lisbon, Portugal, under an alias, she thought she could finally live in peace. But one day, she nearly escapes both the GSA and the Order. And she discovers that Mendelson, the responsible for the death of her parents, is alive and has plans for her. And now he’s the new leader of the Order. Will Viviane avoid a war she doesn’t want to be a part of?
Neon Noir by Nina Voss
Cybernetic addiction plagues the populace of Cyber City, the post-apocalyptic metropolis of neon grime and crime. The government promises a tech-free ‘Utopia’ for the Virgins, a small community rejecting body modification technology. But before the invitation goes public, the Virgins begin to disappear. Xia, a lawbreaking freelancer with a haunting past, is the first to notice the strange vanishings. As she puts the pieces together, she reveals a sinister plot: someone is kidnapping Virgins and using their bodies to escape to the promised Utopia. Teaming up with Mai, a Virgin prostitute, Xia’s mission shifts from providing simple protection as a means for money into an impossible endeavor: helping the Virgins escape the city. This mission puts them at odds with both the mysterious Virgin body snatchers and Cyber City’s government—two threats that could end in fates worse than death. As the unlikely duo embark on the impossible, they discover secrets more shocking than the plasma dome that traps the city within.
Of Friction by S. J. Lee
Decades of hostilities. A chance for peace. Caught between belligerent groups, will this operation be her last? Sam “Valkyrie” Ryan is reeling. Struggling with her brother’s recent decision to make their next assignment his last, the recon specialist fights to change his mind. But she has no time to process her emotions when they’re tasked to protect a pivotal reconciliation summit between the Altered and Humans from human-supremacist terrorists. Distracted by a charming female medic, the golden-haired marine struggles to stay focused as events quickly unravel. And with the conflict becoming dangerously unpredictable, secrets from the past catch Sam by surprise as she uncovers a plot to destroy all of humanity. Can she stop a violent and oppressive history from spiraling into a catastrophic future?
Our Lady of the Artilects by Andrew Gillsmith
World leaders are already on edge as Artilects (next generation androids) begin reporting a strange apocalyptic vision that only they can see. But when an Artilect belonging to the wealthiest man in Africa shows up at the Basilica of Our Lady of Nigeria claiming to be possessed, the stakes are raised. The Vatican sends Fr. Gabriel Serafian, an exorcist and former neuroscientist, to investigate. Serafian quickly finds himself swept up in a conspiracy of global—and possibly supernatural—dimensions. The timing couldn’t be worse. Rome is on the verge of reconciliation with the Chinese Economic Interest Zone after a 50-year cold war, and the Chinese are particularly sensitive about the so-called Apparition. To discover the truth and save not only humanity but the artilects themselves, Serafian enlists the aid of a tough-as-nails Imperial Praetor named Namono Mbambu.
Our Lady of the Artilects on Amazon
Planet of Lies by Ellie Jay
Zenya Cobb has had enough of a traditional life with her husband-to-be, Pavell. She returns to her life as a space pirate, setting out to find and claim as much gold and other treasures as she can. Except, due to a freak accident, she crash-lands on a planet that shouldn’t exist—the mythical lost planet of Vunerth, reputed to have been the galaxy’s richest spot until an asteroid destroyed it many years ago. But it’s still very much around, and holds more secrets than even Zenya can imagine. She meets the mysterious natives, a peaceful alien community of traders with their own secrets, and hears whispers of conspiracy. Could Vunerth’s disappearance be part of a web of darkness perpetuated by the government? While Zenya reels, her determined partner, Pavell chases her across the galaxy. But when they are reunited, they must make a choice. Leave this bizarre planet in their past and return to a life of peace, or risk their lives teaming up with the natives to save the planet and expose an intergalactic lie?
Raq by T. K. Toppin
Lies that become truths … The Hlad are one race, the only race beneath the Great Abyss. The great Fire King deemed it so when the Great Mother birthed the Fire King’s children from the dry lake beds. All know of His power and scorn, and praise Him with each rising so He may shine down gently and with kindness. Warrior Class Lieutenant Raq of the Imperial Guard is a proud soldier, an adoring father to his sons, brave, dutiful and honour-bound, a devout servant of the Fire King. He is a true Hlad. But his faith is shattered when an alien craft crash-lands on Hlad from the Great Abyss. One alien, the Dayyid, survives the horrible massacre that follows the crash. Imprisoned, suffering from malnutrition, and studied by the reptilian doctors and scientists, he doesn’t forget one of the creatures from the crash site. One who hesitated to kill. Forced to live together, Raq and the Dayyid learn to understand each other despite the language barrier. But when they learn of a threat to Earth, they discover an almost unbelievable truth that unites them against the Hlad. The rest of Hlad must learn this truth, and so, too, the rest of the universe.
