Royce Sears-Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author

Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey My rating: 5 of 5 stars This one has been on my unofficial want-to-read list for a while. It's been a busy year, both personally and professionally, but I finally got to it and now I wish it hadn't taken so long. The crew of the Roci face many changes in Persepolis Rising. Thirty years have passed since the previous book in this amazing series and the universe is a different place. The expansion to the colony worlds beyond the ring gates have changed the face of politics and technology--opening a whole new realm of possibilities and threats. It's impossible to go into more detail without spoilers, but suffice it to say that Persepolis Rising does not disappoint the reader. The changing landscape offers fresh new challenges for a crew who has already faced nearly everything we thought they could. View all my reviews

Planetside by Michael Mammay My rating: 5 of 5 stars Planetside by Michael Mammay is solid military science fiction that provides the reader with a likable soldier, in the form of Carl Butler, who simply has a job to do. His job seems simple enough in the beginning, just a cut a dry case of a missing soldier - but not just any missing soldier, a politician's son. Mystery in the guise of science fiction, much like Isaac Asimov's Elijah Bailey mysteries, unfolds through Butler's veteran military officer's perspective. The rabbit hole goes deeper than the reader expects as we follow Butler and his junior officers deeper into Mammay's rich world. Full of wit, appreciable cynicism, and snarky remarks, Butler's point-of-view experience makes for an easy and fun read that leaves the reader craving more. Highly recommended! View all my reviews

The World Awakening by Dan Koboldt My rating: 5 of 5 stars The World Awakening is the third (and hopefully not final novel) in the Gateways to Alissia by Dan Koboldt. Koboldt draws the reader into the world of Alissia though his likable characters and provides you with a healthy mix of modern tech alongside the ingenuity of a medieval society that's hell-bent on protecting its way of life from outside invaders. (Oh! and there's magic too!) Highly Recommended! Royce Sears View all my reviews

A Red Peace by Spencer Ellsworth My rating: 5 of 5 stars As I said on Twitter, A Red Peace is what Star Wars wishes it could grow up to become. A Red Peace  presents the reader with a well-developed cast of characters and draws you into their lives. Ellsworth creates a rich and dark universe for his characters to grow into and discover their potential. Highly recommended space opera! Royce Sears View all my reviews

Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut My rating: 5 of 5 stars I read Galapagos as a recommendation by a close friend. I thoroughly enjoyed this Vonnegut novel. The perspective from which it is written is unique and fun...A ghost, telling a story over a million years? Fascinating read and highly recommended. Royce Sears View all my reviews

Proxima by Stephen Baxter My rating: 3 of 5 stars I enjoyed Stephen Baxter's Proxima, although I found the pretzeled plot of interwoven timelines hard to follow. Baxter brings a healthy dose of realism to his work in the form of realistically designed spaceships and the real effects of relativity as we deal with interstellar distances in terms of human lives and its effects upon those travelers. Recommended for lovers of realistic, hard-edged science fiction! View all my reviews

Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi My rating: 5 of 5 stars There's no other way to put it... Scalzi is a brilliant science fiction author. Agent to the Stars takes the usually awkward first contact story and flips it on its head as Tom Stein, a junior entertainment industry agent, takes on a new client--A jello-mold from another planet. This jello-mold is a representative of a race who came to understand humanity via the television broadcasts we have beamed into space for years. They understand that image and appearance is everything on Earth and for them to be accepted, they need an agent who can shape their image into something people will come to accept rather than run screaming in horror from a creature that resembles the 1950's The Blob. Agent to the Stars is an imaginative and creative way to approach first contact, which I think only Scalzi could capture in his unique voice. Highly recommended for all lovers of science fiction. ...

