Morpheus Tales Review Supplement March 2019

TERMINUS By Tristan Palmgren ...................................................................................................................................................... 2 UNIT 731 By Craig Saunders ............................................................................................................................................................. 2 BLOOD BINDS THE PACK By Alex Wells ..................................................................................................................................... 2 THE BYE BYE MAN ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4 THE BODY LIBRARY By Jeff Noon................................................................................................................................................ 4 THE SISTERS MEDEROS By Patrice Sarath ................................................................................................................................... 4 THE VOID.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 MOONSHINE By Jasmine Gower ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 THE QUEEN OF ALL CROWS By Rob Duncan.............................................................................................................................. 5 MOONSHINE By Jasmine Gower ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 SPACE UNICORN BLUES By T. J. Berry........................................................................................................................................ 5 LOST GODS By Micah Young .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 EAT THE RICH By Renee Miller ...................................................................................................................................................... 7 SIREN ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 9 SMOKE EATERS By Sean Grigsby .................................................................................................................................................. 9 FALLEN GODS By James A. Moore .............................................................................................................................................. 11 GATES OF THE DEAD By James A. Moore .................................................................................................................................. 11 SCAVENGERS By Rich Hawkins ................................................................................................................................................... 11 THE OUTSIDER By Stephen King.................................................................................................................................................. 13 A BREACH IN THE HEAVENS By N S Dolkart ........................................................................................................................... 13 THE TRAITOR GOD By Cameron Johnston .................................................................................................................................. 13 THE FALL OF IO By Wesley Chu .................................................................................................................................................. 15 THE CHASE (the Lockwood Series Book 1) By Jaxon Lee Rose ................................................................................................... 15 THE OUTLAW AND THE UPSTART KIND By Rod Duncan ...................................................................................................... 15 IMPLANTED By Lauren C Teffeau ................................................................................................................................................ 15 FREE CHOCOLATE By Amber Royer ........................................................................................................................................... 15 TIME'S CHILDREN By D B Jackson .............................................................................................................................................. 15 THE DREAMING STARS By Tim Pratt ......................................................................................................................................... 16 HIDDEN SUN By Jaine Fenn .......................................................................................................................................................... 17 FRIEND FROM THE INTERNET By Amy Cross .......................................................................................................................... 17 DAUGHTERS OF FORGOTTEN LIGHT By Sean Grigsby........................................................................................................... 17 Edited By Stanley Riiks. Written By Adrian Brady, Stanley Riiks, C.M. Saunders, J.S. Watts. Proof-read By Sheri White. © Morpheus Tales February 2019.

Morpheus Tales Back Issues and Special Issues are available exclusively through lulu.com: http://stores.lulu.com/morpheustales For more information, free previews and free magazines visit our website: http://morpheustales.wixsite.com/morpheustales Morpheus Tales Review Supplement, February 2019. COPYRIGHT February 2019 Morpheus Tales Publishing, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reviews can be used, in full or in part, for publicity purposes as long as Morpheus Tales Magazine is quoted as the source.

TERMINUS By Tristan Palmgren www.angryrobotbooks.com Terminus, published by Angry Robot, is the sequel to Palmgren’s earlier novel, Quietus (also published

by Angry Robot and previously reviewed in the Supplement). It takes place sometime after the first novel concludes and, in theory, could be read as a stand-alone story, but I think much of its depth and complexity would be lost if you haven’t previously read Quietus.

Like the preceding novel, Terminus is a hybrid of historical fiction and science fiction, but because of the events of the first novel, this second book could probably be better described as alternative history and science fiction.

Following the events of Quietus, the fully conscious AI ship “Ways and Means” and its crew have been exiled to the solar system around 14th Century Earth. The novel weaves multiple storylines of 14th Century European characters (one visionary and brigand in particular), a fully AI-enhanced former human and crew member of “Ways and Means,” and a partially AI-enhanced human who has lost some of her enhancement, as well as “Ways and Means” itself. Unusual events are taking place on Earth and previously known facts appear to be changing. Someone or something is not telling the truth. The coming together of the storylines takes place off planet and on “Ways and Means” and, as a result, the novel has a stronger SF feel to it than Quietus.

