Tag: #Inventions

Hive:Madders of Time ~ Book 1 by D.L. Orton

On By @f33lthesunIn Adult2 Comments

Blurb

What if saving the future meant rewriting the past?

In a dying world overrun by microdrones, humanity’s last survivors cling to life inside the Eden-17 biodome. Isabelle Sanborn knows her time is running out, but one desperate plan might give humanity a second chance. With the help of Madders, an enigmatic AI built from the memories of a brilliant physicist, Isabelle sends Diego Nadales—the love of her life—35 years into the past. His mission? To change the course of history and prevent their world’s collapse. 

When Diego arrives in the vibrant yet fragile Main Timeline, he’s forced to confront ghosts of the past, including a younger, ambitious version of Isabelle. As he battles to shape a better future, Diego must navigate a delicate web of relationships and events without destroying the very fabric of time. 

Brimming with suspense, heart-pounding action, and a poignant love story that transcends time, Madders of Time – Book One is a breathtaking science fiction adventure. Award-winning author DL Orton weaves a tale that explores sacrifice, resilience, and the timeless power of love. 

Fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Dark Matter will find themselves captivated by this unforgettable journey through parallel worlds and intertwining destinies. 

The clock is ticking. Can love survive the collapse of time itself?

Review

Before reviewing the book, I would like to take a moment to appreciate the fabulous cover art and, even more so, the #UnderTheDustJacket illustration by the author.

Now to the story…

Set in two universes, not too far apart time wise and told from multiple perspectives, this first instalment of the series starts in the future. It is almost the end of the world, a world destroyed as a consequence of the actions of a narcissistic, rich, tech bro. The two remaining humans, Isabelle and Diego, make a decision to send one of them back in time to try to alter events. The rest of the story follows what happens when Diego makes his future changing actions.

Will what he does be enough to change the fate of the world? Could he have done more?

His actions change fate for Isabelle and Diego almost immediately, but what about Dave Kirkland (Isabelle’s ex husband, and previously referenced narcissistic, rich, tech bro) and his mutant killer bee bots? You will just have to read this engrossing, dystopian sci-fi to find out.

The story leads us to think morally and philosophically about time travel and altering history. It also makes you ponder the age old question of how some people (either greedy, power hungry or despotic) can turn anything that is created/invented for the good of the human race and life on Earth into money making ventures, with the potential to harm when misused or adapted. Again, looking at you, Dave!

I enjoyed the cultural references to time travel (flux capacitors anyone?) and passwords, as well as the humour between Matt and Sam when they are held against their will in a military compound to work the science, their way of coping with the stress and lack of information.

I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in this story and cannot wait to read the next part…what a place to pause!

Thank you to D.L. Orton and @The_WriteReads for a physical copy of the book to read and review. Please look out for other review blogs on this blog tour.

About the Book

Genre: Science Fiction

Age Category: Adult

Number of Pages: 350 Pages

Publication Date: May 6, 2025

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222567665-hive 

StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/92ec58c7-fbb5-45cf-b7ab-23c42ea9f4e9 

Amazon: https://a.co/d/bnN8PN1 (Canada) https://a.co/d/7AiywJA (USA) https://amzn.eu/d/1P5EFIe (UK)

The Notorious Virtues by Alwyn Hamilton

On By @f33lthesunIn #YALeave a comment
Cover illustration by Katt Phatt

Blurb

A glamorous media darling, a surprise heiress, and the magical competition of a lifetime.

At sixteen, Honora “Nora” Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in all of Walstad. Her family controls all the money–and all the magic–in the entire country. But despite being the center of attention, Nora has always felt like an outsider. When her mother is found dead in an alley, the family throne and fortune are suddenly up for grabs, and Nora will be pitted against her cousins in the Veritaz, the ultimate magical competition for power that determines the one family heir.

But there’s a surprise contestant this time: Lotte, the illegitimate daughter of Nora’s aunt. When Lotte’s absent mother retrieves her from the rural convent she’d abandoned her to, Lotte goes from being an orphan to surrounded by family. Unfortunately, most of them want her dead.

