Last week was so busy with work & attending Book Expo America, that not much reading happened, but I did manage to read one book nominated for the 2012 Locus Awards Finalists for Best First Novel.

Weekly Reading During God's War

Recently Finished Reading

As with most heavy science fiction books such as this one, the World described is VERY DIFFERENT and it takes quite a few pages ... chapters ... to get used to all the different names for things, the characters and the technology. But let me tell you - if you're a bit thrown at first - stick with this because you are in for a thrilling roller-coaster of a ride. The author, Hurley has a sic' imagination - who the heck would have ever thought to have a World where bug power runs things - meaning all the cool sh%t uses energy derived from bugs - even magicians have bugs crawling all over them, because they harness their power. Brilliant!

And this book is DARK. The World is hot & arid, there is a war going on - has been going on forever - nobody is winning, death is everywhere, everybody is broke-down, torture is a frequent occurrence ... and the author doesn't pull any punches in keeping everything within context of this war, which has religious, racial & feminist undertones.

But the book isn't about the war; it just provides a gritty back-drop to show you how kick-ass Nyx is - not only is she surviving, but is also one of the best bounty hunters around - hated by her comrades and Bel-dames alike (a government assassination sisterhood that she is no longer a part of). As a result, somebody is always coming after her, so there's lots of action in this book, and the pace moves along relatively swiftly. So, if you're in a mood for a challenging but engaging science fiction novel - PICK THIS UP! (Amazon| Goodreads)

Currently Reading and Next

Ready Player One, Ernest Cline. It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. (Amazon| Goodreads)

Soft Apocalypse, Will McIntosh. What happens when resources become scarce and society starts to crumble? As the competition for resources pulls America's previously stable society apart, the "New Normal" is a Soft Apocalypse. This is how our world ends; with a whimper instead of a bang. oft Apocalypse follows the journey across the Southeast of a tribe of formerly middle class Americans as they struggle to find a place for themselves and their children in a new, dangerous world that still carries the ghostly echoes of their previous lives. (Amazon| Goodreads)