The Island Deception by Dan Koboldt My rating: 5 of 5 stars In this action-packed sequel to The Rogue Retrieval Bradley Quinn travels deeper into the depths of Alissa, a strange and foreign world that's full of magic, danger, and adventure. Quinn adventures back into the world of Alissa in order to discover the secrets of real magic, though he must play along with the corporate plan in order to achieve his personal goals. Mystery, intrigue, and suspense are found between the pages of The Island Deception as author Dan Kobolt takes us back through the gateway with Quinn and his friends. Highly recommended reading! View all my reviews

The Rogue Retrieval by Dan Koboldt My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Rogue Retrieval by Dan Koboldt captures the reader's attention from the very beginning with Bradley Quinn's voice. Quinn is a small-time Vegas illusionist with dreams of making it big but a job offer that's too good to refuse becomes more than he bargained for. Quinn must use his wits and showmanship to survive when he learns this job is much more than just a stage-act. A fun and fast-paced novel, The Rogue Retrieval escorts the reader into a world of real magic, danger at every turn, and the stakes are life and death. Highly recommended! View all my reviews

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor My rating: 4 of 5 stars We Are Legion (We are Bob) is a smart, funny, nerdy, and fun read! Robert Johannson, otherwise known as Bob, sells his software company. With his newfound riches Bob invests in cryofreezeing technology that will be implemented upon his death--much to his dismay is very shortly thereafter. Bob wakes up 117 years later in a computer as a digital version of himself. We are Legion (We are Bob) explores "AI" from the viewpoint of digital copies of human minds. Bob, in his newfound existence, has the ability to replicate copies of himself as he explores the galaxy as a living Von Neuman probe. Taylor explores nerd/geek culture as Bob explores the galaxy and creates ever-so-slightly different copies of himself--creating the Legion of Bob. A galactic adventure geeks and nerds will love, We are Legion (We are Bob) tilts the familiar concepts of AI and space exploration in new...

Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey My rating: 5 of 5 stars Babylon's Ashes is Book 6 of The Expanse Trilogy by James S.A. Corey. I LOVE these books! (How many times can I say this?) The cast of characters, their trials and tribulations, and the deft story-telling of this author team are addictive. Book 6 takes us into the aftermath of the Free Navy's reign of terror over the inner planets. Earth is on its knees after multiple asteroids have impacted on its surface. Food, medicine, and energy are in scarce supply as people on Earth try to survive in the hellish nightmare that has become their existence. The Free Navy leads a devastating campaign against the combined fleets of Earth and Mars while the crew of the Roci and my favorite foul-mouthed politician, Crisjen Avasalara, struggle to outwit the leader of the Free Navy, Marco Inaros. Babylon's Ashes is yet another fast-paced tale of politics, intrigue, space battles, and high-fl...

War Dogs by Greg Bear My rating: 4 of 5 stars War Dogs is sadly my first experience with Mr. Greg Bear. Through the pages of War Dogs I developed a great respect for Mr. Bear and his ability to reach through the pages of the book to tell the story of a Skyrine - a marine trained specifically for the rigors of space combat. Having worked with Marines as a Navy Corpsman, Marines have a mindset that is very specific and very singular to the Marine culture. They speak alike, they fight alike, they're honest, loyal, courageous- and most of all- Marines are BADASS! In my opinion, Greg Bear captures the essence of how a Marine thinks, acts, and fights in War Dogs and that alone is worth the price of admission. As much as I liked this book, I gave it four stars because there were several places within the novel where I had to back-pedal a few pages to try to understand what was going on with the story. Setting those little things aside, it's a gr...

The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have to say that I found The Player of Games to be a much better experience with Iain M. Banks than Consider Phlebas. Banks introduces us to Gurgeh, a stylized game-player from the Culture. Ahh, the Culture, such an advanced and modern civilization that engulfs almost all of the known galaxy, or so it seems. Gurgeh is reluctantly drawn into the attempted coup of a game-obsessed empire; a coup to be affected by Gurgeh's mastery of the very game through which the empire defines itself. As an outsider of the Empire, Gurgeh must learn the game quickly and unknowingly confront the evils of this empire via the game. Can he learn the intricacies and subtleties of the game in time? Can he learn enough about himself and his opponents? Is it all just a game, or is it a none-too-subtle clash of cultures taking place on the game board before him? Highly Recommended SF reading! Royce www.royces...