Saint Elspeth by Wick Welker
Why did they come? When they appeared across the sky, speculation wheeled around the world—the aliens were from heaven, the invaders were from hell … or they were proof that neither existed. But when they landed, curiosity gave way to suspicion and the nations reacted with nuclear force, setting off a chain reaction that left the world in ruins. Twenty years later, instead of nearing her retirement, Dr. Elspeth Darrow struggles to forget the loss of her child and husband by plunging herself into the work of operating the last remaining hospital in San Francisco. With medical supplies running out and working herself to exhaustion, Elspeth must embark on a risky salvage mission into the heart of the Neo California danger zone. Here, she discovers the disturbing truth: the aliens have returned. As the mystery of the aliens’ purpose on Earth unravels before her, Elspeth must hide what she discovers from reactionary despots, all vying to bring Neo California under their control. Aided by a band of pre-war scientists and new-world medical students, Elspeth races against astronomical odds to reveal the terrifying truth that might save the world—or finally destroy it for good.
The Arid Lands by Kate Kelly
The Tyrhennians struggle to survive in the dried out basin of an ancient ocean. Inez knows no other world than this endless cycle of heat and brine, but listens to the stories of a distant land of great cities and endless seas. She never believed them, until the day her brother is injured by a strange craft crossing the desolate plains. So she discovers that the stories are true. But as she tries to find her brother in a strange city she realises that she is not the only person from the salt plains here. Others from the Arid Lands have infiltrated the city—and they have a plan.
The Collective: Science is Stranger Than Fiction by J. F. Olazabal
Science says the Collective is the perfect society, where every day is sunny, and no wind blows. Science says all the animals are gone. Science says the accident in the fields couldn’t have happened … but Science is stranger than fiction. Iago is an accomplished young Operator, harvesting corn in the name of the Collective—a high-tech orphanage thousands of miles from civilization. After a chance encounter with Javier and Kraken—a pair of wayward boys who have escaped a brutal prison known as the Village—Iago is beginning to question his reality. Now, he must survive the cruelties of the Protocol, and discover the terrible secrets of the Collective: a long-dead trillionaire with a grim warning, a super-mind that controls fate, and a plague that kills only men.
The Collective: Science is Stranger Than Fiction on Amazon
The Descendants of Prontoth by Mark Raines
An eight-hundred-year, galaxy-spanning hunt nears its conclusion setting up a confrontation thousands of years in the making. For eight hundred years Timion High Command has hunted the Descendants of Prontoth across the galaxy. Wars were fought, lives were lost, but the Descendants of Prontoth remained at large. Hamron Modestus knows Timion High Command has been doing it wrong. Their quest for revenge made them blind to the allies they would need to bring the Descendants of Prontoth to justice. In his new position of power, Modestus is on their trail, ready to succeed where High Command had failed. Caught in the middle of this inevitable confrontation is retired General Dash Cricken and the entire crew of the Prometheus. Dash and his crew discover evidence of a secret alliance formed to bring down the Descendants of Prontoth. The crew of the Prometheus is caught in the crosshairs of Timion High Command, forced to defend themselves against the hunter on their trail and dissension within their own ranks. Any failure could jeopardize everything they have worked toward.
The Descendants of Prontoth on Amazon
The Disk Mirror Solution by Danielle St. Just
Welcome to 2422, a galaxy of amazing implanted technology, exotic exoplanets, and the apex predator we ourselves created. Now two women from opposite ends of the galaxy threaten to expose the most dangerous predator the galaxy has spawned. Armintor Vess is days away from receiving her first cranial implant when a technology-fueled plague strikes her home planet. Fears of contagion condemn Armintor and the other survivors to a planet ruled by autocratic technophobes. She fights to survive in her new, pitiless, low-tech world. Seizing a better opportunity at first seems like the answer to her dreams. But her chance at a new life uncovers a danger that threatens the entire human race. Intel-broker Redcholate buys and sells information in virtual reality. When a mysterious client offers a fortune for a job that can only be completed in the real world, Redcholate agrees. But the job takes over her body and her life, and she learns more than she ever wanted to know. As their two stories collide, two women find themselves facing a foe they could never defeat alone. Both must find the truth before time—and humanity’s existence—runs out.
