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I give this book five out of five stars. This is a wonderful collection of shorts, with each one posing a few new and some old questions on immortality. Is living eternal a goal or a debasement of the meaning of life? Will the change make human life better or render its beauty a perversion. I especially liked The Control, by: Will Swardstrom, The Backup, by: Patricia Gilliam, and A Severance of Souls, by: Drew Avera.
In The Control, I liked the action through historical events, and how the ancient alien concept was incorporated into the story. It was a great character arch to see the young mind of the protagonist fooled in the beginning, but growing over time to develop and find his free will. It was well paced and I was satisfied with the ending.
Patricia Gilliam’s The Backup, was a page turner. There were many interesting twists within just a few short pages, and I was quickly drawn into the story. I felt emotionally tied to unexpected deaths, and even the injury of the family pet. I want to know more about the assassins, pre programed weapons, and the motivation behind it all.
Drew Avera’s A Severance of Souls, I think hit on one of the key aspects of immortality: Is it worth having if we are alone? Is it better to face an end with people you love, than run after the laurels and achievements of work pursuits?
Rememorations, by: Paul B. Kohler, was another story that stood out. Memory and the human brain is still something scientists are working to understand. How would massive memory loss affect our present life? I liked this exploration of what would happen if part of our history were taken away? Would reoccurring memory loss be a worthy cost to becoming immortal? I’m not a fan of multiple flashbacks as a narrative, but I enjoyed how they were used in this story. It was appropriate for the decision making process presented to the protagonist.
Overall they were all well done, with a variety of voices and styles providing lots of ideas and questions to ponder. Book Review: Sojourners (Farpointe Initiative Book Two) by: Aaron Hubble
I give this book four out of five stars for its characters, world building, and vivid battle scenes. This is the first full novel in Aaron Hubbles Farpointe Initiative series, following a group of Aereas native’s as they navigate the wilderness to seek refuge from an unknown attacking force. Questions from the first book are answered only to pull you in deeper into the story as a series of new mysteries are presented.
What I liked about this book:
1) Characters, protagonists, supporting, and antagonists, I liked them all. I found myself engaged in the story even more by the mysteries surrounding the female cyborg pilot, wondering if the native who walked out of the ruined city with a crossbow was a spy, and curious to learn what happened to Berit’s family.
2) The speculative ideas. I liked learning about the antagonist and seeing human nature’s dark side. What happens when population embraces peace and rejects the need for self-defense? What happens when a population has a choice between hardship or joining a militant force with guarantees of life’s essentials and more? I was as intrigued with what happened on earth as I was with the story unfolding on Aereas.
3) The Narrative Style. The struggles the group of survivors encounter on a long cross-country trek were legitimate and well thought out. Finding out if the group would reach their destination held my interest, and the answers were rewarding and blew my expectations apart. Each of the battle scenes, with native animals, and then the attacking force were well paced and well done.
Overall a very enjoyable read and I look forward to reading more in this series. The book is free to subscribers to Kindle Unlimited on Amazon.
Book Review: Ash (Farpointe Initiative Book One) by: Aaron Hubble
I give this book five out of five stars for its breakneck pacing while binding me to the characters, providing details of a foreign planet, and vivid scenes of an attacking force. This is a short read that offers an amazing first look at the world of Aereas. A once war torn planet has lived in peace for five hundred years. Hubble pulls no punches when he tells the story of wars return to Aereas.
What I loved about this book:
1) Characters, I was rooting and morning for each one encountered. I went back and counted the number of paragraphs it took to bind me to Berit. Three, I was attached to her character in three paragraphs. Well done Hubble, very well done.
2) The Pacing, it was spot on. We are given enough calm before the storm, to meet the protagonists, enjoy the new world, and then freak out when the first bombs arrive.
3) Strong Narrative Style. The visual descriptions were lovely. The beautiful moments and the heart wrenching ones were captured. The cultural and world building details were scattered throughout the read, and not dumped in long paragraphs.
Overall it was a great start to a series and I look forward to reading more about the unfolding conflict. This book is currently free on Amazon. You can find out more about author Aaron Hubble on his website HERE.
Book Review: Queen of Fire, by: Anthony Ryan
I give Queen of Fire four out of five stars for a large ending to a wonderful series. Ryan has a clear narrative voice, and is a master at constructing battle scenes. I enjoyed the characters in this series and all the adapted myth’s and intersecting alternative histories portrayed. I leave this series content with the answers provided to the many mysteries that bind the Raven’s Shadow trilogy together.
Blood Song was a story told from a single point of view, with a beautiful plot arch. Tower Lord expanded the mystery’s found in Blood Song and provided more point of views, and a fast paced engrossing story. Hold onto your mind when you start Queen of Fire, and be prepared for information propelled via fire hose. Game of thrones fans would pass out if they were given a sixteenth of the plot work that Ryan revealed in this one book.
It’s not to say I’m one hundred percent happy with the answers given to the many plot questions. I’m merely content. I still want to know where the ancient woman, her husband, and her brother came from. The alien’s, turned demons, turned afterlife power eater, turned creature afraid of hungry things in rocks, was a little much for me. Especially when this was contrasted against the trilogy’s exploration of faith and the afterlife, with cursory looks at real world current and dead spiritual beliefs. This is message fiction with a fractured twist, and it will leave you with less hope than the message fiction of C.S. Lewis.
I like books with lots of characters. I also like books that take me to new places, and have battle scenes. I never thought I would complain about a book giving me too much of any of these things, but Queen of Fire was too much. I think Ryan could have pared or combined these elements, or just written more. Written more, yes I know don’t hit me, this is epic fantasy people, and there were times where I swear I caught sight of evidence that an editor’s blade had hacked at Ryan’s brilliance. The well set pace found in the first two books was very off in this one. Anyway more or less would have improved the strength of this book. After awhile I was thinking, “Another tribe? We’re meeting another northern tribe? Haven’t we already covered all the ancient native tribes of Canada and Alaska?” Or “Another battle in the empire? Will this be a battle where key supporting characters get killed?” Battle, after battle, after battle grinding everybody into submission, but with majority of the named characters walking away alive each time, the dramatic effect of the battle scenes wore off.
In the end I wanted to get drunk with Norte and yell at Ryan because I too was mad that he killed my cat. Overall the series is a great story, and I can’t wait to see what author Anthony Ryan writes next.
Book Review: Dead in the Water by: Carol Davis
I give this book five out of five stars for being a book you will pick up and freak out if you have to put it down, well defined characters, impeccable dialog, and tale that combines my favorite parts of investigation and the paranormal. The read was refreshingly good with characters making choices you were begging them not to make, and internal drama that overlapped with the ongoing action.
What I loved about this book:
1) The characters were engaging and full of things to love and hate. I liked how the ongoing action brought up thoughts and memories of the past within each character point of view. Each character presented was interesting and the more I learned the more I wanted to know about them.
2) Author Carol Davis has a gift for dialog. There was not a single line that rang as contrived or false. I was laughing along with the internal character thoughts, and chuckling at the banter between the main characters. Both added such a nice layer of authenticity to the relationships.
3) The pacing of the story was spot on. There were nice twists and unexpected revelations as the action progressed. Transitions were well timed, and the various point of views worked well.
This is the first book I’ve read by Davis, and I know I will seek out more of her work in the future. I hope she decides to write more books about the lives and investigations of Terry and Nick, I for sure would be eager to read them.
You can find out more about author Carol Davis and her books HERE.
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