Indeed, I found Terminus to be a quicker and lighter read than Quietus, but that might be because I was already familiar with the back-story and some of the characters. Alternatively, it may be because some of the philosophical questions to be found in Quietus make room for narrative, plot, and action in Terminus. Nevertheless, there is still space for some contemplation of free will, memory, the concept of self, and the nature of humanity, as well as truth and trust, within the novel’s narrative arc, but overall I felt the novel’s focus was more on the story than the philosophy. As a result, I felt that some depth and complexity of writing as found in Quietus had been lost in the trade-off, but despite this the book remains an excellent and thought-provoking read as well as an intriguing page-turner.

By J.S.Watts UNIT 731 By Craig Saunders http://craigrsaunders.blogspot.co.uk/ For those not clued up with their World War Two history, Unit 731 was an infamous Japanese covert

biological and chemical research facility based in northern China, which was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes ever carried out.

Largely run by the sadistic Surgeon General Shiro Ishii, Unit 731 was directly responsible for tens of thousands of horrific deaths, mainly POWs and Chinese civilians captured from the surrounding rural area. Rumours abounded of forced pregnancies, vivisection, and dissection carried out without anaesthetic, frostbite testing, and deliberate infection with lethal disease. Some prisoners had limbs removed and re-attached to opposite sides of the body to study the effects, and others were injected with animal blood. All in all, the goings on at Unit 731 made Auschwitz look like Butlins. Post-war, Shiro Ishii and his henchmen were given immunity by the US in exchange for the data they collected.

All this is fertile ground for a horror story.

However, despite the title, this isn’t it. The only connections with Unit 731 here are an alleged artifact (a withered, severed penis in a box, no less) and the weird behaviour of a disturbed young man. But it would be wrong to review a book on what it isn’t about. So, slightly misleading title aside, let’s crack on. Luke Benson (the aforementioned disturbed young man) is a Unit 731 obsessive who pushes this unsavoury infatuation onto his friends, Miles and Damien. The penis in a box proves to be the catalyst for a series of revelations which uncover a family’s secrets and ultimately leads to a bloody and thrilling conclusion. You can’t help but become emotionally invested, and this fast-paced novella packs a hell of a punch. Head to his website for some cracking free reads.

By Christian Saunders BLOOD BINDS THE PACK By Alex Wells www.angryrobotbooks.com The second book in the Ghost Wolves series sees Hob Ravani fighting against the giant monopoly of Transrift Inc. The incredible world that Wells created in the first novel is further explored here, but the concentration on the characters is really what raises this above your standard epic, action-packed SF novel.

There is plenty of action too, some nice surprises along the way, and great characters.

This is SF how it is meant to be: inspiring, exciting, character-led, thrill a minute pacing, and filled with exotic tech.

By Adrian Brady

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THE SISTERS MEDEROS By Patrice Sarath www.angryrobotbooks.com

THE BYE BYE MAN That The Bye Bye Man has quickly become one of the hits of the year, more than tripling its $7.4 million budget at the box office, should come as no surprise.

Following a tried-and-tested format, it hardly breaks new ground and comes across as a mash-up of various other horror films, managing to tick almost every box. It starts with a flashback to 1969, when a multiple murder occurs in a small town. Throughout the attack, the perpetrator is heard to say, “Don’t think it, don’t say it.”

In the present day, three college students move into a creepy old house off-campus, where the anticipated weird shit soon starts happening. They begin having delusions and hallucinations, the activity seemingly concentrated around an old nightstand in the bedroom. In an effort to get to the bottom of things they do what any other normal group of people would do—they hold a séance. Predictably, from that point on things escalate and people soon start dying. They soon realise that the activity is tied to a murderous entity called The Bye Bye Man, which bears a striking physical similarity to the Babadook.

Can they stop him in time to save themselves?

Trivia fans might like to know that director Stacy Title is married to the screen actor Jonathan Penner, who is perhaps best-known for his multiple appearances on the American reality show Survivor.

