Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This one is an irregular review.

I'll be short.

Listening to the audiobook I couldn't really believe that the crazy genetic experience happened. (No government is that stupid.)

Then the author killed the protagonist.

I could not decide if it was crazy or brilliant.

But at the end I was shaking my head, which sums up my total impression.

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The Human Division by John Scalzi

The Human Division by John Scalzi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When reading a book I often was wondering what happened to the secondary characters. What they did when not helping the hero? What kind of life they lived? Now I had the possibility to get to know more about some of them.

In The Human Division I met Harry Wilson of the Old Farts. If you haven't read the Old Man's War, you may not know who the hell I'm talking about. I can tell to you: you missed a great story, so you better go and read it. If you did, probably you remember the group of old people who signed up for the Colonial Defence Force, got a new enhanced body and became green in the process. Yes, they were the good Old Farts. They went in different ways in the CDF, Wilson became a Lieutenant in the technical service. Lately he got assigned to assist diplomats, who - well, to put it mildly - were the B Team. But don't get it wrong, in this dangerous universe even the B Team saves the ass of the Colonial Union once or twice. You may think that the most dangerous in diplomacy could be that you die of boredom during endless speeches in meetings. But rest assured: even diplomats get shot at or sucked out into vacuum from the space lock of the ship. And the assisting personnel may be beaten up by half size aliens and they may have to perform skydiving while the space station they just left is blown up. Yo know, the usual space stuff.

The book consists of 13 seemingly separate stories, but by the end a grandiose conspiracy plot takes shape against the Colonial Union. Or the Conclave. Or both. It's not really clear who is behind the scenes, and what is their purpose exactly. This is why I can hardly wait for the next book of the Old Man's War universe.

I really enjoyed Scalzi's sarcastic humour, it is one of the reasons he became one of my favourite authors.

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Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm slightly above the young adult age (around twenty five years plus), so consider my opinion taking that into account. You may ask why I read YA books then. Why not? I'm curious.

I enjoyed Insurgent. And I didn't.

The setting is quite compelling, the basic idea is really interesting. How could a society work if people are divided into factions based on their mental attitude? And I arrived to the first point I have problem with. I'm not a sociologist nor psychologist, but I'm sure it cannot work. Humans are not black and white. Humans are not of four clear colour, they cannot be put into boxes. It just doesn't work like that. The idea of creating a society based on this is born dead. But it still could be interesting to see how things can develop in a scenario like this, so I suspended my disbelief and I wanted to know, you know, "what if". It reminded me of religious cults suppressing general truths worshipping only one (often false one). I continued listening (to the audio version) as it was an experiment on one possible way to solve the society's serious issues. I put my doubts aside and flowed with the story, and I did enjoy it more. By the end of the book I learned that this environment didn't evolve, but it was established artificially. That helps a little to believe the scenario. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

In the factions individuals start to pup up as divergents, (of course they do, if they didn't the story wouldn't exist), and this society cannot handle them. They blend in pretending having one aptitude or get hunted because they cannot fit in the system. That creates a lot of tension, and gives the floor for the action.

The action moved the story forward, and kept me listening. I really liked the action scenes, those were the best parts of the book. Unfortunately in between there were scenes when the heroin agonized over exaggerated dilemmas. Maybe I've a very simple personality, maybe it was too long time ago when I was teenager, maybe being a man I cannot understand the girls (who can? :) ). Maybe Tris had mental issues. But some of the whining should have been cut out.

I would have enjoyed more world-building. There were some explanations about the supporting equipment like power supply, but I missed some technicalities how they could sustain the supporting services. It was a closed environment after all.

By the way, can somebody tell me who drove the train? People died, factions fought each other, but that damn train still run no matter what.

