A.T. Jackson

Introduction & Synopsis Every now and again, I go out of my way to read a novel that I wouldn't normally read. In this instance, I am reading a novel that is action first, Sci-Fi second. Many of you may note that I have read, and reviewed very positively, numerous works of science fiction. Many of those works possessed a some degree of creativity, or attempt to tackle philosophical and/or socio-political themes, with a few obvious exceptions. This novel, on the other hand, is pure genre fiction. I expected pure schlock. The first instalment of the Legend of the Duskwalker series of novels introduces the reader to a non-descript post-apocalyptic dystopia in which everyone, with the exception of very few people, are connected to a global satellite network, and utilise cybernetic augmentations to survive in a world in which strange cybernetic semi-undead beasts named Weir prowl the wilderness. James Posey has experience in the video game industry as an Expert Narrative De...

Introduction & Synopsis The first, and seemingly last, novel written by Ezra Holiday, The Dead Dream Wakes  is a fantasy-horror novel that was originally intended to be the first instalment in the presumably abandoned Tales of Bridgeport series. The Dead Dream Wakes follows two young adults, Jonah and Clay, as they uncover the mysteries of an abandoned steelworks factory within the city. It isn't long before they realise that they have bitten off far more than they could chew, delving into a world of demonic forces and supernatural beings, as the mysteries of the city of Bridgeport begin to unravel before them. Characters The two primary characters in this novel, as already mentioned, are Jonah and Claire ("Clay"). Both of them, despite a few minor personality traits that are simply told to the reader, instead of being shown through character moments. Not only is this poor literary form, but the few personality traits the characters are described as having ca...

Introduction & Synopsis Before we begin, it should be noted that while writing this review, I am assuming that the reader has already read the first four installments in the series. As such, do not be surprised if you encounter spoilers for the previous installments in the series. You have been warned. In Nemesis Games , the fifth installment in the popular series The Expanse, which has been adapted into a television series by SyFy, is a novel that dares to shake up the status quo of the series. While waiting for repairs of the Rocinate to be completed on Tycho Station, the ship's crew go their separate ways, each one aiming to resolve personal issues that have been plaguing them since before the beginning of the series. Alex goes to Mars in order to find some closure with his ex-wife, Amos travels back to Earth in order to pay his respects to his recently deceased surrogate mother, Naomi visits Ceres in order to reconcile with her long-lost son, and James is trapped on...

James S.A. Corey's Cibola Burn is another enjoyable instalment within  The Expanse series of novels. After the events of the previous novel in the series, Abaddon's Gate , a thousand worlds have been opened up to humanity via the Ring Builder's network of ancient wormhole generators. The political powers within the solar system are now beginning the preliminary stages of exploring and colonising the largest and most daring frontier in human history. A small group of refugees from Ganymede, which was the site of a battle which destroyed the colony on the Jovian moon, are the first to colonise a world outside of the solar system. Meanwhile, another colony ship, being regulated under UN jurisdiction, has also laid claim of the planet. James Holden and the crew of the Rocinate is sent to curtail the building political tensions between the two groups of colonists, survive the harsh alien biosphere of this new frontier, and uncover the secrets that lie beneath the planet...

Historian Philip Parker, author of The Empire Stops Here: A Journey Around the Frontiers of the Roman World , brings us a gripping historical recitation of one of the most famous (arguably infamous) cultures in European history. Possessing a highly spiritualist and widely misunderstood culture, the term Viking has become synonymous with violence and bloodshed. This, in truth, as those whom have read this book would already know, is only one small sliver of the Viking way of life. The Vikings were a highly religious people, with an entire plethora of myths and legends. Philip Parker's book The Northmen's Fury: A History of The Viking World, details the rise and fall of the Viking's empire, from the Danish expansion to the British Isles, Iceland and Greenland, their short-lived escapade into North America to the slow and steady erasure of Viking culture in Kiev and the social evolution that lead to the Battle of Hastings, at which time the traditional Viking as we remembe...

After the disappointment that was Caliban's War , James S.A. Corey's Abbaddon's Gate is a welcome return to the excellent form of The Expanse series of novels. This review contains spoilers. Abbadon's Gate brings the mystery, and potential threat, of the alien protomolecule which has served as the primary narrative thrust of this series, back to the forefront of the plot, whereas Caliban's War was content with reducing the alien protomolecule into nothing but a plot device, serving nothing more than a minor plot point in a different, and far less interesting, story arch. Despite Caliban's War being sub-par relative to Leviathan Wakes , the epilogue promised that Abbadon's Gate would be an improvement. And that it is. The return of Miller (kind of) provide James Holden with a much-needed foil. Let's face it, James Holden himself has always been a poorly written character. He's toxic, reckless and self righteous, taking action with little-to-no...