He also plays a small role in The Bye Bye Man, and is credited with writing it, basing the concept on a story

by Robert Damon Schneck.

By Christian Saunders

In this historical fantasy, sisters Yvienne and Tesara Mederos determine to find out the cause of their family’s disgrace and restore their family’s name and wealth.

The characters really drive this novel, but the world which they inhabit is really the star.

Good solid world-building, good characters and an interesting plot (a little Disney-esque), all serves to make this an entertaining novel.

By Adrian Brady THE VOID It isn’t often a horror movie leaves me feeling as emotionally drained as this one did. Other-worldly cosmic horror, body horror, splatter horror, this film is a mash-up of every kind of horror you can think of, and probably some you can’t. It’s hard to know where to start talking about it. Dismemberment? Check.

Pyramids? Check. Demon babies? Check. Hospitalcum-gateway-to-hell invaded by knife-wielding devil worshippers in hoods? Check. You get the picture.

Possibly.

It all starts innocently enough when sheriff’s deputy Daniel Carter (Aaron Poole, who excelled in 2012’s The Conspiracy) stops one night to help what he assumes is a drunk dude crawling down the side of the road. When it transpires that drunk dude isn’t drunk at all, but severely traumatised, Deputy Carter takes him to the hospital where his ex-wife works.

There, whilst going through the administration procedure, he finds one of the nurses cutting her face off and stabbing a patient in the eyes with a pair of scissors. She then attacks Deputy Carter who shoots her dead. Not a regular occurrence. But his shift gets worse when he goes outside to his patrol car to call in the incident and is confronted with the aforementioned knife-wielding devil worshippers in hoods. Back inside the hospital, things take an even more disturbing turn when the dead nurse transforms into a slithering, slimy, tentacled creature, which is the last thing anyone needs, and matters are compounded when a gateway to hell (aka, the void) opens. There are numerous twists and turns along the way, which I won’t spoil for you, ensuring the plot moves along with pace. The downside of this is the fact that if you blink, you are liable to miss something important.

A lot of reviews compared The Void (favourably) with the low-budget horror flicks of the

THE BODY LIBRARY By Jeff Noon www.angryrobotbooks.com In a city contaminated by the citizen’s idea, John Nyquist wakes up in a room with a dead body. His far-reaching investigation into the murder is going to lead him down paths less travelled…

This is the sequel to Noon’s mind-bending A Man of Shadows, but although both books features our protagonist Nyquist, they aren’t linked in any traditional way, so you will be able to pick this up and be absorbed into this strange world.

Noon has a unique vision and it is easy to get lost in the strange world he has created. Nyquist is an interesting noir-esque character and an essential link for the reader.

Surreal, wonderfully imaginative and sometimes brutally beautiful, Noon is a true genius.

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80s. I don’t see it myself, though there are certain similarities with John Carpenter’s The Thing. Some of the cartoon violence comes across as a little bit gratuitous and the cosmic horror aspect adds some trippiness to the proceedings, but the package works well. I love the return to “real” special effects, rather than an over-reliance on CGI which has become the norm these days. The Void made quite a splash on 2016’s festival circuit and currently holds a 76% approved rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is remarkably high for a film of this type. Definitely not one to aVoid. Sorry.

By Christian Saunders

Moonshine, a fantasy novel published by Angry Robot, is, to use a cooking metaphor, a hot pot of many layers and flavours. It is a story of magic, magicians, and fairies, set in a place and time that resembles Prohibition Era America, but is actually a volcanic wasteland in an imagined fantasy world that could be a future Earth, or an alternative Earth or a place that just confusingly echoes our own world. Who knows? The book also uses fantasy to explore matters of race, gender, sexuality, disability, and addiction. Quite a mixture, but an ostensibly positive one.

The basic story line follows the trials and tribulations of Daisy Dell, a second-generation immigrant with old world magic who is trying to make a life for herself as a liberated and independent modern girl. She has a brand new job in a prohibition-style city, new work colleagues to get to know, some new frocks, and some old magic trinkets to conceal. Along the way a hit is taken out on her and she inadvertently facilitates a fairy becoming trapped in the human world: both matters that need resolving.