The Disk Mirror Solution on Amazon
The Finding Machine by Lucy Lyons
One winter morning in 1998, Alex Martin inherits a mysterious invention from her late father. The Finding Machine solves mysteries. But the biggest mystery of all lies deep within its wiring — the unsolved disappearance of a little girl, dating back 70 years. What happened to the girl, all those years ago? Who was she? Alex and her handsome housemate, Antony, must follow the dots to solve the mystery. But, as dark family secrets are revealed, will the Finding Machine bring them together … or push them further apart?
The Grandmaster’s Gamble by Paul G. Zareith
In the depths of the cosmos, slumbers a malevolence that humanity has long forgotten. An unsuspecting researcher knocks on a door, completely unprepared for what awaits on the other side. As he tackles a murder investigation, an imperial treason conspiracy and backstabbing—the intertwined fates of two civilizations hang in balance. As a dark history suppressed centuries ago resurfaces, the direction of the future will be set by one epic gamble.
The Grandmaster’s Gamble on Amazon
The Lazarus Men by Christian Warren Freed
You know the story. Wrong place at the wrong time. Gerald LaPlant has spent his life with his head down, struggling to make in a menial job on a dying planet. Nothing ever went his way. In fact, if not for his boss, he doubted anyone would even know he existed. At least until he witnesses a murder in broad daylight. Fleeing from the scene in shock and horror, Gerald discovers an alien artifact in his jacket pocket. It is the key to a forgotten treasure and everyone wants it. Gerald is forced to leave earth behind to escape. In doing so, he finds himself at the mercy of the shadowy Lazarus Men, ruthless agents who will stop at nothing to get their way. Gerald must use all his cunning and resourcefulness to stay alive and outsmart his enemies. But with half the galaxy after him, the odds are stacked against him.
The Lonely Ship from the Accord 1: Near Traverse by Ewan Stone
The Galactic Accord’s first journey to the distant Forge galaxy goes awry, leaving the crew adrift in an ancient, alien starship powered by intimacy. Now, the crew of the Rune Carrier must travel across the new frontier, forging new connections and facing off against new enemies. They must uncover the legacy left behind by the galaxy’s lost masters. And all the while, the living ship must learn for herself who she is and what she wants. Or who she wants.
The Lonely Ship from the Accord 1: Near Traverse on Amazon
The Martian Incident by Ryan M. Patrick
A crashed UAV on Mars. A top-secret recovery mission. Danger at every corner. When a mysterious aerial drone is shot down on Mars near the American colony of Columbia, NASA accident investigator John Cameron joins a joint DOD team to recover it. But, as a sandstorm moves in to blanket the area, the Americans are attacked by an overwhelming enemy force of EU soldiers in a surprise attack. Forced into a deep cave system beneath the Martian surface, Cameron and the team uncover a breathtaking discovery, left untouched for millennia. But what will happen when its original owners come back for it? Will Cameron survive and be able to return to Earth?
The Martian Incident on Amazon
The Mimameid Solution by Katherine Kempf
Ragnarök was only the beginning. Five years after the world he knew collapsed in ecological disaster, Lysander is back in his homeland of Old Scandinavia with his companions, Magdelena and Linnaea. The atmosphere is full of ash, the days are cold and dark and they are constantly under threat from the Celts, who have invaded and are burning the countryside in their wake. When a rogue group of soldiers led by a fiery Lieutenant named Petra offers them refuge in a place called Mimameid, they are tempted by a chance at safety. But when Mimameid turns out to be more than he bargained for, Lysander must take control of his own fate and decide whether to stay or to go.
The Mimameid Solution on Amazon
The Minority Rule by Alexa Muelle-Rushbrook
Years of greed and war devastated most of Earth. Now largely infertile, the remnants of the world have been united under one strict, unwavering power focused on Earth’s guardianship as well as humanity’s prosperity. Maia believes in the established order, yet as a budding young scientist, she also wants more than the decreed roles of housewife to a stranger, egg donor, and mother. As family and state force Maia into submission, she resigns herself to a life of compliance until she unexpectedly meets two vastly different women. Discovering they both hold secrets, Maia questions if she can keep silent, even if revealing the truth threatens to irrevocably challenge the foundations of her existence. Silence may not be golden—but it is safer.
