Book Spotlight - Ice Rift by Ben Hammott

Ice Rift

by Ben Hammott

This is an action adventure survival horror sci-fi set in Antarctica.

Description from Amazon:

An ancient terror dwells below the ice...

Scientists enter the ice rift.

They are alone, stranded and unarmed.

They are about to be terrified.

Humans have always looked to the stars for signs of Extraterrestrials.

They have been looking in the wrong place.

They are already here, entombed beneath Antarctic ice for thousands of years.

The ice is melting and soon they will be free.

A huge rift in the ice is discovered in Antarctica that stretches for 18 miles, (29 km) and 820 feet (250 meters) apart at its widest point.

When environmental scientists enter the ice rift to check out an anomaly on NASA's satellite scans of the area, they discover something far more life threatening than the raging blizzard trapping them in the rift. They are unarmed and unprepared for their ensuing fight for survival.

Links:

You absolutely must see the concept art here.

More info on Ben Hammott books at his website here.

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The Zarion: Saving Mankind (REVIEW)

The Zarion: Saving Mankind

Author:  J.E. Grace
Category: Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Christian Fiction

Suitable for: Pre-Teens+

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Format Read for Review: Kindle copy from the author

Pages: 152

Description: Davis is torn from his retirement and thrown back into scientific research where his team makes world altering discoveries. But can they make a difference before alien forces intervene and destroy earth? Two alien factions battle over the fate of the world in a epic Heaven vs. Hell style conflict.

In Short: This book is a unique blend of science fiction and religion. I don't want to divulge any spoilers so instead I'll just give examples of some of the themes found in this book to give you a feel for the story. It is a very exciting, fast paced plot that features space exploration, espionage, conspiracy, alien encounters, an alien invasion, a sweet love story, and a doomsday scenario. There is an 'Adam and Eve in the garden being tempted by a snake' theme. People who like dystopian, world-ending, alien invasion books with a religious twist will enjoy this book.

Pros: This book is highly entertaining and fast paced. As I read it I was very eager to see what would happen next. I liked our protagonist, Davis, he had a good attitude even after being abducted. I don't think I would have handled things as well as he did but he is a true hero as you discover throughout the book. The characters could have been developed a little better but not bad for a novella. For the first half of the book I had a great time watching mysteries unfold and wondering who to trust. I loved the space travel and research the team was doing. The science in the book was believable and approachable. The ending was great even if it did throw me off a little bit. It took a religious twist that didn't match the rest of the book but it was well done and made sense. Gave me an impression of a continuous loop and a chance for a sequel. The author did a great job mixing aliens with Christianity and creating a world with wild events that I could envision. It is a doomsday tale fraught with peril and laced with the sweetest little touch of romance. Overall, interesting book that was very fun to read.

Cons: Some minor editing issues, the author has informed me that the book is currently being re-written. By the time you read this there may even be a new version so keep that in mind when reading the other reviews of this book. As is the editing didn't bother me.

Parent's Guide: Overall this book is pretty clean. The deaths are non-graphic.

Disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book in return for my honest review. This Post contains affiliate links to Amazon.

Currently Free with Kindle Unlimited or $2.99 More info on Amazon
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Orbs (REVIEW)

Orbs

Author:  Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Category: Sci-Fi, Thriller, Horror

Suitable for: Adults/Older teens+

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Format Read for Review: Kindle

Pages: 328

Description: Orbs is a tale of an alien invasion and the handful of survivors that found themselves quarantined in a state of the art facility. It is a Sci Fi Thriller filled with danger and a ton of questions about just what the heck is going on.   

In Short: Overall this is an interesting story with non-stop action that will keep you drawn in. If you are a big sci-fi fan you'll most likely want to get the entire series because this one book alone wont give you the full story.

It begins in medias res (in the middle of things) with our main character already en-route on a dangerous ride to a mysterious destination. The fast paced style of writing is engaging right at the start. For a while you watch the events unfold with curiosity until it leads up to a classic alien invasion scenario.

