My Buddy Gave Me A Starship By Myles Christensen - Lots Of Laughs Excellent Entertainment

My Buddy Gave Me A Starship by Myles Christensen

I received a copy of this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

With a title like this one, there is no way I could resist reading.

My Buddy Gave Me A Starship is a space opera from the lighter side. But it isn’t all fun and games when characters play in the backdrop of deep space meeting alien species both friendly and malicious. The tale is packed full of action and adventure to keep a reader on the edge of their seat. The characters are believable, and it isn’t difficult to relate to their plight. I was pulled in right from the opening page and the pace of the story ramps up quickly. The world-building is also excellent, and the reader will see numerous vistas, both beautiful and menacing.

I found this book quite refreshing after reading a lot of serious sci-fi. It runs the full gamut of emotion, and one cannot help but love most of the characters while deploring a few others.

The story opens with a man named Mitch, who goes to work one morning and is greeted by his supervisor, who apologetically dismisses him. He seems to have made a costly mistake involving a project he worked on.

So, Mitch does what any down on his luck guy would do. He heads to his favorite diner and orders a large bowl of ice cream to drown his sorrows. Mitch’s lifelong friend, Gabe, sits down with him and says he has something he is sure will cheer him up. After a short drive, Gabe opens his barn to reveal a starship parked inside! Gabe explains how he found the ship and how he has been making repairs and upgrades.

To say it cheered Mitch up would be a gross understatement. Mitch is astounded and wants to take a flight. Gabe promises they will do a flight test the next day.

Like a kid who is headed to his first professional baseball game, Mitch arrives at Gabe’s place to find a small group of people in commando gear preparing to take the ship for themselves. Then he discovers Gabe has been severely injured in his encounter with the commandos. So, Mitch does what anyone would do in such a situation. He gets onto the ship, belts himself into the pilot’s seat, and orders the onboard AI to take the ship rapidly “anywhere but here.”

The AI complies by transporting the ship a distance of six-hundred light years in the blink of an eye. And that’s only the beginning!

The tale is heavily character driven. Too much information would spoil the story.

Mitch is a human who finds himself unemployed until he finds his best friend has been wounded by commandos who want the ship Gabe has found. His aim is to find justice for Gabe.

Tera is Mitch’s artificially intelligent companion, modeled on a fifteen-year-old snarky female. She helps Mitch learn to run the ship, but is sometimes hesitant to share important information until the last minute. Her personality often causes Mitch just a bit of frustration and drives the humor in the story.

Vrynn is an alien female who wants the ship to fight in a conflict with an oppressive organization. She becomes a valuable aid to Mitch as well as depending on him for help.

My favorite point of plot in My Buddy Gave Me A Starship is the interaction between the characters. They all have goals and help each other try to realize them. The humorous banter between them is priceless! I think this is where the author really shines in his writing. It is through the principal character’s interactions that the story unfolds as we also get to know them. It is hard not to care about them and their plight.

My takeaway from this tale is to remember no matter how bad things seem, stay optimistic. The closing of one door may lead to the opening of another, which might lead to the adventure of a lifetime.

While the trope in My Buddy Gave Me A Starship is an old, well-worn one, and Myles Christensen has given it a fresh treatment, and it is eminently entertaining, engaging, and a whole lot of fun. The characters have depth inspiring the reader to care for and root for their success. The backdrops are well fleshed out and full of interesting variety. The writing is clear, and the tech is easy to understand. This is a great opening to a series of stories, and I look forward to future installments. The story is complete in itself and I loved the great plot twist at the end!

Highest Recommendations!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Myles Christensen loves to write exciting adventures because he loves to read exciting adventures. The hopeless romantic in him will usually sprinkle a teensy bit of romance into his stories. While writing, he listens to music that matches—and sometimes inspires—the storyline.

His mild-mannered alter ego is a product development engineer, university professor, and game inventor. He lives in Utah with his wife and children.

Well, there it is...

Qapla!

A World Apart By Alan M. Weber - The Aliens Have Landed And Promise To Make Things Interesting

A World Apart by Alan M. Weber

I received a copy of this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

This story is not like anything I have read before. Oh, I've read political thrillers, colonization sci-fi, and first-contact alien stories frequently, but in my personal recollection, nothing like A World Apart. I found it mesmerizing. And I loved everything about it.

Weber presents his tale at an easily digestible pace that goes by very quickly. I found it so engaging I probably could have read all 188 pages in one sitting, but one has to sleep sometime. The prose is also very accessible to those who are not fans of sci-fi full of technical jargon and complicated ideas. It is a character driven tale with people that are real in all the ways that count. The dialog between the characters advances the story without having to explain a lot of the plot in info-dumps.