And soon, Nora discovers that her mother’s death wasn’t random–it was murder. And the only person she can trust to uncover the truth of what happened is a rakish young reporter who despises everything Nora and her family stand for.

With everyone against her, Lotte’s last hope is hunting for the identity of her father. But the dangerous competition–and her feelings for Theo, one of the Holtzfalls’ sworn protectors–turns her world upside down.

Review

I do love a fairy tale inspired story and The Notorious Virtues does not disappoint. As it turns out, this is the first in a series, and whilst ending on somewhat of a cliffhanger, it felt an appropriate place to do so. I need the next book…NOW!

Told from multiple viewpoints, which works well to keep the reader on top of what is happening, this story at is heart is about family. The family in question being the powerful Holtzfall’s, who own and hold all the power in Walstad. The matriarch leader, Mercy, uses her power and magic to control the family and keep the traditions alive…but as the younger generation prepare and endure the trials to decide the next heir to the fortune, they start to uncover deep secrets and infighting. Whilst searching for answers and trying to outmanoeuvre each other, the girls must also be prepared for trials to win a chance to be heiress. These trials are undisclosed (but linked to the virtues) until they happen and can be anything from troll attacks, helping others or not being tempered in stressful situations.

The history of the family and the traditions they keep, including that of their sworn knight protectors, the Rydders, is told in chunks interspersed throughout the main storyline and is their own origins fairy tale, linked to an immortal being in the woods and an honest, hardworking woodcutter who asks no more than to be able to cut wood to help his family survive the winter. How the family has changed these ideals and their use of magic over the generations enables themes of capitalism, dictatorship, family secrets, resistance, betrayal and rebellion. As one of the characters whose point of view is shared with us is a journalist, we also see the power of the press being used to manipulate how individuals and situations are perceived by the general population.

All this sounds heavy, but believe me, this story is anything but. It is fast paced, builds intrigue, suspense and unforeseen twists, whilst also maintaining a fairy tale-esque style.

Thank you to @TheWriteReads, the author and Faber for a copy of this to read and review.

About the book

Genre: Fantasy

Age Category: Young Adult

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Number of Pages: 368 Pages

Publication Date: March 27, 2025

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38347283-the-notorious-virtues 

Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/3e6e7d9c-5b37-413b-9773-4550a1b42233 

Amazon: https://a.co/d/8vVbAG9 (Canada) https://a.co/d/hLVzjdb (USA) https://amzn.eu/d/i8QYXs5 (UK)

Or my preferred method, buy at a local independent bookshop.

Look out for the other blogs on this tour.

Skyfleet: March of the Mutabugs by Victoria Williamson

On By @f33lthesunIn Upper KS2+Leave a comment
Skyfleet: March of the Mutabugs by Victoria Williamson
Cover by James Brown

Blurb

When the skies turn deadly, a young heroine must rise from the ashes…

Twelve-year-old Amberley Jain has faced incredible challenges since the crash that took her parents and paralysed her legs. Now, with her best friend Ricardo Lopez about to be sent away and a swarm of mutated insects closing in on the Skyfleet base, the stakes have never been higher. Something monstrous is driving the mutabugs north from the contaminated meteor site known as the Cauldron, and the only plane capable of stopping it – the Firehawk – lies in pieces in the hangar.

Determined to honour her parents’ legacy, Amberley hatches a daring plan. With Ricardo’s help, they stow away on a supply train, trading his most treasured possession for the parts needed to repair the Firehawk. After secret test flights, the legendary jet is ready for action. Now, Amberley and Ricardo must confront the deadly swarm and save their home, discovering their inner strength and the true meaning of friendship along the way.

Skyfleet: March of the Mutabugs is a thrilling tale of adventure and resilience, perfect for middle-grade readers.

Review

Victoria Williamson has done it again. She has built a believable, futuristic, dystopian world where mutabugs are taking over, causing chaos and harm. Added to that, new giant mutabugs hatching from a crater caused by a meteor that are threatening all the villages and crops. Giant spiders, immune to the majority of weapons the bedraggled Skyfleet can throw at them, are snatching villagers and cocooning them.

