BLOG TOUR: Borrowed Time - Stephen Anthony Brotherton

‘Rico, Mary, and a gangster named Fats find themselves on the run beyond the veil of death, caught in a deadly game of power and revenge.

Their fates lie in the hands of Octavius and his embittered daughter, Livia, who can never forgive her father for gambling away her mother to the devil, Wrath.

As the game unfolds, long-buried questions surface — about destiny, fulfilment, and the true nature of the soul.

With demons both personal and literal to face, only the Fates know who will survive.’

 

What did I think?

Borrowed Time is a very quirky and original book that I really enjoyed.  I'm not sure what genre I would put it in as it has a range of themes from mythology to science fiction.

It has a cast of characters at the start of the book, which is really handy to refer to as you're reading, and it lists them as gods, humans or pets.  It might sound like it would be confusing but it really isn't as the characters are so well developed that you quickly get to know who's who.

Humans are the gods' playthings and they set them certain challenges.  These aren't gods like you usually imagine them as they are on a spaceship.  Octavius and his daughter Livia are playing the game with humans 'Rico and Mary. The game is made more deadly when they are pursued by a smoke human Jethro but aided by human gangster Fats.  Jethro and Fats reminded me of Boba Fett and Han Solo from Star Wars and I really enjoyed the banter between them, especially with Fats being almost as loveable a rogue as Han Solo.

It's a surprisingly quick read as the chapters are quite short but I was so invested in the story that I had to keep reading 'just one more chapter'.  It's a very clever book that I would like to read again to fully appreciate every nuance.  This fantastic fantasy is well worth a read.

 

I received a gifted paperback to read and review for the blog our and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

The Book Guild

Amazon UK

Waterstones

About the author:

Stephen Anthony Brotherton has been a social worker for over three decades and currently works for the NHS. He began creative writing ten years ago, and his stories explore the nature of vulnerability – from birth to death and beyond. He lives in Shropshire with a schnoodle called River and has had three books published – a novel and two collections of short stories. Stephen is also a long-standing member of the Bridgnorth Writers’ Group.

Social Media Links – 

Instagram @sab_author

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BLOG TOUR: Scorched Planet Policy - Bob Fairbrother

 

Captain Zail Jent has crashed her malfunctioning craft on Earth.

She gets out in time before it slips into a river, marooning her in a climate-ravaged, hostile part of the planet. And her smart suit that mind controls and protects her through a meds feed has failed, causing drug withdrawal amnesia and sickness. If she doesn’t get help soon, she is going to die.

With Zail’s memory gone, she puzzles over who she is, where she comes from, and what she is meant to do here. And how is she going to get home?

As her memory returns, Zail begins to question whether home is what she thought it was, forcing her to cast doubt on everyone.

But what if she is the one who should be feared?

What did I think?

Wow!  What an incredibly thought-provoking and entertaining read.  I don't read a lot of science fiction but I do like dystopian novels so I am so pleased that Scorched Planet Policy straddles both genres as it's an absolutely cracking book.

When Captain Zail Jent crashes her craft on Earth, she is shocked to see the damage humans have caused on their own planet.  Seeing Earth through alien eyes is incredibly powerful and it's actually heartbreaking to see what it looks like from space in Bob Fairbrother's imagined not too distant future of 2054.

It's quite a short book at 194 pages but it's worth taking your time over it to appreciate the intelligent plot and to consider the powerful and very realistic issues that face the planet.  To lighten the somewhat heavy storyline, it is written with a sprinkling of humour that did actually make me laugh out loud on numerous occasions.

Intelligent, thought-provoking and scarily realistic,  Scorched Planet Policy is an unforgettable and unmissable novel that will appeal to readers of all genres.  Even if you don't normally read science fiction or dystopian, you will not regret picking up this important and timely novel that entertains from start to finish.

I received a gifted paperback for the Love Books Tours bookstagram tour this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

Waterstones

Amazon

About the author:

Mentor and coach, trail runner, hiker, skier, French language mangler, book reader, junior football league volunteer, Brighton and Hove Albion FC supporter, player of the occasional game of table football, creator of the South Devon Book Festival and writing.

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