This was a solid sequel to Medusa Uploaded. This series is engaging character driven space opera that still manages to be pretty thought-provoking witThis was a solid sequel to Medusa Uploaded. This series is engaging character driven space opera that still manages to be pretty thought-provoking with its interesting themes and ideas. The series blends the best elements of concept sci-fi with the fun elements of more engaging characters/plot driven sci-fi tales.
This series offers a satisfying blend of intrigue, action, mystery, and moral quandaries. It also has a fun characters and good worldbuilding. We got cool sci-fi tech, fun aliens and AI characters, and a bunch of weird future cultures that all came together in a fascinating way.
I particularly enjoyed how this book focuses on Oichi, a morally grey yet incredibly likeable character. She is one of the more unique protagonists I’ve came across in recent times. Her journey of personal growth throughout the book is one of big positives for the story making her arc both compelling and relatable despite the fact she can be a tad cold and calculating at times.
The villains in this story are another strong aspect of the book. They are well-drawn with believable motivations that add complexity and depth to the story. The diversity among the villans, each presenting unique issues for Oichi, made the conflict multifaceted and engaging. There was no single central villain with various adversaries challenging Oichi in different ways. I enjoyed that aspect of the story. Also liked the fact that yesterdays adversaries were sometimes tomorrows reluctant allies and that todays allies were not always tomorrows allies!
An intriguing development in this instalment was the rift between Medusa and Oichi. Their close bond in the first book made their conflict in this one particularly compelling and interesting. Seeing them at odds added a layer of tension and prompted significant growth for Oichi as she had to navigate parts of her journey independently. This development was fascinating and added to the depth of Oichi's character while also adding an extra layer of tension to the plot.
The sci-fi tech in the book is imaginative and adds an exciting layer to the story. The minis, such as Dragonfly and Kitten, are fun characters that bring a touch of innocence to a story filled with darkness and moral ambiguity. Their presence offers a refreshing contrast and definitely lightens the tone in a way that keeps the balance of the story in the realms where I can enjoy it!
While I enjoyed Medusa in the Graveyard I must admit found it slightly less compelling than the first instalment. The plot, particularly the journey through the Graveyard to meet the Three, felt somewhat anti-climactic. Despite this the book remains a solid sequel. I’ll definitely read a third instalment if it ever appears as there feels like plenty of stories left to tell in this world.
Rating: 3.5 stars. I’ll round up to 4 stats as this is a fun sci-fi world and Emily Devenport definitely has pretty engaging writing style.
Audio Note: Caitlin Davies did a great job with the audio. She was good with both the general narration and the dialogue. ...more
This was a satisfying conclusion to S.J.Kincaid’s fun Diabolic Trilogy. The series mixed fast paced action with a tad of romance,a fun cast of charactThis was a satisfying conclusion to S.J.Kincaid’s fun Diabolic Trilogy. The series mixed fast paced action with a tad of romance,a fun cast of characters, and some crazy plot twists! S.J.Kincaid had an engaging writing style that made the whole trilogy a compelling read.
The plot was a little weird in this one after the shock twist towards the end of the second instalment. With Tyrus truly going insane Nemesis had to overcome her feelings for him, and her Diabolic nature to protect those she loved, in order to free folks from the tyranny of Tyrus and Senator Paesis.
It was an exciting enough tale. Plenty of action and plotting as always though perhaps a few less crazy plot twists than the previous two books but that did not overly hurt this tale as instead we got an emotional Nemesis trying to find her own strength in a tough situation that added an emotional hook to the story.
As always Nemesis was a really fun and easy to love lead character. She was super likeable but always had that ruthless edge to her thanks to her Diabolic nature. Tyrus himself was a fun character and he had a good outing in this book.
The sci-fi world remained simplistic in nature but that worked for this series as the setting and the tech were pretty cool and interesting.
All in all I enjoyed the wrap up of the Diabolic trilogy. I do rate it as one of my favourite YA series on the whole thanks to the fun characters, compelling story, and the crazy twists and turns that kept me guessing and hooked on the happenings!
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Audio Note: I felt like Candace Thaxton did a good job with the audio. ...more
This finale to the Spider’s Mate trilogy was a satisfying ending to a series that has worked both as a successful sci-romance series and as a pretty dThis finale to the Spider’s Mate trilogy was a satisfying ending to a series that has worked both as a successful sci-romance series and as a pretty decent sci-fi first contact/survival story set in a well drawn and interesting alien world.
I’m definitely a fan of this series. I think the Tiffany Roberts husband and wife writing team have an engaging writing style and they really nail the balance between the sci-fi aspects of the story, the romance, and the worldbuilding. It all blended to make a very compelling read. So much so that I’ve binged the whole trilogy back to back and barely been able to put it down!
I’ve shared my general thoughts in earlier reviews so will just mention that this whole series has been very consistent in quality over the three books.
The plot was fun enough in this finale. Ivy, Kethan, and the rest of their new tribe were fleeing the murderous spider Queen and her Claws and Fangs after the shocking events at the conclusion of the second instalment. It made for a fun tale as we got a sci-fi survival thriller that was still very character driven. I especially enjoyed the developing bonds we seen between the various characters of this new tribe as they spent time together and worked towards keeping each other alive!
