Book Review

#SciFi Worth Reading: The Salvage Crew #BookReview

Book Review, Science Fiction Books, Space Opera / /

The Salvage Crew by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne was an exciting read. What started as a simple mission to recover ship parts became more and more immersed in problems and complexity.

Filled with adventure and the thrill of exploring an alien world, the story’s main character is an AI. He used to be human and is now an overseer. It’s his responsibility to keep the mission on track. He also enjoys writing poetry.

The crew of three humans is deeply flawed, and they have varying reactions to the adversity they face.  Their human-ness makes the story interesting and kept me turning the pages. There was mystery, exploration, discovery, disaster, pain, and evolution.  I liked the grit and flawed nature of the characters and the universe in which they operate. So many themes and ideas in this novel resonated.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. As you’ve probably guessed, I highly recommend adding this book to your library.  I’ll have to see what else this author has to offer as a reading treat.

They thought this was just another salvage job. They thought wrong.

An AI overseer and a human crew arrive on a distant planet to salvage an ancient UN starship. The overseer is unhappy. The crew, well, they’re certainly no A-team. Not even a C-team on the best of days.

And worse? Urmahon Beta, the planet, is at the ass-end of nowhere. Everybody expects this to be a long, ugly, and thankless job.

Then it all goes disastrously wrong. What they thought was an uninhabited backwater turns out to be anything but empty. Megafauna roam the land, a rival crew with some terrifyingly high-powered gear haunts the dig site, and a secret that will change humanity forever is waiting in the darkness.

Stuck on this unmapped, hostile planet, lacking resources, and with tech built by the cheapest bidder, the salvage crew must engineer their way to payday…and beat Urmahon Beta before it kills them all.

 

 

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#SciFi Worth Reading: Binti #BookReview

Book Review, Science Fiction Books, Space Opera / /

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor is a beautiful read. It’s a novella, so it’s easily devoured in a day. I read this Hugo and Nebula winner cover to cover in one sitting. It deserves the awards. I’ll definitely check out the author’s other work since this one was such a treat.

It was easy to identify with Binti. She’s a 16-year-old girl who wins a scholarship to the finest university in the galaxy. Of the Himba people, her family and friends aren’t happy about her leaving. Himbas don’t leave their land or their traditions. If she leaves, they won’t welcome her back.

The story opens with Binti running off in the night to catch the starship. It was easy to feel the burning hope of a bright future and the loss of home as Binti sets off. Her people wear red clay and she really sticks out at the spaceport and on the ship.

Despite being such a misfit, Binti doesn’t give up her customs or her people’s traditions. How can we shed what we are? We can’t completely. Customs and traditions are the foundation of self.

For a short work, this book explores a lot about self and the beauty of not conforming. The words are froth with meaning and wisdom. The story definitely has a lot of delicious layers.

On the way to the university, the love of mathematics brings Binti friendships and a budding romance. I was enjoying her growth and learning about the galaxy as Binti learns about it. Then it all dramatically changes.

I won’t ruin the surprising twists for you. This tale was gripping and gorgeous and amazing. The writing is impeccable and I sopped up every word. Definitely worth reading. I couldn’t put this book down and am excited there are two more books in this series. Don’t miss this gem!

Here’s the official blurb:

Winner of the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for Best Novella!

Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti’s stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.

If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself — but first she has to make it there, alive.

 

 

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#Fantasy Worth Reading: Flex #BookReview

Book Review, Fantasy, Science Fiction Books / /

Flex by Ferrett Steinmetz is an engrossing fantasy set on modern-day Earth. I loved his space opera, The Sol Majestic, so had to try another book by this talented author.

The magic system has a bad side. For every wonderful gift, a dire consequence is required. The costs of doing magic are high and leave the ‘mancer without anything. Magic takes their homes, their friends, everyone and everything they love. Using magic is like a drug in this realm, and the magic users are addicts. They give up everything for their moments of glory and marvel.

The main character, Paul Tsabo, is an ordinary person dealing with some bad luck. He was once a cop, who gained notoriety for taking out a ‘mancer. He lost a foot during the battle, and the loss required him to take a new job. He now works as a claims adjustor at an insurance company.

Thing is, it’s there he learns he has a gift – bureaucracy ‘mancy. He can do extraordinary things with forms and reordering the world. He has to hide his gift, but he can’t stay away from it, especially once his daughter is horribly burned in a fire caused by the consequences of someone else doing magic.

He’s as obsessed with saving his daughter as finding quiet moments to do ‘mancy. This leads to him tracking down the ‘mancer who caused the fire that injured his daughter. Although he wants revenge in the worst way, he also needs to learn to hone his magic so he can help his daughter. This odd alliance and the search to find a better way to do magic drives the story.

The characters are very relatable. Most of us love to get lost in the beauty of our daydreams, which is very much like how the magic works in this book. It’s a great adventure with a great dose of self-discovery. Paul has to figure out what matters most and how to tame his ‘mancy for good.

I was entertained until the last page, and was rooting for Paul, his new ally, and his daughter. I was also rooting for magic. I highly recommend this fantasy.

Here’s the official blurb:

The first in a series by the author of The Sol Majestic that is “what might result if you put Breaking Bad and Reddit in a blender and hit ‘frappe.’ ” (B&N Sci-Fi Blog)

FLEX: Distilled magic in crystal form. The most dangerous drug in the world. Snort it, and you can create incredible coincidences to live the life of your dreams.

FLUX: The backlash from snorting Flex. The universe hates magic and tries to rebalance the odds; maybe you survive the horrendous accidents the Flex inflicts, maybe you don’t.

