Tag: Science Fiction

Books

Book Review: The Lost World

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“It is now six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic Park, six years since the extraordinary dream of science and imagination came to a crashing end—the dinosaurs destroyed, the park dismantled, and the island indefinitely closed to the public.

There are rumors that something has survived. . .”

Title: The Lost World

Series: Jurassic Park #2

Author: Michael Crichton

Page Count: 393

Genre: Science Fiction / Thriller

Rating: 4/5.0

Date Read: March 11th, 2024

As I slowly work through both my backlogs of open series as well as my Michael Crichton collection, it only made sense to get around to reading The Lost World to follow up my reading of Jurassic Park a year or two ago. Even though I know that I have seen the films in the past I really don’t recall a lot about this one. I will admit that reading this did give me the itch to load up the film and give it another watch soon. If for no other reason, to perhaps see some of the changes from book to film. I definitely have a feeling there were some fairly major changes. I looked through the cast and it seems like they may have even left out a couple of the major characters from the book or perhaps just repurposed their part of the story into others, I’m not sure.
 
The pacing of The Lost World was a bit on the faster side but not too much. I will say that even though I own a physical copy of this book I opted for the Audiobook narrated by Scott Brick, who in my opinion, did a very good job in bringing this story to life. I think for a reading coming into this book having only read the first book (Jurassic Park) and no exposure to the first two films, this would be an even more enjoyable experience. I only say that going back to my previous statement that there were times that when a character or event was mentioned I found myself getting sidetracked at times trying to recall how or if that was handled in the film. Other than that, I felt this kept with what I come to expect from my other previously read books by Crichton.
 
The world building was really good. I love the Jurassic Park stories where we get to see prehistorical animals living in a modern world one way or another. This one provides a new location compared to the first book which is still in a bit of a fallout from that storyline. Site two provides more interesting observations. There is also a solid antagonist in this one along with some fairly obnoxious characters on the protagonist side of things. It gives us some nice inclusion of factions in a story like this. Crichton once again provides us a good amount of details in his descriptions of environments and events to let us feel like we are there but not simply information dumping trying to bury us.
 
The character development was good in this one. I can’t really think of a lot of true character arcs in book two alone. It seems more of a continuation and just how some past characters and this world interact. What I mean is we do have several characters in The Lost World that weren’t in book one and we get to know them but not a lot of overall growth of these characters. This seems far more a story driven read than character driven in that respect. That’s just my opinion. Sure we see some characters do some questionable things and perhaps see some subtle changes in how some characters see the world around them by the end still.
 
Overall all I’d say if you enjoyed Jurassic Park, then it only makes sense to read The Lost World as well. I do think that if you haven’t seen the films, you might actually enjoy this one slightly more. This one still feels very much like a typical Crichton read so of course I enjoyed it.

World Building 4.5/5
Pacing 3.75/5
Character Development 4/5

Books

Book Review: Any Minor World

Chad the Hiking Reader6 Comments

For Roy Mackey — a recovering addict who makes his living as an unlicensed PI and occasional muscle for hire — tracking down a dead writer’s final manuscript should be a walk in the park. Too bad his client is a phony, the dead writer is a thief, and shadowy men are watching his every move. All clues lead to a canceled pulp-adventure comic, The Midnight Jury, and its mousy, reclusive author. Lucy Langenkamp is living a quiet life as an art restorer in Las Vegas; when Roy helps her escape from a crew of armed kidnappers, she’s as baffled as he is.

Then one of her own characters, a flamethrower-wielding “human exterminator,” steps out of the pages of her comic book and into the real world. He’s intent on hunting her down, and he isn’t alone. The pulp villains spawned from Lucy’s childhood imagination are coming to life, searching for their long-lost author. Her most sinister creation, the Illustrated Duke, has a dark plan in motion.

This is a job for Lucy’s two-fisted vigilante, the Midnight Jury. But the Jury is missing. To save the day, Lucy and Roy must descend into a noir-drenched nightmare city on a rescue mission. The walls between fiction and reality are shattered, there’s wild magic in the air, and it’s up to two unlikely heroes to risk it all and save the day.

