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John Scalzi: The End of All Things
This was a fitting end to the series – I think it may be the end. All the books in this series are readable, fast paced and exciting. I loved the premise of using old people to fight wars – giving them a new life and offering them a chance to make a difference. We all can image how this will back-fire as a great idea.
Year/Format: 2015, Book , 380 pages ;
Library Summary
Hugo-award winning author, John Scalzi returns to his best-selling Old Man’s War universe with The End of All Things, the direct sequel to 2013’s The Human Division
Humans expanded into space…only to find a universe populated with multiple alien species bent on their destruction. Thus was the Colonial Union formed, to help protect us from a hostile universe. The Colonial Union used the Earth and its excess population for colonists and soldiers. It was a good arrangement…for the Colonial Union. Then the Earth said: no more.
Now the Colonial Union is living on borrowed time-a couple of decades at most, before the ranks of the Colonial Defense Forces are depleted and the struggling human colonies are vulnerable to the alien species who have been waiting for the first sign of weakness, to drive humanity to ruin. And there’s another problem: A group, lurking in the darkness of space, playing human and alien against each other-and against their own kind -for their own unknown reasons.
In this collapsing universe, CDF Lieutenant Harry Wilson and the Colonial Union diplomats he works with race against the clock to discover who is behind attacks on the Union and on alien races, to seek peace with a suspicious, angry Earth, and keep humanity’s union intact…or else risk oblivion, and extinction-and the end of all things.
David Weber – Hell’s Foundations Quiver
I am exhausted reading and holding this large hardcover book. This is the 8th book in the series. If you are looking for a great time – start reading. Always a pleasure to read his work – although I did lose interest in his Honor series after about 5 books. If you like warfare strategy , battles on land and sea, along with interesting characters and how they interact, this should be on your list.
There is little connection to my last review of his more fanciful story which include mystical happenings and along with horror, a lot of humour. This series is very serious and opens the door for speculation about humanity and will it ever change. Not in his universe I fear.
Year/Format: 2015, Book , 784 pages ;
Library Summary: Hell’s Foundations Quiver:the latest novel in David Weber’s New York Times-bestselling Safehold series begun with Off Armageddon Reef, By Schism Rent Asunder, By Heresies Distressed, A Mighty Fortress [ How Firm a Foundation, Midst Toil and Tribulation] and Like a Mighty Army.
TURNING OF THE TIDE
Centuries ago, the human race fought its first great war against an alien race-and lost. A tiny population of human beings fled to distant Safehold. Centuries later, their descendants have forgotten their history; for them, life has been an eternal Middle Ages, ruled by the Church of God Awaiting, whose secret purpose is to prevent the re-emergence of industrial civilization.
But not all of Safehold’s founders were on board with this plan. Those dissidents left behind their own secret legacies. One of those is Merlyn Athrawes, cybernetic avatar of one of Earth’s long-dead defenders, now reawakened after a thousand years to restart human progress and reclaim our place in the universe. Merlyn has intervened in the small Safeholdian realm of Charis, seeding it with ideas and innovations and helping it to rise to challenge the hegemony of the Church.
It’s been a long and bloody fight, but aided by a stream of inventions–breech-loading rifles, signal rockets, claymore mines, new approaches to manufacturing and supply-Charis and its few allies seem to have finally gained the upper hand. Now major realms have begun to consider switching sides.
To all these ends, Merlyn Athrawes has been everywhere, under multiple disguises and wielding hidden powers. The secret of who and what he is has been closely held. But a new player has arrived, one who knows many secrets-including Merlyn’s own.
Rachel Bach – Fortune’s pawn & Honor’s Knight – books 1& 2
book1
Fortune’s Pawn – 1st book
My Review: A new author for me. All 3 books came out in 2013 so they may be her 1st as well. Definitely a Space Opera style Sci-Fi. Fantastic civilizations, compelling story and great action. It was a great read, although a bit too pat in the romantic side but I still enjoyed it. The characters are well thought out and the universe they work in is fantastic. It has a romance novel feel to it sometimes. The story itself has great monsters and moves along at a great pace. I read this book in January.
