Review: Not Worth Living For

Author: Shreyan Laha.

Genre: Science Fiction, Romance.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

Ishita Singh, a student of an esteemed college in Mumbai was living a normal life along with her group of friends, a caring senior and scarily enough, a creep who stalked her.

Shweta wakes up in an unknown planet with an advanced civilisation and sets out with Alexander Ishutin, a former spy of the RSV to discover about the far future.

Underlying the lives of these two girls in different worlds, there lies a dark secret. Will they ever come across this dark secret or will it be so chilling that it won't be worth living for? Prepare yourselves for a psyched, dystopian adventure. Not for the faint hearted.

Cover Review:

Frankly saying, I don't like it. It looks like a badly edited collage of pictures, not an actual cover. I'd suggest the author to invest in a professional cover or get an interesting picture for the cover at the very least.

Book Review:

Not Worth Living For is a Sci-fi romance, and I don't usually read Sci-fi, but I decided to give this one a go because I liked its blurb. 

The story is of two girl, Ishita and Shweta, and follows them in their own worlds—Earth and a futuristic planet called Isthenope.

There was enough mystery to keep me hooked, but the narration could've been a lot better. I think the story would benefit a lot of it were properly edited. Even though there are no grammatical errors, the story didn't flow as smoothly as it should. 

The characters were pretty well crafted, with relatable quirks. Though the naming system of Isthenope really annoyed me—names of people were in numbers, like, 45, 46, etc—because I couldn't, for the life of me, remember who was who. 

Overall, though, Not Worth Living For was an interesting read and I'd recommend you to check it out if you love Sci-fi and don't mind a bit of romance.

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Review: Duck Egg Blues

Author: Martin Ungless.

Genre: Science Fiction, Humour, Mystery.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫

PArdew yearns to perform his robot-butler duties but soon finds himself thwarting car thieves, helping track a fugitive, and even rescuing a puppy for a little girl. All this whilst avoiding being kidnapped and somehow contriving to keep his Master safe from thugs, government agencies, and sundry other surreptitious folk who for security reasons cannot here be named …and yes, there are plastic ducks, eggs which cause the blues …and yes, for blues read murder. Lucky for PArdew he’s connected to the Internet of Things.

Detective Don is an ex-cop living in a fast-urbanising Essex countryside, and he owns PArdew - all of which make him angry. PArdew’s algorithms cannot explain this, nor why his Master keeps being arrested for every local murder. Perhaps Police Inspector Helen is enamoured of his Master? Set in a very near future, PArdew’s existence is something of a surprise, even to the Professor at Cambridge University who ‘helps’ with their enquiries.

As the plot weaves together, Don discovers that behind one mystery there lurks a greater threat. No one is safe, not even PArdew…

I agree. The cover does not look even slightly interesting. I'm going to request the author to think about changing it. The cover does not do justice to the book in the slightest. 

Oh my God. I did not expect this book to be so good. Like, I judge a book by its cover, I admit, and I was sure this book was going to be a bust. 

Well, it wasn't. If you saw the genres, you'd have realised just how widespread this story is. There's humour, there's sci-fi and there's mystery. And all of it is well put together into a superb story. 

I mean, the main characters are a Sherlock-ish detective and his unwanted Butler Robot. It has got to be a fun read! And the best part is, the book is from the Robot's point of view. And even better is the fact that there isn't too much of scientific gibberish in there. 

It was hilarious to read the robot's 'thoughts' as he worried about not hurting people who were trying to kidnap him. 

The mystery was pretty intriguing and well written too, and I loved the ending! 

PArdew (the robot) and Simon (the detective) were fun characters to follow around as they solved the mystery and I'd definitely recommend this book!

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Review & Giveaway: Joshua N'Gon- Last Prince of Alkebulahn

Author: Anthony Hewitt.

Genre: Science Fiction. 

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍬

Blurb: 

On his tenth birthday after receiving gifts filled with amazing technology. Joshua N'Gon began to accept there was something odd about his family. His best mates Brick and Meena thought he was special and so did his foster parents. But for a grade 'C' student, with a bizarre bracelet on his arm, a whizz with machines and a big brother who called him a freak, he didn't feel special. But there were others who would disagree.Evil corporations who were plotting with creatures from civilizations light years away and who wanted the secrets only the Last Prince could provide. Joshua and his friends embark on a journey of discovery that becomes frighteningly clear to them, that the closer they get to the extraordinary truth, the stranger and more dangerous it becomes for them and the planet.

Cover Review:

The cover is dark, and in my opinion has way too many characters crowding the scene. It definitely suits the story, but all the same, it looks too crowded. 

Book Review:

This book was my first time delving into the science fiction genre. I've read some other books but they were usually not in such a... concentrated form? 

And I've now realized that science fiction isn't the genre for me. I mean, I liked the story, and the characters, but I just couldn't get into it. I couldn't connect to the characters or the story. 

The writing style was pretty good too, and I think fans of science fiction would definitely enjoy this book. It's a shame I couldn't be one of those. 

Anyway, Joshua N'Gon was an exciting, adventure filled read, and it seems like a great read for all the sci-fi lovers out there!

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Giveaway: 

Win 1 of 10 author signed copies of Joshua N'Gon! (Open Internationally!)

Terms and Conditions:

Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Review: Europa

Author: Hywel Richard Pinto.