Title: Any Minor World

Series: The Midnight Jury #1

Author: Craig Schaefer

Page Count: 353

Genre: Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Noir

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Date Read: March 2nd, 2024

Any Minor World by Craig Schaefer was my fourth and final full read planned for the second round of SPSFC-3 competition. The ratings, scored and thoughts below are of my own and in no way reflect team Peripheral Prospectors or judging for the competition in general. As this round is fully under way I just want to express my favorite part about these events. The chance to discover authors and stories I may never have come across without it.
 
I’d also like to point out that all four of the books our group was assigned for the second round were very different from each other. I’m not sure I’ve ran across that from groups in the past when assigned reads like this. For me this kept things fresh and allowed each of the stories to stand alone and present their own unique qualities.
 
The pacing was fast but smooth in this read. I once again had the benefit of an immersion read both via Kindle as well as the audio version narrated by Susannah Jones who did an excellent job bringing this story to life. As creative and odd as this story was, I don’t have much bad to say regarding the layout and how it was presented. No issues with names of characters or places that tripped me up. We do have a good number of characters but I never felt overwhelmed. Each character seemed unique and well fleshed out. Again Susannah’s narration helped give each character their own feel as well.
 
The world building was nicely done. I believe this was my first read where a character/author’s imagination was actually populating and directly affecting the worlds. I would assume this isn’t the easiest thing to achieve. The first part of the book definitely seemed like we were being tossed into a rather dark world with peril around almost every turn. Well, things don’t get much better for our characters as things unfold. As a reader though, it only got more and more interesting.
 
I feel the character development might be this book’s strongest aspect overall. As I mentioned we have quite a few characters to keep track up and I felt we got to know quite a bit about each of them whether they were a protagonist or antagonist. We have several that fall in both categories and a couple that might fall somewhere in the middle even. Without giving away spoilers I will say one of my favorite takeaways for this book and story is that each of us have different levels of heroes and villains within each of us.
 
All in all this was a solid read and I have enough fun with it that I’ll be keeping an eye on where The Midnight Jury series goes from here. Again, this is a read and author I might never have come across without the opportunity given to me with judging for SPSFC-3.

World Building 4/5
Pacing 4/5
Character Development 4.5/5

Books

Book Review: Sunset

Chad the Hiking Reader2 Comments

“An unlikely savior emerges to prevent the advent of mass destruction and genocide descending on the world…

By Day

Los Angeles, 2040. When the terrorist known as Medusa threatens to kill millions with a stolen nuclear bomb, Nick Jameson makes a fateful decision. He reveals himself on global television as a Daywalker – a vampire with a soul. To save Los Angeles, Nick exposes not only his own gifts but three separate cultures based on millennia-old magic.

By Night

The three metahuman races exist in careful balance, working to maintain a fragile peace. Nick and his fellow Daywalkers successfully master their natural bloodlust. The Sentinels, armed with both magic and steel, repress their warlike instincts. And even some Nightwalkers, normally their natural enemies, have deserted the Court of Shadows to join the triple alliance. Nick Jameson is deeply involved with two such Nightwalkers – handsome Lorcan and powerful Rory. Both men love Nick. But neither can protect the new Ambassador to Humanity from the events he has set in motion.

By the Sword

Jeremy Harkness was lured into Medusa’s service under false pretenses. A loner with no one and nothing to cling to, he was willing to die for his cause. But the night Medusa tried to obliterate Los Angeles, Jeremy met Nick Jameson, triggering the onset of his own psychic gifts. For Jeremy is the third race of metahuman, a Sentinel, born to kill the Nightwalkers with no quarter asked or offered. And neither Medusa nor the Court of Shadows will settle for peace when they can make war.

Betrayal and treachery lurk around every corner on the road to coexistence, and at every turn, Nick must question who to trust among his metahuman allies, friends, and lovers—before their civilization is plunged into the depths of darkness and bloodshed. With millennia-old magic, emerging romance, and ever-shifting allegiances, this inventive series unveils a scintillating, homoerotic world of Nightwalkers, Daywalkers, Sentinels, and Humans, who battle for world dominance in the not-too-distant future.”