The Thirteenth Hour by Trudie Skies
When the saints fail, the sinners step up. Cruel gods rule the steam-powered city of Chime, demanding worship and tribute from their mortal subjects. Kayl lost her faith in them long ago, and now seeks to protect vulnerable and downtrodden mortals from their gods’ whims. But when Kayl discovers powers that she didn’t know she had—and destroys a mortal’s soul by accident—she becomes Chime’s most wanted. Quen’s job was to pursue sinners, until the visions started. Haunted by foreboding images of his beloved city’s destruction, Quen hunts soul-sucking creatures made of aether who prey on its citizens—and Kayl is his number one target. To ensure Chime’s future, Kayl and Quen must discover the truth of Kayl’s divine abilities before the gods take matters into their own hands. For a city that bows to cruel gods, it’ll take godless heathens to save it.
Unexpected Witness by M. J. Blehart
When a high-ranking businessman and two clones are murdered, Marshal Onima Gwok of the Confederation Bureau of Investigation (CBI) gets assigned the case. But nothing quite adds up. Is there something more insidious going on? There is just one witness—a clone. When the war ended 10 years ago, the clones who had fought it were discarded, forgotten, and became second-class citizens of the new confederation. Jace Rojas, designated AC J7-2247, is an infantry clone. When he proves to be more helpful than just being a witness to a murder, Onima decides to bring Jace along to join her team as they look for answers across multiple solar systems. But every question seems to produce no answers—only more questions. Will this be the start of a new war—or something worse?
Utopia by Marie-Hélène Lebeault
Three extraordinary teenagers, each an outcast in their worlds, unite to reshape the destiny of a utopian society. Ryn, who couldn’t adapt to life under the sea, Eira, born above the clouds but unable to breathe the thin air, and Aiden, rejected by the subterranean civilization, embarks on a thrilling journey to Vancouver’s utopia. They’ll challenge the elders, confront hidden truths, and discover the power of unity.
Yours Celestially by Al Hess
After divorce, death, and having his reformatted soul uploaded into a new body, Sasha expected resurrection to be a fresh start. His time spent in digital Limbo with the program’s cheeky AI guardian angel, Metatron, was cathartic, but what good is a second life when he only sees his daughter on the weekends, he has all the same problems he had before he died, and he can’t seem to shake the ache for the married life he lost? If that weren’t frustrating enough, a glitch in the program has given Sasha the ability to sense Metatron even outside of Limbo. And Metatron is in love. The angel’s sickly-sweet yearning for one of the souls still in Limbo has turned Sasha’s stomach into caramelized lead. It’s hard enough to move on without someone else’s feelings making the emptiness in his own life even more acute. He didn’t have playing wingman to an actual winged being on his bingo card, but he’s determined to help Metatron make a move on their crush so he can get love off of his mind. Sasha takes a job with the resurrection company in order to covertly contact Metatron. Except Sasha’s new coworker, Mr. C, keeps showing up at the worst moments. The man is annoying, he’s pushy… and he’s incredibly hot. Sasha can’t decide whether Mr. C wants to blackmail him or be his new BFF, but he seems to know things about Metatron and the resurrection program that Sasha doesn’t. Getting close to him might be the key to solving Sasha’s problem, but if he isn’t careful, he’s going to end up catching feelings of his own.
Dave Dobson's Kenai, a Novel Worth the Trees
You can get away with a lot in a novel when the protagonist is funny. In Kenai, the winner of the third Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), author Dave Dobson introduces us to Jess Amiko, a disgraced space marine working security on a backwater planet who has lost everything but her sense of humor.
Amiko takes a job protecting an archeological dig on Kenai, a planet "at the ass-end of Council space" that hasn't been occupied by sentients for thousands of years. Sounds like easy money. Before readers discover how much trouble she's in -- which spoiler alert is a lot -- we discover her aptitude for wry observations and acronyms.
The meals here were a step up from Patrol rations. More like a few flights of steps. I had eaten something called Protein, Brown for a couple weeks straight back on Entan IV. You don't forget something like that.
My dislike of the situation added another few layers of I-don't-like-this on top of what was already a pretty big pile of this-is-skogged.
A thought occurred to me. If this was the person who left me the note in the pit, the person I was supposed to meet, it was fair to say that it had gone exceedingly poorly, and I was almost definitely MSTBFO. That was an acronym popular among grunts, particularly those who'd seen action. More screwed than before following orders.
