Product Description
As Earth becomes an interstellar species, the ramifications hit home -- literally. Alien Cresperians scattered all over Earth; enemy Snappers seeking to expand their interstellar empire in any way they can. And Sergeant Edward "Bang" Bangler finds himself in the midst of two of the biggest battles he's ever been in -- a battle for his heart, and a battle for his home. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great series... Hope there is another coming soon!
Look... This is not highbrow entertainment but it is wonderful scifi and for me at least completely entertaining. Wonderful mix of tech and human interaction will a nod to those of us who do believe in a divine God... Read the entire series in a couple of vacation days. ... Read more

Product Description

In "Cure for an Ailing Alien", nurse Joanne Levy is called upon to treat her strangest patient yet - an alien, harboured in secret by a government agency. Just how does a human treat a sick being from another planet? The results are not what you expect!

Product Description
Genetic duplicates of people start dropping out of thin air right beside the originals. The duplicates are complete except for one little detail: they're dead. Frank Winston begins an investigation that widens to include the mystery of a vanished airliner that had his parents on board, as well as those of the first person who found a dead twin on her doorstep, Linda Vesprie. Together, they discover that quantum physics is even stranger than scientists had believed, and that their world and an infinite series of alternate earths are in dire peril. ... Read more

Product Description
A starship on a circuit to service earth's colonies is sabotaged and winds up irrevocably lost in space. The only option is to find a habitable planet to live on. Aboard the ship is a contingent of convicts bound for a prison planet, an army company rotating to one of the colony worlds, government officials and scientists going or coming from the colonies, a contingent of prospective colonists going out to pioneer and a miscellany of other passengers. A crew of two hundred fifty is now responsible for a thousand people after they finally find a new world to settle on. Add in a mad captain, combative convicts and some unworldly aliens and it becomes all that acting Captain Travis Callahan can handle-and then some! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Great book but a lot of formatting errors
I always love reading Darrell Bain's books. This was the first one that I couldn't finish, and it certainly wasn't Mr. Bain's fault.Despite trying to download this book by Whispernet and also by PC (USB cable), the book has a lot of formatting errors, including quite a few ampersands, carats and other odd things that were randomly placed in there, making it more or less unreadable.

Since Im such a big fan of Darrell Bain, I'll let him keep my money even though I didn't read this book past 20 pages. Still looking forward to his next book. Hopefully the ebook version of it will be error free and readable.

A thought provoking page-turner
The dedication and opening of Starship Down got my attention, and the combination of characters and an organic plot kept my attention. While this book has enough stereotyping to keep me from awarding that fifth star, it is a really good read. My favorite science fiction yarns involve space travel, an element of suspense, exotic worlds and beings, and characters who must overcome the odds, and by so doing, become greater than they were when introduced during the exposition phase of the story. Romance is always welcome, if appropriate to the characters. Bain does manage to hit the marks on my checklist. Starship Down is a good read by an author who has produced quite a number of other entertaining stories.

Awesome!
This is the best book I have read in a long time.Is there a sequel out there, or in the works?I sure hope so.I love his writing style, very easy to read and entertaining. Highly recommended.

Yum
Bain is like Sean Connery - you can count on him to be absolutely himself, which is terrific, every time out. This is no exception. Other Bain greats are the pet plague books, the sex gate books, and -- well. Read the list and buy them all, electronic or paper.

A decent read
A few too many cliche's and obvious plot twists and a little stilted with the romantic issues.A decent overall effort and a building block on which the writer should look back in 10 years with a little pride and a little horror. ... Read more

Product Description
When a laboratory technician on the verge of retirement accidentally infects himself with blood from an emergency room patient, he intends to report it--until government agents swarm the hospital, confiscating every sample of blood taken from the patient--at gunpoint. Deciding not to report the incident just yet for fear of being thrown into an isolation chamber, he goes home--and falls violently ill. By the time he recovers and returns to work, scary things are happening. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good story, bad writing
All the elements of a good read are here - but . . .
My taste in SF runs to the "techno-future," not to pseudomedieval magic, so this tale should have been right up my alley. It has likeable characters, the science is at least internally consistent, and the pace is good. But the writing just gets in the way. This could have benefitted from some peer review at a writers' workshop. When I fid myself thinking about how I could rewrite a book to make it readable, I know there's a problem. A few plot twists might help, also, as the story is quite predictable. There's an element of adolescent sex-fantasy which is sometimes annoying - perhaps the exquisite mutual sensitivity of the hero and heroine/alien could manifest itself elswhere than in bed?
I suggest the author immerse himself in reading the classics, esp. the classics of SF, and get an idea of what top-notch writing is.
In spite of the above, it's a good read, but not a "can't miss."

fine science fiction suspense thriller
At Lamont Memorial in Lufkin, Texas the night shift ER Doc asks Lab Technician Michael Brandon to draw blood for tests from a patient seemingly dead.As he fills three tubes up, the barely alive patient knocks the syringe into Michael's wrist though neither of the medical attendees notice because they are distracted by the movement.Not much later, as Michael tests two of the tubes of blood and refrigerates the third, two suits with guns arrive taking the two tubes, but quickly leave as the comatose patient has some how escaped.

