Ziggy's Reading Corner



This is my stop during the blog tour for Dying for Space by S.J. Higbee. This blog tour is organized by
Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 14 till 31 December. See the tour schedule here.

Dying for Space (The Sunblinded Trilogy#2)

By S.J. Higbee

Genre: Science Fiction

Age category: New Adult

Release Date: 14 December 2017

Blurb:

Cadet Officer Elizabeth Wright just wants to make her father proud, while the  mercenary
warlord is looking for her to replace his dead family…

I finally get the opportunity to become a serving officer and fulfil my childhood dream, as well as get to
know my biological father, General Norman. And when I first clap eyes on Restormel, the HQ of my
father’s space mercenary outfit, it’s the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen.

But appearances can be deceptive. There are dark secrets hidden in the twisting corridors and
blood-soaked cells beneath the training grounds and banqueting rooms. Secrets that seep out. Secrets
that demand fresh victims, because whatever else happens, they can’t be allowed to see the light of
day…

You can find Dying for Space on Goodreads

You can buy Dying for Space here on Amazon  

First book in the series:

Elizabeth Wright has yearned to serve on the space merchant ship Shooting Star for as long as

she can remember – until one rash act changes everything…

You can buy Running Out of Space on Amazon

About the Author:

Born the same year as the Russians launched Sputnik, I confidently expected that by the time I
reached adulthood, the human race would have a pioneer colony on the Moon and be heading off
towards Mars. So I was at a loss to know what to do once I realized the Final Frontier wasn’t an option
and rather lost my head - I tried a lot of jobs I didn’t like and married a totally unsuitable man.

Now I've finally come to terms with the fact that I’ll never leave Earth, I have a lovely time writing
science fiction and fantasy novels while teaching Creative Writing at Northbrook College in Worthing.
I’ve had a number of short stories, articles and poems published – the most recent being my story
‘Miranda’s Tempest’ which appeared last year in Fox Spirit’s anthology Eve of War. I recently signed a
publishing contract with Grimbold Publishing for my science fiction novel Netted, which is due to be
released in 2019.

I live in Littlehampton on the English south coast with a wonderful husband and a ridiculous number of
books. I can be found online chatting about books at my book review blog
https://sjhigbee.wordpress.com/ and you’re very welcome to pop onto my website www.sjhigbee.com
and my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sjhigbeeauthor/.

You can find and contact S.J. Higbee here:

- Website  

- Blog  

- Facebook

- Twitter

- Goodreads  

Five Favourite Science Fiction Books that Feature Training

Dying for Space starts with Elizabeth completing her officer training with the Peace and Prosperity Corp – the largest mercenary outfit in Sector Two run by her father General Norman. So I thought I would select five of my favourite sci fi reads that also have their protagonist going through a training process.

Ender’s Game – Book 1 of the Ender Quintet by Scott Orson Card

Andrew "Ender" Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games; he is, in fact, engaged in something far more desperate. The result of genetic experimentation, Ender may be the military genius Earth desperately needs in a war against an alien enemy seeking to destroy all human life. The only way to find out is to throw Ender into ever harsher training, to chip away and find the diamond inside, or destroy him utterly. Ender Wiggin is six years old when it begins. He will grow up fast.

If you’ve only watched the rather mediocre film, I urge you to check out the book. It is far, far better. I recall reading this well over a decade ago and being absolutely gripped.

Old Man’s War – Book 1 of the Old Man’s War series by John Scalzi

John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce - and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.

Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You'll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You'll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you'll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.

I loved the premise and the thought this series was fabulous. John makes a great protagonist as he goes through the process, delighted with his tough, active new body. But then he discovers, there’s an almighty catch – there’s a war to fight…

Warrior’s Apprentice – Book 2 of the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold

Between the seemingly impossible tasks of living up to his warrior-father's legend and surmounting his own physical limitations, Miles Vorkosigan faces some truly daunting challenges.

If I could go back and reread a single series for the first time – it would be this one… Bujold manages to encompass so many cool ideas and so many sub-genres. This one tackles the gnarly subject of Miles significant physical defects that will prevent him ever becoming the mighty warrior his father was. But, being Miles, he finds an ingenious way to overcome this problem.

Orphanage – Book 1 of the Jason Wander series by Robert Buettner

Mankind's first alien contact tears into Earth: projectiles launched from Jupiter's moon, Ganymede, vaporize whole cities. Under siege, humanity gambles on one desperate counterstrike. In a spacecraft scavenged from scraps and armed with Vietnam-era weapons, foot soldiers like eighteen-year-old Jason Wander - orphans that no one will miss - must dare man's first interplanetary voyage and invade Ganymede.

Another series I thoroughly enjoyed – poor hapless Jason is yanked out of one grim existence and shoehorned into another…

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

In one of Robert Heinlein's most controversial bestsellers, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the Universe--and into battle with the Terran Mobile Infantry against mankind's most frightening enemy.

Himself is as kind and loving a husband as I could wish for – but I don’t think he’d forgive me if I didn’t include this one on my list. And indeed, it wouldn’t be a proper list of sci fi training bootcamps if this gem wasn’t there. A fair number of his books haven’t stood the test of time, in my opinion – but this one really has.

So there you have it – my five favourite science fiction training novels. Are there any others you can recommend?