The novel has three distinct acts. In the first, Dobson splits time between Jess dealing with a sneak attack on the dig and flashing back to how she ended up a convicted and friendless war criminal. The tone shift is effective. Meeting a tormented protagonist while reliving her torment enriches the emotional resonance.
Dobson's previous science fiction novel Daros is an absolute romp. This one's darker but leavened with amusing moments and dialogue. There's a dense mystery to unpack, an unexpected encounter with a sentient species that shouldn't exist and the jeopardy of nefarious corporate space mercs who always have Jess outgunned.
Without spoiling anything, the second act begins when Jess learns why a friendly three-legged tree man is always talking in circles. She's thrown into a mind-bending situation that did such a number on my brain I was glad to already be invested in Jess. I had to take it on faith that I would eventually understand what was going on, even if everyone in the book was getting there way before me.
For a while Jess also couldn't see the forest for the trees.
"We have to be careful communicating."
"What? Why ..." I didn't know how to finish. "Is something watching us?"
"After a fashion. You're almost there. You've almost got it." He came closer.
"I'm not sure I want it."
The novel has a small number of central characters. The first and third acts spend a lot of time in the protagonist's head, while the second is perhaps too dependent on dialogue. The planet Kenai is a playground of big ideas. The most important relationship in the book tugs the heartstrings. There are four different passages I highlighted in Kindle that I can't share here because they reveal too much, but they gave me all the feels.
Fellow SPSFC reviewer Hatboy calls the novel "clever without being caught up in its cleverness," which is an apt way of describing it. Everything develops from character and story. It is never zany.
I read Daros as a judge in the first SPSFC and thought it would go far. It was entertaining as hell, but I can understand why Kenai went further. You can see Dobson becoming more ambitious as an author.
Our Hidden Gem for SPSFC 3 is Woe to the Victor
One of the traditions of the SPSFC is for judging teams to pick their hidden gem, a book that deserved to go further in the contest than it did. For the third SPSFC, which just concluded, our team is choosing Nathan H. Green's Woe to the Victor as our gem.
Woe to the Victor was one of the two semifinalists selected by our team, but it did not advance to the finals -- to our surprise. When we sampled all of the books in our initial allocation, we were high on this novel from the opening chapters.
Green's a corporate lawyer in Canada putting his aerospace engineering degree to use on hard SF.
His book finds humanity on the eve of total annihilation. An invading fleet of Maaravi has completely wiped out the outer colonies and come to Earth for the finishing strike. This is not a fair fight. There's nothing cocky or confident left in our protagonists. The fighter pilot Lewis Black knows that at best all he can accomplish is to buy a few extra minutes so that the humans chosen for colony ships might escape through a Vortex Generator and start over on distant planets to prolong the species. But like everyone else, Black lacks belief his mission will succeed.
Before the war Black had often wondered why soldiers in WW1 had gone over the top of the trenches, knowing they would die, knowing it wouldn't truly make a difference. How they must have felt in the moments before hurling themselves at death. Now he knew.
This fatalism was refreshing. You don't often find a MilSF novel with absolutely no triumphalism. Despite the impossible odds Black soldiers on, as do his fellow pilot Allie Perez and a civilian engineer Natasha Palmer, who is haunted by the failure of Reaper missiles in combat. Earth's greatest weapon became its greatest disappointment when used against the Maaravi. Hundreds of pilots who flew with Black and Perez are dead and Natasha has become the scapegoat. Perez puts a gun to her head when they meet and it becomes clear this is not for show. She has to be talked out of pulling the trigger.
One of the only advantages humans have in the war are the AIs aboard ship. The Maaravi, who are centuries beyond humans technologically, don't use AI because they fear it. There's probably a lesson there.
That was the real problem with humanity allowing itself a Pandora's box, whether it be nuclear weapons, genetic engineering, or AI. It was only a matter of time, be it decades, centuries, or millennia until a situation arose where things were desperate enough to open the box, and pray it could be closed later. ...
With her safeties off, Carol could have full control of the Talon, and of herself, if she wanted it. The final restraints were simply code blocks in the Talon's internal software. Against Carol those software restraints were a joke. He held his breath.
Aberrant code scrolled over the screen.
The lack of AI safeguards plays out in the relationships between Black and Carol, the AI aboard his fighter who is his closest friend, and the AI Arce aboard the SFS Yorktown, whose commander describes her using a contemptible slur and yearns for an excuse to shut her down.