The only craft with strong enough fire power is out of action and irreparable (according to the adults). However, Amberley and her best friend Ric know better. With a little help from renegade pilot Screwball (I couldn’t help thinking of Wacky Races whenever she and Bandit were involved) and her pet wombat, they collect the scraps needed to repair the Firehawk.

Showing determination and skill, they secretly rebuild and test the jet, but end up involved in more than they bargained for when they get caught up in a mutabug attack that could finish everyone off.

Themes of loss, disability, friendship, resilience and courage come through strongly in this adventurous sci-fi dystopian thriller. Highly recommended.

Thanks to @The_WriteReads and Tiny Tree (publisher) for the ARC to read and review for this blog tour.

Pax and the Forgotten Pincher by David Barker

On By @f33lthesunIn Upper KS2+Leave a comment
Cover by Bruno Oliveira Marini

This is the sequel to the excellent Pax and the Missing Head, which I read and reviewed here. I was happy to be asked by the publisher, Tiny Tree, to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb

Pax has made it through the trials of his first year at Scholastic Parliament, but any hopes of a quieter second year are quickly dashed when he makes a shocking discovery in the school’s basement. A new student joins the school, acting suspiciously and muscling in on Pax’s friendship with Samuel. At least being reigning champions in the Parliamentary Polls allows Pax and his friends to explore the city at weekends. But drone raids and cyber-attacks disrupt life in New London while a paranoid mayor cracks down hard on terrorism.

Unwittingly, Pax helps an innocent man get captured. Driven by guilt, he seeks out the Underground resistance movement and is given a mission to steal some codes from the mayor. In the process, Pax uncovers the shocking truth about a new factory that threatens the lives of millions of people. He is torn between stopping this latest sinister plot and focusing on schoolwork to keep alive his dream of becoming an engineer. To achieve both, he’ll need help. But who can he trust in a city full of falsehoods? What sacrifices will he need to make? Find out in the latest instalment in the London Falling series.

Review

In the first instalment of the London Falling series, we left Pax having completed his first year at Scholastic Parliament, having been guided by its AI to apply and follow his dream of becoming an engineer who fixes and invents technology.

Now, in his second year, having scuppered the Mayor’s fiendish plans, he stumbles across yet another discrepancy that he thinks points to the mayor being up to absolutely no good again. However he is reluctant to confide in his friends as he doesn’t trust the new boy and one of his close friends has also changed to another school house.

David Barker has continued to develop the superb Old London world building, bringing in more of London Town this time.

Filled with tension and worry, the action is almost non stop and Pax is back to planning escapades, using Roacher and Bee-Bop, his own robot creations, in order to uncover the Mayor’s dastardly schemes to control everyone. Again, themes of friendship, loyalty, betrayal, dictatorship and trust feature heavily.

This second book builds confidently on the first. The series is on an upward trajectory and I cannot wait for Pax’s third adventure.

Nocturne with Gaslamps by Matthew Francis

On By @f33lthesunIn AdultLeave a comment

Blurb

An historical crime fiction novel set in Victorian London’s gaslit theatre scene, where ghosts lurk in the shadows and murder takes centre stage.

Gaslight. Ghosts. Murder.

Hastings Wimbury has always dreamt of playing Hamlet, but for now he works as a theatre gas-boy. Here, he tends to a gas chandelier so powerful it creates its own weather, and limelight machines that can throw a shadow onto a wall ten miles away.

When Hastings suddenly disappears, his fiancée Flora sets out to find him with the help of Cassie, her rival in love who is more preoccupied with the ghosts terrorising the streets of London. Soon total darkness is imposed upon the city, and they realise that something far more sinister is at hand…

Ladies aren’t supposed to solve mysteries, but this is a matter of life and death.

Review

As well as being about a disappearance, a murder and ghosts in the darkness of Victorian London, this story is very informative historically about how gaslight was used in theatres at the time, to create wonderfully dramatic, almost ethereal, illusions. It also highlighted to me the origins of the term “in the limelight”.

The story is noir-ish in tempo and style, with elaborate detail about the use of gaslight, the physicality and danger of the gas-boy profession and London at night. The spectacle of the “theatrical” ghostly production around London is something I would have loved to have been real and have seen for myself.