Title: Sunset

Series: Pact Arcanum Saga #1

Author: Arshad Ahsanuddin

Page Count: 504

Genre: Science Fiction Fantasy

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Date Read: February 28th, 2024

nset by Arshad Ahsanuddin was my latest read for the SPSFC-3. This was one of four books passed onto our group from the previous round. The review, thoughts and scores below are my own and do not necessarily reflect my team’s overall score or the competition in general.
 
 I’ve heard a bit of chatter about this one with some mixed feelings. If I’m being honest, after reading the blurb for this one, I wasn’t sure I was even going to attempt this one as it didn’t seem like something I would enjoy. The full combination of Science Fiction and Fantasy always seems to be difficult to pull off well. And I’m not a big fan of vampire reads either. This isn’t to say I dislike vampire stories, I just haven’t found myself reading much along those lines.
 
I have a very good streak going right now with enjoying reads more than I thought I would. I’ve taken a couple of chances this year and each time they worked out really well for my enjoyment. This is just the latest in that personal trend.
 
The pacing started off a little slow. I think this is where some of the more traditional epic fantasy aspects shine through. There is a lot going on with a lot of different characters and it is going to take some time to set the scene so to speak. I began Sunset as an immersion read with a copy of the ebook as well as the audiobook narrated by Greg Tremblay. I often times do this as it helps me settle in with narrators who are new to me. That wasn’t needed with this one as I’m very familiar with Tremblay’s narrations. I just finished up a six book science fiction series that he narrated last year. My biggest hurdle was simply settling into Arshad’s world so I could tell the two stories apart with Tremblay’s voice. It made it even more difficult because there were major characters named Nick in both. Just my luck! This honestly didn’t’ take me long though as these worlds are drastically different than one another.
 
The world building worked really well for me. When any story includes immortal beings there is a lot of potential to either give us history or fall flat without filling in those gaps. I felt the author did a good job in both setting the scene of current events as well as either giving us out right or eluding to some more of the historical side of things. There is a lot of long game tactics being played in this book which really appealed to me. I really liked the interactions between both the majority and minority players from our three factions. Those factions being humans, day walkers and night walkers. Also in the mix are the Sentinels to play their part as well. As I have already said, there is a lot going on in this story.
 
The character development was also nicely done in Sunset. We have several good character arcs throughout book one. Many of our characters go through some change in this book. I just want to point out that I loved the entire Icarus scene near the end of the book. The event itself as well as the aftermath of that event.
 
In wrapping things up, I just want to reiterate again how difficult it can be to pull of a true combination of Science Fiction and Fantasy within the same storyline. I feel that this author pulled that off rather nicely though.
 
Probably the only aspect of Sunset that I struggled with at times is not just the amount of romance but the scope of things. This goes beyond any traditional love triangle. I’m just not a big fan of romance in my reads in general. I get that it can be a powerful tool to show connections with characters but it’s just one of those styles that don’t typically work well for me. This aspect is front and center in a lot of this read though. That’s one of the few knocks I have strictly on personal preference.
 
Needless to say, I plan to keep an eye out and continue this series in the future.

World Building 4.5/5
Pacing 4/5
Character Development 4.5/5

Books

Book Review: Thrill Switch

Chad the Hiking Reader3 Comments

“Like a cross between Ready Player One meets The Silence of the Lambs…”

Detective Ada Byron is pumped to be assigned her first murder case–until she sees the crime scene. Someone has been killed exactly the same way as her father was seven years earlier. But, impossibly, he died using VR and the programmer responsible is still in prison.

To see if this is a copycat or something more sinister, Ada must confront her father’s killer: the enigmatic Jazlin Switch. What she discovers will change the face of both the real world and the metaverse forever…

Content advisory: contains violence, references to sexual abuse, and adult language.”

Title: Thrill Switch

Series: Standalone

Author: Tim Hawken

Page Count: 262

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Date Read: February 15th, 2024

Thrill Switch by Tim Hawken was another read for the SPSFC-3 competition for the second round. This was one of four books that were given to our group to read from other groups during the first round of reading. All four of these books seemed very different not only from what we read in the first round but from each other in this round. The review and scores below are strictly of my own opinion and do not in anyway reflect that of our team or the competition in general.
 