Library Summary/Review: ““Military science fiction gets a new action hero with Deviana Morris — in the vein of Elizabeth Moon and Lois McMaster Bujold.” –Provided by the publisher”–
Honor’s Knight.
book 2
Honor’s Knight – 2nd book
My Review: Perhaps better than the 1st book which was a bonus. The story picks up quickly with little back tracking. The romantic side is more interesting and part of the mysteries in the story. Once more the monsters are great and the action hero story runs quickly and imaginatively. I look forward to the 3rd book – Queen.
Library Summary
The rollicking sequel to “Fortune’s Pawn” — an action packed science fiction novel. Devi Morris has a lot of problems. And not the fun, easy-to-shoot kind either. After a mysterious attack left her short several memories and one partner, she’s determined to keep her head down, do her job, and get on with her life. But even though Devi’s not actually looking for it — trouble keeps finding her. She sees things no one else can, the black stain on her hands is growing, and she is entangled with the cook she’s supposed to hate. But when a deadly crisis exposes far more of the truth than she bargained for, Devi discovers there’s worse fates than being shot, and sometimes the only people you can trust are the ones who want you dead.
David S. Goyer – Heaven’s Shadow & War – book 1& 2
Heaven’s shadow
by Goyer, David S.
Contributors: Cassutt, Michael.
Heaven’s Shadow 2011 – 1st book
Year/Format: 2011, Book, x, 398 p. :
Subjects:
• Human-alien encounters–Fiction.
• Space flight–Fiction.
My Review: I really liked this book and I have already read the 2nd book and have the 3rd book on hold. It reminded me slightly of Arthur C. Clarke’s Rama. It is the same idea – an alien ship arrives and humans get trapped inside. The two story tellers tell very different stories and both are great reads. The rest of the story is about us learning how and what is happening. The 1st book is pretty scary and well thought out – regarding the strategies of various cultures and politics.
Library Summary/Review: “An object one hundred miles across, originating from Octans constellation, on a trajectory for our sun. Now its journey is almost over. And humanity’s journey is about to begin. As the Near-Earth Object–dubbed “Keanu”–approaches, two manned vehicles race through almost half a million kilometers of space to reach it first and land on the frozen, desolate surface: NASA’s Destiny, originally designed for flights to the Moon and Mars, and the untested lunar ship Brahma, representing the Russian-Chinese-Indian Coalition. Both crews have orders to do whatever it takes to triumphantly claim Keanu as their own. But when the competing missions both arrive on the contested entity, they find that Keanu is much more than a simple rock hurtling through the blackness. It has been sent toward Earth for a reason… A vastly more intelligent race is desperately attempting to communicate with our primitive species. And their interstellar courier carries a message that the very core of humanity has responded to since time began”–
Heaven’s war
Heaven’s War 2012 – 2nd book
Year/Format: 2012, Book, x, 448 p. :
Library Summary/Review: In this astounding sequel to “Heaven’s Shadow,” it has been discovered that the asteroid Keanu is not in fact a space object, but a massive interstellar ship built by aliens. Now, humanity has begun to colonize the ship. The challenge for the refugee population is survival.
Heaven’s fall
Heaven’s Fall 2013 – 3rd book
Year/Format: 2013, Book, xi, 415 pages ;
Library Summary: Spoiler Alert!
Mankind’s first contact with extraterrestrial life led to an incredible revelation. Their last may lead them to extinction.
As the Reivers prepare a devastating strike against the Architects, Rachel Stewart, who grew up in Keanu, leads a small band of human survivors in an attempt to infiltrate the massive Reiver fortress in the American West. But their only hope for victory may yet be somewhere inside the NEO.
If the men and women still in Keanu cannot find it, humanity will be finished. And the galaxy will be next.
Mira Grant [Seanan McGuire] – Parasite
Parasite
by Mira Grant
Year/Format: 2013, Book, 608 pages ;
My Review – Great read and good story. The characters seemed a bit wooden [with so many secrets I guess no one but the main character is believable] but I enjoyed reading it every time I picked it up. It’s a solid story. This is a new author for me. She has written other books and some in series. This is the 1st in a series.