Michael goes home, but becomes very ill.A few days later he recovers only to learn that anyone involved with that patient is being eliminated in what has been made to look like accidents as the ER Doc and nurse died while allegedly running away together.Realizing the Feds will come for him and how diabolical these suits are, Michael heads to Dallas where he meets Mona to get his ID changed.He cuts himself shaving, but panics when she touches his bleeding nick with a finger she had accidentally stuck with a pin.She becomes infected.As they flee together, each notices they seem younger and healthier while the Feds hunt them now in Arkansas.

This medical thriller grips the audience from the moment that Michael is jabbed by the syringe and never slows down as he and Mona struggle with learning the truth and surviving the ordeal of the Feds wanting them dead in what appears to be a clean-up cover-up operation.Michael and Mona are interesting protagonists, but what hooks readers is the need to know even with the obvious title what infects the heroes and why the Feds want to eradicate the evidence.ALIEN INFECTION is a fine science fiction suspense thriller that the X-Files crowd will enjoy.

Harriet Klausner
... Read more

Product Description
When a stranger invades geneticist Mai Trung's office, he has to say only one word to get her interested in leaving with him: Xenobiology. Rumors have been rife about aliens on Earth, but only a select few know that they arrived on widely scattered lifeboats from a wrecked spaceship. Mai is brought into the secret group working with a few of the surviving aliens because they have one trait that is almost incredible for its implications: They can turn themselves into perfect humans. More than perfect, actually. Closer to superhuman. And Mai is told she will be working with one of the aliens in order to help figure out how to apply that ability to humans; to heal injuries, to slow or even reverse the aging process, to make oneself healthier or more attractive. In the meantime, other scientists are re-engineering some of the alien technology in order to build a faster-than-light spaceship before other nations who have captured aliens do so. From that first word in her office, Mai begins an incredible journey that will eventually take her to the stars and into a whole new existence. Sequel to Human by Choice. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Another good "Understand the alien mind" book
I enjoyed this second book of hopefully a longer series.I especially enjoyed it coming from the point of a female mind, which is still not found often in the SF arena.I would like to see the third book take on this alien culture from the alien male point of view.

Painfully disappointing
As a guess, I'd say that swapping Travis Taylor with Stephanie Osborne as co-author was not the best choice.It seems common enough that sequels don't measure up to the first in a series, but the drop-off from Human By Choice is rather more abrupt than most.The characters in The Y Factor are one-dimensional and the plot has gaps that are disconcerting.

From the beginning, the reader is asked to believe that "Miss" Trung is a 29 year old senior scientist with two PhDs and a history that includes a stint in the US Army.Her life prior to the opening chapter is never explained in any detail but fitting in an undergraduate degree, two PhDs, one in molecular microbiology, a couple of years in the Army, and enough research work to be heading up a research group and a priority acquisition by a super secret government agency into 29 years is stretching the limits of believability.Unfortunately, that's just the first of many unbelievable or at least unsupported story elements.

Another jarring note is the authors' heavy handed anti-Islamic bias, although the treatment of the Hindu religion isn't much better.Again, this ties in the rather black and white, good or bad, treatment of the various characters.

Oh, and if by some chance you're looking for romantic or possibly erotic fiction, the rating would be ZZZZZ.Five Zs for a real sleeper.

I gave it two stars instead of one only because I actually was able to finish it. But it was a close thing.Avoid this one. ... Read more

Product Description
Change your sex; change your life! One day thousand of gates suddenly andmysteriously appear on Earth. No one knows where they are from. Some think it isthe start of an alien invasion. Others credit God. When the old and the sick gothrough these gates, they become young again and their illnesses disappear. Butthere are several problems! Not everyone makes it through the first time. Somepeople simply disappear. When you go through a gate, your sex changes -- menbecome women and women become men. And no one can go back through the gate asecond time. Everyone who tries disappears. When Don accidentally falls througha gate and becomes Donna, he and his friends face a life-changing adventure, forThe Sex Gates are more than they seem to be. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Not Free SF Reader
An interesting look at what would happen if the technology to just suddenly change sex appeared.With the added bonus of making you a young adult, again.Unsurprisingly, reasonable amounts of shagging involved, but at its core, it is sf, not sex with some science fiction elements.Not too bad an effort.It follows a group of friends and their survival through the societal upheaval that the introduction of this alien technology causes.Some of them develop super powers, of a sort, as well, and go looking to find out what goes on.

Good Idea, Awful Writing
I have read many e-books lately, or at least e-books printed into actual books.Loose ID has been one of my favorite publishers, and so I'm sorry I strayed and read this story.The thing about most e-books is that they are written in the plainest language with a lot of sexual interaction that could not be passed off in regular books, at least not before this, it is becoming more and more likely now.What made other e-books worthy of 4 stars and this one only worthy of 1 is plain and simple... the writing was awful.Written in the same verse as, say, a child's story, it does not excel in anything further than the adult themes.I don't mind the sudden 'dumbing down' of books, but I resent that they feel that we can not hope for something a little more intellectual in our science fiction, erotic or not.These authors had a great idea, it was just too bad that writing it was done overnight as quickly as possible (or so it seems).