This series has a few flaws but they were mostly pretty easy to overlook so I ended up loving this whole trilogy. Weird and not what I was expecting when I picked it up but definitely very good!
While this story very much had a definite ending and one that was satisfying I’d not be averse to more tales set in this intriguing sci-fi world if the authors ever decide to write them. Even if the series movies away from Ivy and Kethan as leads I think there is a lot of potential for more tales in this world!
Rating: 4.5 stars
Audio Note: Audio Note: This had duel narration from Marcus Rayne and Macie Miller. As with the first book we got Marcus for the Kethan POV segments and Macie for the Ivy POV segments. The exception to the rule was Marcus handled all male dialogue while Macie did all the female dialogue regardless of the POV. I do really liked that production choice as it keeps the character voices consistent. Of the two narrators I liked Marcus Rayne the best. He seemed suitably alien in his voice choices and seemed better able to emote with his voice. Macie Miller was not awful. She had a pretty voice but was a tad wooden and unnatural at times with her delivery. I’ve gotten used to her performance....more
This sequel to Ensnared was not your typical alien romance tale. Sure we get some sweet alien romance as might be expected but this second instalment This sequel to Ensnared was not your typical alien romance tale. Sure we get some sweet alien romance as might be expected but this second instalment of the series leaned even more towards just being a very solid regular sci-fi first contact and survival tale. It has likeable characters and is often pretty fun but it is set in a pretty brutal alien world!
This story in this second instalment was a continuation of what we got in the first book. The big development was the fact that the other 7 humans were woken from cryo sleep. It was fun to see Ketahn learn to deal with more humans. It made for an exciting story as it mixed some funny moments along with some more serious happenings. It was equally enjoyable have more Vrix (Ketahn’s friends) meet the other human survivors and to see how Vrix and humans that were not Ivy and Ketahn reacted to each other!
We learned a lot more about the secondary characters who were peripheral figures in the first book which I think added extra depth to what was already a very well crafted sci-fi world and story.
This one ended on a real shocking cliffhanger. So much so that I’m cutting this review short to dive right into the series finale! I honestly think I’ve not encountered a crazy cliffhanger ending like this in my books since I read the Red Rising books years ago and it caught me completely by surprise in this one.
All in an all this was a highly engaging story that worked both as an excellent regular sci-fi story and a fun (if strangely dark) romance tale! It is a strange blend of genres but I think this series is fast becoming a new favourite of mine as it is the sort of book that is very tough to put down!
Rating: 4.5 stars. This series has a few flaws that stop it hitting the full 5 stars but I’m going to round up as I was completely sucked into this one and got through the nearly 12 hour audio in under 2 days. Any book that compelling deserves 5 stars!
Audio Note: This had duel narration from Marcus Rayne and Macie Miller. As with the first book we got Marcus for the Kethan POV segments and Macie for the Ivy POV segments. The exception to the rule was Marcus handled all male dialogue while Macie did all the female dialogue regardless of the POV. I do really liked that production choice as it keeps the character voices consistent. Of the two narrators I liked Marcus Rayne the best. He seemed suitably alien in his voice choices and seemed better able to emote with his voice. Macie Miller was not awful. She had a pretty voice but was a tad wooden and unnatural at times with her delivery. I’ve gotten used to her performance. ...more
This book was definitely a weird one. For some reason I was expecting this to be a tame alien romance romcom but that was not really the case. What weThis book was definitely a weird one. For some reason I was expecting this to be a tame alien romance romcom but that was not really the case. What we got was a mix of sci-fi survival/first contact story with a slow burn romance tale. It ended up a blend that caught me off guard but really worked for me!
The book had a bit of a slow start as we immediately jumped into Kethan (the male lead) as the POV character. Dude was a giant humanoid spider alien so the early part of the story was heavy on the worldbuilding as it established the biology, the culture, and the current political situation of his alien world and society. The worldbuilding was surprisingly solid. The Vrix were a sentient species but not a particularly advanced alien culture. They were very much still in the Stone Age phase of their society!
Kethan was humanoid but definitely more alien in appearance than your average alien romance hero (or typical Star Trek alien). The Vrix are a humanoid spider race. While being vaguely humanoid the males are around 6-7 feet tall with a decidedly alien feel about them. They are a real blend of human and spider with the males having 8 eyes, no lips or visible nose, mandibles, four arms (complete with claws), a human torso on a spider lower body, and 6 giant spider legs! In a fun twist the female of the species were notably larger and more physically powerful despite having 2 less legs. Unsurprisingly this lead to the spiders being a matriarchal society!
Kethan was going thorough a bit of a hard time as he was living on the outskirts of his society as a hunter tasked with bringing food back to the main settlement. He mostly lived in the jungle to avoid the unwanted advances of his alien spider Queen!
The story really got going when Kethan went on a hunting trip and fell down the cursed pit! Most Vrix avoid the giant pit as their religion says their gods pulled a demon from the sky and imprisoned it in the ground. Since he was less religious than most and had already tumbled half way down the pit Kethan decided to scope the place out in case he needed to hide there in the near future when the cruel spider queen decided to stop taking no for an answer! From there Kethan proceeded to stumble into a colony ship and accidentally activate a cryo pod that then spat out a weird two legged alien. On the lonely side Kethan decided the weird, but pleasant smelling, creature would make a good pet if it recovered enough from its napping to actually wake up so he hauled it back to his jungle web nest!
