Chris Bucholz

Severence is one of those quirky, funny science fiction stories. Set in the future on a generation ship where humanity has been living for 240 years, hurtling towards a new planet to inhabit, Severance is really a cleverly disguised multi-level murder mystery wrapped around conspiracy plots.

Ultimately I enjoyed Severance and while it was hard for me to connect with the story, I thought it was very inventive. There were good plot twists and enough intrigue to keep up my interest. I did enjoy the 'Previously' sections in between chapters because it was like a separate mystery that tied into the entire mystery at the end (that made sense in my head).

The protagonist, Laura Stein, is a great strong female lead and was really just one of the guys, drinking beer and not committing to any relationships. The best character was Bruce, Laura's best friend and thief extraordinaire, with his crazy banter and love for stun gunning security guys in the face or crotch (even after the eighth time it happened, I was still laughing). I think he's going to be a favourite to all readers.

Severance fell under my 'Guy Sci Fi' category which is not a bad place in my grand scheme of categories. It just means that this may be enjoyed more by those looking for a fun space romp. It did have some serious moments but all in all was more humorous and fun.… (altro)

Freeze/Thaw is the tale of a desperate attempt to turn off The Shade "the common name for the array of coin-sized disks floating at Earth-Sun L1 point, where it blocked a significant percentage of the sun's light. It had been placed there by a group of Dutch eco-terrorists almost thirty years earlier in an attempt to limit the effects of global warming. It worked. Though maybe, just possibly, a little too well."

Gabriel Alfil was left a quadriplegic following a hiking accident a number of years ago. Not being able to do much else, he spent his days learning about things that struck his fancy, one of those was quantum computing, which lead to his being one of the few people on Earth with a working knowledge on the subject. Fitted with a computer enhanced exo-skeleton, Gabe is now mobile and sent with a team to a remote lab where a number of quantum computers may hold the answer for disabling The Shade.

Most of Freeze/Thaw is about the journey and and the obstacles to be overcome in getting to their destination. In all, it's a solid story with exceptional character development which, despite it's science fiction themes, I found to be totally believable. It's a tale of double-crosses with a number of excellent twists. Not exactly what I expected, but a completely engaging story nonetheless.… (altro)

Towards the end of the 21st century, the Earth is experiencing a new Ice Age because of the Shade, an array of objects placed in space by ecoterrorists to compensate global warming by reducing the amount of sunlight. As humanity struggles to survive, an attempt is made to regain control of the Shade by digging up a frozen research lab. As an expert in quantum computers, the narrator is part of the expedition. But his task is made harder by the fact that he is tetraplegic, and has to rely on an exoskeleton in order to function.

I found this novel to be enjoyable, with a good story and a coherent universe. Although it uses most of the usual tropes of post-apocalyptic literature, the unique position of the main character adds a welcome twist to the genre.

The version of the ebook that I received as part of the Early Reviewers program was missing the chapter markings. I first got surprised by some story jumps before I realized these were supposed to be narrative bridges between chapters. Hopefully the retail version of this title will have the chapters properly separated.… (altro)