This is a colourful and unusual tale that I never entirely engaged with. For a hot pot bubbling with so many ingredients, it felt surprisingly insubstantial, undercooked, even. I found some of the characterisation superficial and a number of Daisy’s co-workers confusingly similar. Whether the problem ultimately lay with the book or this reader, though, I couldn’t say.

By J.S.Watts

MOONSHINE By Jasmine Gower www.angryrobotbooks.com Daisy Dell’s new job is in Soot city, where magic is prohibited, but she secretly continues to use her powers. Until bounty hunters start to track her and her powers become a danger…

A wonderfully inventive 1920’s style Chicago-like city, an interesting protagonist, and a fairly simple plot all go to create a fascinating debut novel.

Gower really gets to grips with her world, which is the star of the novel.

By Adrian Brady THE QUEEN OF ALL CROWS By Rob Duncan www.angryrobotbooks.com In this alternative reality of 2012, where the Patent Office runs the world, Elizabeth Barnabus finds herself spying for the huge organisation that she was battling against in the first trilogy.

This steampunk-esque world is brilliantly portrayed, with airships and unicorns. Barnabus is interesting and truly fleshed out here, while the plot carries on as a roaring pace, making the book difficult to put down.

The second trilogy featuring the Gas-Lit Empire and Barnabus is recommended without reservation. But to start here, whilst it is a standalone trilogy, would feel a little like cheating.

Start at the beginning and what the world and the character grow through the first trilogy, and you won’t be able to put down the second.

By Adrian Brady

SPACE UNICORN BLUES By T. J. Berry www.angryrobotbooks.com Gary Cobalt, just out of prison, is a half-unicorn. He was imprisoned by his torturer, a spaceship captain who ground off bits of Gary’s horn to power the ship. Thrown together by circumstance, can these two enemies work together?

Inventive and entertaining, Berry has created a unique couple of main characters and thrown them together in a situation that builds tension immediately.

Great world-building, exceptional characters, and a fast-paced, action-packed plot make for great reading.

By Adrian Brady

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to do about it?

The set-up is intriguing, and the rest of the book doesn’t disappoint. It moves at a breakneck pace, the writing is concise and sharp, and the chapters short and punchy which I like, by the way.

There is very little unnecessary exposition, and even less messing around. In fact, there’s barely a word wasted. You are dropped in the middle of a nightmare and before you know it you’re being swept along on the current like a used condom in a polluted river.

One of Miller’s strengths is character building, and here, the MC doesn’t disappoint. You can’t help but feel a touch of sympathy toward poor Ed Anderson, one of life’s genuine nice guys who just took a few wrong turns and one day decided to stop giving fucks. All he really wants is a dose of fuzzy happiness. Then, through no fault of his own, he finds himself stuck between a jobsworth cop and a bunch of cannibal aliens intent on destroying the world Eat The Rich is written in Miller’s trademark easy-going conversational style, with more than enough blood, gore, and cussing to keep her faithful readers happy. No sex, though. She must have gotten told off or something. Given the depth of the social commentary on display and the vein of sardonic humour running through it, all looming ominously behind an outlandish plot evolving around aliens versus people and the rich versus the poor, this is the kind of book a psychologist would have great fun dissecting and pulling apart. Much like the mind of the woman who wrote it, you would think. It all boils down to the fact that when the aliens come, and as we all know they probably will eventually, they won’t care if you’re a janitor or a millionaire investment banker, they’ll kill us all anyway.

If you like your horror twisted, dark, sharp, perverse, and rounded out with just a touch of the absurd, you need to get acquainted with Renee Miller’s Eat the Rich. It will blow your mind.

By Christian Saunders

LOST GODS By Micah Young www.angryrobotbooks.com Neythan is a young assassin, but when he is framed for murder, he becomes the target of those he trained with. He will find out the secrets of the Brotherhood in his investigation of who really killed his closest friend.