From there it was a pretty fun tale as Ivy had to come to terms with being stranded on an alien world where she was completely dependent on a weird spider alien for survival in a very hostile world. While Kethan could speak he obviously did not speak any English so we got a slow burn friendship that turned to romance as the duo learned more about each other and learned how to communicate with each other over time. I really enjoyed that slow burn aspect of the story.
I even quite enjoyed the slow burn romance though it was not perfect. Kethan was a tad forceful at times for my liking but Tiffany Roberts did at least manage to sell the romance as believable despite the physical differences between Ivy and Kethan and they were, mostly, easy to root for as a couple.
Kethan was weirdly easy to like and pretty capable. Ivy was likeable but pretty useless. I can see some folks having an issue with the fact she was such a passive character but I was OK with it. We never did learn what she was doing on that colony ship with practically zero skills. If it later gets revealed she was smuggled on board as some corrupt colony leaders sexual playtoy I’ll not be surprised in the slightest!
All in all this was a weird but very enjoyable slow burn sci-fi romance tale that had plenty of story and worldbuilding to enhance the tale. It did have a bit of a slow start thanks to the heavy worldbuilding in the early stages but it is definitely worth sticking with it until the story gets going.
This ended on a bit of a cliffhanger but luckily I’m jumping right on to the next book in the trilogy so that is not much of a concern for me!
Rating: 4.5 stars. I’ve decided to round up instead of down to reflect how utterly addictive this was. Any book that keeps me fully engaged deserves to be rounded up rather than down!
Audio Note: This had duel narration from Marcus Rayne and Macie Miller. As expected we got Marcus for the Kethan POV segments and Macie for the Ivy POV segments. The exception to the rule was Marcus handled all male dialogue while Macie did all the female dialogue regardless of the POV. I liked that production choice. Of the two narrators I liked Marcus Rayne the best. He seemed suitably alien in his voice choices and seemed better able to emote with his voice. Macie Miller was not awful. She had a pretty voice but was a tad wooden and unnatural at times with her delivery. Not so bad that it ruined the story though!...more
I have to admit I absolutely love this sci-fi romance series. It has the perfect blend of action, intrigue, romance, humour, and cool alien sci-fi tecI have to admit I absolutely love this sci-fi romance series. It has the perfect blend of action, intrigue, romance, humour, and cool alien sci-fi technology. Combine that with Michelle Diener’s engaging writing style and the easy to root for characters and it always delivers a satisfying tale!
Tonally this series always feels to me like Star Trek mashed together with a regular tame romance novel/series. It is a surprisingly perfect blend that really works for me as a lover of both!
The twist in this 5th instalment was that the happenings mostly took place on an abandoned military instalment on a moon outside of charted UC territory. Our heroine, Ellie Masters, wakes up from a coma in the abandoned facility on an alien moon with just a strange voice on the coms system for help. Of course that voice turned out to be someone we already knew! Soon the Tecrans and the Grih arrived to complicate matters.
As always the format of the series is in full swing so we got a Grih captain in the form of Renn Sorvihn to pair with our Earth women and Thinking System. Renn and Ellie were an easy couple to root for over the story.
One of the most fun elements of this instalment was the fact we got to see even more fun weird alien sci-fi tech than normal!
Despite the familiarity of the format I still found this an engaging and addictive tale despite the fact I’ve binged through all five Class 5 books in a row. I can well and truly say I’m a big fan of the series. Hopefully this is not the final instalment, as I’m definitely eager for more tales in this fun sci-fi world, but if it is it was the end it was a satisfying way to wrap up the series.
Rating: 5 stars.
Audio Note: Christina Delaine has done a good job with the whole series. She is pretty good at conveying both emotions and tension with her performance. ...more
I have to admit I absolutely love this sci-fi romance series. It had the perfect blend of action, intrigue, romance, humour, and cool alien sci-fi tecI have to admit I absolutely love this sci-fi romance series. It had the perfect blend of action, intrigue, romance, humour, and cool alien sci-fi technology. Combine that with Michelle Diener’s engaging writing style and the easy to root for characters and it always delivers a satisfying tale!
This series is sci-fi adventure romance. I think of it as a sort of mix of Star Trek and a regular tame romance series. It is a blend that really works for me! The aliens are very Trek like with them being very similar to humans and the United Council has the feel of the Federation about it.
This 4th instalment followed the regular format of the series with the added twist that it was mostly set on Tecra rather than a space ship. It was an interesting twist as we got to learn a bit more about the Tecron and finally even met a few female Tecron! It was an interesting time on the planet with them dealing with the fallout of the original trilogy and the government and military on Tecra conceding to UC oversight rather than war and expulsion from the UC. The story picked up just as the first UC team was arriving on planet. Of course things soon complicated when it quickly became apparent the Tecrans had been secretly keeping a 4th Earth women in a military facility on the planet!
As always the characters were very easy to root for. Lucy and Dray were a likeable duo and Bane, despite the ominous name, has always been one of the more easygoing Thinking Systems despite his refusal to join with the Grih like the others!
