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Oli Jacobs – Kirk Sandblaster Faces Montague Santiago| Review

Title: Kirk Sandblaster Faces Montague Santiago

Author: Oli Jacobs

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 196

Rating: 4/5

This is the second Oli Jacobs Kirk Sandblaster novel that I’ve read and so far it’s easily the best. That’s because on top of the stellar plot and the cracking world building, this one was also better edited and in fact didn’t have a single mistake in it so far as I could tell.

I also liked the way that this revolves around the Universe Man of the Year competition and the rivalry between Sandblaster and his arch nemesis, Montague Santiago. He actually made for the perfect foil without feeling too over the top like a pantomime villain. In fact, as the reader, it’s easier to sympathise with Santiago than it is with Sandblaster, purely because of Sandblaster’s ego.

Then there’s the way that this book deals not only with space travel but
also with time travel, which is what made Santiago’s name and helped him to upstage Kirk Sandblaster. And poor old Xlaar is dragged along for the ride too, against his better judgement. Definitely recommended by me!

Click here to buy Kirk Sandblaster Faces Montague Santiago.

Andy Weir – The Martian | Review

Title: The Martian

Author: Andy Weir

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 372

Rating: 4.5*/5

Andy Weir – The Martian

I guess I made a mistake with this one because I watched the movie before I read the book. I actually think that the movie was a pretty good adaptation of the book and that they did a good job of representing it. Sure, that meant there were no surprises in store for me when I read the novel, but that didn’t really hamper my enjoyment.

I probably don’t need to spend time explaining the plot of this book because it’s been talked about a lot. What I will say is that people are right when they talk about Watney’s sense of humour in it, and I was particularly impressed by the fact that it was originally self-published before being picked up by a mainstream publisher.

It turned out to be a super enjoyable read, and the only real problem that I had with it was that some of the more technical parts got a little boring and kind of slowed it all down, so I ended up skimming over them. But at the same time, I also think it was necessary to give the book an authentic feel, and from what I can understand all of the science is well-researched and entirely possible.

Andy Weir

So for me at least, The Martian is worthy of the hype, but I’m also not surprised that Artemis received mixed reviews. Weir’s writing style really works with this kind of book, but I’m not convinced of how versatile it would be. But if you judge this book for what it is, it’s just a decent sci-fi novel with mainstream appeal. And the fact that it has mainstream appeal means that you’re pretty likely to enjoy it if you pick it up.

I’m also pleased to say that even though I’d already seen the movie, the book was still a lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed the references to Watney reading Agatha Christie to keep himself sane and while I initially found them jarring, the switches in perspective to what was happening on earth actually added a lot to the story. I enjoyed it. Go read it some time.