Infinitum by Tim Fielder is a Afrofuturistic, sci-fi, graphic novel, that spans the civilized history of man on Earth and beyond. This title came to my attention when the author did an interview recently on WBAI. It’s a quick read, just under 300 pages and piqued my interest because it was a sci-fi, Afro graphic story.
The main character, begins as an African king, Aja Oba. King Aja Oba and Queen Lewa, respected and loved throughout Africa and his successful kingdom, have everything but a son and heir. The King does, however, have a son with his concubine.
Obinrin, a sorceress, has a son with King Oba. For generations in King Oba’s kingdom, it was tradition for the sorceress clan to marry the royal clan – Oba and Obinrin were promised to each other since they were children, but Oba married Lewa to form an alliance with another kingdom. When King Oba decides to take Obinrin’s son for him and his Queen to raise as the heir to the throne, the sorceress curses Oba to eternal life.
As the years pass, everyone around Oba, his wife and son included, grows old and dies. Oba then realizes what was done to him, how he is truly cursed. Because of grief and loneliness, Oba loses interest in ruling and sees the demise and destruction of his kingdom. Oba lives and lives, while people close to him die from disease and warfare. He lives through the ages, witnessing and participating in events spanning Earth’s history, from the beginnings of civilization to the end of the Earth’s life span. He goes from African King Oba to John, ruler of planets and the stars – I loved the graphics throughout. This was a cool read. I hope you check it out. E-copies are available at the local library.
The Atlantis Grail Series by Vera Nazarian is a four-book series. I bought book one, Qualify, from Bookbub and was hooked. These novels are extremely creative, engrossing and enjoyable. The characters are wonderful and well developed. The books are well written with humor, suspense and thrills and the science fiction is stellar. I loved all four books and will read the prequels and novels, novellas the author has planned for the series. If you liked Hunger Games, Star Wars and Harry Potter, give this series a read.
The series starts with Qualify, as the Earth’s existence is threatened by an asteroid on a collision course. Humanoids from Earth’s past, the lost city of Atlantis, now living on a distant planet of the same name, return and offer to help. But only teenagers can withstand the journey, using their jump space technology. We meet the Prince of Atlantis, Aeson Kassiopei, the young ruling commander of the Atlantean fleet and his elite crew – wonderful characters.
Not all teens are acceptable though, you have to be bright, talented and athletic and you MUST have a singing voice so you can work with their operating systems. Atlantean tech is based on sound. Their ships and devices are made from an Atlantean metal, orichalcum, that responds to tones and frequencies.
Once through the preliminary selection, training begins because you must qualify to take the journey to Atlantis. Qualify or die! The protagonist throughout the series is sixteen-year-old Gwen Lark. She and her siblings go through the qualifying training and competition in book one. Those who qualify, take the year-long journey to Atlantis in book two, Compete, and go through further training to become pilots, learn the technology and culture of Atlantis and make the decision whether they want to have military or civilian careers on Atlantis. The reader learns a lot more about the culture and ruling structure of Atlantis on this journey.
Book three, Win, Gwen is forced to compete with other Atlanteans in the Games of the Atlantis Grail, where ten winners are granted full citizenship and also whatever they wish – Gwen wants her parents and older brother to join her on Atlantis. In this third book, we see that not all Atlanteans are equal, the majority of them are the working-class who are non-citizens. These games are brutal, deadly and heartbreaking because some of the contestants are very young, but it’s an awesome read!
In book four, Survive, we find out why the asteroid is on course for Earth, how to save it, and why ancient Atlanteans left Earth. The author relates that as living beings, we are connected to all things, including the cosmos itself; it is the key to traveling through space – I was almost in a trance when I read this, it was just brilliant. This series is for ages 12 years and up, so I hope people of all ages give this a read. There is also a romance for Gwen of course, but I can’t like, tell you everything! Several novellas are pending, with a new one just released called Aeson: Blue that I will definitely be reading.
Zero World by Jason M. Hough is a futuristic sci-fi that is a great fast-paced read. Protagonist, Peter Caswell, a techno enhanced superspy, is routinely sent on missions to kill targets if need be. On these missions, he is only given days to complete and then his memory is reset and erased. On this assignment, Peter is sent to find a crewmember of a once lost spaceship with a murdered crew found onboard. Peter must find the only surviving and missing crewmember, Alice Vale, believed to have gone through a tear in the fabric of space, leading to an alter-Earth.
This mirrored world is completely different from the high-tech, advanced Earth that Peter knows. He manages to form an alliance with an agent named Melni, whose rebel organization wants to kill Alice Vale, now known as Alia. Alia has become a powerful and wealthy technology wiz and tyrant, using technology from Earth to dominated this alter-Earth. She lives in luxury, while the main of the population live in war-torn provinces with very little. She releases her “inventions” at opportune moments to control the population and has no problem imprisoning, torturing or killing anyone who is a threat or opposes her.
Peter and Melni race against time, well, Peter’s expiration mission time, to capture Alia and bring her back to Earth. I was absorbed and engaged till I reached the end of this sci-fi thriller, namely, the open ending, meaning a sequel (That was like a kick in the gut). So, I’m waiting. I go to the author’s website and learn that the author and his editor decided to go with the open ending because of the many potential possibilities the story held, but they didn’t actually have a contract from the publisher for a sequel. The authors says that if he doesn’t get a contract he may self-publish. Well, here I am waiting for the author’s sequel. He needs to get a contract or self-publish ….. Please?