Breakaway - Michelle Diener

Breakaway by Michelle Diener
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Note: This book is not the first in the series, even though it's technically #1. You need to start with the prequel novellas, Interference / Insurgency, since they take care of a lot of world-building. Plus they're really good for novellas.

I'm really enjoying this series so far. It's a combination of Sci Fi lite and Romance lite that works for me. I previously really liked Diener's Class 5 series, but wasn't too thrilled with Sky Raiders because it lacked the multi-cultural space opera intrigue and felt more dystopian to me (I only read the first one).

Now with the Verdant String, I feel like Diener has returned to form. It's been a while since I was tempted to binge read a series, but I seem to be doing so with this one!

Jane, Unlimited - Kristin Cashore

Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really admire authors who can pull off more than one genre. It takes talent to manage a completely different tone and voice. Kristin Cashore has done that here, and done it well. She has written a slightly bizarre postmodern story that is worlds apart from the Graceling series. I honestly couldn't tell this was the same author.

It starts out as a contemporary story set on an island off the coast of New York. Jane runs into an old friend, who invites her to the island for a gala that's being thrown by her enormously wealthy family. Jane, who has been at loose ends since her aunt died, accepts the invitation.

Where the story diverges from a normal contemporary novel is when we start seeing the same couple of days play out in different ways. The story changes depending on which decision Jane makes at a single point. Each choice results in a wildly different version of her life, ranging from the more ordinary to the paranormal and bizarre.

Each version gives the reader a new layer of understanding of what's happening in the house far beyond what Jane actually gets to see for herself. It also gives you a sense of how a small decision can alter your life. It may even make you wonder if multiverses really are out there, created by every decision you've ever made.

It ended up being a rich story, but also just plain weird at times. Strange, yet captivating. I have never enjoyed postmodern fragmentation before. It's usually not my thing. I could have done without a couple of the weirder turns Jane's life took, but I can still appreciate the overall effect, and I did mostly enjoy reading this.

I'm still trying to decide which version of Jane's life I would pick for her. Too bad she can't have everything. Or maybe she can, since it's all versions of her who are living out different lives in the multiverse?

Calamity - Brandon Sanderson

Calamity by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was another entertaining, fast-paced read. I enjoyed it all the way, and had a hard time putting it down. I liked the concept for the new city, and am still amazed at Sanderson's imagination.

Warning: unmarked spoilers for previous books after this point.

On finishing, I do wish there had been more character interaction. There's a lot of fighting and reacting, and not enough of the team putting their strengths together to solve it. I also wish that dealing with Prof had taken less time.

I'm also not sure about how it wrapped up. Did it fulfill its promise? Am I satisfied? I'm still mulling that one over.

Some of the cleverness was sacrificed for action scenes, the same kind that I grow bored of when superheroes throw each other around endlessly in movies. What I enjoyed so much about Firefight was the mystery of the weaknesses and how to use them strategically. There wasn't as much of that here, and not as satisfying a 'clicking together' when all was revealed. [Actually, not all was really revealed - so many questions left! (hide spoiler)]

I guess this is where the 'young adult' aspect of the series really came through. The complexity of the ending was a bit lacking. I do think I wanted something more once I turned the final page. I expect a bit more payoff from Sanderson, honestly. I probably wouldn't hold anyone else to such a high standard and am being stingy.

That said, this was still very entertaining. I loved this series much more than I expected to when I heard what it was about. I recommend it!

Just One Damned Thing After Another - Jodi Taylor

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this time travel adventure, and that's in spite of the high body count. Who knew that being a historian could be so hazardous? Many of the deaths are sudden and meaningless. I'm a little nervous at what that means for characters in future installments, but for now I'm happy that the ones I actually cared about made it.

The book was not without issues, but I found them easy to overlook and just went along for the ride. For example, there is a period of four years that pass at one point, and it wasn't completely clear at first that so much time had gone by since Maxwell's training. That means character and relationship development during those four years were skipped and just told about later on. I missed getting a real feel for the dynamics that developed over time. It also made it difficult to understand why some characters acted the way they did.

But, as I said, I didn't really have a problem with this while reading because I was swept along by the action. It was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the next book with some trepidation.

Off to Be the Wizard - Scott Meyer

Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Off to Be the Wizard has an interesting concept that I really liked. The world is a huge computer program (no one knows it), and Martin discovers a file that controls the world that he can hack and give himself all kinds of money and powers. That was really cool.

He does start out making a fool of himself over it at first, but I liked it a lot more once Martin met a few other people and started training on how to manipulate reality properly. There are a couple of side characters that I really liked, and eventually there's a bad guy situation that needs to be sorted out, which steps the last half of the book up a bit. And I was even entertained by the humor, some of the time. So generally, I liked it. It was fun.

But a couple of books I've read lately have led me to the realization that straight humor and I don't have a very good relationship. I get tired. I get bored. I want some depth and seriousness so that the humor catches me off guard and lightens the whole mood. I prefer irony to poop falling out of the sky onto a statue (nope, no laughs from me on the toilet humor, sorry).

I've discovered that I like a side dish of humor, but get sick of it when it's a three course meal. So I wished there was something more to this, and there really wasn't. But if you enjoy this kind of comedy, you might really like it.

Heaven's Queen

Heaven's Queen by Rachel Bach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had a lot of fun reading this series, and was happy with the ending. So much has changed by book 3 that it felt very different from where the series began. I did kind of miss the merc serving on a ship with a strange crew. But I was satisfied with how everything came out, both for the universe and for Devi. It was fast-paced and entertaining. Pretty much, I loved it!