The story was fun. Despite being held on Tecra Lucy was not actually treated as poorly as the previous Earth women but still had to run for her life when the Tecran military decided to eliminate her before the UC delegation found out she was there and complicated things even further. For Dray Helvan, the lead Grih UC member, Lucy’s presence was an unexpected complication in an already tense situation as the UC team had to start the oversight on Tecra while juggling the fact that Bane (decidedly not a fan of the Tecrans and with no Rose in sight to temper him) had decided to accompany the team to keep a better eye on the Tecrans and their willingness to comply with UC demands.
The romance was pretty fun. Dray and Lucy were easy to root for when circumstances flung them together.
All in all this was a fun new instalment in the Class 5 series. Which definitely ranks as my absolute favourite sci-romance series and just one of my favourite regular romance series ever.
Rating: 5 stars. Not quite perfect but close enough! An easy rating considering I could barely stop listening to the story from start to finish.
Audio Note: Christina Delaine did as good job with the audio as she has done with the previous books in this series. ...more
This was a very solid third instalment of the Superego series. Not quite as good as the first couple of instalments, mostly due to a slightly darker tThis was a very solid third instalment of the Superego series. Not quite as good as the first couple of instalments, mostly due to a slightly darker tone and a lessening in the comedic elements of the tale, but still a very enjoyable read on the whole. This series is very readable and has a nice mix of action and humour as well as a fun set of characters and a story with some fun twists and turns to keep the reader fully engaged.
In this third book we continue to follow the adventures genetically engineered psychopathic hitman Rico as he continued to give heroing a go now that he has a girlfriend! We actually got a fun story in this one. Rico might have dealt with the Fathom in the last book but thanks to his evil fathers devious ways nobody else even realised Rico had dealt with them!
I felt like the tone in this instalment was a tad more grimdark than the earlier books. A few dark ends for some interesting side characters tipped the balance especially when combined with the fact that less humour was present to offset the darker elements of the story.
It was fun to met more of Rico’s family in this one though!
All in all I enjoyed this one even if it was not quite as fun as the early books and I definitely feel like there is plenty of life left in this series.
Rating: 4 Stars. This is very readable and engaging despite a few flaws.
Audio Note: : I felt like Joel Richards did a good job with the audio. He got the tone and the humour of the story and was decent with the voices. Cassandra Alling joined the narrator team to do the POV chapters from Rico’s equally violent sister Sylvia and I felt she did a decent job. ...more
This was an interesting cyberpunk thriller sci-fi that did an OK job of mixing action and mystery with the fun sci-fi elements of the story.
The storyThis was an interesting cyberpunk thriller sci-fi that did an OK job of mixing action and mystery with the fun sci-fi elements of the story.
The story was set in a pretty fun near future setting with tons of cool sci-fi elements. It was pure cyberpunk with the type of sci-fi tech and even with the mystery noir tone.
The story was OK. We join the story as Interpol agent Anya Nakamura decides to leave the agency in the wake of her fathers murder and return to the family business. Her family run one of the worlds top tech companies and are on the verge of launching a technology that could change the world. Anya is returning mostly to solve the mystery of her father murder and to seek vengeance against the culprits.
It was an intriguing enough set up as the blend of mystery and intrigue that resulted from the combination of the murder mystery and the politics of the new tech that Anya’s father had invented was compelling enough to drive the plot.
Anya herself was an interesting character. She was smart but her main asset was the fact that she was pretty much a cyberpunk action star. She had fully artificial legs from a childhood accident and some other sci-fi tech that boosted her physical abilities as well as a better than average AI support companion.
If there is a flaw in this story it was the fact that Anya’s artificial limbs played less of a role than it seemed they might and that ITSU, the AI companion, got a big push but really did very little in the story. I felt both were a tad disappointing.
The other big flaw of the story was that the writing. It was OK but did not draw me into the story as well as it could have.
All in all this was an OK story.
Rating: 3 Stars
Audio Note: Graham Mack was a below average narrator who just did not feel like a good fit for the story as he struggled with the female voices....more
This third book in the Agent G series was every bit as much fun as the first couple of books in the series. This is fast paced sci-fi thriller that miThis third book in the Agent G series was every bit as much fun as the first couple of books in the series. This is fast paced sci-fi thriller that mixes crazy sci-fi action with plenty of humour and fun characters. Agent G is like a mix of Bond and The Terminator!
The story in this third book was fun and even more crazy than the stuff we got in the earlier books. We got a bit of a time jump in this instalment and with all the black market tech available to everyone for years the world has dipped into full cyperpunk craziness. It was a fun change and the world had some Altered Carbon and Blade Runner vibes to it.
The good thing for the story was that Agent G was as fun a lead character as ever to follow and had not mellowed at all after passing his originally intended lifespan. He was as violent and hilarious as ever and is pretty much just a cybernetic James Bond with extra laughs thrown in. The other big plus this series has is the fact that the support characters are a fun bunch. Most of the good ones were back from the earlier books and all were as untrustworthy as ever!
All in all I felt like this was a fun read and a good instalment of a very enjoyable pulp action sci-fi series.
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: As always Jeffery Kafer did an excellent job with the audio. ...more
I bought this book on a whim a few year go as the premise was intriguing but it has taken the imminent arrival of the Netflix TV adaptation to finallyI bought this book on a whim a few year go as the premise was intriguing but it has taken the imminent arrival of the Netflix TV adaptation to finally get me to give this one a go! I've had good luck in recent years reading the books I'm interested in before watching the TV or movie adaptations and in that regard The One has been another success as this ended up being a decent read. Hopefully the Netflix series maintains a similar level of quality.