Pros: The pacing is incredibly fast so you never get bored. It has an excellent knack for getting the reader hooked and unable to put the book down. I finished this book very quickly because of how fast paced it was. The "Orbs" are an interesting and terrifying new concept. The alien breeds are interesting and I'm curious what other aliens will be in the following books. There is interesting technology used in the story and I also enjoy a fun AI character who shows signs of evolving. The main character is a strong woman who is likable and a good leader, I found myself genuinely caring about her struggle. This book blends sci-fi and horror and manages to balance being dark and light. As grim as things may seem at times there are also victories and in the end there is hope for our heroes. This book does a good job of taking you on an emotional ride with a lot of downright scary and tense moments. This book is written more like a movie than a novel and as a result you can see it playing out in your head even as the cross-cuts move you to a new time and place with each chapter. There is much potential for the character development to continue into the next book. The foundation is already there with the revealing of the character's origins. There are elements of many genres in this book making it diverse and adding to its overall quality. There is for sure sci-fi, as well as elements of suspense, thrill, action, adventure, horror and even some romance hidden under all the turmoil. I think this book would be very appealing to those who like alien invasion sci-fi novels set in dystopian, post apocalyptic Earth.

Cons: Alone this book does not have a satisfactory ending. I felt there was no real resolutions. However, I imagine you discover that further into the series. Some of the characters seemed a bit cliché and only served as accessories. For example, there is the typical hacker guy who is socially inept, his back-story is classic, attended MIT, recruited by the government, but unfortunately he never really does much with his skills throughout the story. Same goes for the engineer, his skills are never used. The very fast pacing of the book caused some issues. The death scenes, although brutal, were not sad because they were written like a Band-Aid being ripped off. The dialogue was rushed and the meetings the team held never seemed to last more than a minute and didn't involve much productive discussion which was a bit unrealistic. The characters lacked some realism because they never seemed to stop, take a breath, think or even panic despite everything happening. *spoilers* The aliens and what they were doing with the water seemed unbelievable. I didn't really understand their intention of moving every drop of water to where? With all of us humans dead why not just move in to our nice wet planet? I unfortunately was unable to suspend disbelief any longer by the end of the book.

In summation, I think this book has potential, and reading the entire series could be worth looking into for anyone looking for a alien invasion survival series.

Parent's Guide:  This book has swearing, violence, gore, and some sexual content (not extremely graphic). 

I was given a free copy of this book in return for my honest review. 

No Way Out (Scary Short Stories) Free Children's Book for Kindle

 No Way Out  

And Other Scary Short Stories 

By MJ Ware

            If you are looking for some spooky stories for children that are not too scary you should check out this book. You can find it on amazon here. It is currently free. Put this on your kindle to keep your kids entertained on long car rides and during other boring times.

            It is a total of about 60 pages and is comprised of various spooky stories featuring monsters, zombies, aliens and more. Below I will give a spoiler free description of the stories and my general impression of them. 

No Way Out

            This is the first short story in the book and my least favorite. I don't know how much children would enjoy it. The characters are pretty annoying, the story was irritating and I didn't like the ending. I really didn't like the bit about the cat. I think if you read this story to your child they will bug you to find out how it ends because what happens to the characters in the end isn't clear. I'm sure the ending was designed to be scary and dramatic but I don't think kids will see it that way. They'll just want to know what happens next. This story was definitely skip-able but the rest of the book was actually really good. 

The Price of Friendship

            This is one of my favorite short stories in this collection. Its a pretty interesting twist on making deals with demons that I think kids would find entertaining. It makes for a fun quick read and isn't scary so it could be told as a bedtime story. 

Hobgoblin Horror

            This story was one of the scarier of the collection. Being a monster story this probably wouldn't be the best one to read to a small child before bed. It's about a creature that will kill you if you see it. It's slightly gory. This is a pretty entertaining read that I think many kids would like. 

Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb (Extended Preview)

            This is a 5 chapter sample of a full length book. This was definitely my favorite story. As a child I LOVED goosebumps books and I know I would have loved reading this zombie book. Its about a couple kids that find themselves the sole survivors of a zombie outbreak in their town. Its full of action, danger and humor. It's scary but not too scary. After reading this your child will probably want the full book which is currently $2.99 for the kindle edition and can be found here. 

Zack & Zoey's Alien Apocalypse (Preview)

            This is another preview of a full length book. This story is about aliens that like to eat fat people. Its pretty humorous and I think small children will really love that it also has pictures in it. Out of all the stories included in the book No Way Out - And Other Scary Short Stories this one is probably geared for the youngest age group. I think children would find this story a little scary and exciting to read. The full length version of this book is currently only $0.99 for the kindle version at Amazon and can be found here. 

