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Time For Five Stars

7/30/2024

Book review of The Accidental Time Travelers Collective Volume 2 - an anthology by 12 authors

I had no choice but to give this excellent anthology five stars, because, before I wrote this, I nipped forward a couple of hours in my time machine, and saw those stars shining back at me from my review!

And, of course, we know that time travelers can't change anything, anyway.

Er, no, that's not right, according to this book. Several stories show that time travelers do, indeed, change things. And sometimes their meddling can cause all sorts of horrific consequences. But it can also provide unbridled emotion, joy, and heartache, as explored in these 12 powerful tales.

Pure sci-fi mixes with emotion galore in a couple of stories - notably the brilliant Convergence, by Katherine Benfante. I'm not going to give any spoilers, except to say that sometimes the future is determined to win, no matter how many times you try to change it.

While some of these tales feature predictable settings with familiar themes, they all have unique and unexpected outcomes, such as Lake Lorelei, by K. L. Small, in which an engineer is assigned to investigate a catastrophic dam failure.

But my favourite, by a country mile, is The Split Lives of Medusa, by Alex Horn. Not strictly a time travel story, in my opinion, this is set on an alien planet where the inhabitants can decide once, at any point in their lives, to divide into two identical versions of themselves. These two "Splitselves" then live completely separate lives in different timelines, albeit with a telepathic link between them.

Because of the love, humanity, emotion, and occasional inevitability contained in this wonderful anthology, The Accidental Time Travelers Collective Volume 2, is a must-have book for all die-hard sci-fi fans, while also likely to attract readers unfamiliar with the genre.

The Accidental Time Travelers Collective Volume 2 can be purchased here, from Amazon.

Connect here with The Accidental Time Travelers Collective on X (formerly Twitter).

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Surrender To The Prophecy And Bloodkind

7/28/2024

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Book Review of Surrender, the first book in C. L. Welford's The Foundation Series

From its straight-in-your-face opening sequence, through to the heart-pounding, action-packed, thrill-a-minute climax, and beautiful epilogue, Surrender has it all.

With a supernatural backdrop revolving around one faction of the "bloodkind"'s plan for humanity (they believe humans are an over-populated lower life-form), this powerful story tenderly explores the developing relationship between a human and a bloodkind.

You see, not all bloodkind are evil. On one side you've got The Order, and on the other there's The Foundation. I could be reading too much into this aspect, but on some levels it's easy to categorise that part of the novel as political satire, given the way those two opposing groups view humanity - one clearly looks at humans as fodder for its own class, while the other displays care for them.

Then, there's The Prophecy, which is responsible for bloodkind Tauno and human Jenna being thrust together - Tauno tasked with protecting her to safeguard the future of humanity.

C.L. Welford's skillful world-building and gradual release of insight into her wide range of protagonists, means the characters we're supposed to like are truly likable, and we hate the ones we're meant to hate.
Emotions play a major role in the second half of the story - and, surprisingly, in the roller-coaster climax, which had me reading increasingly faster, almost in a frenzy to turn the pages as the unbearable tension grew.

Talking of frenzy, the well-handled sex scenes are vital to both character and plot development.

Pacing is perfect throughout, from the fast-moving fight and action scenes, to the slower, realistic dialogue which carries the story along in a different way.

Overall, a definite five-star read.

My rating: *****

Surrender is available here, from Amazon.

Connect here with C. L. Welford on X (formerly Twitter).

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Small Portions, Or Large?

7/6/2024

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I reckon God must have been having a giraffe when He assembled me.

Why else would He bless me with a palate capable of discerning and fully appreciating fine food and wines, while at the same time cursing me with an appetite so small that I feel intimidated at the mere sight of a well-filled plate?

I suppose you could even say that in the early days of my writing career, I was a real glutton for punishment, in that one of my roles was a restaurant critic. Once a week for a couple of years I had to trundle off to restaurants the length and breadth of Derbyshire, sampling their often huge delights, and write about them objectively.

To be fair, though, the curse has never really put me off enjoying the benefits of the blessing, and savouring my restaurant meal. I just make up my mind to only eat what I feel comfortable with, and never mind that when I've finished there'll probably still be more food left on the plate than I've eaten.

That philosophy works nicely in the home kitchen, too. I love to cook, particularly fish, and have even created my own recipes for Seabass and Haddock. And it all means I can ensure my portions are perfectly sized.

For me, it's always been a case of quality rather than quantity, which is why I find restaurants serving nouveau cuisine to be particularly attractive.

But I well remember a rare occasion when I was able to completely clear my plate at a restaurant, and saying: "Perfect. There's nothing better than small portions." And a family friend who was eating with us, looked rather forlorn, and said: "There's nothing worse than small portions."

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Time For Five Stars

Surrender To The Prophecy And Bloodkind

Small Portions, Or Large?

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