The blurb for this one grabbed me instantly when I read it a few years ago while browsing the new release list over at Audible.
One simple mouth swab is all it takes. A quick DNA test to find your perfect partner - the one you're genetically made for. A decade after scientists discover everyone has a gene they share with just one other person, millions have taken the test, desperate to find true love. Now, five more people meet their Match. But even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking - and deadlier - than others....
I loved the premise of the story! I think this story could have taken any direction with such a fun concept as the driving factor and in many ways it feels like John Marrs felt the same as this book followed the journey of 5 different characters as they took the test to match with their perfect soulmate.
The five characters stories were individual but telling them all allowed Marrs to give us five separate and distinct POV's and that allowed him to explore just how the idea of being paired with their one perfect soulmate could play out differently. I quite liked that aspect of the story as it gave us a real glimpse into just how differently a new bit of technology could affect peoples lives in major ways and also what sort of complications it would create for society on the whole as well as people individually.
The only downside to the 5 POV arcs was the fact that this meant the tale was a bit of a slow starter. It took me a bit of time to get to know each of the character and to remember who each of the supporting characters were in their individual segments but once I did get up to speed with things I ended up getting sucked into the various story arcs and happenings.
On the whole I'd say this story read like a thriller with a sci-fi twist as the building block for the story mixed with a slice of life tale. The story was set in the near future and the world was exactly like our own with the exception of the fact that ten years previous the Match Your DNA technology had been scientifically proven to pair people with their soulmates. The "technology" behind it was never really mentioned or explored but that did not hurt the story as the focus was on just how this new tech would effect peoples lives.
I found all five story arcs fairly interesting. I did find a few of the twists in the tale a bit predictable but a few others caught me by surprise and after the sluggish start I always found myself quite engaged by the story.
If I have a complaint it is the fact that this is another sci-fi tale that introduces a life changing bit of technology but still comes off as quite technophobic in tone. Which is to say I did not love the final twist in the tale even if I did see it coming!
All in all this ended up being an enjoyable tale. It was not perfect by any stretch and all five of our POV characters ended up with crazy lives but for all that this was still a very readable story that explored some super interesting ideas.
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: Each POV got a narrator each. Clare Corbett, Vicky Hall, Simon Bubb, Jot Davies, and Sophie Aldred. I felt like they all did an OK job.
This 4th instalment of the Lilith's Shadow series was a fun one. It has the feel of a Slice of Life anime blended with an old school superhero story aThis 4th instalment of the Lilith's Shadow series was a fun one. It has the feel of a Slice of Life anime blended with an old school superhero story and world. It is a mix that works fairly well as we get a story that mixes action, drama, romance, and comedy with crazy superpowered happenings and some crazy superpowered characters!
I tend to find Medrano to be a fairly engaging writer but I can admit he does have a weird and strangely sedate writing style.
This plot of this 4th book was pretty good. I think it was a more interesting tale than the previous couple of books in the series. Lilith and her companions were attending a flashy superhero convention to take part in a few talks and meet with fans. It was a chance for Lilith to get to know more people/heroes and a chance for everyone to get to know her in return but of course things went awry as villains attacked!
A real strength for this instalment of the series was the villains. The villains have always been a plus point for the series but I think they worked especially well for this story as we got the PoV or involvement of a whole bunch of different villains and all of them were fairly interesting. I felt that really added depth to the worldbuilding and I quite enjoyed getting to know a bit more about Destruction Core and getting to spend more time with Shadowmind.
Cersei Prime also had a good outing. It was fun to see the AI continue to develop and to see how it was becoming increasingly torn between its loyalty to Shadowmind and its loyalty to Lilith. I look forward to seeing the continuation of the story arc in the sequels.
We had some developments in the romance subplot that will be interesting to follow in the coming books. I'm not sure how I feel about some of the happenings in this one but Medrano just about managed to keep things on track and by this point has ironed out a few issues that I felt like negatively impacted the second instalment.
All in all I enjoyed this one. The series has a YA tone but the old school feel of the superpowered world and the fun characters make this a fun story!
Rating: 3.5 stars. I'll round up to 4 stars here on Goodreads to reflect the fact this was a particularly good instalment of the series.
Audio Note: Sarah Beth Goer did a good job with the audio....more
This was the third instalment of the Lilith's Shadow series. It is a fairly fun superhero series even if it is nothing that is particularly special orThis was the third instalment of the Lilith's Shadow series. It is a fairly fun superhero series even if it is nothing that is particularly special or memorable. The series has a nice blend of action, romance, slice of life, and crazy superpowered happenings!
This third book was a solid instalment of the series. Lilith is getting on with her life and building her own superhero team so she, along with Gina and Rachel, heads to a new city. There they have to make a good impression on the local superhero team. They get plenty of chance as a lot is going on in Paragon City. Dreamer is back, more powerful than ever, and causing trouble in Paragon City while a stray alien creature has crash landed in the area. On top of the Lilith has to worry about Shadowmind's return and what that might mean for her and her friends!
