Fiction
Summary: Galactic North by Alastair Reynolds. Content Warning.
Get Your Free Book Galactic North Here: Galactic North by Alastair Reynolds Galactic North by Alastair Reynolds is a collection of science fiction short stories set in the expansive universe of his Revelation Space series. Published in 2006, this anthology offers readers a deeper exploration of the universe that Reynolds has meticulously crafted over several novels. These stories span vast stretches of time and space, weaving together narratives that delve into the darker, more complex aspects of humanity’s future among the stars.
By Marcos Martins da silva2 years ago in BookClub
Summary: The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker. Content Warning.
Get Your Free Book The Hellbound Heart Here: The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker is a novella that delves into the darkest corners of human desire and the terrifying consequences that come with it. Originally published in 1986, this horror classic is the source material for Barker’s iconic film Hellraiser. The novella explores themes of pain and pleasure, obsession, and the supernatural, all while delivering a chilling narrative that has left a lasting impact on the horror genre.
By Marcos Martins da silva2 years ago in BookClub
Review: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Introduction The God of the Woods by Liz Moore is a worthy representative of various genres: the atmosphere is mysterious, folk motifs are sensed, it can be attributed to both literary fiction, and a supernatural theme. The novel is set in a small town which is surrounded by forests which adds some eerie element of suspense and mystery to the novel and its compelling world, its characters, and emotions. Moore tends to develop the loss, memory, trauma, and the inexplicable energy of nature in the work. That way she builds the sort of tale that has the reader looking for answers deep in her soul; and even after the book has been closed it haunts you.
By William Walker2 years ago in BookClub
A Love Drowned in Time
FALLING INTO FOREVER At first, Jake met Sarah on the cloudy day when the sun was obscured by the clouds and the atmosphere was saturated with the scent of the earth before the rain. Jake had run to the lake, which was his favorite place when his mind got all knotted up or worried. The lake always calmed him - the gentle slapping of the water against the old pier, the shrill calls of gulls flying low over the water, the trees encircling the area, as if to shield it from the rest of the world. Today the lake was not clear, the opposite shore was not visible and the edges of the world were hazy, which brought some kind of mystery to the place. Jake looked listless, aimlessly choosing pebbles on the sand and throwing them into the water to make circles of ripples which broke through the foggy waters. He had many things to think about today but the lake did not seem to calm his mind like it usually did. If anything, the eerie nature of the changes brought about by the mist over the landscape was preventing him from being centred. He looked up as the sound of a boat knock against one of the empty docks came through the heavy air. That's when he first saw her: a single female figure standing in the middle of the old wooden pier and half concealed by the silvery fog. She was clad in black, had her hair down to her shoulders and stood there with her face close to the black waters. There was something about her standing alone there that stirred something in Jake as if she truly belonged to the lake as a spirit that emerged from the mist to guard the unknown depths. He looked at her thin and motionless form, fearing that he is the only person in the world who takes a walk at the lake on a rainy day. She stood as still and deep in contemplation like him, as much a component of the blurry surroundings as the naked trees and the strands of fog. Jake hardly left his sight off the woman. He did not wish to interject into her peaceful daydream but he felt compelled to step out on the dock and meet her, greet her. Perhaps they were both looking for some form of escape and solace in the midst of the stunning landscapes. He had still not made up his mind as to whether it would be appropriate to approach her or not, when the woman seemed to feel his eyes on her and angle her body a little in his direction. Jake waved at her but the latter did not acknowledge his gesture. The woman only looked at him gravely then moved a little while turning her back to him and walked slowly back to the end of the dock disappearing in the still dense fog over the lake. Jake watched until her outline was no longer discernible: he sweltered with an intense desire. This meeting left him full of questions and otherworldliness. Who was she? Why had she glanced towards him tears gathering in her eyes before she had looked away from him without saying anything? He had never witnessed her at the lake but whenever she was here, it felt like she was from another world though somehow he felt like he had seen her somewhere before, maybe in the past but could also be in the future. When the first fat drops of rain started to patter, Jake gave one last long look at the deserted dock before the mist and melancholy came down on him. With his hands in his coat pockets he turned slowly back up the tree-lined space that led to the lake and watched the rain seeping across the skies above his head as if his thoughts were as dark and troubled as the day. Mesmerized, Jake realizes that he is gradually slowly walking down to approach this woman without interrupting her peaceful daydreaming. But at the same time his attraction to her was undeniable, as if they were predestined to meet here in this hush of slumbering shrubs at this exact hour. The woman, who was facing away from him, suddenly looked back when the gravel