The African setting is unique and original, and the fairly simple plot, the characters, and their dynamics are interesting.

An interesting twist, and a fascinating setting really make this book special.

By Adrian Brady EAT THE RICH By Renee Miller https://authorreneemiller.com/ When city slicker Ed Anderson sheds the trappings of modern life and walks out on his wife and job to forge a new, carefree existence living hand to mouth on the streets, he has absolutely no idea what he is setting himself up for.

Because as well as contending with the expected empty stomach, bad weather and, general depravation, something has infiltrated the homeless community.

Something deadly, dangerous, and other-worldly. Could it be the same “something” that is systematically hunting down the rich folk in the area and apparently eating them alive?

Okay, yes. Yes, it is.

And I’ll tell you something else—it’s aliens. Aliens who look a lot like people, but with a few crucial tell-tale differences. Like forked tongues with suction cups on them and an annoying habit of ripping people apart and sucking off their faces. These aren’t spoilers, by the way, because the book is called Eat the Rich and most of this information is given up in the blurb.

Apart from the forked tongue with suction cups bit.

The question isn’t what’s going on, that is made abundantly clear. It’s more what the hell is Ed going 7

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character (played by Hanna Fierman) which makes this film both a continuation and a spin-off of the original short. Despite her propensity for disembowelling people and eating their insides, you can’t help but root for her. In fact, it’s quite hard to judge who the good guys and bad guys are throughout. None of the bachelor party are particularly likeable characters, and the club owners come across as a particularly cruel bunch, but in reality are doing a public service by keeping Lily away from the general populace. This, I feel, is a deliberate ploy designed to toy with the viewer’s emotion.

Another example comes half-way through when some cops, who are supposed to protect and serve, turn out to be interested in doing anything but. So yeah, Lily is the real star of Siren, which is why I feel we should have been treated to more of her mythology and back story. Maybe next time.

By Christian Saunders

SIREN Siren is a feature-length interpretation of “Amateur Night,” David Bruckner’s segment from the first V/H/S film (2012). You know the one, where the three misogynists take a couple of chicks back to a hotel room for sex, not realising one of them is a supernatural being who then proceeds to rip them limb from limb. Coincidentally, Gregg Bishop previously made a splash in 2014 when he wrote and directed the segment “Dante the Great” in V/H/S: Viral.

Here, he takes the basic concept and extrapolates it. There was always a danger that there might not be enough material to do this successfully, but I’m happy to report that isn’t the case. Reminiscent of the Species series, Siren is one of the best films I’ve seen this year.

A week before he marries his childhood sweetheart, Jonah (Chase Williamson from Beyond the Gates) and his bros go on a last drink and ‘shroom-fuelled bender. They end up in a dodgy strip joint, where they meet a stranger who tells them about a secret underground club, where they will be able to indulge their wildest fantasies. There, they find a waif-like beauty called Lily who they fear is an innocent girl who has been trafficked into the sex trade. The well-meaning dopes free her, only to realize she is, in fact, a succubus. And not a very nice one at that. In fact, she’s pretty fucking terrifying. The first poor Jonah sees of this is when Lily sprouts a tail and brutally slaughters one the guards. He and his boys wisely make a swift exit, but then find themselves pursued by both Lily and the bad guys.

However, Lily doesn’t want to kill Jonah. She wants to kill his friends because she feels they are standing in her way, but she likes Jonah because he was nice to her. And even tells him so. Right before she does unspeakable things with her tail.

A nice touch is the retaining of Lily’s

SMOKE EATERS By Sean Grigsby www.angryrobotbooks.com Retirement beckons for firefighter Cole Brannigan, who has been working for 30 years, and fighting dragons for ten of those. But when, on his final call, he discovers he is immune to dragon smoke, he is invited to join an elite group of dragon fighters. But a plot to take over the city’s government looks likely to challenge him as much as starting a new career.

Grigsby throws just about everything into this book, a post-apocalyptic America, robots, firefighters, dragons, and loads more. This book is a hoot! So much is happening, so much stuff is thrown in that it is a thrill a minute!