As I mentioned I'm not in YA age anymore, that may explain my disbelief concerning the hands off love between Four and Tris. At the age of 16-19 teenagers are much more interested in the hands on stuff of sex. It was annoying how the circumstances (or their fears or anger) "accidentally" stopped Four and Tris to get into it more deeply. I don't say there should be explicit sex scenes, not at all. But their love would have been more believable if there were scenes like "Four pulled Tris' shirt off, kissed her on the mouth and... Cut.... Tris smiled at Four and nested herself in his arms with satisfaction". Like in an old movie ;)

The character of Tris is well drawn, we get to know her deepest secrets and fears. She had a special power, she could resist the simulation. Awesome. She is mentally off balance in my opinion, but I gather that was the author's intention. But it didn't help to like her that she made stupid decisions. I mean stupid. For example when she joined Marcus. She loved Four, she knew that Four hates Marcus, she didn't trust Marcus, and didn't have evidence that it was true what he was saying, but she went with him instead of being and fighting on Four's side.

I'm sure my daughter enjoyed the book more, because she already told me she hardly can wait for the third one to come out. She is at the right age, I suppose.

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Rip-Off!

Rip-Off! by John Scalzi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The idea of "ripping off" famous stories by taking their first sentences seemed interesting, so I bought Rip-Off! I finished the book with mixed feelings. There are some great stories in it. Scalzi hits the high bar as he usually does, I liked The Muse of Fire the most. I had some good time with The Red Menace (by Lavie Tidhar) and The Big Whale (by Allen M. Steele). There were OK stories with nice twist at the end, like Writers' Block (by Nancy Kress), and there were OK stories, which were pleasant to listen to without having big endings, like The Lady Astronaut of Mars (by Mary Robinette Kowal). Then other stories were waste of time, I gave up on some of them after five minutes, for example Karin Coxswain or Death as She Is Truly Lived (by Paul Di Filippo).
So, do I suggest this book? Yes, if you have fair tolerance towards books with good stories mixed with ones going nowhere.

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House of Suns

"Uncle. Uncle!"

I look up. I realize Jenny is calling me for some time. She's standing in front of me, frowning, hands on her hips. She wears jeans and a red T-shirt "Brain rulez" written across her tits. It completely ruins her attempt to look serious. 

"Yes?" I grin at her.

"I hate to repeat myself" she says.

"Sorry Dear, I was reading."

She sighs. She knows well how deeply I can immerse in a book. I call it deep concentration, she calls it "men cannot focus on more than one thing". Women can multitask, but the male brain just doesn't work like that. When I'm reading, the outside world cease to exist. I submerge into the imaginary world of the story, I breath with it, I live in it.

Jenny crosses her arms. "And where were you this time?"

Where were I? Millions of miles and millions of years away, in another galaxy. I'm reading the House of Suns by Alistair Reynolds. It takes me far away from the everyday troubles, and makes my daily problems ridiculously subtle. This is why I love to read Reynolds. But how could I explain it to my niece? She would roll her eyes and call me a hopeless dreamer. 

I try to do it, anyway. I talk her about Campion and Purslane, the two shatterlings who travel across the universe through hundreds of thousands of years, in deep sleep, waking to fly into adventures. They witness the rise and fall of human empires. It puts the mind on test just to imagine the scale of the distance and time they travel. I know Jenny is a practical gal, so I tell her about the trouble the protagonists get into, the danger they face and the adventure they are part of. When I mention that their enemies almost kill them, trying to eliminate their whole genetic line, and I talk about the spaceship chase and the monumental ending, her eyes sparkle with interest.

"Must be hell of a story" she says.

"It is, indeed" I say. I don't mention the things I don't like in the book: it is too long in some places, and all the characters talk exactly in the same punctual, high class way. These doesn't seem important to mention to Jenny.

"Well, since you are listening to me now, could you please give me a hand to bring in the groceries from my car?" she asks.

I supress a sigh, and put my book down. I resist to have a longing look at it, instead I put my arm around Jenny's shoulder, and I ask her while we're walking toward the door:

"What was your day like?"

She smiles at me, and I feel like being the kind uncle she can count on. The House of Suns will patiently wait for my return.