beneath his boots scrunched noisily in the quiet. When their gaze first met, the usual glance that two strangers share upon meeting, Jake was left speechless by their magnetic connection. Her eyes were a deep hazel - warm, intelligent, and very perceptive, but with something hidden in their depths. There was a tender, almost embarrassed smile blossoming across her delicate face and although she tried to look away almost immediately Jake could tell she was just as affected by their surprise meeting as he was. They were two strangers, but it was as though they had always known each other - two souls that had been searching for each other. Jake was not a firm believer of love at first sight. But in that case, when he looked into her eyes without saying anything, he had the first glimmering of some deep bond between him and this woman he did not know. As if he were walking through the park with her hand in hand, as if they were two old friends who have known each other for years. Sharing laughter, secrets and pains. A future not to come, but present in its own way as if it were the only one possible. Finally, Jake cleared his throat and pointed at the portion of the bench close to her. "May I interrupt you for a while? My name is Jake." Her smile widened, the shyness returned to her eyes but she nodded politely. "My name is Sarah, and yes, I would like that." Then Jake sat down on what seemed to be a weathered bench, the dimming light falling gently on them, Jake felt that this first coming together was the germ of an alterable and genuine reality. What happened next is beyond imagination but Jake had an instinct feeling that Sarah would be a significant figure in his life. Not someone with whom you could just casually say hello, but a person, for whom it was important to keep her in your life regardless of what happiness or misfortune the years had in store. At that moment when their eyes met again, Jake was sure that Sarah realized the importance of this moment as much as he did. Their conversation with each other was as natural as the water that runs freely through the valley, finding its way over and through the rocks and boulders that it encounters. The two did not appear to be ill at ease or stammering at any point while they were conversing. Subjects shifted from one to another in a very smooth and organic manner that is characteristic of a conversation between two people who are comfortable with each other. They discussed everything with equal ease, from childhood stories to silly personal preferences, to severe anxiety and dreams that had been untold to anyone. The verbal communication could almost be described as being synchronous, as if the moment when they sat face-to-face and started telling each other the truth was fated to occur and was not just a random coincidence of fate. But that was all over now, for in no more than six or seven hours at most, what had started off as a clandestine lust on first sight when they first met had quickly turned into a something far more profound - a shared affinity, a newfound bond, a rapport, however tenuous, between two near-strangers. While the two could have easily become friends, they began experiencing rudimentary elements of intimacy and mutual comprehension on conscious and subconscious levels. So engrossed, they were in an intimate discussions, in sharing confidences and whispers that had never before been uttered, that they did not realize that the day handed over the reigns to the night as the warm golden sun of the middle of the day slowly sank behind the trees and the water to the other side of the lake. It was only when the last twinkle of light vanished and there was nothing but the flat surface of water in front of them that they remembered they were at night. By then it was too late, or perhaps just the time was just right: both understood instinctively that whatever this was between them was becoming far too significant to dismiss as a mere fancy, and that they were on the brink of an affair - however brief or long - over which they would have no control. One warm summer night, Jake took Sarah out for a ride in the small wooden boat he had built himself during the past few months. With the sunset fading into the purple hue of twilight, Sarah gently let her fingers swim through the water and enjoyed the circles waves that followed her movements. Here and there fireflies started coming out and twinkling in the midst of high grass and the reflected light of the water. Sarah looked at the tiny flashing lights mesmerized by a natural phenomenon. Their motion appeared to be in harmony with the cadence of the water slapping against the sides of the boat as Jake rowed vigorously. When they were in the middle of the lake, Jake stopped rowing, and let the oars slide into the water. It appeared that there was no living creature around, apart from the chorus of frogs and crickets that sing as soon as they emerge along the marshy line. Above, the first dim stars began to twinkle in the still dimpling sky. Jake watched her carefully, seeing her lying on the wooden bench with her head tilted up and a faint smile on her lips; her eyes looked at the stars beginning to twinkle. She had long hair and it was disheveled and fell on her cheek, gently swaying with the wind. He looked at her and when she noticed him doing so, she laughed softly, a sound that Jake felt was music to his ears. "You know out here is pretty nice," sighed Sarah as she directed her bright and pleasant smile at Jake. Then she added: 'Thank you for bringing me.' "Pleasure is all mine," was all that Jake could utter, though he blushed a little at the dim light. For a long moment they did not speak, just listened to the crickets, the occasional call of a night bird. Then Sarah sat forward, looking serious. "You know you can speak to me about anything, don't you Jake?" she said softly. Jake looked