Much of the time while I read this book, I saw shades of the movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still (the 1951 film directed by Robert Wise) and also could hear strains of John Lennon's song, Imagine. 

A World Apart opens with a scene between two neighbors, formerly friends, who are verbally bashing each other over their political philosophical differences. This scene really hit home as being very realistic, and not atypical of what might actually happen in any neighborhood. That scene is followed by other snapshots of life in today's social climate. Other than expressing anger and hate, the three scenes all have something else in common: no one notices the UFO's streaking overhead.

When the extraterrestrials land and introduce themselves, they have a bit of shocking news for the people of the Earth. They announce they are from a galactic organization that has been observing the planet since it came into being, and because of human short-sightedness, they have come to save us from ourselves because, by their estimation, we are on a path of extinction.

They explain they will "usurp" our autonomy and rid the world of those things that have "plagued" humans throughout our history and promise to do away with "increasing division, hatred, and ignorance." The manner they propose to use are set out in seven directives that will lead to sweeping changes designed to unify humans in a global population.

As one would expect, the proposals are met with various levels of acceptance or rejection. And the big question is, are they actually here with beneficial intentions, or are their reasons nefarious?

The principal character, Alan Zimmer, is a journalist of sorts. He had originally intended to be a serious journalist writing for a major newspaper, but when he needed a steady income, he began working for a tabloid, and had quite a bit of success. When he became popular, he lost his family and began a downward spiral into alcohol addiction.

Then, he was invited to become a human spokesperson for the aliens. His agreement to work with them came with changes to his life and he embraced the assignment with great vigor. But, along with a few successes came many failures, not on his part, but that of the people he needed to deliver the message to.

He is a good man who, while being accused of being a mere collaborator, stands by his convictions. Even when he is not sure of the purpose the aliens harbor, he follows through with his promise.

My favorite point of plot in this tale is the twist at the end. I'm going to leave this right here to avoid spoilers.

My takeaway is what I think is the purpose of the book is - Introspection. Alan Weber is challenging us to look inside ourselves for answers to the big questions. One might say the elephant in the room. Those things we deny are happening, or choose to ignore, or those things that cause us to be fearful of many things.

Alan is asking us to take a look inside ourselves for flaws and biases that may need to be resolved.

Beyond any message the author is challenging the reader with, it is just a great story I enjoyed reading. It is well written and easy to understand. There is plenty of action to hold one's attention, and every page-turn will spur the reader forward, wanting to know what happens next. There are a few social messages that one may derive from A World Apart, and they might cause some readers a little discomfort, but sometimes, change is drawn from a little discomfort. I didn't feel compelled to agree with any philosophical ideas in this tale, although there are points with which I agree strongly.

I would enjoy seeing this story being made into a film!

Along with the images I mentioned in the beginning (the film and the song I mentioned), I also felt as though I were reading something that might be a Twilight Zone episode. Realizing there is the famous episode of that series entitled To Serve Man (season 3, episode 24), the story in A World Apart is vaguely similar, but far different.

I recommend this story for both sci-fi fans and those who just want to read a good story.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Alan M. Weber was born in the Bronx, NY, and now lives in Woodstock, NY. He was always a would-be writer, having given poetry readings around Manhattan's Greenwich Village in his early twenties, until such time as he realized he wasn't a very good poet. Having spent most of his college days engaged in political activism rather than career planning, and seeing no practical avenue for a career in non-commercial writing, he followed his tertiary passion into the field of education. He spent forty-three years in the field, as an early childhood teacher, then administrator, and, ultimately, professor of Early Childhood Education at a community college. During all of that time, his writing was largely restricted to essays within his field, the most notable of which was a piece entitled "The Misdirection of Modern American Education," which appeared in the May, 2014 edition of The Education Digest.

Nearing his retirement, he embarked on a second career, completing and publishing his first novel, Integrating the Chapters of a Life, a memoir of sorts, which was published under a pseudonym given its revealing content. While still teaching, now as an adjunct rather than full-time, he wrote his first children's book, Not for Hurting, a picture book on the understanding and effects of war for young children. Once officially retired, he ventured into fiction, publishing a political novel, The Wedge, a somewhat prescient warning of what was to come in 2016. But it was with The Wedge that he discovered his love for fiction and, particularly, dialog. What followed were two short stories of a meta-psychological nature, which he decided to combine into his next published book, Meins of Existence. The first of the stories, "The Matter of Mind," remains particularly close to his heart.