All in all it was a fairly fun tale. I felt like this story benefited from the new location as getting to know a new group of superheroes was fun. Another big plus was the fact that we get glimpses of a whole different bunch of villains. They all had their own goals and motivations so it helped add a bit of depth to the worldbuilding.
I find Medrano's weird sedate pacing and dialogue quite readable and engaging but can see why they might trouble others. The same is true of some of his other flaws and quirks.
All in all this was a solid story. The tone in this series is always a weird mix of YA and sci-fi b-movie in feel but for all that I usually end up enjoying the story well enough that I'm happy there are plans for more tales in this world.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Audio Note: As always Sarah Beth Goer does a good job with the audio. ...more
This was sequel was a good instalment in the Superego series. I’d actually rate it as even more enjoyable than the first book in the series. This seriThis was sequel was a good instalment in the Superego series. I’d actually rate it as even more enjoyable than the first book in the series. This series might have the feel of a fun pulpy 80s B- flick but it hits the notes it needs to in order to make this story a pretty engaging and enjoyable read despite the fact that it leans heavy into a lot of old school cliches. What we get from the story is a pulpy action thriller that delivers plenty of action and excitement that is smart to mix in just enough humour and drama to keep the reader emotionally engaged in the story!
In this sequel we continue to follow the adventures genetically engineered psychopathic hitman Rico as he recovers from the events of the first book in the series and begins a new life as he breaks away from his previous employers. Rico has been convinced to give hero-ing and lucky for him that means plenty of fun killing and action is to be had as a new nemesis has arisen and are actively trying to take over the galactic empire by force!
The whole story was a lot of fun. Rico always manages to be weirdly easy to root for despite all his flaws. The story and action was pretty engaging and the pacing of the story was good. There was rarely a dull moment and the mix of action, drama, and comedy we got in the tale really worked well for me.
The most enjoyable part of the story was Rico’s interactions with his AI. DIP (the AI) was always there to offer words of advice to Rico on just how a “good” human would act, or react, in any situation. It was hilarious. I actually think the fact that Rico has a decent sense of humour, despite lacking much in the way of emotions, was one of the things that made the story so fun. Rico was never short of a fun one-liner!
The characters were also a real strength for the story. Rico is a good lead and the first person POV really benefits him and makes it easy to get the best out of the character. DIP was a fun sidekick and the rest of the supporting cast, including Rico’s love interest, were defined enough and interesting that they made a decent impact on the tale in their own right. Some of the villains were especially fun.
This book did have the flaws. It was very 80-90s B-movie in some regards but at least it seemed self-aware enough about the slight misogyny to poke fun at itself a few times. I could have lived without all the religious overtones and some of the other things hinted at in the tale but on the whole I have to admit that the tone was light and fun, despite all the violence, so the flaws were easy to ignore.
All in all this was a really fun sequel and I’m looking forward to picking up the third book when it gets released. I just hope we do not have to wait another 4-5 years for it to come around!
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: I felt like Joel Richards did a good job with the audio. He got the tone and the humour of the story and was decent with the voices.
Edit: Just as good the second time around! ...more
I've been meaning to try one of Mitchell Hogan's fantasy series for a few years now but decided to give him a go by reading this short stand-alone sciI've been meaning to try one of Mitchell Hogan's fantasy series for a few years now but decided to give him a go by reading this short stand-alone sci-fi story instead. It worked out OK for me as while I was not blown away by what we got in this tale it was an entertaining enough read.
Inquisitor Angel Xia found herself sent to a backwater planet to investigate a local corporate killing. She soon found herself caught up in a crazy situation as the bodies started to pile up and it became clear that a lot more was going on in this backwater planet than anyone suspected. After she is framed for murder Angel got caught up in plots involving illegal AI, mutants, and both corporate and government corruption!
The story was a bit of a slow starter but once the AI arrived and the intrigue and action kicked into gear I found this an easy tale to get sucked into. Angel was a typical female detective style character in a sci-fi noir style story. She was likeable and just trying to survive and do the right thing so she was easy enough to root for. The story itself was mostly a mix of cool sci-fi action, intrigue, and mystery. The AI, the mutants, and the fun sci-fi future tech are the stuff that made this more than the average noir detective tale.
All in all I felt like this was an engaging stand-alone sci-fi story and would not mind returning to this world in the future if Hogan ever decides to write a sequel or spin-off as the world seemed a cool and interesting place and Hogan himself had a fairly engaging writing style. I'll try one of his fantasy series for sure after enjoying this short tale!
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Audio Note: Allyson Johnson did an OK job with the audio. She was good for the most part but did struggle with the voicing of the male characters. Luckily the cast in this one was small and mostly female so it played to her strengths. ...more
This was a fun and engaging sci-fi/romance tale. It was more UF/PNR in tone and feel than regular sci-fi but I think that worked pretty well for the tThis was a fun and engaging sci-fi/romance tale. It was more UF/PNR in tone and feel than regular sci-fi but I think that worked pretty well for the tale as the sci-fi setting gave the story a fresh feel and helped it stand out a bit from the crowd of similar style romance/action tales.