Oh, and the amount of errors are redundant and trippable, hard to get into a story where you are wondering where the spell checker was.

Close the gates before it's too late!
Don't waste your valuable time on this pathetic attempt at a science fiction novel.It has nothing unique or interesting in it, only rehashed ideas about sexual role reversals and horrid attempts to project future technology.And if that wasn't enough, the writing is just awlful.The only thing I can't understand is why there are 3 follow up stories to this one.

Cross between a cheesy sci-fi novel and a moderate sex novel
Overall this is an interesting story.

It is set in a world that is a little more liberal about sex.

Ironically our "hero" is a person who is somewhat of a conservative extremist mentality. The whole poor people are poor by choice or are missing an intelligence gene attitude irritates me.

Even more ironically, it has a lot of interesting ideas of what would happen to society if we could enjoy a return to youth at the cost of a sex change. The direction is very liberal as in the open minded, progressive sense of the word.

There is only a moderate amount of sex in the story. At one point I was wondering when I was going to see sex in this story anotherreviewer called a cheesy sex story. There is plenty of sex here, but not as much as a cheesy sex story. There is actually a plot.

Overall an interesting story

A view from the other side
Sometime in the future, the Sex Gates appear out of nowhere.Don falls through it accidentally, and comes out the other side as Donna.He (er, she) and his friends, and the world, try to come to terms with the repercussions of the sex gates.

A book about gender swapping.Nothing new in science fiction, but this one is done rather well.The biggest surprise for me was how the future was handled.Much science fiction (especially media based sf) has only a handful of advancements.In this near future world everything is advanced.Internet and TV have combined, people carry personal computers (some of which can be implanted), medicine and minor surgery can be accomplished at home with special kits...there's even beard cloths.Wipe face with it and your beard is gone (God, I wish I had one of those). It's nice to see a future world thought out to such detail, instead of just having faster cars.

They managed to cover a lot in terms of switching genders.After Don falls through the gate, they are back at their home drinking.Don almost drops the bottle of booze because it got heavier.Everything seems bigger when he holds them in his hand.He has trouble walking because his hips are so different (he feels like their unhinged).And he is upset because he needs to go to the bathroom but he doesn't know how.

As the title suggests, there is a LOT of sex in this book, almost to the point of being gratuitous.Given the nature of the book, though, it's understandable.

My only real complaint is that the writing is not very crisp.It's slow and plodding in places.It's obvious that this was the authors' first attempt at writing.Once you get past that, though, it turns into a pretty good study on how society might react to being able to switch genders (can only do it once though...well, for the most part anyway).It ends with a lot of questions unanswered, many of which are supposed to be covered by the other books in the series.IMHO, this is worth checking out. ... Read more

Product Description
A surprise assault on an Exploration Corps starship by implacably hostile, xenophobic aliens leaves its one remaining longboat as the only option for warning the home worlds of the existence of the predators. Unfortunately, the starship met disaster while thousands of light years from Earth. Theoretically, that sort of voyage in a longboat is possible but has never been attempted. In order to return, the crew has to stop on numerous unknown planets to renew supplies and hydrogen fuel many, many times along the way. They know they will certainly face danger and inimical life forms, as well as the hazards of braving interstellar space in a ship meant only for travel within a solar system. And before they get anywhere close to Earth they will need to figure out a way to destroy a much larger and much better armed alien starship. The ship shadowing their every move must not be allowed to follow them home to Earth and its colonies. The long journey has to succeed, even as more and more members of the crew fall prey to perils of the incredible journey. Humanity must be warned. There will be no second chance. Fail, and the poorly armed home worlds will likely die. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

cut the soft porn and this would be much better
Great alien environents. Characters you care about. Fast paced. I cant wait for the sequal. Those nasty monkey claws need a good butt kicking. If Bain had skipped the sleasy romance details I would give it 5 stars. However Porn and Sci Fi Combos are usually much worse. Please stick to pure Sci Fi next time Darrell.

Ran out of Steam
First, confession time: I didn't make it through this book. 20% of the way in, I decided that I'd given it a chance, and could in all fairness put it down.

The idea is appealing - who doesn't love a castaway story, a quest to return home with only your wits and the contents of a lifeboat to get you there? Unfortunately, the writing just couldn't support the story the author wanted to tell. There were two big issues I had with the writing. The first was composed of a lot of little issues of terminology and jargon. After a while, the difference between a Spacer 3 and an Explorer 2, or a warrant officer and a lieutenant, start to get confusing - and I have read a lot of military scifi, I know what the "standard" ranking system is supposed to look like. I got the feeling that somewhere there was a nifty chart laid out with a detailed ranking system, which the author thought was cool and somehow wanted to shoehorn into the book.

The most irritating thing to me was the constant sexual background to everything. Yes, I recognize that add ANY two human beings together anywhere, and there's going to be SOME kind of sexual factor involved, however faint or unimportant - humans are sexual beasts, and Bain's characters are all youngish healthy specimens trapped in a small craft for a long journey. But it just got really old really fast having to slog through yet another random male's internal monologue describing the sexual qualifications of a random female. Apparently every male on the boat was evaluating every female primarily on her breeding potential. Again, yes, I'm a guy, I KNOW that this isn't totally unrealistic - but the characters just weren't developed enough for me to CARE that John thought Marsha had nice eyes and cute ears. Or that Luke thought Holly had firm calves. Etc. Etc. Ad nauseum. In the first week after the loss of their mother ship, the castaways spend hours wringing their hands over the potential morale effects of, in order of importance: a) the apparently inevitable breakdown of non-fraternization regulations and b) only having room for a small gym, until the expected attrition along the way cleared out more living space for the presumably grateful survivors.