So much fun, it is difficult to imagine how Grigsby crammed it all in!

By Adrian Brady

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for survival as the remaining members of the party are pushed to the very edge in their struggle for deliverance. Obviously, there are more casualties along the way, and a lot more blood. Devon might never be quite so idyllic ever again.

This riveting novella from British horrormeister Rich Hawkins starts off at a breathless pace, and doesn’t let up for a moment. The writing is taut and engaging, with barely a word wasted. Mr Hawkins doesn’t mess around, and knows exactly what buttons to push, when, and how often. You can’t help but feel for Ray the MC, who didn’t want to go on the fucking trip in the first place.

Hawkins is perhaps best known for his Last Plague trilogy, the first volume of which was nominated for a British Fantasy Award in the Best Horror Novel category in 2015, and since then he has

FALLEN GODS By James A. Moore www.angryrobotbooks.com The second book in the Tides of War series sees Brogan McTyre and his friends under threat or death, hunted, and wanted dead or alive. He must build an army and find a magically sword, buried deep inside a mountain..

Moore was well known for his horror fiction before he wrote the immensely entertaining Seven Forges fantasy series.

While Tides of War is very different, it packs the same kind of punch, drawing you into a wonderfully portrayed world, with great characters and a rip-roaring storyline.

Moore does it again, with another grand epic fantasy.

By Adrian Brady GATES OF THE DEAD By James A. Moore www.angryrobotbooks.com The third book in the Tides of War trilogy sees the finale of the great war between Brogan McTyre and the gods. If you haven’t read the other books in the series then you need to go back and read them.

This is the end of trilogy and as such is a tour de force! It is action-packed, it is a rollercoaster ride, it is a wild ride, and every other clichéd description of a climax.

The final book in the trilogy lives up to everything that has gone before.

Moore is a fantasy genius.

By Adrian Brady SCAVENGERS By Rich Hawkins http://richwhawkins.blogspot.co.uk/ Everyman Ray and his wife join another couple for a short, relaxing break in the countryside. En route they find a car abandoned in the road with music still playing, and get out to see what the problem is. Minutes later, one of their number is dead, brutally slaughtered by a group of what appears to be feral children, and the others are running for their lives.

But that can’t be right, can it? Where did these devil children come from? And what are they doing deep in the woods? What ensues is a gripping battle

been decidedly busy having put out a clutch of books as well as making appearances in some high-profile anthologies. His latest release is the stand-alone short story “She Hunts in the Woods.”

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this case the possible and the impossible, seamlessly and perfectly. As evidence for both sides mounts and opinions shift, you can’t help but feel for poor Terry Maitland, the well-respected cornerstone of the community who is accused of such an unthinkable crime. King’s attention to detail is unrivalled and unusual, the premise is both outlandish and unnervingly plausible.

Somewhat predictably, it was recently announced that The Outsider will be shortly be produced as a TV mini-series, much like The Stand.

On the face of it, The Outsider seems like perfect TV fodder.

By Christian Saunders

THE OUTSIDER By Stephen King https://www.stephenking.com/ News of this release first broke back in August 2017 when King let something slip during a USA Today interview. Constant Readers then had to endure an anxious 10-month wait until they could get their grubby paws on it. In fairness, it was worth the wait.

The Outsider starts almost like a police procedural, very reminiscent of the Bill Hodges trilogy, when an 11-year-old boy is found murdered and mutilated.

However, things soon take a turn for the supernatural when it transpires that the chief suspect, the man who was identified by eye-witnesses and left DNA evidence at the scene, was apparently in another city miles away at the time of the murder. What’s more, he can prove it. This, understandably, leaves the local law enforcement in a bit of a quandary. It’s an impossible crime, kinda like a locked-room murder, SK style.

At almost 600 pages, The Outsider is a pretty substantial addition to the Stephen King library, both literally and figuratively, and keeps up his recent hot streak. It illustrates his usual mechanism of juxtaposing the ordinary and the extraordinary, or in

A BREACH IN THE HEAVENS By N S Dolkart www.angryrobotbooks.com The third book in the Godserf epic trilogy see the sorceress Phaedra having difficulty keeping the elf world separate from the human world, and when a skyquake literally rocks her world, the whole balance of the universe comes under threat.

