Genre:
Science Fiction
Description:
Ceres,
Earth’s first colony and a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy, is a
habitable world for human habitation. An influx of civilians from
Earth necessitates expansion, so geologist Dean Flavin and botanist
Carol Walker volunteer to scout out a second settlement for Ceres
colonists.
Once
the couple reaches the site, study the plant life, and geological
conditions, they nestle into their mobile home for the night.
Mysteriously, when Carol is showering, the power is disengaged while
an unknown entity viciously slaughters her as if she were a character
actor in an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.
Sam
Benson is a newly arrived CSI assigned to become the colony’s
detective while his fiancé, Sandra Morton, is Ceres’ new Medical
Examiner. When Sam investigates Carol’s murder, his focus is
erroneously on android James Starkman, who once shared engrams with a
psychotic human. Linda Dougherty, the colony’s distinguished
leader, shields the android knowing her friend incapable of harming
anyone.
Little
does Benson know that Ceres was once inhabited by a race of beings
that consider machines to be their gods.
Author:
Gary
Starta, a former journalist, loves science fiction and crime stories.
His first novel, What
Are You Made Of?
was published in 2006 and focuses on intelligent artificial life and
whether sentient androids should possess the same rights as humans, a
similar theme brought up in Gods
and Machines.
Starta also enjoys writing crime stories like Murder
by Association, which
blends mystery with forensic investigation. Gods
and Machines
blends the author’s passions nicely.
Appraisal:
Gary
Starta develops very imaginative characters in his plot-driven
science fiction thriller, Gods
and Machines.
However, the author came up short in fleshing out his settings so
those threads in the novel’s fabric weakened the book’s impact in
this reviewer’s mind.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No
significant issues
Rating:
*** Three Stars
Approximate
word count:
65-70,000 words
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