Which points out the real weakness of this book. There are too many characters introduced too quickly, without enough characterization to go around. What characterization is there doesn't always ring true - the military decisions leading up the the loss of the mother ship seem exceptionally far-fetched, and the attitude towards potential loss of life on the trip home seems faintly unreal. I have the book beside me, but I won't bother opening it to try and figure out who the main characters (if any) were - I can't remember, and I was reading the book 8 minutes ago. I think the commanding officer's name started with a "J." I think some of the other characters also had names starting with a "J." That's about as much as I recall.

I believe some readers will find the story itself entertaining, if they're not too concerned with character development. It's very much a book written by a guy for guys, and some guys will find it a fun, easy romp without anything too challenging to distract from the yarn. The book feels like a first effort by an author who, in 20 years with a dozen better books under his belt, will look back on it fondly, but a little embarrassed that this was published. ... Read more

Product Description
The Bolt Cluster is an area of close-knit stars that harbors a curious planet and deadly secret. Starships which enter the cluster never return. An alien enigma there has cost Wannstead Industries so many lives and ships that they finally decide to turn it over to the US Space Navy and its futuristic contingent of roughneck Marines. Captain Keane leads mankind's most lethal spaceship into unknown alien territory, fighting battles against a bizarre alien species that will never surrender. Keane and the crew of Doc Travis are now involved in mankind's first interstellar war, where the very existence of humanity may be at stake. The Bolt Cluster enigma must not only be solved but Keane and the Doc Travis also have to survive and return to Earth. Humanity must be warned of the threat or all the lives and ships lost so far will be in vain.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Alien Enigma
America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 1: Feeling Lucky

A good aliens vs humanity Military Sci/Fi book, just the sort I look for.

Chaotic Alien Control
I greatly enjoyed the twist of this book.The writing was poetry, and not to mention educational.The concept of this story left me pondering the subjectivity of alien life.The who, what, where and why may not always be what you think or expect.How do I know? Look around.I've read a few other books by Mr. Teora, and I'm pleased to see that he's constantly evolving as a writer.Looking forward to the movie and sequal?Keep 'em coming.Great story!!!

Oh, editor!
Enjoyable yarn, so far (about half way through) BUT reads like a first draft. Terrible editing and continuity problems. The book deserves a better chance at presenting itself than it is getting here.

Alien Robots
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, waiting to see if humanity survives DARPA project mixed with Alien Robots. Book 2 should be even more interesting. Good book guys, classic space opera. ... Read more

Product Description
An unmanned alien ship suddenly appears from a point in space within the solar system and heads toward Earth. It finally comes to rest in the pasture of an ordinary couple's country home. Immediately upon going inside, they are placed in irrevocable, sole command by the ship's computer. How Dan and Stacy Saddler handle the enormous military, political and religious pressure of choosing a crew and taking the ship back through the enigmatic warp point makes this one of Darrell Bain's most exciting novels.

... Read more

Product Description
Best-selling science fiction print author Travis S. "Doc Travis" Taylor and best-selling ebook author Darrell Bain have combined talents to produce a new science fiction thriller. Several alien lifeboats make it to earth in widely separated spots after their interstellar spaceship malfunctions. One of the aliens comes down near the home of Kyle Leverson, a former army intelligence officer and now a widowed science journalist. The aliens think they can never go home but they are able to convert their bodies into duplicates of human beings over a period of time. Kyle helps the alien during the process as it becomes a human female, yet retains its previous knowledge and abilities, including a powerful perceptive sense unlike anything known to humans. What Kyle doesn't realize is that the alien intends to become a human female in every aspect, with him as the teacher. How does one instruct an alien from a wildly different culture in every characteristic of human behavior, including sex? It's a chore far harder than Kyle Leverson ever imagined, especially since he and his alien guest have to contend with the other aliens, who are being instructed (or in a couple of cases, captured and abused) by different groups of people in several other nations. Their outlook on what it means to be human is different from Kyle's and the results will be evident when the aliens have to fight each other, even though they've never done such things before. Fortunately for Kyle, his alien is a fast learner. But it also becomes such a compatible and beautiful human female that he finds himself falling in love. A truly thoughtful and sophisticated science fiction novel, by Travis S. Taylor, the author of Warp Speed, The Quantum Connection and Von Neuman's War (in collaboration with John Ringo) and Darrell Bain, the multiple award-winning author of Alien Infection, Strange Valley, Savage Survival and The Melanin Apocalypse. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Not high drama, but enjoyable
OK, this book was never in consideration for a Hugo or Nebula award. Nonetheless, it is well written and an enjoyable, although predictable read.

