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Angela Cavanaugh

Angela Cavanaugh

Tag Archives: review

Mention Monday – Nexus and Crux

28 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by angelacavanaugh in Mention Monday

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Tags

crux, good book, mention monday, nexus, prometheus awards, ramez naam, review

Last Week’s MM: IFLScience

Ramez Naam has created an interesting series.  Set in the very near future, Kade, a young scientist discovers a way to alter an illegal nano-drug called Nexus.  He uses it to link people mind to mind.  Beyond that, he can use it as an operating system and use it as software.  But he gets blackmailed into helping the government.  In the second book, Crux, the world is a very different place and Kade is a highly wanted man.

This series is filled with danger, tension, questions of who can be trusted, what is crossing the line, and even, what it is to be human and the full potential of all that that entails.

There are many interesting parts to the books.  I love the realism and potential of the technology.  He’s created some unique adaptations.  But it doesn’t stop there.  Beyond the nano-drug, he also explores gene splicing and human enhancements.  Another interesting thing about this book is that a large portion of it takes place in countries other than America.  There’s China, Vietnam, and Thailand, just to name a few.  It’s a growing angle that I’ve seen in books, and I welcome it.

I really enjoyed both of these stories.  I think there is going to be a third book, and I can’t wait for it.  Nexus won the 2014 Prometheus Award, and Crux has had also been well received.

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Mention Monday – Ready Player One

30 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by angelacavanaugh in Mention Monday

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book review, ernist cline, good read, great book, novel, quest, ready player 1, ready player one, review, scifi, the 80s, video game, virtual worlds

Last MM: Writers of the Future Contest

Ready Player One | [Ernest Cline]

This past week I finished reading, or more accurately, listening to, Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline.   I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book.

“In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. 

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.“

The story line is a combination of an MMO, 80’s nostalgia, futuristic scifi, and a splash of dystopia.

NO SPOILERS – just my impressions of the storytelling.

Continue reading →

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Mention Monday – Leftovers

09 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by angelacavanaugh in Mention Monday

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hbo, Leftovers, review

Last MM: The Martian

I am a big fan of HBO original programming.  I really enjoyed True Blood.  I also really like Game of Thrones.  Recently, I’ve been catching up on Leftovers.  So far, it’s a pretty good show.   Continue reading →

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Mention Monday – The Martian

26 Tuesday Aug 2014

Posted by angelacavanaugh in Mention Monday

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andy weir, book review, good read, mark watney, martian, read, review, science fiction, scifi, space, the martian

Last Week’s MM:  Riots at Home

I recently read the book The Martian by Andy Weir.  And, like everything I say I read, I really mean that I had it read to me by audible.   Either way, great book!    Continue reading →

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Writing Wednesday – Fresh Eyes

09 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by angelacavanaugh in Writing Wednesday

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author, edit, editing, how to, review, reviewing, revision, writer, writing

Last Week’s WW: Distractions

Have you ever written something, and thought, This is going so well.  This is the best thing ever written!  I could publish my first draft!  and then, somehow, at some point, the shiny wears off and you start to see all the little, and big flaws.

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Mention Monday – Audible

08 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by angelacavanaugh in Mention Monday

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advice, audible, audio books, author, free trial, indie author, mention, opinion, publish, reach readers, reader, review

Last MM: Kindle Worlds

I think that probably everyone has heard of Audible.  They advertise everywhere.  Their most recent commercial is a little racy I think.  They have a woman listening to some romance novel (apologies if I don’t know which one it is.  I don’t read that genre) throughout the course of her day, including while she is at work, and it’s talking about “riding a guy like a horse” and “unbuttoning” things.  But, that’s just a side note, because I think it’s funny.

Continue reading →

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Otherworlders Needs Beta Readers!

11 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by angelacavanaugh in Random

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author, beta, beta readers, feedback, looking for beta readers, novel, otherworlders, review, writer, writing

Hey all,

If anyone would like read my novel Otherworlders, please let me know and I’d be happy to send you a copy.  I just ask that you read it in a reasonable time frame and give me feedback.  I really want to release it soon, but I don’t feel like I’ve had enough eyes on it.

If you’re interested, email me at fictionbyangela at gmail dot com

You will have my gratitude and an acknowledgement in the book (if you want) if you beta read for me.