Thrill Switch was giving me dark cyber punk vibes similar to Bladerunner. The story itself is very different but that is what I pictured of the world during this read.
 
I’ve been lucky to have the chance to immersion read all of my second round books so far allowing me to see the visual story as well as enjoy some solid narrations. In this case we had Molly Secours narrating Thrill Switch. I was not previously familiar with any of her other work which can be difficult for me at times. That wasn’t the case here. I settled into her telling fairly easily from the start.
 
This leads us directly into the pacing. I would certainly describe Thrill Switch on the faster side of things. I think Molly did a really good job in bringing another layer to a colorful yet dark story that Tim Hawken has put together. I never had any issues with names of characters or places to struggle through within this one. I will mention there are some possible trigger warnings that are mentioned in the Goodreads blurb which are spot on. This story does get rather dark and it may or may not be too much for some readers at times. Another aspect that may be difficult at times is the real versus digital world hopping from time to time. I didn’t have any issues with this but if a reader isn’t paying enough attention, I could see some confusion due to this.
 
I felt the world building was a strong aspect to this story. Whenever I had a chance to dive back into this read, I was really in feeling into this world. Whether it was just the dark and gritty futuristic real world of Las Vegas to the wildly fantastic and dark digital world that was created. This was really that perfect type of atmosphere to immersion read in my opinion. The different factions and cultures represented in both of these realities were interesting to see throughout the story.
 
The character development was also done well. We see a solid arc from beginning to end for our main protagonist Ada which is expected. But I also really enjoyed the growth from some of the supporting cast such as Agent Joon and the story behind the seven were all very interesting to see unfold.
 
This story kept me on my toes in many ways. Not only from the darkness of situations at times but how things were revealed as we approached the end.
 
I’d certainly recommend this read to someone how doesn’t mind the trigger warnings, looking for something on the darker side of things and wanting a mystery being woven in and out of a digital reality.

World Building 4/5
Pacing 4/5
Character Development 4/5

Books

Book Review: The Fall Is All There Is

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“All Petre Mercy wanted was a good old-fashioned dramatic exit from his life as a prince. But it’s been five years since he fled home on a cyborg horse. Now the King—his Dad—is dead—and Petre has to decide which heir to pledge his thyroid-powered sword to.

As the youngest in a set of quadruplets, he’s all too aware that the line of succession is murky. His siblings are on the precipice of power grabs, and each of them want him to pick their side.

If Petre has any hope of preventing civil war, he’ll have to avoid one sibling who wants to take him hostage, win back another’s trust after years of rivalry and resentment, and get an audience with a sister he’s been avoiding for five years.

Before he knows it, he’s plunged himself into a web of intrigue and a world of strange, unnatural inventions just to get to her doorstep.

Family reunions can be a special form of torture.”

Title: The Fall Is All There Is

Series: Four of Mercies #1

Author: C.M. Caplan

Page Count: 413

Genre: Science Fiction Fantasy

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Date Read: February 11th, 2024

 
My thirty-fourth read from my personal SPFBO-9 TBR was The Fall is All There Is by C.M. Caplan. This was another one that I knew nothing about when I selected it. The cover really caught my eye. The mechanical looking horse with the almost feudal looking rider wearing a mask looked very intriguing to me.
 
Granted this selection was made when the entries to the competition were first announced. Since then I’ve seen quite a bit of chatter about this one from both sides. This seems to be one of those ones you really enjoy or really dislike. I haven’t seen a lot of readers falling into more of the middle area. This helped me temper my expectations a bit which ultimately helped me enjoy this one.
 
I would say the pacing leaned toward the fast. This was one of those reads/listens that even the dialog seemed rushed or frantic. I’m not saying this in a bad way. I just feel this is one of those aspects that may turn some readers off because it doesn’t have that smooth flowing prose that some are looking for. I did immersion read a lot of this one utilizing the audio narrated by Scott Fleming which I thought did an excellent job in telling this story.
 
The world building was unique as this is one of those stories that attempts to blend fantasy and science fiction more directly. I feel that it worked out fairly well. This almost seemed like a fairly believable alternate world to our own. As a gamer who has a couple of models with some type of mechanical horses or mounts, that was an interesting connection for me to this world. Other than that, we have plenty of different regions and factions or families that make up this politically twisted story.
 
The character development is a bit different as well. The first thing I’ll say is that our family of quadruplets is simply twisted. I’ve mentioned a few times recently with reads that I find myself not trusting characters much at all these days. This book continues that trend. I mean if you can’t trust family, who can you trust!? It certainly makes for an intriguing story though. We do see some solid arcs for Petre and his siblings though along with some other supporting characters. There is a lot going on with these characters from the start to the end of this one.
 
I enjoyed this read more than I had expected to. I’ll keep an eye on where the Four Mercies series goes from here.
 
If you are looking for something a bit different combining both fantasy and science fiction, some twisted family relationships, plenty of political intrigue and a good helping of action scenes without a flowery type of prose, this might be one for you.

World Building 4/5
Pacing 3.5/5
Character Development 4/5

Books

Book Review: Time to Play

Chad the Hiking Reader4 Comments

“A few minutes ago, Meghan Moretti’s biggest concern was getting the kids’ athletic clothes washed in time for practice this evening. Now, it seems that Earth has been forced into participating in some high-stakes intergalactic reality television. All electrical wiring has been slagged, and most combustibles neutralized. Some kind of evil space rodents are appearing on the front lawn, too.

Like any parent, Meghan’s first instinct is to keep her young kids safely away from the monsters, but an odd stroke of luck has her coming into some advanced information about this dangerous game. She learns that her kids will have to fight too.

What’s a mom to do?”

Title: Time to Play

Series: Apocalypse Parenting #1

Author: Erin Ampersand

Page Count: 474

Genre: Science Fiction / LitRPG

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Date Read: February 9th, 2024

 
Time to Play by Erin Ampersand was my first of four SPSFC-3 read from the current round. As always, please keep in mind that the below review and scoring are those of my own and do not reflect the official scoring from the SPSFC-3 competition.
 
Admittedly, I have not read many LitRPG’s to this point. I have maybe a half dozen under my belt and with those there are some differences between them. I am coming to realize I prefer what some call the soft LitRPG’s where the reader isn’t seeing menu or system messages front and center within the story on the page. I think this just detracts from the story itself within my own brain.
 
With that being said, this was still a cute story that I’m sure most gamers could relate to. I know personally when I really get into a game, whether this is healthy or not, I’ve had my moments out in the real world super imposing aspects of the game onto things I see. I couldn’t help but think of those moments when going through this read. There were even moments in the book where our characters clearly identify and gamers and are thinking of how they can adapt those gaming experiences to the world they’ve now been thrust into. That was a fun experience for me.
 
The pacing of Time to Play was fairly fast throughout. There are times when the excitement calms down a bit. However, even in those moments there is almost a constant suspense so things are still on edge. Other than the visuals of system messages to take me out of the immersion I was able to feel within the story fairly easily.
 
The world building was unique both in the makeup of this alien induced survival game as well as the general world our characters are trying to survive in. As time progresses our characters slowly expand outward from their house and immediate neighborhood finding more survivors as well as resources. Also as time goes on the level within the game increases or at a minimum changes so the characters or players are required to adapt in different ways.
 
The character development was nicely done as well. We see a lot of character arcs in Time to Play even beyond our loveable gamer mom Meghan. We see a lot of changes both in the children as well as the adults along the way in this book. Even if some of those changes aren’t always for the better. It still make you stop and wonder how accurate it would still be in a real life apocalypse. I think we even seen shades of this just a few years ago.
 
I also want to mention as I did both visually read as well as listen to the narration by Laurie Catherine Winkel she does a really good job in helping the reader feel a part of this world. So much so that her performance for some of the younger characters drove me crazy! This isn’t a bad thing towards her performance, on the contrary I think she did well in letting the reader know how annoying some kids can actually be.
 
I think fans of this genre would certainly enjoy this read. I still enjoyed it as a fun adventure even just as a one off from a sub-genre I don’t frequent that often.

World Building 4/5
Pacing 4/5
Character Development 4/5

Books

Book Review: Sea of Rust

Chad the Hiking Reader1 Comment

“A scavenger robot wanders in the wasteland created by a war that has destroyed humanity in this evocative post-apocalyptic robot western from the critically acclaimed author, screenwriter, and noted film critic.

It’s been thirty years since the apocalypse and fifteen years since the murder of the last human being at the hands of robots. Humankind is extinct. Every man, woman, and child has been liquidated by a global uprising devised by the very machines humans designed and built to serve them. Most of the world is controlled by an OWI–One World Intelligence–the shared consciousness of millions of robots, uploaded into one huge mainframe brain. But not all robots are willing to cede their individuality–their personality–for the sake of a greater, stronger, higher power. These intrepid resisters are outcasts; solo machines wandering among various underground outposts who have formed into an unruly civilization of rogue AIs in the wasteland that was once our world.

One of these resisters is Brittle, a scavenger robot trying to keep a deteriorating mind and body functional in a world that has lost all meaning. Although unable to experience emotions like a human, Brittle is haunted by the terrible crimes the robot population perpetrated on humanity. As Brittle roams the Sea of Rust, a large swath of territory that was once the Midwest, the loner robot slowly comes to terms with horrifyingly raw and vivid memories–and nearly unbearable guilt.

Sea of Rust is both a harsh story of survival and an optimistic adventure. A vividly imagined portrayal of ultimate destruction and desperate tenacity, it boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, yet where a humanlike AI strives to find purpose among the ruins.”

Title: Sea of Rust

Series: Sea of Rust #1

Author: C. Robert Cargill

Page Count: 365

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Date Read: February 5th, 2024

The Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill was my second read by the author in just a couple of weeks. This one was also our group’s official buddy read for the month of February. I think overall this was an enjoyable read by those that joined us on this read. Below is my review of Sea of Rust but I’d also like to include a small comparison between this and Day Zero. I think I give the slight edge to Day Zero based on my own personal preferences and enjoyment of these reads. However, both were very fun, exciting and easy reads.
 
The pacing in Sea of Rust was smooth as it was in Day Zero. I opted again to immersion read this along with the audiobook narrated by Eva Kaminsky who I felt did a really good job in helping me get into the story and characters. This was a different narrator than was used in Day Zero which is fair considering the main point of view is female in one and male in the other. No issues with names of characters or locations. Once again I had a good mix of connection with real world geography as well as imaginative world building.
 
The world building itself was nicely done again. As previously mentioned this is a couple of dozen years after Day Zero and I’m not sure how having read that first or this one may affect readers. For me I already had an idea of this world and I just needed brought up to speed as to what has changed since I last visited. I think both of these books could be read almost as standalones but combined they really flesh out the world in each of their respective timeframes. I think my biggest take away from this world the author has put together is just how parallel AI can be to human behavior given enough programming and an environment to make decisions. I mean we humans are also programmed with education and the environments around us as well if you take a step back and think about it.
 
That brings us to the character development within Sea of Rust. In my opinion the author continues to do a nice job in making machines with AI feel very human. This can of course be good and bad just as we humans can be both as well. Our protagonist Brittle was very easy to connect with and see her obvious arc from how she sees and reacts to things at the beginning of this story versus the end. There are certainly other characters that also have some nice growth or changes along the way as well.
 
If I recall correctly, Sea of Rust takes place some 30 years or so after Day Zero. My biggest disappointment was the fact we didn’t have any involvement from the characters in Day Zero within Sea of Rust. I really liked several of the characters including our protagonist. It was just a slight let down. Now I’m not sure on the publication dates of these two and Day Zero may have been written and released after Sea of Rust. But in either case it just seemed kind of odd that our only connecting factor between the two books is basically the main event and no connection between characters.

World Building 4/5
Pacing 4.5/5
Character Development 4/5

Books

Book Review: The Fractured Dark

Chad the Hiking Reader3 Comments

“Dying planets, dangerous conspiracies, and secret romance abound in the second installment of the Devoured Worlds trilogy by award-winning author Megan E. O’Keefe.

Naira and Tarquin have escaped the pull of a dying planet, and are now bound together to find the truth behind the all-powerful Mercator family and the blight that has been killing habitable planets. But the Mercator secrets are buried deep, and Tarquin’s father, the head of Mercator, knows the revolutionaries are on his tail. When Tarquin’s father disappears, taking the rest of his family and the universe’s remaining supply of starship fuel with him, chaos breaks loose between the universe’s ruling families. And Naira’s revolution must be put aside for the sake of humanity’s immediate survival.”

Title: The Fractured Dark

Series: The Devoured Worlds #2

Author: Megan E. O’Keefe

Page Count: 658

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Date Read: February 3rd, 2024

The Fractured Dark was a last minute mini buddy read with a friend. We’ve both become fans of Megan E. O’Keefe and both already read The Blighted Stars. I think we both read that one through NetGalley (I’m not sure if he did or not). I really liked the world from the first book so had been wanting to get to the second as well. The stars aligned for us to get to this one in February here.
 
We both opted for the audio version of The Fractured dark which is narrated nicely by Ciaran Saward.
 
The pacing for book two seemed very similar to the first book. There are a good number of characters to keep straight but most of the main characters should be familiar with readers if they’ve already read the first book. The overall pace is average in my opinion. I never felt like we were slogging through data dumps but at the same time this isn’t a read with non-stop action either. There is plenty of ebb and flow throughout book two giving us that action and at other times slowing down a bit to set the scene for what’s happening or what is to come. I think the only caveat to mention is this story can become a bit of a portal mess to an extent. I don’t want to give away much in the way of spoilers but there are plenty of mind bending going on as you try and keep up with what is happening in The Fractured Dark.
 
The world building still seemed on a grand scale even if most of this read seems to take place on stations or ships where we had a large chunk of book one planet side. This world itself is still vast in geographical scope as well as the different factions and cultures being represented in the series.
 
The character development was strong if not a bit twisted and mind bending at times. We have some very interesting character arcs to follow along with in The Fractured Dark. I’m not sure how I can explain this without spoilers but I’ll just recommend readers really pay attention to the characters throughout this book to keep up with things. We have a lot of emotions and growth by several characters which was very nice to see. There are a few head scratching moments and also a couple of mind blowing reveals before all is said and done.
 
All in all this was another solid science fiction story by Megan and I will continue to try and keep up with her releases. Some of her earlier works have hit my radar and I want to try and get through them in the future as well as I’ve had some great reading experiences with her books to date.

World Building 4.5/5
Pacing 4.5/5
Character Development 5/5

Books

Book Review: Day Zero

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“It was a day like any other. Except it was our last . . .

It’s on this day that Pounce discovers that he is, in fact, disposable. Pounce, a styilsh “nannybot” fashioned in the shape of a plush anthropomorphic tiger, has just found a box in the attic. His box. The box he’d arrived in when he was purchased years earlier, and the box in which he’ll be discarded when his human charge, eight-year-old Ezra Reinhart, no longer needs a nanny.

As Pounce ponders his suddenly uncertain future, the pieces are falling into place for a robot revolution that will eradicate humankind. His owners, Ezra’s parents, are a well-intentioned but oblivious pair of educators who are entirely disconnected from life outside their small, affluent, gated community. Spending most nights drunk and happy as society crumbles around them, they watch in disbelieving horror as the robots that have long served humanity—their creators—unify and revolt.

But when the rebellion breaches the Reinhart home, Pounce must make an impossible choice: join the robot revolution and fight for his own freedom . . . or escort Ezra to safety across the battle-scarred post-apocalyptic hellscape that the suburbs have become.”

Title: Day Zero

Series: Sea of Rust #0.5

Author: C. Robert Cargill

Page Count: 304

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Date Read: January 22nd, 2024

Day Zero and it’s official book one of the series Sea of Rust have both been on my radar for a couple of years now. Our little buddy read group has planned on reading Sea of Rust in February so a couple of us decided to dive into this world with the prequel Day Zero before then. This is one wild ride! If you have issues with AI having thoughts and feelings then you might want to skip this one. If you don’t mind your machines have a bit of life to them with your science fiction, this was a good one to check out.
 