Disappointing
SPOILERS

Boy meets alien, alien becomes girl, boy gets girl. It seemed like a natural space opera concept, with a dash of post-cold war technothriller thrown in. Unfortunately, I found the execution weak. For my taste anyway, there was way too much superficial navel gazing in the guise of illustrating how hard it would be for an alien to become human (evolutionary genetics are the cause of all ills, and men can't know what women talk about in the powder room or what kind of toiletries they need, because we're practically different species don't ya know), and awkwardly self conscious narrator asides (I won't talk about our sex life, but ...). Shades of the climactic speech fromIt Conquered the World (He learned too late man was a feeling creature ...).It reminded me a lot of The Apocalypse Troll by David Weber (which was itself apparently an (originally) unpublished predecessor of his Mutineer's Moon (Dahak Series)), which I prefer to this book. The last half of the book also reminded me of The Puppet Masters, especially after reading the ending.

Interesting premise
This is a typical science-fantasy story in which an alien crash lands on Earth and is befriended by an earth man.The alien has the ability to change shapes, either to male or female and, of course, the man falls madly in love with it/her.The situations arising from this relationship are really what makes the story interesting.This is light, escapist reading, that will certainly entertain most.

Obviously Kindle Reviewers
Dead Tree due out mid-August!
Given the Amazon review of subject matter, 244 pages could never, in any way, do justice to the described plot line.
Will guess the whole new body/sex thingy is at the heart of this!

Felt Hurried
First, I love the book and the concept. It was well written, and the early character development was great. My only problem with the book is the further I got into it, the more the pace of the book increased. I really felt as if there were stories left to be told during the timeframe which were ignored. The three Crispies could each have had several chapters devoted to their experiences. I am looking forward to, and will read the next volume, but I hope the author is not in such a hurry to get to the end. ... Read more

Product Description
When Mark and Alice decide to install a program of their own devising into the only quantum computer in the world, wildly unintended consequences occur. The computer not only becomes self-aware, but the new program produces an unchangeable core directive which impels it to protect Mark and Alice as well as itself. It doesn't matter what the political, religious and military establishments think of a sentient computer running rampant on the internet and into secret files of governments all over the world, or what they try in order to stop it. Quanty intends to protect Mark and Alice and itself with all the power at its command no matter who gets hurt or helped in the process. The result is Mark and Alice becoming the focus of governments, spies and the military of every nation, since only they can control Quanty. Or can they? They're on the run but Quanty's unasked for "help" causes them to fall into one disaster after another, with no end in sight. ... Read more

Product Description
Millions of earthmen have been captured by aliens and are being put through the strangest and most terrifying survival tests ever imagined. Young Lyda Brightner's first experience after being thrown into the midst of undisciplined humans is so horrible that she vows she will never let it happen again, and that somehow she will live long enough extract revenge on the creatures responsible. She doesn't know that the trials are just beginning. Again and again she has to call on the only resources she has available: her own innate bravery, her quick mind, her unwavering belief in the innate goodness of the majority of humans and ultimately, her belief that eventually she will find someone to love. But even if she lives through all this, she will still have to face the final question. What do the aliens have in mind for the few survivors? Savage Survival is a coming of age novel like no other and Lyda Brightner is a character you'll remember forever. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Another winner from Darrell Bain
Darrell Bain should sell more books. I've read several of his yarns, and they are invariably memorable. Savage Survival is typical Bain-- something extraordinary interrupts ordinary, and characters rise to the occasion, or they don't.

In Savage Survival, the main character, Lyda Brightner, is eleven years old. Yes, she comes of age, rather quickly, but she remains vulnerable enough for readers to be empathetic to her. Various adults interact with Lyda as the story unfolds, but the focus is always on her. Not since Oliver Twist have I followed a youngster through so many trials. Like Dickens' classic tale of social inequality, Bain's story is about the crucible of humanity under extreme pressure, but it is also about how people can either make bad times better or worse. Pretense, which is an integral part of modern life, is quickly exposed in Bain's pressure cooker, and Lyda has no qualms about dispensing justice.

The story is science fiction, but it is soft-scifi, because Bain does not bother explaining how anything works. (I like that.) Instead, he spends most of the novel showing how people react to whatever befalls them. With my fairly busy schedule, I often begin a book and I'm still working on it a week later. Others are more compelling. Savage Survival took me about 24 hours, and that is only because I do have to sleep sometime. Lyda Brightner got under my skin in such a way that I just had to know how it was all going to play out.

Savage Survival is another winner.

wonderful "Darwinian" science fiction
The aliens came and conquered the Earth without much resistance.Many humans died in the first wave; other became guinea pigs for horrific survival testing though none of the earthlings know why.That is the pandemic big scale impact.

However, there are little stories also that roll up into the globalization nightmare like that of eleven year old Lyda Brightner.Her beloved father Bruce is dead; her equally overprotective mom Elaine is gone and assumed either dead or about to be dead.Lyda is hurt badly, but awakens in a camp with no protector.Someone named Boris sells her for a brick and water to Big Bill.He mistreats her and sells her to a slave owner.Lyda escapes and meets Ginella Sparks who is hiding with her baby having escaped from the "spiders".Lyda vows to never be abused again as she finds an inner strength to protect herself and those who soon depend on her for leadership.As she and the others adapt to a rough terrain and the alien tests they grow stronger mentally and physically. They each wonder what the spiders have in mind for the dwindling survivors.