PAUL TSABO: The obsessed bureaucromancer who’s turned paperwork into a magical Beast that can rewrite rental agreements, conjure rented cars from nowhere, track down anyone who’s ever filled out a form.

But when all of his formulaic magic can’t save his burned daughter, Paul must enter the dangerous world of Flex dealers to heal her. Except he’s never done this before—and the punishment for brewing Flex is army conscription and a total brain-wipe.

 

 

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#Fantasy Worth Reading: Trail of Lightning #BookReview

Book Review, Fantasy, Science Fiction Books / /

This post-apocalyptic story written by Rebecca Roanhorse is set in the American desert. The Big Water destroyed the world as we know it, and the Navajo have walled off a large portion of western territory in which the story takes place.

Maggie Hoskie is recovering from a broken heart and using her clan powers to fight monsters bothering her neighbors. Her clan powers give her speed and a thirst for blood. She doesn’t mind killing, and so thinks herself a monster.  Her new partner challenges her to think of herself differently.

The Native American lore and main characters were well thought out and intertwined with the plot in a magical way-literally and figuratively. Every character has its secrets, mirroring Maggie’s nature to keep everything to herself.

The plot unfolds in layers and tangles everything together into a wonderful novel. Everyone has a past, and Maggie is forced to confront hers during the chaos of fighting an army of monsters. The plot twists were fun and the action exciting. The character journey was as pivotal as the mystery of finding the witch creating the monsters. There are also some interfering immortals.

Fun and fast-paced, I eagerly kept reading until the last page. More, please! Highly recommended.

Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last best hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much more terrifying than anything she could imagine.

Maggie reluctantly enlists the aid of Kai Arviso, an unconventional medicine man, and together they travel the rez, unraveling clues from ancient legends, trading favors with tricksters, and battling dark witchcraft in a patchwork world of deteriorating technology.

As Maggie discovers the truth behind the killings, she will have to confront her past if she wants to survive.

Welcome to the Sixth World.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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#SciFi Worth Reading: Empress of Forever #BookReview

Book Review, Science Fiction Books, Space Opera / /

The Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone is spectacular. Wow! What an imaginative, creative, marvelous read.

If you’re looking for original space opera, this novel certainly fits. The concepts were huge and small at the same time, depending on how you wanted to take it. It’s hard not to envy what goes on in Gladstone’s head and then how he puts it in written form.

The main character is a Steve Jobs type, who starts off the story by running from the feds. She is then transported into another time, and, it seems, another universe. Viv starts running and never stops in this world and on the others she visits during the course of this delicious adventure.

What’s worse than being locked away by the feds? Hmmm, maybe killer robots and warrior monks. Then there’s an empress who rules the galaxy, who attacked Viv and brought her into this crazy galaxy.

Viv uses her smarts to survive and attract a rag-tag group of misfits who work to help her get home. One review said this story was a bit like Guardians of the Galaxy. And, it is. It’s fun, it’s poetic (beautifully written), thought-provoking, and took me into a world like I’ve never read or seen before. Fantastic!

The character are unique and alien and amazing and familiar.  There were twists and turns to keep the story fresh and brilliant. Can you tell I loved it? Max Gladstone is an author I now want to read more of, and I highly, highly recommend Empress of Forever.

A wildly successful innovator to rival Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, Vivian Liao is prone to radical thinking, quick decision-making, and reckless action. On the eve of her greatest achievement, she tries to outrun people who are trying to steal her success.

In the chilly darkness of a Boston server farm, Viv sets her ultimate plan into motion. A terrifying instant later, Vivian Liao is catapulted through space and time to a far future where she confronts a destiny stranger and more deadly than she could ever imagine.

The end of time is ruled by an ancient, powerful Empress who blesses or blasts entire planets with a single thought. Rebellion is literally impossible to consider–until Vivian Liao arrives. Trapped between the Pride―a ravening horde of sentient machines―and a fanatical sect of warrior monks who call themselves the Mirrorfaith, Viv must rally a strange group of allies to confront the Empress and find a way back to the world and life she left behind.

 

 

 

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#Fantasy Worth Reading: Neverwhere #BookReview

Book Review, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction / /

Every time Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar came on scene, I cringed. Their character portrayals are so creepy and well done, that I’ve read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman several times to study his two villains. Plus, the story is dang good.

It is easy to empathize with the main character, Richard, and get lost in Neil’s nightmarish world. I enjoyed this story. A lot. Very imaginative and different.

Neverwhere uses the plot devise of falling into a fantasy world from our world. Other famous examples are Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, Wizard of Oz, Phantom Tollbooth, the Thomas Covenant series and many, many more. I think the idea of doorways to other worlds is intrinsically appealing. Fantasy is escape. Being able to walk into a different reality, well, there’s nothing more escapish than that.

Neverwhere‘s underground world is dark and garish. Yet it is also wonderful and teaches us about the actual world and our natures.

This is definitely a book I recommend reading.

It is the story of Richard Mayhew, a young London businessman with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he discovers a girl bleeding on the sidewalk. He stops to help her—an act of kindness that plunges him into a world he never dreamed existed. Slipping through the cracks of reality, Richard lands in Neverwhere—a London of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels that exists entirely in a subterranean labyrinth. Neverwhere is home to Door, the mysterious girl Richard helped in the London Above. Here in Neverwhere, Door is a powerful noblewoman who has vowed to find the evil agent of her family’s slaughter and thwart the destruction of this strange underworld kingdom. If Richard is ever to return to his former life and home, he must join Lady Door’s quest to save her world—and may well die trying.

 

 

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