The new Star Trek movie delivers

Photo: collider.com

On Saturday with my sons I went to see the new Star Trek movie. This is a film you want to see on big screen. We were packed with popcorn, chips and M&M's and with a Coca Cola "Share a Coke with Alice" written on it. (We haven't met any Alice, so drunk all the coke.)

The new Star Trek is a typical Hollywood film. I don't mean it as criticism. It's full wit action and exciting scenes and spectacular space ships. But since I have seen so many of this kind, I could guess many of the twists. Though they were some which got me surprised. Let me explain.

The film is fast paced, there is hardly a minute without action, conflict or foreshadowing. It starts with an old formula: the crew is in a middle of trouble, which establishes the platform to show that they are tough and capable guys, even if sometimes they make stupid decisions. (I try not to spoil the story, but no promises.) Of course they hardly get out of it. Now our adrenalin level is set, we are prepared for the further complications.

Because there are complications on several levels. First there is a bad guy on the loose, who blasts or kills everyone who wants to stop him. By the way, I liked the part before he persuades an officer to blow up an operation base concealed as a library. The officer's family life is ruined by the illness of his daughter. There is hardly any dialogue, but the emotions come through nicely. Khan offers him to save his daughter. This is the only thing being said, but we know that the officer has to pay the price.

The characters are well done, if you ask me. I especially liked the development of Spock, he IS the second protagonist next to Kirk. Actually he is the one - with some help, though - who defeats Khan. I think it made the story better that he busted Khan than if Kirk would have done it. The figure of Khan is a compelling connection to the first series. I haven't seen all episodes, but I seem to remember one, when Khan was waken up from a cyrogenic sleep. Then he went berserk. At the end of this movie he is put into cyrogenic sleep. (Oops, sorry, I forgot about not giving spoilers.) Another connection to the series that now the young Spock asks advice from the old himself how to defeat Khan. Nice touch. At the beginning of the movie Khan was the dark, bad guy, but later when he revealed his motivation I completely understood his reasons. He was betrayed and at the end general Marcus who used Khan for his own purposes was bigger, badder guy than Khan. An interesting take on villains. By the way, it was really predictable that Khan was going to betray Kirk - one of those elements I guessed right beforehand. The other thing which was predictable - now, spoilers again - was the revival of Kirk. Not only the fact that he cannot stay dead, because then how could he save the world later, but the I knew how it could be done before he actually died. One character I couldn't place was the general's daughter, I couldn't figure out her importance.

There was lasergun shooting, of course, and space battle too, it wouldn't be Star Trek without them. Supported by the modern computer technology it was really enjoyable. And there was it: a bigger and more powerful spaceship than the Enterprise, coming after our heroes with full warp thrust. As you can guess it was defeated by the Enterprise crew's bravery. And some nasty tricks, but this is what the bad guy gets when he messes up with the heroes.

There were some errors I spotted, for example the little furry thing the doc experimented with. The Enterprise was free falling and bouncing and turning around itself, but the little fella stayed right on the table. But in the heat of the final battle, I quickly got over it.

The Star Trek into Darkness delivers in several levels. It's full with action, so you never get bored. It's full with emotions, which drives the story. And it's a spaceship movie, man. Go and watch it.

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

Jenny went to see a movie with her friends, something involving romance and love and tears and happy ending. Jack is late from work, he sent me a message complaining about due dates and evil bosses. I'm home alone, so I'm playing my Best of 90's CD so loud that the walls are resonating. Those were the days...

Since nobody disturbs me, I'm catching up wit some reviews I should have written weeks ago. I start with the one about The Ghost Brigades. I'm big fan of John Scalzi, so this review will be totally subjective. If you want to read an objective evaluation of the book, try some other place. If you are still interested in my opinion, here it is.

I like John Scalzi's work since I listened to the Old Man's War audiobook. That was the first one I have read from him. I immediately appreciated his humor, which adds a layer to his books.