Stephen King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower, begins with a gripping, if somewhat narratively bare, prologue in the form of The Gunslinger. The Dark Tower I: The Gunlinger is a fine introduction to the realm of All-World, the titular Roland Deschain and his decades, maybe centuries-long quest to reach the eponymous Dark Tower. As the very fabric of reality begins to break down, Roland decides to venture towards the dark tower, a monolithic structure that serves as a pillar of reality. As the dark tower begins to collapse, reality itself begins to unravel. The laws of time and size begin to bend seemingly at random, and the rising and setting of the sun is inconsistent, ever-changing. During this first instalment of the series, we learn of the backstory of Roland Deschain, and how the arrival of a young boy by the name of Jake begins to unravel the world around him. The history of All-World, and the gunslinger himself, is excellently weaved, create a fantasy world quite unlike ...

James S.A. Corey brings us their second novel, Caliban's War , is the sequel to Leviathan Wakes , and the second novel in The Expanse series of novels. The series have been adapted into a television series by Syfy. Unlike the first novel, which was told from only two points of view, Caliban's War is told from the viewpoint of four different characters, three of which are characters that are newly introduced within this book. While some of these POVs, such as UN Under-secretary Christjen Avarasala, add a great deal to the narrative, others, such as Roberta "Bobbie" Draper, feel completely redundant. While the fourth POV, Praxidike Meng, does develop into an interesting voice throughout the novel, I kept thinking that with a few edits, a majority of the chapters written from his POV could have easily been edited to be told from Holden's POV, thus rendering a majority of his chapters redundant, much like Bobbie's. Prax and Bobbie are thoroughly likeable char...

Cambridge Professor of Classics Mary Beard brings us a recitation of the history of Rome, from the greatly mythologised founding of the city to the reformation of citizenship law under emperor Caracalla in 212 CE. The book begins (after the prologue) with a griping account of the various myths surrounding the foundation of the city of Rome, including the famous legend of the brothers Romulus and Remus and also another popular legend of the establishment of the city as detailed by Ovid's Aeneid . The history of the early days of Rome are mired in mythology, with very little archaeological evidence available to substantiate the claims of the writings of ancient Roman historians. Mary seamlessly weaves some of the greatest moments of Roman history into a brilliant chronology of the days of Roman dominance, from the establishment of the Roman Republic to the Republic's descent into violence and corruption, and the subsequent reformation of the Republic into the Roman Empire u...

James S.A. Corey, the pseudonym of both Daniel Abraham & Ty Frank, brings us the first novel in the epic Sci-Fi series The Expanse, which was adapted for television by SyFy in 2015. Set in an ambiguous time in the distant future, the first novel in The Expanse series follows two main characters, a Ceresian detective named Joe Miller and an interplanetary ice hauler named James Holden as they both become wound up in a corporate conspiracy that begins to destroy the peace that has been established within the solar system. Not a single story beat is out of place. Not one character is dull or boring, each and every one of them providing a unique voice to the narrative. Even minor characters, such as Amos, become eminently likable by the end of the first book. It does, however, have one issue. The authors opted to explicitly state what each character was feeling, instead of using the traditional method of showing as opposed to telling. Regardless of its few shortcomings, I wo...

To whom I may concern, Welcome to my new blog. My name, in case you have not already discerned, is A.T. Jackson. Writing has always been one of my greatest interests, second only to the pursuit of scientific research. When I am at my keyboard, I am a writer, and also the creator and presenter of InFact, an upcoming online web-series dedicated to science, history and scepticism. When I am away from my keyboard, I am a Molecular Biologist. This blog shall act as a repository within which I can dump the dregs of my cognitive processes. Some of my posts shall relate to my writing, some of them shall relate to science and others will undoubtedly related to mundane issues and other miscellaneous thoughts. As of today, I am mapping out various plots for numerous works of fiction, and I am also considering a few dabbles in non-fiction tangentially. My literary interests lie mostly within speculative fiction (Sci-Fi, fantasy, etc.). Over the last few days I have been establishing my socia...