“Jane is a leftover clone. Created for an unknown purpose, then abandoned at a rundown facility outside Grid City, she has a knack for trouble and a burning desire to find out why she was made.

When a powerful tycoon hires her to replace his son Isaac’s best friend, a girl from the same clone batch as her, Jane jumps at the chance to finally get some answers. All she has to do is convince the charming Isaac that his friend is still alive, without getting too close to him. Stepping into someone else’s life isn’t easy, though, even when you have the same genes.

As Jane struggles to survive at Isaac’s elite private school, she discovers the other clone’s death was no accident—and she might be next. She must solve her batchmate’s murder and unravel the mystery of their origins before the killer comes for her too.”

Title: Replacement

Series: The Lost Clone #1

Author: Jordan Rivet

Page Count: 314

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Date Read: December 27th, 2023

Replacement by Jordan Rivet was my final full read from the first round of the SPSFC-3 competition. As always the thoughts and scores below are strictly my own and may not reflect the overall scores from Team Peripheral Prospectors. I still plan to circle back and read some of the others that were intriguing to me but just didn’t click with me or didn’t seem as polished as others.   Let me start by saying the mystery within Replacement was amazing! I love a good mystery as a main focus or heavy backdrop for both science fiction and fantasy reads. I think one of my biggest hang-ups personally for the story was it seemed a bit more geared towards the young adult whether that was intentional or not.   The pacing was really smooth throughout this read. I didn’t come across a lot of technical, typo or editing errors that stood out to me. I had not issues with any names of characters or places within the story tripping me up either. This was one of those very easy to read books.   The world building was solid. I’m starting to like these science fiction worlds where we see how our world has advanced and of course they have their own new set of issues with the technologies they’ve discovered over the years. Beyond the starting location which  seems to basically be a campus of sorts where clones are raised to prepare to enter the rest of the world with their intended skills.   Lastly, the character development was done really well. The inclusion of the clones made things very interesting as this story progresses. We had some really good relationships in this story along with some solid arcs. Once again with the inclusion of clones this makes things really interesting and did have me guessing a few times on what was happening and I was usually wrong. I really like that feeling in reads like this!   All in all this really was a fun and easy read. I think if I was quite a bit younger I might have liked this one even more. I don’t want to take away from the fact this is a good story and was well written. I just personally struggle connecting at times with younger characters. I do plan on keeping up with this series if that tells you anything. World Building 4/5 Pacing 4.5/5 Character Development 4/5

“They won’t stop. They won’t communicate. Can this hotshot spacepilot and his comrades step up to be Earth’s last line of defense?

Ryan Fall’s recklessness is his own worst enemy. Pushing the limits in every Cyber Cycle race, his risky manoeuvres bring the authorities down on him for underage racing. His only option is to join the advanced mech program – and learn to fight for what really matters.

Under the command of a distant captain, Ryan joins a special-purpose squad and he’s shocked to discover what they’re being trained for. A huge alien armada is bearing down on Earth, and it’ll take every pilot they’ve got to have a chance of survival.

With nowhere to run, every decision the rookie pilot makes could be the difference between the destruction of everything he loves and saving humanity.

Can the wildcard mech pilot focus his skills and end an extra-terrestrial nightmare?

Reality Check is a gripping military sci-fi adventure launching the Weight of the World series, and combines experimental high-tech weaponry with the devastating consequences of war against a seemingly superior alien invasion.

Earth, humanity, and a place to belong – it’s worth fighting for.”