The story of The Ghost Brigades happens in the same universe as the Old Man's War, and I loved that Sagan was part of this story. (If you don't know: Sagan is the clone of Perry's wife, who dies before Perry joins the army.  Perry and Sagan have an interesting relation.) It gives extra connection to the previous book. By the way, it really helps if you read the Old Man's War, because a lot of ideas grow from that story, and you can understand better what's going on.

If you haven't read The Ghost Brigades, better go and read the description before I get to the details, so you have an idea what I'm talking about.

The Ghost Brigades could be a simple space-military type of book if it hadn't several layers. The base of the story: the Colonial Defense Forces fights against the threat from three alien species, who made an alliance against  the humans. This already gives reason for a few exciting actions, like taking a research base by force or kidnapping the heir of an alien race. Or blow up the generator and shot the bad guys' base to pieces.

But more is at stake, because by the end of the book we learn that hundreds of races making alliance and other races are making their counter-alliance, so something BIG is going on in the background.

If we go deeper, we see how the Ghost Brigades soldiers are born. Or made would be the better word, because they are clones of people who died on Earth and didn't have the chance to join the CDF as Perry did in Old Man's War. Which raises a series of questions. How can they coop with the fact that they are very young yet fully grown adults? By their "teenager" years they could be retired veterans. And how can they develop an own consciousness? The Brainpal implant seems to solve this issue by providing all the necessary information while they discover the world.

Talking about the brain implant: it is amazing. Not only because it's like an endless source of information, but because it provides deep integration between soldiers. Scalzi unfolds the possibilities of this technology to several degrees, and uses it's impact to create compelling situations and also trouble. Which makes the story more interesting.

The implications of the consciousness-transfer is well done, and its contribution to the final conflict is well played out. Also brings some interesting questions: who really is Jared? The newborn CDF soldier or the incarnation of Boutin, the bad guy? Can the consciousness of Boutin take over completely, or Jared develops his own personality?

There are some really good twists and turns in the story. And of course, there is the characteristic Scalzi humor (for example the stone throwing), which is like a good spice to a delicious food.

It may seem too sentimental, but I liked the ending: Perry, Sagan and Zoe will be a family most probably. I suppose I will know more when I read Zoe's Tale.

I already purchased The Last Colony, and hardly can wait to listen to it.

