STG's

The Immortality Code, by Douglas E. Richards, is a SF thriller. I've read many books by the author, and as far as I can remember, I liked all of them. This one is mostly about a scientist who posts a breakthrough in quantum computers, and the operative who is sent to protect her. I really liked the beginning of the book. The tech was pretty reasonable and the action was nice. Further on, the tech escalated quickly, and the dialog started being a bit annoying. One the twists (the memory related one) was pretty obvious from the first page. The end scenario was nice, and reminds me of The Expanse for obvious reasons. It also reminded me of Neal Asher, as he heavily uses the extra-dimensional extrusion thing in the Polity series. As usual, there is a large section on the back of the book with comments, on the choices made in the story as well the current state of the technology mentioned, which I really like. A bit weaker this time since the tech was so beyond what is known. Overall, g...

Oracle is a new book by Douglas E. Richards. This one is SF but not a technothriller - it even has aliens. The basis of the stories is that clairvoyants are real, and there are several alien groups in Earth. One of them believe a clairvoyant can win their war. It is a bit hard to write about the book without spoilers, but one thing I feel worth mentioning is how Deus Ex Machina a lot of the book is - in the sense that the rules are specifically made so that anything can happen for the story to work. For example (more spoilers ahead!) - the portals appear on an unknown schedule, possibly controlled by other aliens, and they may or may not let tech pass, depending on the convenience for the story. Same for the visions (although that one is common to pretty much any story that has visions). Overall, good, but feels more contrived than the usual by the author.

After finishing Seeker  Amazon suggested I read Mindwar, also by Douglas E. Richards. Since I had already read the first two volumes of the series, I decided to read this next. I can't review it without spoilers for the first two volumes, so stop reading now if you didn't read them. Nick Hall was kidnapped back in volume 1, and put through experiments, which got him a mental implant that can access the internet (and is a supercomputer), and also mind reading powers. As in the last volume, there is a major terrorist attack that he has to stop. Then a series of events that obviously will end in a fight between mind readers (that would be a spoiler, but I am pretty sure anyone who read the title will already have guessed it. Overall, pretty good, and recommended for fans of the series. While the author says that the book is self contained, I'd really recommend reading the first two volumes first.

Seeker, by Douglas E. Richards, is an SF novel about an alien vessel that lands on Earth and the rush to get to it. I have read a few books by the author, and like all of them, this was pretty fun. The characters feel a little phony at times, but the story flows well, is entertaining, and I liked that it didn't go the more predictable, boring way and ended in an interesting way. I don't usually feel his books are particularly memorable, but this one is definitely a cooler/not as common concept and had a better conclusion. I also really like that there is a section discussing the tech in the book and some insight on the writing.

Infinity Born, by Douglas E. Richards is an SF novel that covers em drive, brain scanning and emulation, and AIs. While the book was overall enjoyable, I felt there were some silly moments, and way too many explanations. What was happening in the opening scene felt a little too obvious to me, but I expected something like DollHouse's brain control - audio/video as a way to get control when you have no other data access felt nicer. The "magic" way actually used in the novel feels a little cheap. Major props for explaining all of the tech used and pointing to research (and even having excerpts). This is all too rare, and I feel it is very interesting to educate readers.

BrainWeb, by Douglas E. Richards, is the sequence to Mind's Eye - where a man gets kidnapped and experimented on, and as a result gets implants that allow him to use the web and read minds. In this sequel, he is working for the government when an impressive terrorist attacks takes place. The idea for it is pretty awesome, and it is unstoppable. The action here is great. You might assume that the books end with the attack being stopped. But no, this is just the beginning of the book. The rest is still good, but this start was a tough act to follow. It is still pretty good, however. Recommended, but read the first novel before reading this one - it is not really required but it will be much more enjoyable.

Mind's Eye, by Douglas E. Richards is an SF thriller where Nick Hall, awakes with no memory - and discovers that he can read minds - and that a group of assassins are trying to kill him. The threat of the technology present in the ending seems very real (since everything seems to be hackable), but the origin of the threat (can't say more without a major spoiler) does seem a little silly in context. Kudos for the author for having the female lead be cute, not beautiful. Feels refreshing compared to most books. Pretty good, and a real page turner. Recommended.