Another children's book, What Kimi Discovered, came next. Its premise, offering an alternative to the stereotyping and otherwise inappropriate teaching about indigenous peoples all too common during the period from Columbus Day to Thanksgiving, was something he had long wanted to do. It is now part of his home school district's social studies curriculum, along with being promoted at local Pow Wow's and other venues. Then the pandemic came, and challenging himself to write a book of pure humor, an element otherwise common to his writing but never fully explored, he wrote The Mensch (having reached the age where all humor is Jewish). But there had always been the dream of writing a science fiction styled allegory, the ultimate expression of those political ideals that were born in college and had never left him. It seemed too difficult of an undertaking until a combination of experience, confidence, newfound skills and the encouragement by the writers' group he was now a part of made A World Apart possible. He considers this his "epic" work, and though he doesn't know what will follow, publishing this book has provided him with a sense of completion he has never before felt.

Well, there it is...

Qapla!

Autumn's End By BJ Levey - Is It Entertainment, Or A Warning?

Autumn's End by BJ Levey

What will AI look like in the future? According to author BJ Levey, it won't be great. As a matter of fact, it is downright horrifying.

Many people know what it is to escape reality for a time by playing a video game, or by scrolling on their phones, or by whatever means to take a break from a world overloaded with information. No one is untouchable. Nearly everyone carries a computer and information retrieval system in their pockets or purses. Sometimes it's a blessing, other times it's a curse. One is never out of touch to just be.

Now, take the above scenario to the extreme, and you get a story much like this one. Where a huge corporation has everyone addicted to virtual reality and information technology and wants to take it even further.

It is all too easy to stay out of reality and ignore all the problems happening all around until it is too late.

Scared yet? You will be when you read this gem of a tale of four people and their struggle to get back to living life in the real world.

I enjoyed this story that might also serve as a warning. It is dark, fast-paced, and full of ideas to think about long into the future as the reality of artificial Intelligence grows and what direction it will take, and it's impact on us.

It is the end of the 21st century. The world's worst nightmare has become a reality as the effects of climate change has caused rising oceans, drought, and vast uninhabitable areas on the planet. Those who are able are all moving to the north in an area controlled by the Aztec Conglomerates. Everyone has tech implants and are subject to the will of Aztec. Following a disaster perpetrated by the conglomerate, a planned rollout of a massive upgrade is imminent. Aztec claims the upgrade will make life better for everyone, but not all are convinced this is a good thing and have devoted their lives to stopping it.

Following the murder of an Aztec upgrade's lead scientist, the lives of four people are set on a collision course that may determine the fate of what is left of humanity.

The question is, can humanity be saved, and if it can, is it worth the price to be paid?

Three of the four principal characters in Autumn's End are all people who fight against impossible odds to make sure that the dystopia goes no further. Thay have, and will have to continue, to make monumental personal sacrifices to try to stop the nefarious upgrade. One character, the chairman of Aztec, has invested everything he has in the great upgrade, but even as it is developed, it becomes ever more unstable and threatening.

Every character in this tale is a tragic figure for one reason or another. They are also to be admired as they work diligently to stop what, as far as they are concerned, is sounding the final death knell of the human race. 

My favorite point of plot in this story revolves around a single character. An ex-cop who is promised to get his freedom from his tech implants if he completes a particular task given to him by an Aztec controlled AI partner. But he faces a choice, it's either his freedom or give himself over to his human side and save the woman he loves. While his choice seems like a deeply personal one on the one hand, his choice will have huge implications for the future.

My takeaway from Autumn's End is probably the same as it is for most of the dystopian AI stories I have read, and that is we should take them as a warning with what may happen in the future as this amazing technology continues to grow. I once visited with a man who projects the current trends of technology into the future and asked him a question about how far it things will go, and if we will ever become victims to our own genius. His answer was that technology will only become our masters if we allow it to. We can determine for ourselves what will be the future reality, but we must be vigilant now. If we wait too long, the result may be disastrous.

Autumn's End is a fascinating tale of technology running amok. I enjoyed it a lot, but it is an unsettling story and presents a lot for us to think about. The author says he enjoys writing dark stories, and this is only his first novel. It can be taken as entertainment, or as a warning, but no matter how the reader perceives it, it is a finely crafted story. The descriptions of the setting are often poetic and set a vivid backdrop for his characters to play in. The characters themselves, at least the human ones, are all people we can care about and come to life as they work toward their goals. The pace is fast and will spur the reader to move on to the next page, hardly leaving room to breathe until the end.

The ending of this tale was incredible.