Immersed in Hyperion

I'm sitting in the dark room, alone, my eyes tries to make out the forms in the shadows, and I see the furniture as pieces of the past long gone. I put my feet on the small table next to my armchair, like a wanderer who spends his well-deserved rest time after a long, exhausting journey. The fireplace glooms, flames dance around each other as they consume the logs relentlessly, converting the once living wood into dead ashes. Time seems to stop, like a slow creek entering the tranquil lake, which smooth as a mirror, in the absence of the wind. My mind wonders, I'm not in the room anymore, but I rise, I ascend high, I leave the stratosphere, and enter the metasphere, where space and time circle around each other trying to decide whether they are individual forces of nature, or they belong together joining their forces and swarming into a higher being, who may be perceived as hand of God. From here the material world is only the shallow playground of the soul, the human body is small, laughable, like the carapace of an ant. I recognise shadow-like figures around me, moving in slow determination towards their destiny. They are far, far away, yet so close I could touch them. They move to the rhythm, the symphony of the metasphere, they march to the sound of the drums of the time, unable to free themselves from the bonds of the space, determined to follow their destiny and fulfil their purpose. The game is set thousands of years ago, and I see unfolding the giant plot, which interlaces the galaxies, and moves the characters as marionettes on ropes. The symphony rises into a shattering crescendo, light fills the metasphere around me, the shadows are judged to extinction and cast out of the universe, the hero is lift up above all, and the justice wins once for all. Then everything becomes silent, very still, like dreams on the surface of the lake.
I open my eyes, and tapping on my mobile I close the audiobook application. I finished Fall of Hyperion written by Dan Simmons, narrated by Victor Bevine. It's not easy to return to the real world, but I stand up, go to my desk and opening my laptop I start to write the review of the book. I type: "I'm sitting in the dark room..."
Jack enters, but doesn't say anything. He takes advantage of that I'm sitting at my working desk, so my armchair is empty, and he sits down. He sits back, stretches his legs and clutches his nape with his hands. He waits until I stop typing and stare at the screen, still trying to figure out the emotions Hyperion caused inside me. Then he asks:
"What are you working on, uncle?"
"Writing review of Fall of Hyperion."
"Ah, Fall of Hyperion. That's an interesting one. What did you write so far?"
I'm reading the text aloud for him, like reciting a poem, my voice is trembling in some places, going sublime just before the end, then settling down like a fragile butterfly on a flower. The dim light of the fireplace and the screen of my computer add a soft touch to my performance.
"That's cool!" says Jack. "But not sure it's a review."
"I know, but it's hard to put Hyperion into a few sentences. I don't know what to think about it."
"Did you like it?"
"Yes. And no."
I hardly can see Jack's face, but I can tell he frowns. So I explain:
"I liked it, because there is cool stuff in it: space travel, teleport devices, future technology, cyborgs, artificial intelligence, time paradox and such. Simmons created a believable future world. The characters are alive, detailed. The story has a huge arc of events in space and time. There are a lot of compelling ideas."
"My favourite is Uman, the super intelligent being" - says Jack. Sometimes he surprises me with his preferences of story characters.
"But I didn't like that it was too complicated" I continue. "By the end of the book I felt it's just too much. Too many subplots, too many heroes, too many places."
"I hear you, uncle, the story is really complex. You should listen to the two Hyperion books again. Maybe you can grasp the details better."
"Maybe sometime later. Now I feel overwhelmed."
"You know what? Why don't we open a bottle of vine and talk about it?"
It's not a bad idea. The situation reminds me of my childhood summer camp when we sat around the camp fire and told ghost stories. I'm not a child anymore, and the Hyperion books are not ghost stories, but they have enough mysticism to talk about them next to the fire.
"I have a bottle of red Bordeaux" I say.
Ten minutes later I'm sitting in my armchair, Jack's in the other one. We nurture our vine in our hands, and staring into the dancing flames we talk about the fascinating world of Hyperion.

Swarm by B. V. Larson

This is a real scifi with aliens, robots, spaceships and laser guns. Time after time it is refreshing to listen to an audiobook without overcomplicated concepts. The story goes around an old concept: aliens attack the Earth to pirate its raw materials. Other aliens send help, so the humanity has a chance to defend itself. But then comes a spin: the help arrives in a form of automated ships, which pick up their command personnel by their own. In the process selecting the suitable candidates they kill the unsuitable ones without hesitation.

After losing his children, it takes time for the hero to come to the conclusion that these ships are not evil, but simply follow an algorithm. Nothing is black and white, as it is the case in real life.

I enjoyed the story, which develops from ships killing people to war with giant robots. And of course, there are nanorobots, which injected into people make them superhuman.

If you want a "shoot the alien robots" type of story, this one will entertain you.

Redshirts by John Scalzi

I'm fan of Scalzi since I read Old Man's War. I could hardly wait to lay my hand on Redshirts. If you've read Scalzi before, you have some idea what to expect. Interesting plot, good characters and sarcasm, which mix into an enjoyable story. And I got it this time, too.

I love the story. Besides being a story on its own, it is a tribute to Star Trek. I was too young to watch the original Star Trek series, but I was deeply involved in The Next Generation and Voyager as audience. So the message comes through just fine.

Spoiler here, so you may want to skip this paragraph if you haven't read the book. The "protagonist realize that he is within a story, being a puppet of the writer" can be a cliché, but Scalzi does it well, and I like the part when the story characters come into the real world. The way Hester (I'm spelling it after hearing, I hope it spells like this) saves Matthew's life is really original.

