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Review: Exchange, Dale R. Cozort Dale Cozort’s “Exchange” was really very enjoyable. Set to be publicly available for sale in early July 2010, I openly suggest this to sci-fi and alternate history fans. Do not get it in your head that it is either of these genre though… It is more fringe on both counts. Background on the Exchange: Exchange is set in modern standard time. It is neither history nor future. For unknown reasons, large tracts of land are transported to an alternate dimension version of Earth. In this alternate dimension, humans never made it through the evolutionary bottle neck. Evolution in general is completely unhinged. Giant bears, sabre tooths, and green monkeys rule the land. In an ever increasing number of global events, humanity is able to predict an Exchange only three hours before they occur. They know that an event can last for between one and two weeks, but cannot predict the? reversal. As a result, they mobilize huge groups of personnel and equipment in the tim...

Catherine Jinks put together quite an enjoyable tale here. Imagine that you are 17 years old on a pioneering space ship, traversing the stars in search of a new home world. Your ship is a living entity of delicately balanced alloys and bacteria, self cleaning and self repairing. You are at the birthday bash of another crew member, when alarms are tripped. Within 24 hours, you have to watch as the people you love die. This is very much a coming of age story, but in fast forward. Moving quickly from a strategic and heavily monitored existence to self reliance in order to survive. A couple plot holes found but nothing that can not be easily disregarded. In the end, this was not a challenging read, taking me the equivalent of one and a half days transit to and from work to make it through (2-3 hours). The concepts were clear and concise. The conversational manner and tone of characters was believable. I did not feel as if Jinks was talking down to me as a reader, instead attempting to coax...

Magical tattoos, Christian vampires, were-creatures, and men in black. magicians, lesbians, men in dog suits, blood, gore, blind witches, karate and unanswered questions. When I first recieved Frost Moon as an e-book advance release from the publisher, I dipped into it and was not impressed. Luckily, a month later I came back to it and had a completely different reaction. The second chance was much better. The characters became tangible and the story more fluid. Frost Moon (Anthony Francis) 284 pages Bell Bridge Books ISBN-10: 0984325689 ISBN-13: 978-0984325689 This is a single serving book, awesome and definitely one I would refer others too, but I would never read it again. This is not a slight against the book as it is directly in line with a lot of books I read. I can state that I am anxious to read the next book in the series as it is released. The plot of Frost Moon and the Skindancer Trilogy revolves around Dakota Frost, estranged daughter of a police officer. She wo...

First published in 1966, The Space Plague is a true sci-fi classic. A.M. Lightner (later known as A Lightner Hopf) puts forward a very entertaining tale. make sure to check the full size image of the cover as the 60′s art is pretty awesome. A group of science students are hand picked to go to the planet Acoma and study the native insect population. field trips like this are rare and being chosen is a true honor. Acoma has been settled in a pioneer fashion for only a short time, so not much is known about it. Barnaby Finch and Jenny Jethro are two of those students. Finch specializes in Beetles; Jenny in butterfly’s. Shortly after their arrival, a plague breaks out in the sparsely populated southern continent. In classic Teen sci-fi manner, the students are integral in determining the cause of the plague and saving all the Acona pioneers. they dont have much choice after all, the planet is in quarantine until a solution is found. This book was really enjoyable. it clocked in at a measly...

I have read books about serial killers, mass murderers, sexual sadists, and freaks. I have never run across a book about someone who assists others commit suicide. Kim Young-Ha’s ‘I have the right to destroy myself’ was a twisted new diversion in my reading. Hooray for South Korean fiction! Every person has at least one moment in their lifetime when the think to themselves that they would be better off dead. It is not a matter of depression, hopelessness, nor rejection; instead, suicide is the logical option for many who have found themselves at the end of their journey. They are complete. I have the right to destroy myself (Young-Ha Kim)  119 pages  Harcourt  ISBN-10: 0156030802  ISBN-13: 978-0156030809  The main character has no name. He is not a perversion, he provides a service. He helps handpicked individuals come to terms with their desire to die. He sees what is best for them and assists them to be successful. He does not force their han...

not sci-fi, more like anti-sci-fi sci- fi? wait.. sci-fantasy? kinda, but still standard sci-fi, but with every day objects? i really do not know what category this would fall into. it is definitely a young adult trilogy. it was also very good. Peter Dickinson’s ‘The Changes’ trilogy follows the the experiences of three groups in the UK over a period of about a decade. This is basically a post apocalyptic tale with out the apocalypse. one afternoon everybody just goes a little bit crazy and it sticks. They fear all things technological. Engines drive them mad and they fly into a fury of destruction. electricity is like witch craft, guns are completely out of the question. even simple machines like a bicycle could cause a mob scene. in a matter of minutes, even seeing a unmoving vehicle or a telephone sitting idle makes people uncomfortable to the point of walking away.Only people in the UK are affected, the rest of the world fears the spread of their irrational fears. unlike other turn...

Hobo has garnered higher tiered reviews from a number of publications and periodicals. I hate to have to dissent as it was a very GOOD book, but this was by no means a masterpiece of any sort. Subtitled “A Young Man’s thoughts on Trains and Tramping in America”, Hobo does holds one’s attention. Eddy Joe Cotton splays out his thoughts and delivers a number of keen visuals detailing place and people he has seen. He meets a number of interesting travelers? while on the road, each sharing insight and knowledge of their journeys. Portions are humorous, others sad. I should point out that Cotton is not a bum. He is not homeless. He is not any of those derogatory or sad names that our society assigns to every person on the road, regardless of condition or intent. Cotton has a great mind for details and introspection. Hobo is a non-fiction account, as he leave his home in the Denver area and decides to hit the road with nothing but what is on his back. He begins keeping notes on his musings on...