Readers will enjoy SAVAGE SURVIVAL, a wonderful "Darwinian" science fiction tale that questions what human strength truly is.Lyda is a terrific lead individual who mentally grows stronger with each horrific adventure as she adapts to whatever is thrown at her; she truly comes a long way from the overly-protected suburban tweener to a powerful ethical leader.Darrell Bain provides a coming of age saga of a pampered loved preadolescent becoming a strong independent woman.

Harriet Klausner

Darrell does it again
Darrell grew up loving to read what we would call classic science fiction, and he writes in the tradition of the masters. But of all the Bain titles I've read, and there have been quite a few, this is the first time I've seen his take on a good old fashioned alien invasion. Well, not exactly "good old fashioned," since this is Darrell we're talking about. The tradition of the masters includes writing something never seen before, which can be easy to forget in this jaded century. Darrell's still writing things we haven't seen before. I'm impressed. You will be too. ... Read more

Product Description
Book III of the Sex Gates Trilogy: The exciting conclusion to The Sex Gatestrilogy. The mystery of the sex gates has at last been solved, but a horribledilemma arises. The masters of the sex gates are gone, but they have left apotential catastrophe behind. All the people who have gone into gates anddisappeared will be coming back, including psychopaths, the horribly injured andthe very elderly. There is no way to tell in advance what condition they willarrive in, other than that their sex will have been reversed. Lee and Rita finda way to use quantum worlds to avoid disgorging all these people back onto anearth that is finally settling down, but it involves risks that place his andRita's life on the line. And just to complicate the problem, some of theseconders who are supposed to be helping turn out to have an agenda of theirown, one which risks the whole human race! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not Free SF Reader
Continues on where the first book left off pretty much exactly.Not quite as raunchy, as the discovery phase has been left behind.Some super powered benefactors, government agents, religious nuts, and more of trying to work out weird alien artifacts.Basically, they have found at what is going on, but need to work out what to do.

Good conclusion to the trilogy
This trilogy is quite good, exploring the relationship between a person's psyche and his body. Very exciting scenes. NOT for children, there are some pretty steamy scenes in there, too. The third book is short, but good. A very satisfying conclusion to the series, although it could have been longer if the author had wanted to explore what happened to Messler and have a real struggle with the mysterious entity in the quantum world. ... Read more

Product Description
The Freedom Alliance consists of twenty frontier planets which revolt against the tyranny of the corporation-controlled Earth but above all against their corporate masters that control almost every facet of life on their planets. The surprise revolt succeeds at first but then the Earth Navy comes back, bringing enough warships and corporation army troops to subdue the rebels, they think. Unfortunately for them they have never come up against people like Maria Santos, Calvin Helos, General Juanita Sanforth and other brave patriots willing to sacrifice all for a chance to run their own lives. Forced underground, they prepare for a second revolt, using their hidden navy built from confiscated transports, obsolete weapons that have not been used for half a century, an underground army training in the jungles and finally a unique ally, the Elves of Weaver. Even then success is not guaranteed. Lives will be sacrificed, ships will be lost and the fight will be fiercer than they ever believed, but the Freedom Alliance is determined to succeed. Their people will live free or die trying.

The Frontier Rebellion is another masterful novel by Darrell Bain, author of Human by Choice, Alien Infection, Starship Down, The Long Way Home and many others. ... Read more

Product Description
The zany, politically incorrect Williard brothers are back, and this timethey're shooting for Mars, trying to spend the billions of dollars inheritedfrom the Mafia Godfather. But there's a financially and politically powerfulorganization that's been seriously hampering manned space flight for more thantwo generations, backed by shadowy beings who may not have originated on Earthat all. So far they've kept manned space flight from progressing very fast orfar, but they've never confronted the Williard brothers either. Along with theirgirlfriends, the Williards intend to go to Mars or die trying -- a distinctpossibility! ... Read more

Product Description
Prelude To The Pet Plague. In a world where enhanced animals have altered the ecology beyond repair, the great protective enclaves are beginning to be built, but there will be no refuge there for altered humans, nor for normal humans trying to protect their enhanced pets. A woman with feline genes, bred for sex slavery. A man who kills to protect his pet. Two truckers who don't care about laws designed for the cities. All are on the run across a surreal landscape where their odyssey takes them into the dangerous wilds, along roads and highways rapidly becoming impassable, and into cities where they have to live as outlaws. There is a chance for them to find a normal life if they can survive long enough to be accepted as immigrants to the moon. But only two of them can go, and only if they aren't caught first. Altered Humans is a novel set in the days before the pet plague reaches its peak, where society is in flux, where survival is for the strong, but where goodness and generosity can still be found--if you don't die first. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting concept, poorly done.
I bought this book because I was intrigued by the idea of pets with human-like qualities and humans with animal genes. The concept raises all kinds of questions about just how human you have to be to be considered fully human. Do you have to have 100% human genes, or can you have some animal genes as long as you "look" human? And what happens to those who are not deemed fully human? Do they have any rights at all?