It is a nice touch that Wil Wheaton narrates the audio book, who himself was part of the show, being more than an extra :) I have one problem with the narration, though. He does it on the same voice, no matter which character speaks. The intonation is very good, but I miss that the tone of the voice doesn't change (as, for example Nick Podehl performs in The Wise Man's Fear).

And I have another problem: every time somebody speaks, there is that " he said". Or "she said". Or "(place the name here) said". Sometimes "asked" instead of "said". Every time the dialogue goes to another character. Every. Time. It drove me crazy at the beginning, then it faded to slightly irritating.

I like the codas, by the way. I enjoy those stories, which have cross-references to other stories, or feature characters from another one. They give a deeper layer to the book, and they have their own message.

Live Free or Die (Troy Rising, #1) by John Ringo

I listened to the audiobook version.

The story takes an interesting approach to alien contact. An advanced race, the Glatun places a space gate close to Earth, which makes possible to travel huge distances. Doing so, they connect the Earth to the other species. But instead of a big hype, they simply give a "phone notification" to the presidents of the most important countries, and then they leave.

Another unusual turn is that another race, the Horvath oppresses the Earth, taking our valuable metals.

Usually, in other books what comes next is a heroic fight for the freedom of the planet, but not in this one. Vernon takes small steps, first trading with the Glatun to get finance for other projects, and then he buys space ships to mine asteroids. Finally he builds a super asteroid-fortress to defend the Earth from the Horvath. This makes the story more "real", more believable.

Another point, which distinguishes this story from the tiresome hollywood plots is that people die in the fight. Whole cities are destroyed.

The one thing I found disturbing is that the author gave too much scientific details. While it could be compelling to someone working in the research or science field, sometimes it was boring for me.

I think the title really fits the story, because the main character, Tyler Vernon rather dies than let the aliens occupy the Earth. Vernon is not a hero like Superman. He is an ordinary man, but still he has strong values.

I enjoyed this audio book, and recommend for listening.

Redshirts by John Scalzi is out

Old Man's War is my favourite book. If you can get the audiobook version, don't hesitate, it's awesome.

His new book, Redshirts is out. First I was disappointed that the kindle version will come out on 15 November. Who can wait so long? Not me. Fortunately I could buy the Audible version, and I'm looking forward to listen to it.

Review: The sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Being a sci-fi fan, I don't really know why I haven't read this book earlier. It's a classic one.

The Sirens of Titan is very well written, I enjoyed the unmistakable style of Vonnegut. His satiric voice is famous, and is a trade mark of his stories. His choice of words is very good.

Using important subjects, for example religion, the book mocks at the human nature, which sometimes can take strange curves.

The story is funny, and often surprising. Vonnegut don't spare the characters, he gives them hard time.

I suspect that there were more hidden messages behind the front story, which I couldn't really grab. By one hand because I'm not good in deciphering symbols, sometimes I have trouble finding the hidden message between the lines. And by the other hand because the book was written in 1959, in a completely different era, with different problems, different world and all.

Still, there is something strange about the Sirens of Titan I cannot put my finger on - is it intentional? - so I gave four stars.

Axis by Charles Wilson

I enjoyed Spin, the prequel of this book, and I was looking forward to read Axis. The story is interesting. It picks up the storyline 30 years after Spin ends, and it is about the alien race who caused Earth's spinning. Scientists try to establish a connection by altering the DNA of a child, who - according to the hopes of the scientists - would be able to "speek" with them.

While the idea is compelling, I was disappointed at the end. I felt the book unfinished. The whole purpose of the story was to pave the way to the big event of the connection with the aliens. But I never learned what happened when the superboy entered the gate and finally met the aliens.

Most of the time I enjoyed Wilson's writing, but several times I skipped paragraphs, because I found them only ranting.