Thanks all.  I look forward to hearing from you.   Below is a description:

Tagline:  After finding no alternative but to leave their war-torn dimension, and attempting to adjust to a new world, those who made the journey find that they are not welcomed and have to fight for their lives and escape yet again.

Synopsis:  A man-made virus has been released. It’s destroying everything.  It adapts too quickly to fight. The only way to save those whom haven’t been infected yet, over a billion, is to send them to a parallel universe. The technology is untested. The other universe is unprepared.  

When Agent Jackson Williams hears about the technology that a savant named Levi has discovered, he knows it’s their best chance at survival.  
 
Kara, uninvited, makes her own way to this new world and assumes her double’s identity.  But crime and a strain on resources of this world is just the start of the trouble. The virus came, too. 
With the death toll rising, the acceptance of the Otherworlders has run out.  Levi won’t build this universe a machine.  The government won’t let his people go without one.
Chase, a native to this new universe and an immigrant activist, forms a resistance with the Otherworlders and liberates Levi from custody.  With the precaution that it will be destroyed after use, a new machine is in the works.  Before they can turn it on, Chase has to keep a promise to save a young couple from human experimentation.
  
Their stories collide as they race to save their kind and escape this universe before this world’s Agent Williams tracks them down and kills them all.

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Mention Monday – Cosmos

10 Tuesday Jun 2014

Posted by angelacavanaugh in Mention Monday

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art, call to action, Carl Sagan, cosmic calender, cosmos, fox, great show, inspire, Neil deGrasse Tyson, physics, resource, review, science, seth macfarlane, show

Last Week’s MM: Terrible Minds

I am a nerd.  Since high school, maybe before, I have been into science.  I remember reading Stephen Hawking when I was 14, and having my mind blown.  I spent a brief period of time wanting to be a cosmologist or theoretical physicist.   I even looked at colleges.  But, then I decided that I’d either be making bombs or teaching at a college, which wasn’t anything I wanted to do at the time.  So, I changed my mind.  I took a brief detour into wanting to be a fashion designer, and then, by time I went to college, I went for psychology.  I’m right and left brained.  A combination of arts and science.  And, in a lot of ways, I think the show Cosmos is, as well.   Continue reading →

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Mention Monday – X-Men: Days of Future Past

26 Monday May 2014

Posted by angelacavanaugh in Mention Monday

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beast, days of future past, gene grey, kitty pride, magneto, movie, movie review, questions, quick silver, review, spoilers, wolverine, x-men, xmen

When I first heard about this movie, I was both excited and concerned.  The original X-Men came out when I was in high school.  Some credit it for being the beginning of the whole Superhero movies can actually be real movies, not campy, but good.  I loved it.  X-2 was alright, and X-3, well, the concept of Days of Future Past seems to negate that movie from existence, which is likely for the best.   And then there was the Wolverine Origin movies.   Maybe it had been so long since I had seen an X-Men movie that I actually liked the Origins series, the first time around, until other people pointed out how cheaply made, bad looking, and sloppy they were.  And they were right.

Then, at long last, X-Men came back better than ever in First Class.  But with a second Origin movie trying to connect two movies that are 7 years apart (that’s almost long enough for a full reboot in Hollywood time), and 13 years from the first one, it was a stretch.  Plus, that movie was only marginally better (maybe?  I don’t remember) than the last Wolverine movie.  So, I was concerned.  I was worried that bridging the two together would result in something bad that couldn’t live up to First Class.

But I liked it!  Despite the issues I bring up.

I usually rank movies like this:

See it in theaters (which means I must really like it to pay $15)
Wait for Redbox (want to see it, but not that much, or it’s at least $1 good)
Maybe if it’s free somewhere (only sort of interested, or it was really bad)
Not even if it was Free (not interested, or is just terrible)

I have no regrets about seeing this movie in theaters.

***SPOILERS***  ***SPOILERS***  ***SPOILERS*** Continue reading →

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Mention Monday – Transcendence

29 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by angelacavanaugh in Mention Monday

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ai, artificial intelligence, johnny depp, mention monday, movie, movie review, movies, nano, nanotech, review, rotten tomatoes, scifi, spoiler, spoilers, technology, theater, transcendence

I saw the movie Transcendence the day that it came out.  The theater has been lacking in movies that past few months.  Now that the good ones are starting to come out, I have the impulse to see them right away.  A midnight showing isn’t too late for me.  The following review contains SPOILERS, so read with caution.   Continue reading →

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