This is an intricately detailed fantasy world, and as this was the first book in the series, I discovered I had little difficulty picking it up and getting straight into it. There must be backstory I missed coming in blind, but the author manages to keep you enthralled throughout.

Entertaining, poignant and emotional, this is what epic fantasy is truly all about.

By Adrian Brady THE TRAITOR GOD By Cameron Johnston www.angryrobotbooks.com Edrin Walker’s friend has just been killed. Now he must find out the secret Lynas discovered and find out who killed him and exact his revenge. Magic, demons, and gods, nothing can stand in his way!

Epic action-packed adventure fantasy, this is a full-on page-turner.

It feels a little like a video game come to life and put into words.

This is a highly accomplished novel for a debut, and the start of a magnificent series.

By Adrian Brady

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THE FALL OF IO By Wesley Chu www.angryrobotbooks.com

exploration of this world.

By Adrian Brady

This is the sequel to The Rise of Io which again follows Ella and Io, the alien that invaded her mind.

Ella has gone back to his previous life after the failure of trying to turn her into an alien agent. But the alien war continues and once again the threat to earth is critical, and Ella and Io become hunted.

Chu has built an astonishing and interesting world, and here explores it further with his excellent characters, in particularly the relationship between Ella and her alien.

By Adrian Brady

IMPLANTED By Lauren C Teffeau www.angryrobotbooks.com Emery Driscoll is forced to become a courier, her blood containing encoded data. When a data drop goes wrong Emery finds herself the subject of rather too much attention from those who want her dead, and those who want her blood and the data it contains.

This is a kind of spy novel, set in a crumbling Matrix-like world. The backdrop of the failing world is integral to the story, and ramps up the tension no end.

Intelligent and exciting, this is SF at its best.

By Adrian Brady

THE CHASE (the Lockwood Series Book 1) By Jaxon Lee Rose http://jaxonleerose.com/

FREE CHOCOLATE By Amber Royer www.angryrobotbooks.com

I am always prepared to give new writers a try, but in my experience they are rarely this accomplished.

Jaxon Lee Rose writes like she’s been doing it all her life. Maybe she has, I don’t know. The Chase is quite unlike anything I’ve read before. It’s unique, yet strangely familiar. In a nutshell, it’s a semi-erotic paranormal fantasy thriller following a shapeshifting ocelot (seriously) on her travels. She is running from her past, while simultaneously running headlong to meet her future with a sense of awe and youthful excitement. It’s an interesting contradiction. You can’t help but think maybe the author is writing about her own life in metaphors. I just hope she isn’t a real ocelot. That would be weird. Wait, I take that back. I predict great things for Jaxon Lee Rose, and I can’t wait for the next instalment. I’m a fan.

By Christian Saunders

This book is a bit of a mess. On the one hand it’s a thrilling tale of-far flung SF where chocolate is the Earth’s most precious community, and a young Latina student becomes a fugitive after stealing a precious pod. On the other hand it’s a difficult and frustrating read as you negotiate the Spanish/English translation mess the author uses.

Ultimately it depends whether you can suffer through the torturous style of the author to get to the golden nugget of a plot, as to whether this is the book for you.

By Adrian Brady TIME'S CHILDREN By D B Jackson www.angryrobotbooks.com

THE OUTLAW AND THE UPSTART KIND By Rod Duncan www.angryrobotbooks.com

Time travel in a fantasy novel? Tobias is a walker and when asked to go back 14 years to try to stop a brutal war, he goes, but finds he is too late and trapped having to protect a baby princess and make a new life for himself.

This is an intelligent and exciting adventure, managing to capture the internal struggles of our boy hero trapped inside an adult’s body, and the external struggles are he attempts to survive whilst protecting the princess.

High fantasy meets time travel in an epic setting.