Jewels by Lakisha Spletzer

Author: Latisha Spletzer

Description: "Special Lieutenant Jewels Enbran, a human telepath unable to shield her mind from thoughts, uses telepathic anchors who protect her vulnerable mind. Her current anchor, Colonel Jeremy Lingley, is nearing burnout. An alien race is seeking an alliance with Earth and the pair are assigned the mission of discovering the aliens' secrets.

Crown Prince Dex LoudRoar is a Gatoan warrior and a royal with a terrible secret. His people wage a constant war against their enemy, the Lupinious empire. But the tide of battle is turning and his people seek help from a new source: the humans of Earth.

With an interstellar war looming, Jewels and Dex seek salvation for their planets and find their destinies changed forever." (Amazon)

What I think

I discovered the Adopt an Indie website, and I thought I gave it a shot. I love science fiction, so I picked up this book. Attention: spoilers.

First, I must say I expected a science-fiction story. Telepaths, aliens, warriors, space war - what else it could be? Actually it is more. It is a paranormal romance science-fiction book. Yes, there are telepathy involved, but in a higher level than just "talking with your mind". Yes, there are aliens in the book, though it is funny that cat-like aliens fight with dog-like ones. And yes, there are space ships and war, though that part could last longer for my taste.

Being a man, I'm not expert in romance (didn't I say this earlier?), but as far as I can tell, the romance worked just fine. At the end, I believed that the human woman fell in love with the cat prince, and their love and desire became fulfilled.

I liked that the telepathy was taken to a higher level. Those characters possessing this ability, not only communicated with each other, but could apply bigger mental forces. I found the mental shielding mate role interesting.

I missed some more sci-fi, though. But I know it's just me, being science-fiction fan.

There is one thing I should mention: there were too much telling instead of showing. I would have appreciated more showing during action, it would make the book more dynamic and enjoyable.

My rating: I give three stars. This is just because I'm fan of pure sci-fi. If you like romance and paranormal stories more, you may give it better rating.

Heirs of Mars

Author: Joseph R. Lewis, who has written several books, one of them is the Heirs of Mars.

Description: Let me quote Joseph (from his site):

Asher Radescu was the last human to come to Mars, but he didn’t find the romance and adventure he craved. Instead, he lives in a truck delivering supplies to frontier habs and secretly builds neural clones to keep civilization from collapsing. When an android bounty hunter discovers that Asher is one of the people responsible for the dangerous cloning technology, the entire population of Mars is threatened with annihilation. With the help of underground cloners, resurrected colonists, android defectors, and one gorgeous racing celebrity, Asher must end the first war on Mars before the violence consumes them all.

My opinion:

The science-fiction is always about what if. Heirs of Mars has three what ifs.
- What if there was a colony on Mars, people trying to survive in the grim living conditions?
- What if clones would be possible to create? Not the grow-from-human-cell type, but the transfer-human-personality-to-artificial-body type.
- What if it would be possible to give human spirit to machines?
Actually there is a fourth point to this:
- What if these all come together in Mars?

Each of these ideas are worth to write a book about, and their mixture adds another layer to the story. There are several conflicts of interest, which make the book more interesting. The population is dropping, and the only solution seems to be the cloning. The androids want to kill the cloners, because cloning technology threatens their existence. The clones are not like human copies, but more like plastic dolls, so not every colonist likes them. The clones' personality is created in similar way than the androids', so they are not so far from each other. Oh, and some androids sympathize with the humans.
Complicated? It is not so when reading the book.

The characters are rich, well drawn, I could easily empathize with them. Besides the human emotions, I found interesting to see inside of the dilemmas of clones and androids.

There is a lot of action, which makes the book a page turner.

There are two small issues I need to mention. In the beginning I was a little bit confused about who is who and who does what, but later it became clear. And I expected a higher level crisis at the end of the book instead of more, relatively smaller ones during it. (Maybe it's just me, affected by Hollywood scenes.)

Format / Typo issues: nothing worth to mention.

My rating: I give it four stars. I give five stars to books which leave me amazed, considering the story and how they are written. The Heirs of Mars almost made it. Definitely worth the money.