I loved the strength of character and independence of Cassie and Flora, something definitely frowned upon by society at the time. Just like me though, neither of them saw the twist at the end coming.

Thanks to Neem Tree Press for the ARC to review for this blog tour.

The Secret of the Moonshard by Struan Murray

On By @f33lthesunIn Fantasy, Upper KS2+Leave a comment
Cover and art by Vivienne To

Blurb

Domino is an eleven-year-old girl with a strange affliction: if she goes anywhere near magic, it will kill her.

All her life she’s been trapped in a floating laboratory, safe from magic but not from the cruel children and the crueler Science Barons who live there. Domino believes the Barons are trying to invent a cure for her magic allergy, but when a mysterious wizard arrives and unleashes total chaos, she discovers that everything she’s been told is a lie.

Domino escapes to the wondrous city of Abzalaymon, its streets filled with marvels she’s never seen, from automobiles to televisions to hulking thunder lizards. But the Science Barons are on her trail, and Domino must brave a hidden realm of magic if she is to defeat their sinister plot, and uncover a secret that might just save the world: the Secret of the Moonshard.

Review

Struan Murray has done it again. A superbly crafted story in a fantastically created world. The Scientarium floats above the city, tormenting Domino, who dreams of visiting it one day, who has known nothing else but the bullying / prankster revenge and testing cycles her life consists of, thanks to the Science Barons who raise her there “to protect her from magic”. Does she really need protecting?

Once again, following the highly original and exciting Orphans of the Tide trilogy, the author has delivered with a variety of well defined characters, twists and turns, magic and mayhem, chases that have you on the edge your seat and even some dinosaurs.

Creating characters with depth and believability is a special skill and Murray has this down to a fine art. The ones that I’m particularly drawn to are those who bring indecision to my mind…which side will these characters fall on when push comes to shove? Abzalaymon, the spirit, is a deliciously contrasting character, which puts you, as the reader, on edge. Will they help Domino, Calvin and Raphael…or eat them?

A book map is always a bonus.

Thanks to NetGalley and Puffin for the eARC in exchange for this review. The book will be published on March 7th 2024

The Incredible Talking Machine by Jenni Spangler

On By @f33lthesunIn Children KS2Leave a comment

Pull back the curtain and enter a world where mystery and magic take centre stage in a gloriously gothic, Victorian era adventure.

Twelve-year-old Tig works at Manchester’s Theatre Royale, cleaning, selling tickets, crawling along beams to light the gas stage lamps and anything else that is asked of her by her deliciously villainous boss, Mr Snell.

A strange and intriguing new act, a talking machine, arrives and behaves in a way that Tig just can’t work out. The machine appears to be hinting at a dangerous secret, so Tig must race against time to solve the mysterious clues. Just when she thinks she has, it turns out she was wrong and, because of her impetuousness, problems occur and her close friends start to mistrust her.

An action packed Victorian adventure full of ghosts, gadgets, a dress with pockets (if you know, you know) and shifty villains.

Jenni Spangler has used a real story to create a tense, atmospheric tale involving a cast of characters so well written that I read it in one afternoon. It helps that I have always been fascinated by stagecraft and inventions/curiosities like this

There is plenty of action, from Tig balancing on beams high above the stage in the dark, lighting the new gas stage lamps to mysterious thefts, disappearances and races to try to prevent the machine’s “open to interpretation” predictions of catastrophe.

However, the strength of the story lies in the characters that Jenni has created.

  • Tig, the feisty, impetuous, determined heroine.
  • Nelson, the sensible, cautious friend.
  • Mr Snell, the villainous, permanently nagging boss.
  • Gus, the ambitious but sneaky stagehand.
  • Mr (oops, sorry, Professor) Faber, the eccentric German inventor of the talking machine.
  • Eliza, the stage manager, who does her best to look after Tig when her “act first, think later” attitude gets her in trouble.
  • Euphonia, the talking head…does she have a mind of her own?
  • Annie…you will need to read the book to find out about her.

Chris Mould’s brilliant illustrations capture perfectly the array of characters and the gothic feel of the time, adding even more texture to an already well woven story.