Robert Charles Wilson’s Burning Paradise is a story about what happens if a paranoid’s worst nightmare came true. It’s a well written tale with some decent characters, but I had a hard time accepting the premise and that just sank the book for me. Labelled as hard science fiction, the main concept seemed so fantasy that it was hard for me to take the book seriously. Let’s check out what went wrong.

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There are times when I’m reading a book, that I’m not aware that it’s the first part of an extended storyline. This is what happened when I read Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin. It was an interesting story about contact with an advanced race where people never actually meet the advanced race. Then when I saw that there was a sequel Axis, I was disappointed. Not only because I didn’t think there was any room for a sequel to Spin, but because the story itself was disappointing. So, when Vortex was announced, I was a little wary, but decided to read it. I wasn’t as disappointed, but it could easily be a standalone novel. So, let’s go see what happens in the Vortex.

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Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America by Robert Charles Wilson (author of the wonderful Spin and the not so good sequel Axis) is a post apocalyptic western. The setting feels like it’s the 1800’s US with some newer technology, and the religious aspect is interesting. But overall the plot holes and technology questions overwhelm the characterization and make this a thoroughly mediocre story.

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