Green does a good job of doling out information on the Maaravi and why they're determined to eradicate humanity. Readers get enough to keep going but remain almost as starved as the protagonists for knowledge that can save the day. By the time you learn the Maaravi's motivation, it has a compelling logic. When you can leave human readers in doubt about whether humans should not be completely wiped off the universe, that's good writing.
The novel could use some polish to fix minor typos and punctuation, though overall it's a pleasure to read. There's a lot of action but what elevates it are the moral dilemmas faced by the characters. As Black, Natasha and Perez improbably survive a series of incredibly dangerous situations, because so many others die they must make decisions that will decide the fate of two species.
The ending is close to perfect, fully realizing the premise that gives the book its title.
There's also a cat.
Our SPSFC 3 Semifinalists
After starting out with an initial allocation of 25-27 books and choosing our top six as quarterfinalists, each team in the SPSFC had the difficult task of picking just two books to advance to the next round.
The voting was close, but two books were the consensus choice of Team ScienceFiction.news to be our semifinalists:
- Children of the Black by W. J. Long III
- Woe to the Victor by Nathan H. Green
Here are comments made by our judges about Children of the Black:
I was hooked on this book from the second paragraph where, describing space travel, W J Long III sums it up perfectly: "And yet, for all its fearsome and unforgiving menace, fragile beings had taken to it. They had made the lifeless vacuum passable, if not pedestrian. In tiny tombs, they reached out across the dark face of oblivion and made it their own. Though it waited endlessly to consume them, they did not fear it. Instead, they respected it." I cannot think of a better description of our fearful and fearless battle to conquer space travel.
Alex Bree:
Military space opera with human genetic testing and alien life form science experiments gone awry. Interesting concept and take on the intersection of alien life form and human genetics, along with the psionic mind-reading powers. Compounding tension and layers upon layers of conflicting motivations and obstacles made this for an interesting read, and full of action. Big universe feel!
This is a complex space opera that takes place at the end of a thousand-year-long, galaxy-spanning war between the Sabiens and the Beita. A mercenary group called the TaskMasters are assigned to ransack a research base, a last-ditch technology grab "off the books," so as to not harm the truce. What they find has vast implications for the newly formed peace, and key members of the group break off to protect these secrets. ...
I enjoyed this book because it has depth. The world-building is intricate. Every character has a backstory and inner monolog that allows you to understand their motivations and actions. The good guys aren't completely good, and the bad guys aren't completely bad.
Here are comments our judges made about Woe to the Victor.
Alex Bree:
Action-packed military space opera with moral dilemmas, competing goals, and exciting battle scenes. Captain Lewis Black, Lead Engineer on the failed Reaper missile program Natasha Palmer, and Lt. Allie Perez fight to prevent the end of the world. They know their deaths will buy the colonists fleeing the planet only minutes, and yet they are each determined to make those minutes count. Little do the invading Maaravi know, humanity isn't going down without a fight. And then at the end, you question whether humanity even deserves to be saved. The choices, struggles, and mentality of those on Earth facing certain death is thought-provoking. There are poignant nods to WW II warfare and other conflicts where only death was certain, and yet, brave warriors cling to ideas and values greater than themselves. There is a determination and strength constantly present in the atmosphere even in the bleak circumstances.
Zipping back and forth in time, Green lays out the battle for human existence through the eyes and actions of a small but significant cast including spacecraft pilots, a civilian munitions expert, a Maaravi prisoner of war, a young girl, an AI and a cat. Green has used his significant writing abilities to weave a believable, though a bit scientifically improbable, storyline out of this diverse cast.
Woe to the Victor is a gripping story with lots of action, believable and interesting characters, and quite a few philosophical and moral questions. ... This is definitely one of the best science fiction books I have read this year.
In a refreshing take, I think the various artificial intelligences were my favorite characters.
When I first started reading this story, I thought the writing was well done but I found the plot to be a bit depressing. I kept at it and came to enjoy the resolve of the people the story focuses on. Things don't always go as planned, but everyone keeps fighting and finding ways to move forward. This kind of story, with everything going against the protagonist(s), often ends up with the "exploits villain's fatal flaw" ending. This refreshingly was not that. Does the story have a happy ending? I'm not going to say, but I really liked it.