By Adrian Brady

The second book set in the Gas-lit empire, this is a mostly stand-alone novel but shares one of the main characters with the first book in the series, Elizabeth Barnabus. Here the story is split between Elizabeth’s version and Elias’s, as he seeks to restore his wealth and name and get revenge of those who ruined his life.

Although the plot sounds similar to the first book, the way it is told is very different.

The world Duncan has set up and further explored is one of the stars of the novel.

An interesting and entertaining additional 15

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which isn’t even enough to keep up with her. She seems to put out at least one a month. Woe me. This isn’t the best one I’ve read, but it’s close. What starts as a by-the-numbers psychological murder mystery takes a sharp turn about two thirds of the way through which will probably have you screaming WTF??? at the cat. You think you know where the story is going and then Cross pulls the rug out from under you in trademark fashion.

One of the reasons Friend from the Internet succeeds is that it unashamedly plays on our innermost fears. We’ve all had weird online encounters. The Internet can be a strange place. We usually just brush them off and carry on with our lives. But what if one of these weird encounters somehow bled through into our real life? How much of a mind fuck would it be if a “friend from the internet” turned up on your doorstep unannounced?

You’ll have to pay close attention to this one, as it gets slightly confusing towards the end, but the pay-off makes it all worthwhile. It will certainly keep you guessing.

By Christian Saunders

THE DREAMING STARS By Tim Pratt www.angryrobotbooks.com The second book in this SF series sees the same kind of fast-paced action and witty dialogue as appears in the first book. An ancient race of aliens with the technology and willingness to kill humans is hibernating. But the crew of the White Raven falls upon them and one of the aliens wakes up with his own plans for the future of the universe…

Nice fast pacing, this book is action-packed and fun to read. The universe the author sets up is well presented, the characters are well portrayed, and the alien tech is suitably scary.

Pratt is definitely one to watch.

By Adrian Brady HIDDEN SUN By Jaine Fenn www.angryrobotbooks.com A lot of time is spent on this “journey fantasy” setting up the world which includes Rhia, a noble from Shen with a missing brother, an unwanted proposal of marriage, and a frowned-upon interest in science. But the time is well spent and the world is amazingly realistic and life-like; you breathe the air and feels the flowers beneath your feet.

The character and the story are also good, and the book is absolutely engrossing. Capturing your imagination and your heart within the first few pages.

By Adrian Brady

DAUGHTERS OF FORGOTTEN LIGHT By Sean Grigsby www.angryrobotbooks.com The daughters of forgotten light are a prison gang on a floating prison called Oubliette, and a strange delivery is going to turn their whole world upside down.

This all-female prison world is a cross between Mad Max, Prisoner Cell Block H, and Blade Runner.

Brilliantly realised, this stark world of intrigue and violence is really carried along with its fast-pace and swift action-filled pages.

Some interesting characters populate this world, and work very well for an SF novel.

Great fun.

By Adrian Brady

FRIEND FROM THE INTERNET By Amy Cross https://www.facebook.com/Amy-Cross308979449122729/ There’s a killer on the loose in the small coastal town of Croftby. One girl has already been found murdered and everyone is on edge. So when May meets Paula, it seems natural for them to stick together. Soon, however, May starts to realize that Paula is hiding some dark secrets. And by the time the truth comes out, it might be too late for May to escape someone who knows her inside and out.

Friend from the Internet is a psychological horror thriller about two girls trying to hide from a killer, and about the dangerous obsessions that can break even the strongest of minds.

So says the blurb. Does it deliver? Yes, it does.

I am completely addicted to Amy Cross. I must have read half a dozen or so of her books in the past year,

Morpheus Tales Back Issues and Special Issues are available exclusively through lulu.com: http://stores.lulu.com/morpheustales For more information, free previews and free magazines visit our website: http://morpheustales.wixsite.com/morpheustales Morpheus Tales Review Supplement, February 2019.

COPYRIGHT February 2019 Morpheus Tales Publishing, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reviews can be used, in full or in part, for publicity purposes as long as Morpheus Tales Magazine is quoted as the source.

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