Monday, August 30, 2010

Book Review and Giveaway: Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill

Jacob Durango is a trained regulator on Mars, but fell into disgrace when his father went to prison. Still, he’s bound by the tenets of a regulator, so when a mining crew from the South Pole engages his services to protect them from a band of Draeu, Jacob accepts. He already knows the job won’t be easy or well-paid, but then, he gets more than he ever bargained for…


First off, I loved the voice in this novel. Jacob is snarky and fun and has an easy rapport with the AI grafted to his brain (who also happens to be his former chief, Mimi). The dialogue is fast-paced and often hilarious, making for an enjoyable read despite the rather shallow characterization of some of the supporting characters (for example, I couldn’t for the life of me distinguish between Jenkins and Fuse, two dim-bulb guys on Jacob’s crew).

The plot was mainly action driven with a lot of blowing things up and fighting, but there were enough inventive surprises thrown in to keep me interested. Although we do get some background into the Orthocracy, some sort of now defunct despot leaders, the Mars presented seems more like a wild west sci-fi setting than a true dystopia - think the TV series FIREFLY (and if you are a fan of that, you should love this). Jacob even reminded me a bit of Captain Mal (with a body to match).

4 Zombie Chickens!



BLACK HOLE SUN just came out in hardcover on the August 24th. Find out more about the book at the author's website, and read an excerpt at the publisher's website.

Annnnnnd now, for the giveaway!  I have one hardcover copy up for grabs for my readers in the US, curtesy of HarperCollins.  I'll keep this open until September 6th at 11:59 pm CST. To enter, just leave a comment with your e-mail address.

See index of all dystopian reviews on Presenting Lenore

38 comments:

javajump said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Linda Henderson said...

This sounds like a very interesting book,I would love to read it/

seriousreader at live dot com

javajump said...

I love your blog. This book sounds like a winner!

javaintheam at hotmail.com
blog:
http://textnjava.blogspot.com/

Elizabeth Briggs said...

Dying to read this one. I read the opening pages on Amazon and it looks great.
ebriggs23 at gmail.com

Mrs. DeRaps said...

I've heard such great things about this book. Thanks!

mrsderaps @ hotmail . com

Shallee said...

Sounds like an awesome read!

shalleemcarthur [at] gmail [dot] com

Unknown said...

Sounds awesome.

jeremymwkelly at comcast dot net

Unknown said...

I would love to read this one!!

april dot toman at gmail dot com

Alyce said...

I've only seen the first episode of Firefly, so I don't know if that's enough to form an opinion. I think I'd like to give this book a try though, especially since I love science fiction.

akreese (at) hotmail (dot) com

Unknown said...

sounds good! love the dystopian novels :)

kmgraha2 (at) mail (dot) usf (dot) edu

Charlotte said...

I'm looking forward to this one!

charlotteslibrary at gmail dot com

Bahnree said...

Woot that sounds cool!

christianchick52 at gmail dot com

Melissa said...

oooh, must....read....

who knows? maybe it will help cure my post-panem disorder? ;)

Steph Su said...

I've been intrigued by this book ever since I learned that Suzanne Collins blurbed it! :D

stephxsu at gmail dot com

Kemendraugh said...

I have SUCH a thing for Mars! True story :D

kemendraugh at gmail dot com

jpetroroy said...

Ooh, if this is Firefly-like, I'm so in! :)

jpetroroy at gmail dot com

Jacqueline C. said...

I've been considering getting this one - I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it!

jax1204[at]gmail.com

Michelle said...

Yay! I actually just picked this one up over the weekend. I'm glad to see you liked it. :)

AHS said...

I am really interested in this one. I love Firefly and space westerns! Thanks for the giveaway.

ahsturgis at mindspring dot com

Zibilee said...

I loved Firefly and thought that Mal was really cute. He is doing this mystery series now, but I don't watch it. I also love the title to this book, and think all the snarkiness sounds really fun. It's too bad that the secondary characters aren't really that fleshed out, but it sounds like it really makes up for it in other ways. I'd love the chance to win a copy, Lenore, so please do enter me in your giveaway!!

zibilee(at)figearo(dot)net

Stephanie said...

This book sounds so good! I know I'd love it and I'll bet my 13 year old would too.

Sara Kankowski DeSabato said...

I saw this in the bookstore the other night and almost picked it up! (Went with Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Maze Runner instead.) I'd love to get a copy to continue feeding my dystopia kick!

s.t.kankowski at gmail.com.

Alex Bennett from Electrifying Reviews said...

This one looks so good! Great review.

alexreadsbooks at gmail dot com

Alex

Unknown said...

Sounds like another interesting book :)

You have an award on my blog here.

Unknown said...

Am I the only one with Chris Cornell singing in my head?

APSkap (At) comcast (dot) net

Marie said...

I am dying to read this book!

ako4eggs [at] comcast [dot] net

lulilut said...

Sounds great! Thanks for the giveaway!

d.septer(at)insightbb.com

Anonymous said...

I thought the other characters were very easy to tell apart. One is short and mouthy and blows things up. The other is big, goofy, and shoots things. What else does a guy need?

Melissa @ Mel's Books and Info said...

This book sounds great! Thank you for reviewing it.

wheems01 (at) gmail.com

Jana said...

I can't wait to read this one!

janawarnell(at)hotmail(dot)com

Nely said...

I love dystopian novels. Count me in for this one.

Nely
bookwormygirl{at}gmail.com

Su Kopil said...

Whether I win or not, I love your blog..and especially this last month of Dystopian books. You made forming my reading list easy.
Thanks for all the hard work.
Su

Jennifer said...

This sounds like a great book - and I have not heard of it. Thanks for the recommendation. I would love to be entered into the contest!
kennifernjenny(at)gmail(dot)com

Dawn M. said...

Anything that's compared to Firefly has got my interest. Count me in, please! :0)

Thanks!
librarygrinch at gmail dot com

Unknown said...

I'd love to read this, thank you!
texas_gal45(at)hotmail(dot)com

justpeachy36 said...

Sounds really interesting.

Please enter me in the giveaway.

justpeachy36@yahoo.com

Juniper said...

Oh lovely! I want to read this, since Collins gave a good review, along with yours. Also has a neat cover.
jmeyse@gmail.com

Cassy said...

Sounds cool!

cassy_the_teen @ yahoo . com