Sadly, the book never addresses these issues in much detail. In fact, after the first few chapters, most of it becomes so predicable as to be boring. Even the sex scenes don't liven things up much, mostly due to the stilted writing. I found myself wishing for the book to end so it would tie up all the loose ends. Unfortunately, the book ends with a ridiculous cliche.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the poor quality of editing in this book. There are many mispellings and awkward phrases, which I've noticed is common in e-books. Perhaps the editorial standard for digital content is less stringent than for hard copy? In any case, it seriously disrupts the flow of a book that is already burdened enough.

I'd still give the story concept 5 stars, but the writing and editing drag it down to 2 stars. Buy the book only if you can get past that. ... Read more

Product Description
When terrorists try to poison undergraduate schools with a nerve agent, the scheme backfires. Instead of causing death, the chemical stimulates the mirror neurons in the students' brains, causing them to multiply and become hyperactive. This, in turn, leads to unusual talents. As the children grow, their teachers and other institutions become very interested in the odd perceptive ability they begin displaying. Government, industry, military, drug cartels, businesses and the underworld all want to use them for their own purposes. Some of the young men and women have different ideas. They will fight to keep their freedom; especially after a few of them begin to develop another odd talent, one that may change the world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

An idea of questionable taste rendered clumsily... avoid this one.
I soldiered through this book - forced myself to finish it. The editing is rough, but I knew Bain's following first met and embraced him in the (very new) world of web publishing, and I'm all right with wading through a few typos and misused words to get to a good story. The problem is, there's only the most rudimentary of stories to be had here. Painfully wooden characters limp along on the page, never even threatening to come to life. His zeal is commendable (dozens of his books - with unbelievably bad cover art - are available on Amazon), but the man barely writes at a sixth grade level. But wait: there's more!

The central premise of the book is that psychic 13-year-olds are as mature as non-psychic 18-year-olds... well, because they're PSYCHIC. No more complex argument is made - he simply repeats the premise, again and again. It's so... because it's so! This would be easier to palette if his 13-year-old girls (they're in their underwear for much of the book) behaved more maturely. Besides the physical responses, birth control methods, and seductions the girls engage in, there's not much to set them apart from real 13-year-old girls. As I'm sure you're starting to gather, the effect is unsettling. A hop and a skip from kiddy porn.

The writing itself is on par with the worst I have ever read. I can only guess that Bain's success online is due to the fetishist nature of his series "The Sex Gates", which showcases sex scenes between people who have magically/pseudo-scientifically switched genders.

Don't let the juvenile quality of the writing confuse you... this is not for children. I was pretty alarmed when a friend suggested that preteens/teens might be the target audience. If his intentions are innocent, the ineptness of his delivery renders the fact irrelevant.

A simple minded mother
The book's story is good and you'll think about it afterwards. The problem is that you have a simple mother as one of the main characters. How could be that a mother encourage her 13 years old daughter to have sex? When you read this among other things that parents wouldn't allow their children do the book start swooping so fast you can't even catch it.

disappointment
I was expecting more from this book. The author's overuse of slang concocted
to look like text messaging really sounded more like kid-speak. Yes, the characters were teens, but they were supposed to be gaining maturity from their telepathy, not losing it. I finished the book, but I'm not likely to buy another of Bain's books. ... Read more

Product Description
A clerk working in the census bureau discovers a series of anomalies in the population of a small city located in the Ozark Mountains. Intrigued, the clerk continues to investigate. He finds that, on average, the people of the city and surrounding valley, are a little smarter, less religious, more thrifty, marry less, have a higher level of education, are more sexually liberated and have fewer illnesses. The city also refuses government money for schools and roads, has little crime and no sign of racial unrest. None of these factors would mean much taken alone, but together, they spell out a population that is distinctly skewed from the normal. Surprisingly, hardly anyone in the valley realizes that most of them are different from the average. They simply think they live in a good place among good people. Then the investigation starts... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Fun Read, but seems stuck in the 60s
Strange Valley was a fun read, and it goes fast, which is probably a good thing, because I'd hate to think I spent too much time on this one.It's got an interesting premise, but it fails to expand much beyond the premise.Character motivations are paper-thin and seem too often to just be a thinly disguised extension of the author's feelings with no logical grounding in the plot. And sure, it's fun to see someone taking a few pot shots at neo-conservative Christian mentalities, but hey, it doesn't always drive the book forward.And the sexual liberalism scenes, particularly the final one where the main characters are celebrating their success, come off as just some ridiculous throw-back to the 60s.Like something out of an Austin Powers spoof.Can you say campy?

strong hyperbole based thriller
Census Bureau career civil servant Harry Beales is stunned with the data that reflects Masterville in the Arkansas Ozarks.The small town contains no measurable crime, a much greater than average life-span, no international business chains as everything is locally owned, no federal money is received not even Medicare or Pell Grants, the marriage rate is very low, but offspring very high and no major religion has taken hold. However, the oddest fact is that these trends can be traced back to the Civil War.

Harry's findings reach NSA; they become concerned with this oddity in the center of the Bible Belt especially since the objective of the President of the United States is to imbue Christian family values as the Bill of Rights.NSA field agents Daniel Stenning and Shirley Rostervick are sent to Masterville to uncover and destroy this heretical conspiracy in the middle of the United States that the POTUS and the NSA believe is the biggest threat to national security since the wall fell.