Morning Star by Pierce Brown My rating: 5 of 5 stars Morning Star is a heartfelt and dizzying end to the Red Rising Trilogy. Although Morning Star is a great book, it IS the end of the trilogy--much to my dismay. The author's acknowledgments and comments make the last book even more loveable because we can see the struggle Mr. Brown had in bringing Darrow through the conflicts arising within Morning Star. Where Red Rising and Golden Son focused on Darrow himself, Darrow has to learn that he can't always do everything by himself. As much as I wanted to savor this last book, it was another Pierce Brown novel that I couldn't put down--and alas it is done. I'm looking forward to Iron Gold scheduled for release in 2018. Royce Sears www.roycesears.com View all my reviews

Golden Son by Pierce Brown My rating: 5 of 5 stars Golden Son by Pierce Brown is the second novel in the Red Rising Trilogy. I have fallen in love with these characters, so much so that as soon as I finished Red Rising I had to acquire Golden Son and Morning Star simultaneously. Written in the first-person POV, Brown takes us on an epic adventure through a stratified society's strengths and weaknesses via Darrow, a low-born miner, who begins to tilt this society's views of place and caste in Red Rising. Between the covers of Golden Sun, Darrow's rise through the ranks of aureate society continues as he struggles to protect the secret of his low-born identity and build the relationships he will need in the days ahead. Golden Son is a maze of friendships, betrayals, loyalties, and power struggles that provides the reader with nonstop hours of page-turning, mind-bending thrills. Royce Sears www.roycesears.com View all ...

Red Rising by Pierce Brown My rating: 5 of 5 stars Red Rising ! The cover quote by Scott Sigler says it all, "Ender, Katness, and now Darrow." The social stratification we see in Ender's Game, The Hunger Games, and Divergent, is taken to all new levels in Red Rising. Pierce Brown's delightful use of a Eugenic's obsessed culture makes Darrow's rise from a lowly Red to an iron Gold an enjoyable story that will go down in history as 'classical' and 'epic' science fiction. This is one of those books that you just CANNOT put down. We feel every betrayal, every heartache, and every triumph as Darrow faces impossible odds in a system stacked against him in every way possible. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Royce Sears www.roycesears.com View all my reviews

Hyperion by Dan Simmons My rating: 5 of 5 stars Hyperion by Dan Simmons is a wonderful science fiction novel that combines a number of scifi elements in a fantastically woven story. Simmons tells each character's story separately, in a delightfully artistic manner, that escorts the reader through the many and varied facets of the incredibly complex world he's created. Using character archetypes, Simmons tactfully uses his characters as ciphers to decode the mysteries of a backwater world known simply as Hyperion. Aspects of military-scifi, cyberpunk, space opera, mythology, religious mysteries, and a profound appreciation of literature--expressed through his mad poet character--make Hyperion a delightful reading experience. The only place throughout the entire novel where I felt let down was the end...and I'll leave it at that. Royce Sears www.roycesears.com View all my reviews

A Vision of Fire by Gillian Anderson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I enjoyed A Vision of Fire by Gillian Anderson. This novel takes the reader down a twisted path toward the Piri Reis map via lost artifacts and a consciousness extending across time to invade the minds of those who suffer traumatic experiences. Anderson explores several facets of mythologic tales, ranging from Norse and Celtic tales to Vodoun legends, and interweaves these facets into a larger fabric to spin a science fiction yarn of mystery, intrigue, and suspense. Royce Sears www.roycesears.com View all my reviews

The Human Division by John Scalzi My rating: 4 of 5 stars While The Human Division is a collection of short stories, and it's normally difficult to write a review of such a collection, this collection is situated in Scalzi's Old Man's War universe and the stories are interrelated enough to make writing a review much easier. I enjoyed the way the stories accented events in Scalzi's other books while telling their own stories at the same time. We get to experience the growing pains of the CDF as they learn to deal with things through diplomacy rather than brute force. All in all, a great collection of shorts that fleshes out the universe more fully than before. I love Scalzi's brash characters and the situation's he throws them into. Who else could have thought of making a diplomatic incident out of a Lhasa Apso's encounter with a carnivorous plant? Leave it to Scalzi... View all my reviews

The Giver by Lois Lowry My rating: 5 of 5 stars Fantastic book! The Giver, while I would categorize it as a MG/YA, is a wonderfully insightful novel that explores some surprisingly deep themes for its age group. Perception, wisdom, and hidden truths shape the novel's main character, Jonas, as he learns these things and much more from the Giver in his role as the new Receiver of Memory. Highly Recommended novel for all age groups! View all my reviews