100 word review: Delete, by Kim Curran

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May 202015
 

These books shouldn’t be my thing, but I enjoyed this very much. The first two were enjoyable in the way that you could watch the craft of the writer evolve – the second book just felt more polished than the first – and Curran’s Glaze is a triumph, but this took me by surprise.

The second in this series ended on a major cliffhanger – something that, given the central conceit of the plot, should have been straightforward to sort, but Curran is never one to take the easy way out: this book is good, and makes the series excellent, rather than enjoyable.

100 word review: Glaze, by Kim Curran

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May 152014
 

Kim Curran’s fourth book is anchored firmly in time: a year or two from now, 2014. Facebook has died a death in the face of the ultimate social network, Glaze. Curran investigates and questions several fundamental assumptions about our interconnectedness in social networking. She’s got a clear sense of character and creates a living, breathing collection of young people – adults in fact, but not in name, who are something of a stock in trade for her – that go on and save the world. Fast-paced, thoughtful, and loads of fun – and examines how we build the infrastructure of our own future.

Details on ebook and limited edition orders here.

100 word review: Control, by Kim Curran

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Aug 272013
 

Like its predecessor, Shift, Control crackles with energy, driving the story forward with cutting prose. Curran picks up where Shift left off, with Scott Tyler working – hard – at his job, keeping his relationship alive, and hiding the more unusual aspects of what happened during the climax of Shift.. Scott and his partner are sent off to hunt the adults who can still Shift. Some of them come quietly. Some of them don’t. Frank Anderson, the last adult Shifter, proves to be particularly difficult to catch, what with her special powers and the fact that she’s playing a deep, dangerous game.

 

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100 word review: Shift, by Kim Curran

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Aug 192013
 

Scott Tyler, 16 year-old loser, good at nothing: not school, making friends, talking to girls, or anything, discovers that can to undo any decision, with a little concentration, for the next three or four years. Curran’s put us into another world where some kids are Shifters, and there’s a shadowy government conspiracy. Shift gives us what we want with the usual tropes of YA drama: outcast boy finds himself a highly powerful mage Shifter, and whisked off to magic Shifter school. Fortunately, Scott gets past the school phase and dumped right into the shadowy drama. Engaging. Fun. Worth the read.

 

Get it here (UK) or here (US)