Using hyperbole to highlight the extreme of the fundamentalist religious right movement, Darrell Bain provides a powerful political thriller.The story line showcases a central government that feels so strongly in the end state of Christian based federalism that it leads the people to a restrictive faith in which the means to get there do not matter.This includes beating the bushes to thwart a small town whose residents are living together in harmony as that is not necessarily a pious life style.This reviewer kept thinking of the bane imposed on Rushdie as this strong thriller with a powerful message leaves readers to ponder what is right. Darrell Bain has written a fabulous eye-opening tale.

Harriet Klausner

Needs a good editor
An entertaining story as far as that goes, but the numerous grammatical errors and misuse of words ruined it for me.

Numerous time I found myself re-reading long, poorly worded, compound sentences trying to figure out what was meant.

And the frequent misuse of the word "rouge" was embarrassing. At lease three time he used that word where he meant "rogue".It is a bit hard to keep oneself immersed in a story when you read about "rouge agents" of the NSA.

Darrel Bain has come up with many entertaining story ideas but he needs to take some writing classes or get a good editor.

A Strange Valley
Only a few of Masterville's citizens are aware of the anomalies and uniqueness of their behaviors and lifestyle, but with the NSA sending agents to investigate them and their valley will they have time to find the cause and prove they are not aliens, monsters, or a threat?

Harry Beales' work in the Census office is routine if not boring, until he comes across some unusual findings about the small town of Masterville.

NSA Agent, Daniel Stenning, is a bit confused by the NSA's interest in a small town on the Arkansas, Missouri borders. Why are a few unusual statistics and lifestyle choices considered a threat to national security?

When he arrives in the valley with his partner, Shirley, who is posing as his wife on this assignment, he finds a back-in-the-fifties, clean town, and Lisa. The minute she opens
the door of the B&B where Shirley and Daniel are registered for their stay in Masterville, the attraction between Daniel and Lisa is obvious. Impossible to hide, impossible to fight.
Daniel has no desire to fight it, and begins to suspect he has a lot in common with the unique residents of this pleasant valley town.

Someone else has discovered Daniels similarities to the valley residents too, and he finds himself marked as a target by the agency he used to work for.

Daniel must work with Tyrone and the Masterville council and prove they offer no threat before powerful and corrupt government officials use terrorist tactics to wipe out a small part of the homeland.

Darrell Bain keeps the questions and suspense flowing through the action packed pages of Strange Valley.Thought provoking, this story stirs the imagination with what may at times seem exaggerated and extreme, but then, the extreme and those who err on the side of it is where the danger lies.

A Strange Valley by Darrell Bain
As nature abhors a vacuum, most folks abhor those who are different.And differences usually generate suspicion.In, "A Strange Valley," author Darrell Bain has taken those truths and, like a train slowly gathering speed and momentum until it's shrieking through the dark night, begins to weave a futuristic and fast-paced tale of suspense.
After a census bureau employee discovers a series of anomalies in a small valley in the Ozark Mountains, a power hungry president and his crumb-snatching director of the National Security Agency recognize the threat to their power base.
The residents of Masterville, Arkansas are a little smarter, less religious, thriftier, and marry less.They have a higher level of education, are more sexually liberated, and have fewer illnesses than the rest of the country.And, people don't bother to lock their doors at night in this quiet and serene community because crime is almost non-existent.Unfortunately, the administration's obsessive right-wing beliefs run counter to the peaceful residents.
Bain has taken current events and projected them into the future where the far right claims dominance over everything it doesn't agree with and abuses its power to try and keep these mutants, as they've labeled them, from influencing the rest of the country.
NSA Field Agent Daniel Stenning and his partner are sent to investigate the anomalies in Masterville but are hard pressed to conclude anything sinister.Nevertheless, the President seizes the opportunity of using an atheistic community to strengthen his upcoming election and is determined to prevent anything from getting in his way.
While Bain does well in building a believable biotechnical thriller, the ending doesn't quite justify the quality of the author's excellent skill in a mesmerizing plot and creating believable characters.Maybe it's that the ever-increasing intrigue hints at something more to come - something much more sinister than the sum of its parts.While not giving away the plot, and certainly not discouraging both suspense and science fiction aficionados from reading "A Strange Valley," I felt a little disappointed when I read the last page.

Reviewed by Francine Biere for The Coffee Cramp Reviews ... Read more

Product Description
Oops! is the third collection of stories by Darrell Bain. When Cupid and a Gremlin bump heads, the sparks fly in a rare fantasy story by the author. Others stories in the collection include A Simple Idea, an almost ludicrously simple method of eliminating corruption and idiocy from the political process, one that has been around for centuries but gone unrecognized. Cure for an Ailing Alien finds a nurse who must come up with a cure for an alien, one whose bodily processes are completely unknown. You'll be amazed at her cure! Retribution is the story of unexpected consequences when alien meets human. Robyn's Rock is partially based on a happening in the author's life during a walk with his granddaughter.

There are many more stories in this collection, all written in the individual style that has kept Bain's readers coming back for more for the past twenty years. This a book to add to your collection, stories by a notable, multi-award winning author. ... Read more