Title: Reality Check

Series: Weight of the World #1

Author: Dave McCreery

Page Count: 384

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Date Read: December 23rd, 2023

Reality Check by Dave McCreery was my sixth full read from SPSFC-3’s first round. Though I may still return to some of the other reads, I believe this will be my final official full read from this round as time if winding down and I team is narrowing our selections based on competition scoring for the deadline next month.   With that being said, I’ll toss out the usual disclaimer this this review and any scoring or rating mentioned within are strictly of my own opinions and do not necessarily reflect Team Peripheral Prospectors overall.   This was another book from the first round that I had sampled early on and showed promise and wanted to return to read the entire story. The overall theme worked well for me. The stories and characters kept me engaged throughout. I really only had a couple real hang-ups which I’ll get to shortly.   The pacing was relatively smooth for my reading style. There was plenty of ebb and flow to the story. There were a few minor errors that tripped me up but overall it went well. The names of characters and placed were easy enough to keep straight yet follow along. One of my first issues I’ll mention was some of the words or language used. Specifically the word “Coo” which I’m assuming from its use was some kind of curse in this world. This one is used quite frequently so it did kind of derail me momentarily from time to time. The other is along the same line which was the use of “Cha” which I’m guess was used in place of either “Thanks” or “Thank you”. I think both of these may be easier for a younger reader to swallow though, so not a huge deal.   The world building was interesting. It starts out planet side and for a short time we learn a bit about this world in general which was intriguing. I thought it set the tone for things in general well. Before long we go on quite the mysterious adventure with Ryan and Zack which leads up off planet to a space station. From there we begin to learn the scope of this world or universe a bit more. We had a small mix of cultures which were mostly between military and non-military civilians until we make contact with non-typical humanoids. I wasn’t sure where things were going with the relationship of cycle racing but that was a fun aspect to me as well.   The character development started off a bit slow and shallow but I feel it did evolve well from about the mid-point of the book onwards. Ryan’s arc was a wide one but it kept me interested as he was working on finding his place in this world the author has built. There are numerous relationships between Ryan and other characters which help set the tone during various parts of the story. I thought even some of the side character arcs were interesting as well. General Mathews, Captain Ryder and her sister were all good points to this story for me.   As I mentioned, this was an enjoyable read over all. Now I’ll get to my biggest issue I had with this read. And this is strictly my own opinion and this might work well with other readers. I was enjoying the end of this book until probably the last ten pages or so. The very end of the book we were left with quite the cliff hanger. If that wasn’t bad enough, the epilogue continued with yet another abrupt cliff hanger just a couple of pages later. Being honest, this left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth with what was a very entertaining read for me otherwise.   I will still more than likely be willing to pick this series up in the future just to see where things go from here though. World Building 4/5 Pacing 3.5/5 Character Development 4/5

“A planet steeped in mystery…Jess Amiko is long past her days as a space marine, with all the glory of that time tarnished beyond repair by what came after. Trying to rebuild from the ashes, she’s taken a job as a security guard on Kenai, a lonely world far from the Council systems. It’s supposed to be easy duty – quiet and peaceful, on a docile world with no real threats, watching over an archeological dig at a site built by a race long vanished. Betrayed and attacked by forces unknown, and finding that nothing on Kenai makes sense, Jess is plunged into a desperate fight for survival that leads her deep into the mysteries of Kenai’s past, and deep into the hardship and paradox the planet imposes on all who call it home. Content military-style violence.”

Title: Kenai

Series: Standalone

Author: Dave Dobson

Page Count: 395

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Date Read: December 17th, 2023

