N.T. Kova

Review – Sub-Human

April 23, 2020June 8, 2023 N.T. Kova

I actually really enjoyed Sub-Human by David Simpson. It was fast paced, action filled, and enjoyable to read. It had quite a few tropes and clichés, but that said, I think the book handled them well. It is a popcorn flick, and if you expect something more, you’ll be disappointed. However, if you’re looking for something to read something like an 80’s Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, this might be it. It’s fun and interesting, as long as you don’t think about it too hard. I actually couldn’t put the book down at certain times because I was glued to the action…

Continue Reading→

Review – Orbs

April 9, 2020June 8, 2023 N.T. Kova

The premise of Orbs by Nicholas S. Smith is relatively interesting, but there are several things that, honestly, just ruined the book for me. One problem is the constant jump in viewpoints, sometimes several times within the same scene! It makes it a quite jarring and confusing. Also, half the time I’m left wondering why the jump happened. Can’t the main character notice the tension in her ex-lover and thus relate to the reader his state of mind? Do we have to jump to his view point for a single paragraph just to find it out? And then, jump back…

Continue Reading→

Encounter

March 26, 2020June 8, 2023 N.T. Kova

“Hold Him!” Kristof yelled, aiming his bow. “What do you think I’m doing?” Varios snapped back landing a punch right into the beast’s eye. The beast roared and turned its jagged tusks onto Varios, who took the hit with his shield. Kriftof unleashed an arrow barrage into the side of the beast, but most of them bounced off the scales. “God damn it. I can’t hit this thing.” Kristof lowered his bow. “I need to hit it in the eye or something.” Varios wanted to punch Kristof more than the beast now, but instead he just said, “Take aim!” Then…

Continue Reading→

Review – Transmission

March 19, 2020June 8, 2023 N.T. Kova

Transmission is a young adult novel with a 13 year old boy as a protagonist and I actually enjoyed this book. I’m not big on young adult novels as the problems teenagers face seemed irrelevant to me even when I was a teenager, but this book was well written and avoided many of the tropes of young adult sci-fi. Perhaps it is because the protagonist finds out at the very beginning of the book that he is dying and, so normal teenage problems are not really part of his life anymore. There were a few moments that made me cringe…

Continue Reading→

Review – The Red Thread

March 12, 2020June 8, 2023 N.T. Kova

I enjoyed The Red Thread by Sofia Samatar. It is a quick read or a quick listen (there’s a button right there on the website). The story is told as a series of short letters to Fox and as the protagonist writes she tells of her current predicament and revisits old memories. I really enjoyed the style and the format. A quick glance into a very different world and a life lived in it. If you have 25 minutes, read it, you won’t regret it. Or listen to it on your way to work. I found it in the Light…

Continue Reading→

Review – The Forever War

February 20, 2020February 18, 2020 N.T. Kova

What can I say? Read it! I mean, drop everything you’re doing and read The Forever War by Joe Haldeman . I can go on about the fantastic short writing style, the visceral subject matter, or the fact that I actually cried reading it, but all of those would be superficially inadequate reasons. This book is now my #1 by such a high margin that it’s sitting on top of mount Everest, while the other books in my list haven’t even gotten to base camp. Even if you don’t like sci-fi, even if you don’t like “war” books, even if…

Continue Reading→

Review – Ambassador 1: Seeing Red

February 13, 2020February 12, 2020 N.T. Kova

While reading Ambassador 1:Seeing Red, I’ve been guilty of putting it down and not thinking about it for a few days (or even weeks) before I would pick it up again. And honestly, the reason why I would continue reading it is for this review. So, yea, you guessed it, I’d Skip it, if I were you. But the question in my mind was why did I find it so un-engaging? The book started with a bang (literally – a bomb blew up) with ramifications for our protagonist and the wider world. It’s true that I didn’t know much about…

Continue Reading→

The Wind

January 30, 2020January 30, 2020 N.T. Kova

She stayed awhile longer in bed, feeling the soft tenderness of the clean sheets. Drifting in and out of consciousness was pleasant and everything seemed bright, warm, and comforting. Eventually the desire to start the day outgrew the white plushness and she got up. She set up her favourite tune, somewhat up-beat, somewhat smooth and slipped into the shower. The water was warm and the steam itself seemed to emanate a pleasant vanilla aroma. Breakfast was already waiting in her room and she gladly started to eat, even though she thought it was unnecessary. “I’d like to cook something” she…

Continue Reading→

Review – The Mapmaker’s Apprentice

January 23, 2020January 23, 2020 N.T. Kova

The Mapmaker’s Apprentice is book 2 of the Glass and Steele series. It takes place immediately after the events in the Watchmaker’s Daughter and Oh My God, this book was boring! Definitely Skip it! Even if you like this type of Mystery Romance Historical Fiction, Skip it! At the very beginning it started with what was practically a recap of the previous book. Almost like “Previously On” on a TV show. Then, it continued with meaningless banter for way too long. And yes, banter is good and fun, but when it goes on and on without a point. Jeez. Finally,…

Continue Reading→

Review – The Watchmaker’s Daughter

January 16, 2020January 16, 2020 N.T. Kova

The good: it takes place in the late 1800’s in London and our protagonist is a (like the title suggests) Watchmaker’s Daughter. Unfortunately for her, her dad just died and her fiancé broke off the engagement after receiving her dad’s store in the will. So, our protagonist is screwed. No work, no money, no one to turn to. The book gets points for an interesting start for our protagonist and for making us care about her quite fast. Then, she meets a mysterious man from America… ahhh!, I realized, this is a romance! People label your books properly, so i…

Continue Reading→