Subjects:
Library Summary/Review: Genetically engineered tapeworms that protect most of the human populace from illness, boost everyone’s immune system, and even secrete designer drugs begin to change and want out of human bodies they occupy.
Other books by this author:
The Newsflesh Trilogy
- Feed
- Deadline
- Blackout
Chris Beckett – Dark Eden
Dark Eden
by Beckett, Chris, 1954-
Year/Format: 2012, Book, 404 pages
My Review – great read, interesting story and well told, from a variety of perspectives. The aliens and their environment seem quite real and the challenges of humans living in the dark are good reasons to keep reading. It is a story of Adam and Eve in another kind of Eden. There is room for a sequel or two.
Summary/Review: “You live in Eden. You are a member of the Family, one of 532 descendants of Angela and Tommy. You shelter beneath the Forest’s lantern trees. Beyond the forest lie mountains so forbidding that no one has ever crossed them. The Oldest recount legends of a time where men and women made boats that could travel between worlds. One day, they will come back for you. You live in Eden. You are a member of the Family, one of 532 descendants of two marooned explorers. You huddle, slowly starving, in the warmth of geothermal trees, confined to one barely habitable valley of a startlingly alien, sunless world. You are John Redlantern. You will break the laws of Eden, shatter the Family and change history. You will be the first to kill another, the first to venture into the Dark, and the first to discover the truth about Eden”–Page 4 of cover.
Chadwick Ginther – Thunder Road
Thunder Road – Book One
by Ginther, Chadwick, 1975-, author
Year/Format: 2012, Book, 386 p. ;
Subjects:
-
Fantasy fiction, Canadian.
-
Mythology, Norse–Fiction.
My Review
This is a new author for me and I am thrilled. This is an excellent read – full of fun, adventure, Norse Mythology, Canadian outback and peril. If they had thought to use an illustrator it would have made a beautiful Graphic Novel. I thought it was fantastic and can’t wait for the next two books – they did say on the cover it is a Trilogy. Who would have thought that the isolation and largess of Canada would ever be an advantage to a story line. After reading this book I think they should have considered this story over bringing back the Avengers in the movies. Its kind of like the Avengers meet Jack the Giant Killer. We all know Hollywood is about the fans – maybe they would enjoy this take on Loki and his antics. The book review/summary below is pretty pat – Ted is deeper than they make out and here is where we the audience can take heart.
Library Summary
In a flash, the world Ted Callan knew exploded. The fire on the patch [Canadian Oil Sands] had burned everything to the ground, including his marriage. Now he’s on the road looking for a fresh start. What he finds is a mysterious young woman named Tilda who tells him he’s destined to be a hero or die a quick and painful death.When three stout men break into his hotel room, bind him to the bed and carve his skin with a stylus it appears she was right. The next thing Ted knows, his body is covered in an elaborate norse tattoo, complete with the power of the Gods. As he seeks out the three men who assaulted him, Ted learns that the creatures of Norse mythology walk in the world of humankind and some of them want to see it burn. Accompanied by the trickster Loki and the beguiling Tilda, Ted wants nothing more than to have his old life back. No more tattoos. No more smart-ass Gods. No more mystic powers. The problem is, if he succeeds, it might just be the end of the world.
Happy news for me and anyone just discovering this author and this trilogy – the next book is out and I just put a hold on it.
Tombstone Blues – Book Two
by Ginther, Chadwick, 1975-, author. Year/Format: 2013,
Library SummaryAfter beating back the might of Surtur, Ted Callan is getting used to his immortal powers. The man who once would stop at nothing to rid himself of his tattoos and their power might even be said to be enjoying his new-found abilities.
However, not everyone is happy the glory of Valhalla has risen from the ashes of Ragnarok. With every crash of Mjolnir, Thor, former god of thunder, rages in Niflheim, the land of the dead.