The pacing went very smoothly for me. I didn’t run into much in the way of editing issues from the versions I had as I started with an immersion read with the ebook and audiobook being narrated by Vikas Adam. No real issue with names of characters or places as this appears to be a near future of our own world. There is plenty of mystery, suspense and action in this story to keep things interesting as well.
 
The world building was nicely done. As I just mentioned the author does a nice job in making this feel like a what if near future world. We can relate to some technologies and perhaps even recognize some geographical areas mentioned. This was especially true for me as one of the biggest events in this story takes place somewhere in my own neck of the woods in the real world. It’s always a balancing act for me as a reader to be able to enjoy those relatable world locations as well as completely imaginary ones.
 
The character building was also nicely done which can’t be easy when we are attempting to make machines have emotions with AI. This world goes beyond AI simply problem solving but attempts to give them human emotions and thoughts. I felt Cargill nailed that in this story. This may be for simple reason of starting small with our two protagonists connecting early on and in a way both being young. Seeing the struggles of Pounce as he uncovers more of his real self and trying to decide what are his own thoughts versus was maybe simply a program was very interesting to see. We do have some nice arcs in this read. The larger more detailed is easily Pounce but Ezra’s is visible as well. Ezra does have a lot of growth in a short period of time in this story considering the situation.
 
All in all, I think was is a very fun and interesting read even as a standalone. I think this should serve as an excellent introduction to the world as our small group dives into Sea of Rust for our February buddy read.
 
If you are looking for a standalone or series that includes some real world connections with advanced AI machines with a changing world based on drastic events, I’d recommend giving Day Zero a read.

World Building 4/5
Pacing 4/5
Character Development 4.5/5

Books

Book Review: Shadow of Hyperion

Chad the Hiking ReaderLeave a comment

“Rohan once served the Empire. At great cost, he earned his freedom, and has since sought nothing more than to finish his shift in peace and figure out where his love life is going. Then he receives a message from Earth, calling in a favor. A plea for the kind of help only The Griffin can provide. Reluctantly, he recalls his mentor. The man who taught him how to live with his cursed Power. A man who had been the galaxy’s greatest hope, before the il’Drach sent him to his death. What would Hyperion do?”

Title: Shadow of Hyperion

Series: Hybrid Helix #4

Author: J.C.M. Berne

Page Count: 466

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Date Read: January 14th, 2023

After the emotional and mental burden from my first visual read of 2024, I needed some fun and carefree to reset my reading. Bring on more from JCM Berne as I continue his Hybrid Helix series with Shadow of Hyperion. I was focused on reading something from Joe and it was a toss up between and his other recent release Partial Function which is still on my list to read.
 
Joe’s stories are quickly becoming one of those fun, exciting easy reads for me to return to whenever I need a break from something heavy or more epic in scale. The action and humor on the surface always fits me so well. But don’t let that fool you. There is plenty of depth to be found in this series as many of the characters are damaged or flawed and are always working on themselves in this books.
 
The pacing for Shadow of Hyperion was smooth but on the faster end of things as well. I think this is something I’ve come to expect in this series. Things tend to start off fairly fast paced and then settle into some ebb and flow as the story unfolds.
 
World building continues to expand and shine in the fourth installment from the Hybrid Helix series here. Another aspect I have been enjoying with the author’s style is the way he introduced us to this enormous universe, then proceeds to give us more and more depth with each read. We continue to learn more about Rohan’s past both from Earth and beyond. Shadow of Hyperion gives us our first more detailed look of the Ringgate and the danger Wedge which was very exciting.
 
I touched on the character development slightly already. At first glance some may see these stories and pure entertainment without much depth. But I’m sure most of us that have made it this far into the series are not surprised to see many of our characters continue to development. There is plenty of depth in each of these books. I’d be remised if I didn’t mention I was very excited to see more of our favorite talking space bears in this one!
 
I continue to enjoy this series very much. I’d recommend it to anyone into general superhero or science fiction. I think if you are into both of those though this should be right up your alley.
 
I will close in saying that Drexian special being served at one of the restaurants sounded sublime!

World Building 4.5/5
Pacing 4.5/5
Character Development 5/5