Genre: Science Fiction.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

The year is 2250 and we are witness to a historical trial of one of the Silver Fleet’s youngest and most promising captains - Captain Richard Sparks, who has been accused of murdering a fellow crew member during the Silver Star’s lengthy trip to Jupiter’s moon – Europa. But the crew are divided as to whether the Captain is to be blamed for the fiasco or whether there was a bigger conspiracy on board?

Can another murder on board the Silver Star be attributed to the unusual mission that the ship is on? Does someone want the crew of the Silver Star to fail in their mission to locate one of her sister ships, reportedly lost near Europa? And just how many of the crew can Captain Richard Sparks trust, if he is to be believed as being innocent?

Meanwhile, a shadowy organisation back on Earth contends with a dangerous, corrupt and ambitious Indian politician, with the Europa mission being used as the counter weight. Will this affect the crew on board the Silver Star?

All trials are not as simple as they seem - not when the accused has a story to tell and some people will go to great lengths to protect what actually happened on EUROPA.

Cover Review:

The cover doesn't look as good in the picture as it does on paper. It's simple, but suits the story well, so I don't mind it much. 

Book Review:

I was a bit hesitant about reading this because it's a sci-fi book, and science fiction isn't really a favourite of mine. But I'm glad I did read it. 

I loved the storyline, it had everything that is required for a good story. A good concept, realistic and well created characters, good story arcs and an engaging writing style. 

The author built up just the perfect amount of suspense to keep me interested until the end. I previously read another book (Pressure by Beatsy Reavley) that featured a submarine, while this one featured a spaceship. I felt a bit weird reading the two books in such a small timespan, because both also featured a killer on board. Talk about creepy. 

Coming back to Europa, I loved how the ultramodern weapons were described in fine details. I've read books where they just tell you what a new futuristic weapon does, with no explanation whatsoever. I'm glad this wasn't one of them.

All in all, Europa was a fun, engaging read, and I'm glad I got the chance to read it!

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Review: Special Minds

Author: Ally K.

Genre: Romance, Science Fiction.

Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫

Blurb:

"If I could split my mind, make another me, would I just see myself like in a mirror? Or would I see through two sets of eyes? And if one of us died, would it feel like me? Could I keep on living? Or wouldn’t I feel anything at all?"

If you would live your whole life in pain, do you think it would affect you? When mental and psychological pain become physical, it's hard not to change, and Millicent Kale changed a lot.
Grief, hurt and pain follow Milly every day, but when the closest person she has dies, Milly uncovers that she's not quite human. And she's not alone.
Fate entangles her live with a man she would rather avoid, yet in the end making her listen to reason. Of course it's really hard not to listen to your inner self, when she can actually punch you.

"Special Minds", a love story, with fantasy parts that make the story work. You'll find fun sidekicks, strong characters and topics that will make you think more on today's social and psychological problems.

Cover Review:

I didn't really like the cover for this one. It's too simple for my taste. 🙁

Book Review:

Special Minds is a really unique story, with a concept that's new, refreshing and totally unlike anything I've read before!

My favorite thing about this book was the fact that even though it's a sci-fi novel, you don't realize that until you're like 30% in. I liked that I got to see Milly's 'normal' life before delving into the sci-fi part. 

The characters were well built and real, their story enjoyable and the overall experience was a good one! 

I finished Special Minds in one day, not because it was short, but because it was irresistible. 

The ending though. A cliffhanger! That's SO unfair! I'm dying of curiosity here!!! 

I guess I'll just have to wait for the next book in the series...

Review: The Mahabharata Code

Author: Karthik K. B. Rao

Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 🍫🍫🍫🍫

Blurb: 

"The Mahabharata Code is a personal account of the main protagonist Narayan Rao (NR), who claims to be an astronomer with NASA. NR and a few other crew members agree to take part in the NASA mission to visit this mystery planet from which they had received mysterious signals. Here, they meet a man with a long flowing white beard, and he introduces himself as Vyasa. He reveals that he has a crazy plan in mind and seeks NR and his members’ help in implementing this plan. He intends to recreate the entire Mahabharata on this planet to restore the faith of the primitive simpletons here.



As the Mahabharata incidents start unfolding, NR realizes that Vyasa intends to recreate them page by page here, if not paragraph by paragraph. Also NR begins to realize that his son, Krishna, who is being groomed by Vyasa as Vishnu’s avatar, is nothing more than a pawn in Vyasa's scheme of things. Other incidents of Mahabharata also unfold according to the original epic. Pandavas and Kauravas grow up hating each other and finally the restaging plan culminates with both the warring sets of cousins facing each other in the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

Inexplicably, like the original epic, Arjuna develops cold feet seeing his own cousins, teachers and relatives on the opposite side. He seeks Krishna’s divine intervention. Is the brainwashed “alien” Krishna prepared for this intervention?"

Cover Review: 

The cover is beautiful. It's a starry space with earth and a peacock feather embedded in. It's dark and beautiful. I love it!

Book Review: 

The Mahabharata Code is a sci-fi version of the classic Mahabharata tale, with the same characters, same circumstances but totally different things!

The bow Arjuna picked up was actually embedded with a biometric sensor that'd only unlock with the touch of a Pandava brother and Kunti had a calling device that had a contact list full of the sky Gods' numbers!

The writing is hilarious, full of creativity and an awesomely crafted alter-version of the old, real Mahabharata (which to be honest is a bit boring!) 

Though sometimes I got confused about which planet is which, but it was too entertaining to give up over that small flaw!

All in all, The Mahabharata Code was entertaining, interesting and totally worth the time!