The premise was a good one. Ada von Hasenberg is the fifth of six children and has been on the run from her father/family for the last two years in order to escape an unwanted arranged marriage. Her family is one of the three High Houses that rule the Consortium. The Consortium rule in this far sci-fi future world with populated planets spread across the Galaxy! The story picks up as Ada gets captured by a group of mercenaries. She seeks the help of fellow prisoner Marcus Loch to escape from the mercenaries before either her own family of that of her potential husband (who is a member of a rival High House) show up! Marcus is a guy with a dark reputation as he is rumoured to have killed his entire chain of command during the Fornax Rebellion and the Consortium wants his head. The pair must work together to escape. This is a romance tale so it does not take a genius to figure out how this story played out from here lol.
I quite liked what we got in this story. I'm a fan of the sci-fi romance genre in general and feel it is a pity it is not so big as some of the other popular romance sub-genres. Polaris Rising had a good mix of romance, action, and intrigue. The two lead characters were pretty likeable so it was easy enough to root for them as people and as a potential couple. The romance was a tad run of the mill but I did not feel that hurt my enjoyment of the story. The sci-fi world itself was a fun one. The intrigues of the Consortium were quite interesting and added a fun extra dimension to the romance, action, and adventure. I quite enjoyed the whole corporate espionage story arc! As an added benefit this was a very readable tale as Jessie Mihalik's writing style was a direct and engaging one.
If the story had a flaw it was that the ending felt a tad rushed. Satisfactory but definitely a bit rushed. On the plus side this story did a good job of fleshing out a few of the secondary characters and making the world seem an interesting place in general so I'll definitely pick up the two sequels to see what Ada's sisters are up to! I'm sure a lot of the intrigue will continue in the sequels.
All in all this was a fun tale!
Rating: 3.5 stars. I'll round up to 4 stars as this was very readable. ...more
This was a YA sci-fi thriller very much in the Ready Player One mould. It mixed action, mystery, and a bit of drama with a fun sci-fi near future worlThis was a YA sci-fi thriller very much in the Ready Player One mould. It mixed action, mystery, and a bit of drama with a fun sci-fi near future world!
The story was familiar for those who have read many VR future sci-fi stories but still enjoyable and engaging. We followed the tale of Theo Wilson. Theo might be struggling in the real world as both he and his mother struggle to get by and pay off a mounting debt but he still has the escapism provided by SPACE. SPACE is a virtual-sensory universe phenomenon that is so popular worldwide that its initial rise caused all sorts of economic problems as people rapidly became addicted to living in the VR world. Life goes awry for Theo when he intercepts debt collectors threatening his mother in the real world and then he really gets sucked into the realm of crime both in the real world and in SPACE when his mother goes missing leaving him with clues cluttered around both the real and VR world to tell him why she was taken. With debt collectors on his trail Theo has to use his skills in the game world and his knowledge of his mothers love of puzzles to find her!
It was actually a fun tale. Theo was nothing special in either world but did have the help of his three friends in both to help him keep a step ahead of the people who were determined to make sure he never found his missing mother. Before long the group were caught up in a massive conspiracy that highlighted how criminals were massively abusing SPACE in extremely disturbing ways! Theo and his friends were not an overly interesting group of people but they were easy enough to root for so that helped the tale.
The wordbuilding was the real strength of the story. Andy Briggs futuristic sci-fi world reminded me a lot of the world created by Marie Lu in Wildcard. Just like that tale the VR tech could be used to fully pull a person in the the VR world of SPACE or could just be used to integrate VR overlay elements into a persons experience of the real world. I've always felt like that was a probable and extremely cool use of such advanced VR tech. The other fun thing about the world was that this was not set in your typical dystopian sci-fi future. The future "real world" was actually a pretty well off one with global warming having been reversed, the collapsing bee population issues fixed, and advanced use of printing making resources far more readily available than they are in our modern world. As if that was not enough the creator of SPACE made it readily available to users much as as Tim Berners-Lee did with his creation. SPACE itself was a pretty cool place. One of the more interesting aspects of the tech was the issues and limitations. SPACE itself was much as one might expect. The fun twists this story had to offer that raised it above the average VR or LitRPG tale was the existence of emotion based AI in the world that had been granted the same rights in SPACE as humans and the fact that the VR tech needed to access SPACE was not without its dangers and limitations. Mandatory time limits were placed on how long people could spend in the SPACE as being "in" too long could cause all sorts of serious issues from headaches right through to strokes, paralysis, and even death. All in all it was just a fun vision of a VR future!
The reason I'm only giving this story 3 stars despite loving the worldbuilding and finding the general plot interesting enough is because I did not feel like Andy Briggs had an overly engaging writing style. It was a little hard to get sucked into this tale and I did find the writing a bit awkward. It just seemed to bounce between character POV's willy-nilly and was a bit disconcerting. The characters were also nothing special. While I'm complaining I'll also add the fact that this book, annoyingly, ended with a "tech-bad" message that is mind-bogglingly typical of a lot of sci-fi stories. What is up with the constant technophobic messages in sci-fi tales? Advancing technology is a good thing!
All in all this was an OK tale that had some great elements but was held slightly back by the fact that Briggs was just not quite talented enough to deliver the 5 star tale the story and world he created deserved. It was still an OK read though!
I'd actually love to see this book made into a TV show as I think it could be a ton of fun!
Rating: 3 stars.