The Voyage by Ivana Vianno (REVIEW)

The Voyage

Author:  Ivana Vianno

Category:  Sci Fi (Science Fiction - Aliens) (short)

Suitable for:  Adults

My Rating: 2

Pages: 102

Description:  This is a short story about a man who is abducted by aliens and travels around with them. He experiences communication problems and experiences their way of living.

In Short:  A man is abducted by aliens and has new, strange and sometimes funny alien experiences.

Pros: It was kind of funny.

Cons: There was no plot. It was pretty stupid and had a lousy ending. The main character was unlikable and hard to understand.  The author failed to explain why things happened the way they did and went the way they did, so it left the reader confused and with a lot of questions.

Fortunately, I got the kindle edition of this book while it was free on Amazon. 

Wormhole by Richard Phillips (REVIEW)

Wormhole (Rho Agenda #3)

Author: Richard Phillips

Category: Sci Fi

Suitable for: 18+

My Rating: 5 Stars

Format Read for Review: Kindle

Pages: 539

Description: In this action packed conclusion to the Rho Agenda series a black hole threatens to destroy the world. Our brave heroes plan their mission while the evil Dr. Stephenson attempts to finalize his mysterious master plan.

In Short: This is the best book of the Rho Agenda triology and an amazing conclusion to an awesome series. This deep, involved story has elements of not only Sci Fi but also mystery and romance. I was thoroughly engrossed in this book from page one and never wanted to put it down.

Pros: As you read this book you start to see how well planned out the whole story is as all the pieces fall into place. This book also stands alone better than the 2^nd book in the series. In one chapter the events leading up to this point are expertly summarized as an NSA agent puts the pieces together of her own investigation. If you haven’t read the first 2 books or have forgotten what happened that summary will get you caught up. The characters in this trilogy are well developed and the heroes likeable. Throughout this book series you see their unique personalities and abilities grow and evolve. I was especially thrilled when the alien back story was revealed. For the last 100 pages nothing could have gotten me to put the book down. I really didn’t know how it was going to end and there were so many possibilities that left me on the edge of my seat until the very end. This book is intelligently written like the previous two and the science elements are so well described that they are easily understandable and believable. I also appreciated that this book is much less gory and violent than the previous two.

Cons: I found no issues with this book. 

Immune by Richard Phillips (REVIEW)

Immune (Rho Agenda #2)

Author: Richard Phillips

Category: Sci Fi

Suitable for: Adults Only

My Rating: 4 Stars

Format Read for Review: Kindle

Pages: 613

Description: This book takes up right where first book in the series: The Second Ship leaves off. A Sci Fi tale set in modern day times where scientist have discovered a crashed alien space ship and are making the alien technology available for the public. This is a violent story of the people struggling to change the world and those trying to save it.

In Short: This book is the 2^nd book of the Rho Agenda trilogy. In this installment the teens begin to accept their obligation to help humankind and encounter many difficulties in their efforts to take down the bad guys. You also see the global effects of the discoveries of the spaceships and the subsequent releasing of the alien technology to the public.

Pros: Like the first book it is very intelligently written and well researched. With the author’s knowledge of the topics in the book and the way everything is worded you can very easily imagine everything. I really enjoyed the advancement of the heroes abilities and they way they use their abilities. In the last part of the book the action really begins to heat up and left me excited to find out what happens next.

Cons: This book is much darker than the first and a bit depressing to read. Our heroes suffer a lot of unfortunate events and you get no emotional payout when things go right until nearly the end of the book. The book is very long and a lot of it involves global political issues, conspiracies and violence which I generally find boring. It wasn’t drawn out even though it was long because a lot was happening it just wasn’t events that I enjoyed reading about. I also didn’t like the recurring theme of the bad-guy psychopath rapist mostly because I felt that whole conflict was getting redundant. Though there are no actual rape scenes it is implied. If violence/gore/torture is a nonstarter for you, you should definitely avoid this series.(trigger warning)

Note that: This book is not a standalone book and unless you read the first one before picking up this one you will be missing out on a lot of story and be pretty lost. 

Parents Guide: This book contains adult content, violence, gore and torture.