My fifth full read from the SPSFC-3 entries for Team Peripheral Prospectors was Kenai by Dave Dobson. Our team has been steadily narrowing down our assigned books. This has not been easy at times. Our team initially split our overall list in half for our initial samples. Kenai was one that fell into the other half of our team but got some positive feedback early so I wanted to dive into it as my next full read. I was surprised but not disappointed. As always please keep in mind that this review and my rating belong to me along and do not represent our team’s overall score for the competition.   The pacing was interesting. I felt overall the writing style along with names and verbiage were smooth. Without giving to much away in spoilers though I will say things started to get very interesting along the timeline as things progressed. I would definitely call this read a bit of a mind bender as you try and keep up and wrap your head around events. I will say that I didn’t find myself having to pause and contemplate these moments very often which to me does say something regarding Dave Dobson’s writing style. As complex as this story could be, it seemed to fit my reading style well.   The world building was strong for me. As with many science fiction stories we have some time spent both planet and space side. The majority of this story does take place on land though. With that being said this book spends a considerable amount of time getting us comfortable with the world of Kenai itself with a sprinkle of Humanity history and current state along the way. Kenai itself seems like a very interesting planet with what appears to be two major factions or cultures that have very different outlooks on how life should exist and progress. As for the human side of things we have a few different cultures and times to learn about in this one but I felt it was handled fairly well.   The character development may take some twists and turns along the way with this one but overall it was an entertaining adventure along the way with what I’d consider our two protagonists and several supporting characters. The story starts with our characters basically in the present time and there are some flashback moments to get us to understand where Jess has been to make her who she is and then a similar type of situation in a different way for our other character.   This read certainly has some trippy moments but I think it’s relatively easy to follow along if you’re paying attention even slightly. It was the bind bending aspect that set this one apart from the other reads I’ve experienced in this competition so far.   There is also a couple of nice features in the back of the book which the author mentions at the very beginning to let the reader decide if they want everything revealed along the way (the path I chose) or if you’d like a bit of history lesson on what has happened with humanity before diving into the deep end.   I also wasn’t aware the author had another previous SPSFC submission that received some positive feedback. Even though this one is a standalone I believe there are more plans to continue writing stories within this universe. I’ll have to look up Daros and give it a go too. World Building 4/5 Pacing 4.5/5 Character Development 5/5

“Just beyond Earth’s atmosphere, orbiting like a shining beacon of hope, is the celebrated Skylight University and only the brightest students are accepted into its hallowed halls.

Not surprisingly, Jet Stroud can hardly believe it when he receives his acceptance letter. Afterall, who would want a kid with glowing eyes and a deadly disease called ‘The Youthful Death’ on their campus? Thanks to his rare condition known as ephebus mortem, Jet has always been avoided and feared because of his eyes. When he learns the legend claims he will die before his twenty-fourth birthday, his excitement at being accepted into Skylight University is suddenly crushed.

Determined to find answers, Jet quickly picks himself up. Accompanied by another kid from his hometown, a loner named Cutter Jade, they seek out the other three students with ephebus mortem. Despite their differences, the small group develops a shaky friendship and begins a quest to find a cure.

But not all is as it seems at Skylight University. Mysterious shadows lurk in the hallways and bizarre visions of serpents and prisms haunt Jet’s dreams. While reading the obituary of a former student with ephebus mortem, Jet discovers several clues hidden in a trilogy of old paintings. As the group follows the breadcrumbs left behind by this former student, their quest takes an unexpected and deadly turn.

The pace to find clues quickens when strange voices, ghostly apparitions and bizarre events threaten to splinter the small group apart. With the semester roaring to a close, and tensions running high, Jet fears they may not survive long enough to crack the code.

Could the clues hidden in the paintings hold the cure to the strangest disease ever known to the human race? Can Jet and the others unravel the mysteries of ephebus mortem in time? In the end, Jet discovers something so profound that it will change his life forever.”

Title: The Prism Effect

Series: Skylight #1

Author: J. Wint

Page Count: 318

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Date Read: November 20th, 2023