into her encouraging eyes and grasped her hand in the worn seat. Her skin was as smooth and cool as silk under his coarse hands. "I know," he added with a smile. Sarah gently placed her hand on top of his and gave a little squeeze. When the daylight was slowly decreasing, her face looked as if she was filled with warm emotions toward me. Jake threw caution to the wind and let the mystery of the situation overwhelm him as he gently moved closer to her. Though, when his lips gently touched Sarah's for the kiss, he felt her calmness as she reciprocated the action. It was a beautiful moment that was timeless and the flashes of fireflies that surrounded them as they twirled together. And so, Jake and Sarah fell silent and let their conversation fade out. This was no ordinary kind of silence that comes with the realization that there is nothing else left to discuss; it was full of anticipation and desire. Jake was all too painfully conscious of the electrifying tension, of visible vectors that operated between them and drew him to her even as he should pull back. And yet he was not able to restrain himself, to put up his usual defenses and professional barriers. He found himself leaning incrementally closer as his eyes traced the details of her face: the bow-like architecture of the upper lip and the fuller curve of the lower one; the slightly scattered freckles on the high cheekbones that he liked so much; the slightly opened lips and the small gasp she takes when he makes the distance between them even smaller. Everything else receded to the periphery and the background: the only reality was this time, as if the rubber band was pulled to its limit and as tight as it could handle, humming with the expectancy of what comes next. Jake gulped, and when he bent his head lower, all his attention was sharply directed at her lifted face. They had been half-closed, heavy lids concealing her ebony eyes; but then they snapped wide awake, her unusually pale face focusing on him. He observed the heaving up and down of her chest as she breathed in short bursts of air. The chemistry that was present between them was electric, it was as if they were both charged with the sort of energy that precedes the start of a tropical storm. It had become as if the moment had its own voltage; Jake could almost see the sparks leaping across to her skin, bursting into a bright flame as they moved over the surface of the charged space that their nearness had begun to build. Neither could have said later who eventually moved the last few inches when the moment appeared to take an eternity and yet was over in the blink of an eye. But then it was as if very gradually over time or one morning they woke up with the urge, and whether it was that slow movement towards each other or one of those lightning bolts of desire, their lips met gently, and they kissed. The kiss was tender at first, almost shy as they fell into the unknown abyss. Then passion awoke and there was a swift clinch, desire overcoming shyness. They no longer could contain and eventually, they both surface, like fish that have been struggling under water for so long; the feeling of relief, happiness, the godly feeling of letting go to what they both have been secretly and desperately needing. For a brief instant of time there was no memory of pain, no concept of death or fear, no censorship of desire - there was only the present and the other and the self. Everything else faded to black and white, just them and the fire of their mouths searching for each other frantically. Fingers clawed at hair, heads pressed close; they descended into the sickly euphoria of the kiss, with no heed for the time or sense.
By Christopher Manalang2 years ago in BookClub
Summary: Neuromancer by William Gibson. Content Warning.
Get Your Free Book Neuromancer Here: Neuromancer by William Gibson Neuromancer by William Gibson is a groundbreaking science fiction novel that has left an indelible mark on the genre. Published in 1984, this novel is often credited with defining the cyberpunk movement, a subgenre characterized by its gritty depictions of a high-tech, dystopian future. Neuromancer introduced readers to a world where technology and humanity are deeply intertwined, where corporate power reigns supreme, and where the boundaries between the virtual and the real are increasingly blurred.
By Marcos Martins da silva2 years ago in BookClub
Review: It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
Introduction ‘It Ends with Us’ by Colleen Hoover simply brings together a story that will find fans among millions and cause a broad discussion regarding love, and human interaction. Released in 2016, the book departed from the usual romantic theme that Hoover always masters by entering into a much darker and even heavier area, addressing such topics as domestic violence and complicated decision-making in life. With some details based on real-life events, Hoover tells a beautiful and tragic story about two people who try to escape the paths that have been set before them and who must fight for their own lives.
By William Walker2 years ago in BookClub
Team Jacob Won
Don’t get the wrong idea about me. I was not on Team Edward. I wasn’t on Team Twilight. I’m not sure what team I’m on. It’s so confusing for me because I’m a romance novelist. I write all kinds of romances and yet… I wildly do not understand the werewolf romance craze.
By Stephanie Van Orman2 years ago in BookClub
Astra Nova
Leila Hassan stood on the edge of her city, where the ocean used to meet the shore. Now, only devastation remained—homes swallowed by water, lives lost to the rising tide. She remembered playing on this beach as a child, the scent of salt air mingling with her mother’s laughter. But that was before the storms, before the seas began to rise faster than anyone had predicted.
By Juste Juozapaityte2 years ago in BookClub