I recommend this as an important read in this growing genre of Artificial Intelligence Sci-Fi.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

We live in very exciting, uncertain times. Technology is moving so fast that what was once science fiction not so long ago is just run of the mill today. And that gap is rapidly closing. I love reading and writing stories that examine the clash between humanity’s best intentions with all our fantastical tech and what the unintended consequences might look like. And I lean on the side of it being dark. Because we’re dark creatures. Drawn to the edge. Collectively we want to peer into the void and see what peers back.

As of 2024, I’m busy finishing my Master in Creative Writing at the University of Cape Town. I’ve loved the experience and met some really great people over the past year and half. It’s the dissertation year so I’m working steadily at “Could Be You” – a near future science fiction thriller about a guy who’s life is turned upside down by a deep fake. He loses his job, his sense of purpose and steadily his grip on what’s real. As things spiral out of control, he comes to understand he’s a small cog in a larger plan that will change what’s normal forever.

I’m a Can-African who’s called Cape Town home since 1992. I live in the burbs at the foot of Table Mountain with my beautiful wife Laura and our two sons, Nicholas and Ethan. We really do live in one of the most idyllic places on Earth and I’m grateful for it even though it comes with the downsides of crime, the lights going out too often from load shedding and brazen government corruption.

The dream is to become a full-time author, but the bills still demand to be paid. So, by day, I’m a business owner running a distribution company for LED Lighting technologies with the goal to see all of Southern Africa running emergency efficient, totally environmentally friendly lighting for all. But by night, and in the early mornings, and whatever other time I can scrape together, I’m busy writing the next science fiction best seller. Stay tuned.

Well, there it is…

Qapla!

Splitting Skies: A Metaphysical Sci-Fy Dystopia By Mikhail Gladkikh - Calling The Nature Of Reality Into Question

Splitting Skies: A Metaphysical Sci-Fi Dystopia by Mikhail Gladkikh

I received a copy of this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Splitting Skies is the latest novel by Mikhail Gladkikh. It is a breath-taking tale of Artificial Intelligence that has left a world full of people addicted to living anywhere but the real world, but the artificial world is also becoming less and less desirable. It is full of twists and turns moving at warp speed that will have the reader asking many questions, including calling the very nature of existence into question.

From the back of the book:

Humanity’s thirst for simplification in a world driven by technology leads to the ultimate creation: Designed Consciousness. This invention destroys the framework of society and brings humanity to the verge of collapse. But the implications for the structure of the universe itself are much more sinister. An older man who has lost his purpose and a blind artist girl embark on the impossible quest to prevent the disaster. As the fabric of reality begins to unravel, the two unlikely heroes must question if the world even deserves to be saved.

My favorite point of plot in this story is illustrated by the opening line:

"If you die in a dream, do you survive in reality? And what is reality, anyway?"

As I write this review, my daughter is in the next room playing a video game. She is controlling a character who wanders a virtual countryside collecting items and building strength to help her eventually defeat a foe threatening the world she moves her character through.

Is the character nothing more than the result of code written by another human being? Does my daughter see this as a real person she is helping to reach his goal? Is the world he moves through real to him? It makes one think deeper, and some things that come to mind can be a little unsettling.

Here, in reality, we like to think we have free will. But do we really?

Are we nothing more than pawns in someone's imagination being moved through a world created for us by someone?

Most rational people would say no. Many philosophers call existence into question. Others are convinced we have no self-determination, and we are living in some sort of matrix while being moved and manipulated as we move through life.

And if it is the case, we are living in a virtual reality, how would we know in the first place?

Splitting Skies gave me all these thoughts as I turned the pages and read this fascinating tale where the virtual world becomes real, and the threats are also as deadly as those in our mundane existence.

My takeaway from Splitting Skies is to recognize how the human imagination continues to grow, and the stories we tell beyond that imagination eventually become reality. How far will AI go? Only as far as we allow it would have been my answer before reading this book. I'm not so sure anymore.

I have come to expect excellent and thought-provoking stories from Mikhail, and Splitting Skies is no exception to my expectations. But be warned, this is not a book to be taken lightly. It is a complicated tale that will demand the reader’s full attention. It is deep with science fiction, philosophical, and existential ideas that can make your head spin. In a word, it is excellent reading, and I recommend it for those who don't mind being disturbed for a short time before getting back to the rigors of mundane life.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the Author:

I am a technologist and a science fiction author.

My professional career provides me with a unique perspective on the technologies of the future. I am working at the forefront of the 4th Industrial Revolution, advancing 3D Printing, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Supply Chain, and Energy Transition. You can read my fiction and connect with me at my website mikhailgladkikh.com.

Join me in my quest to imagine the future world!

Well. there it is...

Qapla!