The Prism Effect by J. Wint was my fourth full read from SPSFC-3 assigned books. This one caught my interesting in our first pass through all of our reads and I knew I wanted to return to see where things continued on to. As always with these SPSFC reads, the below is strictly my own opinion and does not reflect the overall rating or scores from Team Peripheral Prospectors.   The most surprising aspect to me from this read was the fact that a large portion of the story revolves around a school or university. For anyone following along with my reads this won’t be anything new but for those new to my reads and reviews, I struggle with younger characters and especially school themed stories. This was contrary to that for some reason. I think the author did a good job in keeping the school theme in the background while other aspects shined. It worked well for me.   The pacing worked really well for me throughout this read. I didn’t really come across many editing issues or vocabulary to trip me up either. I also didn’t have any moments where I thought things slowed down and make me feel like I was slogging through to the next interesting scene.   The world building was uniquely entertaining to me. I always mentioned the school setting that somehow seemed to work for me. Another thing I wanted to point out so that this world continue to open up as I read on. It starts off rather limited at the school but things begin to spread as piece after piece unfolds with this story.   The character development was solid in book one. I phrase it that way because as this one wrapped up it felt like some missed opportunity for some characters but I have a feeling that is mostly due to laying the foundation for the next book(s) in the series. Jet’s character development has quite the road throughout book one. We see a lot of changes with him as he struggles with his own situation as well as his new friends.   All in all this turned out to be a stronger read than I thought initially going in. It seemed polished from my first sampling but I thought it would end up more of a not my style kind of read. The ending was more than a bit of a surprise for me which has me wanting to see where the series goes from here. World Building 4/5 Pacing 4/5 Character Development 4/5

“Infinite power, infinite danger.

Growing up mortal, I only knew a few things about cultivators. They like their hierarchies, they hate disrespect, and if you leave one out in deep space long enough, they’ll go homicidally insane.

It turns out, there’s a reason for that. Away from all the gravity wells and biospheres that generate natural energy, things get just quiet enough to notice the infinite ocean of qi entirely incompatible with our own.

I should know. I’ve seen it.

Only difference is, I didn’t go mad. I wasn’t a cultivator. Technically, I wasn’t even alive.

But now I can sense it. I can touch it.

I can cultivate it.”

Title: To Flail Against Infinity

Series: The Stargazer’s War #1

Author: J.P. Valentine

Page Count: 493

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Date Read: November 3rd, 2023

To Flail Against Infinity by J.P. Valentine was only my second full read for the SPSFC-3 competition. It was the last of my slush reads but I was enjoying the first 20% so much, I went ahead and continued on to finish it out completely. As always with competition reads, please keep in mind my public reviews are entirely my own feelings toward these books and may not necessarily reflect our entire team overall.   The pacing of this read worked well for me. There were a handful of editing issues sprinkled throughout but nothing too glaring that tripped me up while reading. Mostly it just seemed some typos that I noticed once in awhile. This read did lean a bit into the faster pace but not so much that I felt like too much was being left out. There is certainly plenty of action and intrigue to keep things interesting. And as I usually mention in my reviews, I didn’t have any issues with names to trip me up in this one other.   The world building was really unique. Now keep in mind that Science Fiction is probably my second most read genre I still don’t read an overly abundant amount which means some of the aspects to this world may be more commonly found than I am aware of. But I really enjoyed the “magic” of Qi in this world. I also ended up enjoying the academy setting which as I’ve voiced before, I’m not a huge fan of stories that revolve around school. This one kept things interesting and spent enough time away from the academy itself for my enjoyment.   The character development also worked really well for me. Not only did we of course see quite an arc for our protagonist Caliban and several of our supporting characters, but we even get glimpses back to fill in some information of characters introduced briefly at the beginning to let us understand those characters and their reasoning just a bit more. I really liked the constantly struggle that Cal has throughout most of the book as he realizes his power and abilities. Sure he seems to progress quickly but it takes a lot of work for him and his friends to figure out how things work with his Qi being so different!   I’d also like to mention there were a couple of times reading this book that I ended up with goosebumps. That doesn’t happen often and usually only when really connecting with a story and its characters.   The ending was really good as well. I had made some notes along the way with some suspicions I had and I was close on a couple but I didn’t really nail anything specifically.   This isn’t necessarily a happy story due to many things that happen in this story but it all seemed to have meaning by the end.   This was my first read by J.P. Valentine and I will have to look into some more works from this author. I will certainly be looking to continue this series as well. World Building 4.5/5 Pacing 4/5 Character Development 4.5/5