Now that Ted’s woken the dead, there’s going to be hell to pay.
Jack Campbell – The lost stars : tarnished knight
The lost stars : tarnished knight
~ 1st book in new series
Year/Format: 2012, Book, 390 p. ;
Library Summary/Review:
CEO Artur Drakon has been betrayed. The Syndic government failed to protect its citizens from both the Alliance and the alien enigmas. With a cadre of loyal soldiers under his command, Drakon launches a battle for control of the Midway Star System–assisted by an ally he’s unsure he can trust.
The Lost stars : perilous shield
~ 2nd book in new series
byCampbell, Jack (Naval officer
Year/Format: 2013, Book, 406 pages ;
Library Summary
A thrilling spin-off from Jack Campbell’s The Lost Fleet series, The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight delivered excellent tales of space battles and struggles against tyrants and aliens.”* Now the New York Times bestselling author returns with the next chapter in the overthrow of the Syndicate Worlds’ oppression;
Following a successful coup, the leaders of the rebel Midway Star System struggle to forge a government free enough to please its citizens yet strong enough to secure power. But in a world where former rulers have become new foes, an alien threat to humanity may turn old adversaries into uncertain allies.
Mickey Zucker Reichert – Isaaac Asimov’s I Robot: to obey
Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot : to obey
by Reichert, Mickey Zucker
Year/Format: 2013, Book, 400 pages
My Review: 2nd book about Susan Calvin
Fantastic and so much like Isaac Asimov’s work. This was a great read. As good as any of the 3 B’s [Brin, Benford and Bear] efforts to finish his series after his death. I thought that the author had a lot to offer the story, from the views of a woman and a doctor. She could understand Susan Calvin more than the other authors. I don’t know how she had the time to write this book. It was refreshing to go back to the beginning of the story.
An added plus she is a new author for me. I look forward to her next book and checking out her earlier works. Don’t read the jacket or the library summary if you don’t want a spoiler – I didn’t and it was a great read without knowing what was about to happen. As an Asimov fan I would look at one of these books without thinking.
Library Summary
It is 2036 and robotic technology has evolved into the realm of self-aware sentient mechanical entities. Even as humanity contents with the consequences of its most brilliant creation, there are those who have their own plans for the robots: enslavement or annihilation. Susan Calvin is about to enter her second year as a psych resident at the Manhattan Hasbro teaching hospital when she hears her father has been murdered. His death sets her on a trail of discovery which will lead her to question everything she thought she knew about her father and herself.
1st book – I, robot : to protect
Library Summary
2035: Susan Calvin is beginning her residency at a Manhattan teaching hospital, where a select group of patients is receiving the latest in diagnostic advancements: tiny nanobots, injected into the spinal fluid, that can unlock and map the human mind. Soon, Susan begins to notice an ominous chain of events surrounding the patients. When she tries to alert her superiors, she is ignored by those who want to keep the project far from any scrutiny for the sake of their own agenda. But what no one knows is that the very technology to which they have given life is now under the control of those who seek to spread only death…
Melissa Marr – The Arrivals
The Arrivals – 1st edition
Contributors: Anderson, Colin,
Year/Format: 2013, Book, 278 pages
I really enjoyed this story. In fact I would read more stories about this ‘world’ and with these characters. I kept feeling that if Steven King wanted to write a Sci-Fi [maybe his works are listed in this genre – I wouldn’t be surprised] he would write one like this. I liked the dream-like world with its nightmarish characters. The main characters were well thought out and I was taken by surprise often enough that I was impressed with the writer. Mixing up people from different eras was clever and reminded me a bit of Dante’s Inferno and modern stories about similar worlds where you are reborn and death is denied.
Melissa Marr is a new author for me and I am adding her to my watch list. The story is well written and she made me care about the charters in short order.
Library Summary/Review:
Waking up in The Wasteland, a world populated by monsters and unfamiliar landscapes, and in the company of people just like her, Chloe, riddled with the guilt of five years of sobriety down the drain, and a group of strangers are trapped in an eternal afterlife and must help each other find salvation.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy 