Book Reviews, Science Fiction

Review: Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade his mind in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers. Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien enemy. Many escaped, but millions more died. So mankind created enhanced humans ­such as Idris - who could communicate mind-to-mind with our aggressors. Then these ‘Architects’ simply disappeared and Idris and his kind became obsolete. Now, Idris and his crew have something strange, abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects – but are they really returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy as they search for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, and many would kill to obtain it.

Book Reviews, Science Fiction

Bear Head by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Mars. The red planet. A new frontier for humanity, a civilization where humans can live in peace, lord and master of all they survey. But this isn't Space City from those old science-fiction books. We live in Hell City, built into and from a huge subcontinent-sized crater.