SPSFC 3 Quarterfinalist: Cydonia Rising by Dave Walsh
After three months of reading and two months of revealing our quarterfinalists, Team ScienceFiction.news is ready to close the book on the first stage of the third Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. Our sixth and final quarterfinalist is Cydonia Rising by Dave Walsh.
Science fiction is a broad genre and this contest of self-published authors takes entries across every subgenre. But like the Muppet Sam the Eagle, who titled his most bombastic patriotic number "A Salute to All Countries (But Mostly America)," the SPSFC at times can feel like a salute to all subgenres but mostly space opera.
There's a lot of great space opera in the rankings of the first two SPSFCs, including the first winner Iron Truth by S. A. Tholin. This time around our judges thought Walsh's novel was a worthy example of science fiction at operatic scale we were eager to continue reading.
The first in a sprawling cast of characters we meet are Jace, a widowed space trucker scraping out a living on the fringes, and Kat, a woman he plucks from space who has the bad manners to immediately hold him at gunpoint.
"Okay," he gulped, trying to find a way to either reach for his gun or somehow talk her down. "You were floating with what my ship read to be about one day's left of life support out here in deep space. I was just trying to be a nice guy."
"I've met my share of nice guys." She grabbed a hold of his arm and pushed him face-first against the life pod. Her rough gloved hands were patting him down and his pistol slid from the holster. "This the only weapon you had on you?"
"Yeah," he groaned, his face burning up against the cold life pod. "Can you let me go now?"
Space is enormous but the two discover that they share a common enemy -- her brother Cronus Freeman, the emperor who ascended to the throne of the Andlios Republic over the corpse of their father. He had Jace's wife killed for protesting the repeal of a law protecting the freedom of information.
Our judge Richard offered his five-star recommendation on Goodreads:
Space opera fans, this is a book for you! We have empires, royalty, palace intrigue, multiple planets, worm holes, anti-heroes, strong female characters, space travel, cybernetic implants, and a little romance.
I really enjoyed this book. While space opera is not my "go to" science fiction, the complex action, evolving characters, and complex plot lines made this a very engaging read.
SPSFC 3 Quarterfinalist: Drones by R.J. Haze
After some of our judges read the first 15-20 percent of our 25 books and others read each one in full, Team ScienceFiction.news chose our six quarterfinalists for the third Self-Published Science Fiction Competition.
Four of those quarterfinalists have been announced on this blog in previous posts. The fifth can now be revealed as Drones by R. J. Haze.
The author begins the novel by treating their protagonist like he was Hans Gruber at Nakatomi Plaza:
The world rushes past in a blur. Glass and concrete buildings. Skybridges. People staring, pointing. Gone in a flash. The wind whips my breath away, makes it hard to suck down air. Below, I see the roads and cars and pedestrians all rushing up to meet me as quickly as terminal velocity. Hard to hear anything over the sounds of the wind and my own racing heartbeat, but I hear the alarm. My Personal Device reads my altitude and tells me it's time.
I pull the cord on my parachute and feel the rush as it catches on the air and tugs at me, slowing me down and pulling me upright. I start to drift, letting the chute and the wind take me where it will. The uncertainty is all part of the experience. Not true powerlessness, but then not everyone wants it pure.
James Garrick made the base jump not for thrills but for profit. His job is to experience extreme emotions so they can be harvested from his body and implanted in customers. There's good money in Emotional Transference, but he chose the field because he carries emotions too painful to bear.
A mark of a promising novel is to evoke empathy in the reader. When Garrick explains that by arrangement his harvester also takes away "anything I feel about Summer or Susan or Mars," those nine words establish a poignant connection to a character who wants to be described as emotionless.
Judge D. M. Barnham was "fully immersed" in the story at the 20 percent mark and eager to continue, noting in particular one impressive aspect of Haze's writing:
One thing that popped out straight away and impressed me is that this is written in first person present tense. That's pretty damn hard to pull off and I didn't even realise it at first. It's so naturally written it flows without me noticing and when I did notice I had a 'Wait a minute' moment and had to go back and consciously read the wording. I quite enjoy present tense but I've rarely seen it in novel format. So kudos to the writer.
The central conceit of the novel -- the accumulation and extraction of feelings -- becomes a playground for Haze to explore the inner life and trauma of poor Garrick. Even frequent sex with another fine young Drone is just a business arrangement to create feelings of companionship he wants to shed. "Contentment. Happiness," he thinks in a post-coital moment. "I don't deserve to feel those things, best I give them away as soon as possible."
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