Book Reviews by Genre: Science Fiction

This book has been given more credit than it probably deserves. However, it is still a great novel. Bradbury has such beautiful writing, it grabs you from the first sentence. The story is about a man, Montag, who lives in the future as a fireman. Unlike today’s firemen, though, Montag is a fire-starter. He burns houses that have a single book in them, since books are illegal in this future. Montag meets a young girl, though, that changes his perspective on his previous perception of why books are so bad. If you are itching to read something quick, good, and that will make you think, this is a book for you!

Reviewer Grade: 12

Frankenstein begins with Robert Walton, an explorer, writing letters to his sister about his journey to the North Pole. Along the way, he rescues a man named Victor Frankenstein from an ice drift. The story follows Frankenstein down memory lane as he tells Walton about his pursuit for knowledge and the deadly consequences that followed.

I really enjoyed this book. I've always been meaning to read it, so I'm glad that I finally did. I loved how it was written; the characters were highly intelligent, and the word choice did an excellent job of showing it. The only thing that I wasn't so huge on was the end. It felt a bit too abrupt to me. Regardless, I found this to be an excellent book.

Reviewer Grade: 12

Action-packed and heartbreaking, Red Rising has no doubt become one of my favorite series of all time. Morning Star is a powerful conclusion to a thrilling series that left me satisfied with how the story concluded. There are many points where I just want to stop and write down all the quotes I love in the book. Pierce Brown writes beautifully and he did every justice to Morning Star. Since it's a sequel and the final book to a trilogy, I won't say much about what happen in case someone new to the series happens to stumble on this review. If you are new, what you need to know about Red Rising is that it's a sci-fi fantasy that borrows elements from mythologies. Red Rising is a phenomenal series and I hope that more people would pick up and give this book a try.
Reviewer Grade: 12

This book left me speechless so many times, shocked by the brutality that brought upon hopes and dreams for a race of the oppressed. War is ugly, yet Pierce Brown paints art and beauty to every word written in this book. There wasn't a moment that bore me. My heart broke many times for the characters in the book, for Darrow, for the young innocent boy he once was and the death stained Reaper he has become. We witnessed the rise of the Reaper in Red Rising and his fall in Golden Son. This is one of the best book I've read so far this year, possibly one of my all-time favorite book. I definitely highly recommend anyone who has already read Red Rising to continue with this book. For anyone who have not read or heard of the series: please pick it up. It is very much worth your time.
Reviewer Grade: 12

Actual Rating: 4.5

If you love anti-hero, this book is for you. Vicious follows the stories of Victor and Eli, a pair of brilliant, arrogant yet lonely college roommates who share ambition and interest in EO, ExtraOrdinary human being with unnatural superbeing abilities. Vicious blurred the line between heroism and villainy, a moral gray area we often find ourselves standing in. From roommates to enemies, Victor and Eli engaged in a game of cat and mouse that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the book. It was a very thrilling and exciting read and I can't wait for the next book in the series.
Reviewer Grade: 12

This is a steampunky, military sci-fi novel that takes place in the 25th century and chronicles the life of Sir Robert Mayfair Bruce, an military engineer working for the United Yukon Confederacy, a vast empire that controls all of North America and large parts of the rest of the world. The book is written as a historical memoir/biography that has come under scrutiny for supposedly lying about the life of one the Confederacy's greatest leaders, an Alexander the Great-like young man named Fitzpatrick who is viewed as a hero many years after the events in Robert Bruce's publication. The novel is made even more intriguing by the fact that it is "annotated" by a fictional scholar who frequently refutes the facts described by Bruce. This begs the question "Do we want the 'nice' version of history, or the truth?"

Bruce is as excellent narrator, generally engaging and observant, and it is easy to see why he is so charmed by Fitzpatrick. His motivations are clear and his interactions with other characters are authentic and believable. That said, it is occasionally annoying that he lets his love interest, Charlotte, boss him around so much, but other than that, he is likable and real. (If you like Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby, you'll probably like Bruce.) Speaking of Charlotte, I think she was one of this book's only major weaknesses. She seems unrealistically perfect -- intelligent, witty, independent, defiant, feisty, and not much else. She has an unhealthy amount of control over Bruce to the point that the reader questions his abilities as a leader since he seems to have no backbone when it comes to Charlotte's manipulation and he does everything she tells him without question, in spite of the fact that she isn't terribly likable. Fitzpatrick himself was well-done. His charismatic, megalomaniacal character develops subtly over the course of the book, and his rise and fall, involving a descent into moral depravity and possibly madness, is fascinating. Likewise, secondary characters are also well-developed.

This book moves rather slowly (the "War" of the title takes about 300 pages to begin), and occasionally the author gives excessive detail to things that don't need it while omitting other details that could have fleshed out the world, so suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy some things. Otherwise, the alternate reality is well-developed and appropriately detailed, with an intriguing history, society, and politics. If you don't like long books with minimal action, don't read this. But if you enjoy an intellectual steampunk adventure with good characters that raises interesting points concerning how history should be portrayed, I recommend trying Fitzpatrick's War.

Reviewer Grade: 12

Fahrenheit 451 is a story about a future where people have become dull and lifeless. I liked the authors prediction of technology and how it takes over in the modern age. If you have to read it for school or if just for fun it shows the decent of peoples individuality when they are enamored by distraction all day long. Science fiction highly recommend.

Reviewer Grade: 11

Any fan of adventure, aliens, sci-fi, Australia, daring innovations, zombie-like creatures, characters some could easily relate to, flying ships, and an interesting plot is sure to love this book. I randomly checked out this book for the summer and was surprised to enjoy it; unlike other books where it takes a few chapters to get to the point and books with boring dialogue, this book can take any reader to another world which, in a couple of decades and some imagination, a reader can understand happening for real.