STG's

A Night Without Stars is the latest Commonwealth novel by Peter F. Hamilton, which takes place in Bienvenido. Bienvenido got sent out of the Void, and they are in even more trouble with the fallers. But someone is coming to help (if you are a Commonwealth series fan, you can probably guess who that is). As usual, it was excellent. There are many authors that I will not pre-order from, but Peter F. Hamilton has proven to be very safe in this regard. Personally I liked the high-tech bits more, but the low-tech parts were still pretty good. And plenty of action all around. The ending was pretty good, although as usual for Hamilton, it felt a bit deus-ex-machina. Still, it was foreshadowed enough that it felt fair. And the epilogue was very satisfying. Overall, strongly recommended for fans of the Commonwealth series. It'd be pretty confusing if you didn't read the rest of the Void series, though.

The Bloodline Feud is an omnibus edition of the first two books of The Merchant Princes series, by Charles Stross. I had already read the first book, way back when it was new. The story covers Miriam - a journalist that discovers that she comes from a lineage of people who jump between parallel universes. But not everyone is happy with her return, and a series of attacks and assassination attempts follow, while she is trying to create a modern business. Overall, pretty good. I was all set to get the next omnibus in the series, but so many reviews were disappointed with them that I gave up on it...

Kill Process, by William Hertling, of the Singularity series  is a techno-thriller with a lot of very reasonable tech, a lot of hacking and some murder. I was already a fan of the author, so when I got the e-mail notice of the new book I ordered it right away. The beginning is very interesting and goes through a "Dexter" part - where the main lead is a serial killer that chooses abusers. Then it goes on a completely different direction. Both parts are pretty good. I particularly liked that the tech and hacks were all very reasonable (instead of the poorly made nonsense so common in TV and other books). The ending is also pretty good. Overall, strongly recommended.

A Window into Time - by Peter F. Hamilton - is a wonderful novella about the nature of consciousness. I'm a big fan of Peter F. Hamilton series - I have reviewed several here - and if there is a new book by him I can be pretty confident that I will like it, so I got this on pre-order. It is short for a book (106 pages), being a novella rather than a novel, and it certainly feels all too short. I'm not sure how much I can say without adding too many spoilers, but the topic goes into the nature of time and consciousness. I didn't expect it to. The main character is also wonderfully defined. Great ending. Overall, excellent, and I strongly recommend checking it out.

United as One is the last volume in the I am Number Four series. It concludes the story with the final battle between the Guarde and Setrákus Ra. I really liked it. It is a fitting conclusion, although most of the apparent sacrifice is "cheated" out of. Even the aftermath was pleasant and reasonable. Overall, very good. Obviously recommended to all who followed the series so far.

Just finished The Nightmare Stacks, by Charles Stross - the latest volume in the Laundry series. Again, in this one Bob Howard doesn't even appear. I don't know if he's ever going to get back or if he got too powerful for a full book, but this time I didn't mind. In his place is Alex Schwartz, a vampire and a new hire to the Laundry (from 2 books ago). Unlike the last book, which I felt was a bit too annoying, this one was pretty great. The beginning was a little slow, but from the middle to the end it was great. I liked the choice of the "monster of the week", as well as how they were used, and the fact that instead of the hero just stopping the attack at the last second before any damage was done, that this time it went full CASE NIGHTMARE RED. The only thing I wanted was a little more of an aftermath, instead of abruptly stopping at the last second of a conclusion that should have been obvious way back in the book.

Company Town, by Madeline Ashby, is a very nice SF novel. The main character is Hwa, which starts as a bodyguard for sex workers in an oil rig in the future, in the Canada coast. I enjoyed the action, and particularly the pacing and the tech used throughout the novel. Overall, recommended.