Audio Note: I thought Christopher Weeks gave a passable, but only just, performance of the audio. He was fine with the general narration but struggled a bit to differentiate between multiple characters voices. ...more
This was a sci-fi tale with a fun premise that never quite managed to translate that into a good story. It was a pity as the set up was fun. I could sThis was a sci-fi tale with a fun premise that never quite managed to translate that into a good story. It was a pity as the set up was fun. I could see this as one of those SyFy channel type TV shows. Not highbrow stuff but still with the potential to be fun. What killed the book was the writing. It was just not very engaging. The happenings always felt a little distant and the world felt vague and undefined. I definitely think that was a shame as there was the building blocks of a fun story in here somewhere!
The story followed Twigs, and undercover police agent, as he sought to infiltrate the mysterious but powerful mercenary organisation known as the Agency. It was Twigs first time in the field and he soon realized he was out of his depth as his Agency partner, Shiver, was a scary killing machine! Things went further awry when Twigs and Shiver found themselves betrayed by their employers and blamed for an incident that caused trouble in the city.
I felt like it could have been a fun tale if it was better executed by K.H. Simmons. Twigs was a bit bumbling but seemed a likeable enough guy while Shiver was a bit more grey in nature but still a fairly interesting and intriguing character. The setting also had the potential to be fun. This was set in a sci-fi future city packed with all sorts of paranormal creatures and sci-fi tech living side by side.
The start of the story was engaging enough with Twigs and Shiver on their first mission together but things went downhill quickly from there as the pacing was slow and the writing too distant to manage to suck me into the story or engage me on an emotional level. As time went on my interest in the happenings waned. I'd likely have quit this one if it was not for the fact that it was a pretty short book. I'd have DNF'd around the 60% mark but just pressed on as there was not long to go in the story.
All in all this was a disappointment.
Rating: 2 stars. This rating feels a bit harsh as the potential for a fun story was here and their was nothing offensive about this book. It just rates so low for its lack of ability to keep me engaged. It was a bit of a bore in the end!
Audio Note: Justin Spencer did OK with the audio. If he had a flaw it was the fact that he did come across a bit monotonous at times.
This is a OK LitRPG series that is held back from being a good one by a few flaws. The focus of the story is on a mix of action and mystery.
The premiThis is a OK LitRPG series that is held back from being a good one by a few flaws. The focus of the story is on a mix of action and mystery.
The premise is good. Somnia Online is a new state of the art VR game. Wren gets the chance to be one of the very first players as her mother is part of the design team. Some experimental military software, that is being secretly tested in the game, makes it an unusually realistic VR world where the players can even experience pain! The NPC's also prove surprisingly real. Wren usually plays as a healer but the intuitive Somnia Online software assigns her an Enchanter class character based on its profile of her brain scans. The VR world is run by three surprisingly advanced AI that continue to grow and learn as the game progresses!
The plot of this second book in the series was OK. With the shock revelation that Wren is stuck in the VR world she mostly has to come to terms with the fact that it makes the happenings in the world real to her. Death in game likely means death in real life for her! With not much else to do she and her team decide to continue to level up and grow their powers. The three AI continue to grow and learn all while taking their own interest in Wren. As an added bonus we get additional scenes from the world outside the VR game. That is fun as it gives us a glimpse into how the game designers are reacting to the AI and their antics as well as adding in the intrigue of possible military applications of the software!
I like the VR world. It has the potential to be pretty cool as the creatures and magic seem a lot of fun. Especially Wren's mind control style magic. The three different AI running the game also offer a decent amount of intrigue. I'm also a big fan of the stuff going on outside the game as it offers the story an extra dimension. I feel like the "real world" is often too ignored in LitRPG stories which is a pity as there is potential for some really cool happenings there that can add extra depth and interest to the story. We get a bit of that in this story!
The characters are OK but only a few of them really get the chance to make much of an impact. Wren is a decent enough lead character. She is likeable but definitely not perfect and is easy to root for. The three AI characters are pretty intriguing. It is fun to see what they are getting up to and how they interact with Wren, the other humans, and even each other. The other characters that make an impression are mostly the ones in the real world like Wren's mother and her boss. Of Wren's team only her best friend Sin sticks in the mind. I do quite like her though and it is great to have a series where a female character has an actual best friend! The negative is that none of the other characters in the game make much of a lasting impression (apart from that stalker guy villain who pesters Wren) and nor do any of the regular game characters outside of the three super AI. That is a definite weakness.
The other big negative is that while the mystery elements of the story are intriguing and fun the action portions of the story are super dull. Wren's action quests are a total bore. Her chats with the AI and the stuff that happens in the real world are the good bits. It is a shame really as this should be a cool VR world given the building blocks but not much really happens.
I also feel like the story could benefit from a bit of humour and maybe a hint of romance. It just needs something to spice things up!
The other thing notable about this LitRPG is the fact that it was missing the misogyny that is typical of most stories in the genre.
All in all I thought this was an OK read that was nothing particularly special. It was a bit one paced at times! I might or might not read the next instalment of the series. I feel it has the potential to be a decent story but I'm just not sure it will ever get there.
Rating: 3 stars. It just makes it to 3 stars.
Audio Note: Andrea Parsneau did a fantastic job with the audio. She was god with the various character voices and was also a pretty talented voice actor in general. ...more
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