Honor's Knight - Rachel Bach

Honor's Knight by Rachel Bach

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



It's so refreshing to read a book without any slow or boring patches to get through! There was not one dull moment that I can think of in this book. I enjoyed the first book, but this one is way, way better.

The situation is no longer murky, and lots of new complications come out, making this a really strong middle book in a trilogy. This is not one of those filler novels. It takes what was introduced in Fortune's Pawn and blows it wide open, adding all sorts of new information and conflicts and surprises.

The action wasn't overpowering, either. I still felt like I got plenty of character time. I'm really loving Devi. She's not just kick-butt physically (but her fights are pretty awesome). She's also emotionally strong. I love how her brains don't just turn to mush over Rupert. She doesn't just brush off what he does to her like it doesn't matter. But she doesn't write him off either. She's very - adult. I love that she's not immature, but she is also confused by how love changes her, and she fights to adjust to it and still stay true to herself.

Safe to say, I'm really enjoying this series! With another whopping cliffhanger, I can't wait to see what happens in Heaven's Queen.

Review: A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Many books for children are still magical for adults reading them without the benefit of nostalgia, but this was not one of those for me. Honestly, I found it simplistic and moralistic, and was surprised to find there was much more talking than anything else. I expected more adventure, more action, but everything that actually happens is through philosophizing. I thought it was kind of boring. Talk about bashing kids over the head with how they are supposed to behave in the guise of Science Fiction!

It's also not really about time travel so much as travel to other worlds. The worlds were interesting and sometimes creepy, as were some of the characters they met there. I liked Mrs. Whatsit and her companions. They were entertaining.

But the main characters were basically just led around and told to 'go there' without being given any idea what to do there, and then the final solution was a moral lesson. Not surprising for the time it was written, I suppose, but I expected more... something. Excitement. Action. Fun.

The main character is whiny in a stamp-your-foot kind of way. She's constantly throwing fits and lashing out because she doesn't understand things. And although she dutifully learns her lesson by the end, I found her annoying.

Would I have liked this if I read it when I was a kid? Maybe. But I don't think it would have lived up to the adventures of The Magic Faraway Tree.



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Review: The Warrior's Apprentice

The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I would have rated this 4 stars except for a hiccup about 3/4 of the way through that had me wondering why I was reading something that turned more sad than I expected, and devolved into disgusting descriptions of an illness that I really didn't want to be imagining.

Otherwise, it was a fun adventure. I wondered how in the world Miles was going to fulfill all of his promises built on lies that got out of hand, and I enjoyed seeing his intelligence and insight finding ways to pull it all together. I'm looking forward to reading more of his adventures. Cautiously, though, since this is the 2nd of 4 books by Bujold that I've read that features sordid attention to medical detail. In my squeamishness, this is TMI for me, and tends to become the thing I remember most about a book - which is a shame, but I can't help it.



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Review: Shards of Honour

Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Honestly, I'm fairly new to the world of Sci Fi, although I'm a huge Fantasy fan (why are these two so often lumped together? They're completely different genres!). Strangely, I've been more into Sci Fi on the screen than in books - Star Trek, Farscape, etc. So I decided to try out the Vorkosigan Saga because it seems like a pretty big one, and one that's not hardcore because I don't know if I'm ready for that.

I'm still not sure what I think. This was a decent start to a long series. It took some time to get going, with a lot of exposition given through conversations and not a lot of action, just spurts of it here and there. Lots of politics. A romance where a few days together affects each of the characters’ lives, choices and loyalty forever but I didn’t really feel their relationship at the time. I enjoyed the inter-cultural dynamics and cataclysmic war - and the worm holes and some of the tech, even though I didn't feel like there was really enough of it in this book. There was some 80s pop-psychology that kind of dated it a little bit. When the action did get going, I liked it.

Generally, I liked it but wasn’t really wowed. From what I’ve heard, the ones that focus on Miles are the ‘good ones’ so I’m just taking this as an intro. I’ll hold judgement for a couple more books, I think.



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Review: Hollow World

Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



If you're a fan of Michael Sullivan's, you've probably heard by now that Hollow World is completely different from his Riyria Revelations series. It has a different tone, setting, and themes. There's a more modern feel with cultural references and modern language tossed about. But the sense of humor is still there, as well as the seemingly simple twists that somehow end up meaning more than I expected.

It starts out in the present-day with a man who has nothing to live for (and is dying anyway) and so decides to try out his time machine. The future that Ellis experiences is really strange, but also cool. There's a sense of wonder at Hollow World - it's not a Dystopia, which I appreciated. But the world is not without its problems, and Ellis finds himself right in the middle of them. Along the way, he discovers what living really is and what he really cares about (too late?).

I liked it. My main complaint is that I'd like to read more. I feel like I just got to know these people and had a small taste of their world, and I want to spend more time there. I hope there will be sequels.

**Received free arc for review



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Review: Sojourn

Sojourn by Jana Oliver

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Alternate Victorian historical mystery with time travel and shapeshifters, and Jack the Ripper on top. There are three mysteries including the Ripper plot, and oh yes, John Keats is a character. I'm not sure what purpose that served - he's not even a poet in the book! So this is a bit of a mish-mash of historical figures and events, with paranormal and sci fi elements. Interesting, but not totally polished.



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Review: Endgame

Endgame by Ann Aguirre

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Endgame is a satisfying conclusion to the Grimspace series. The whole series ended up being different than I expected, not having one epic story arc with a cataclysmic ending. By the time I reached this book, I understood that better.

The entire book takes place on one planet again, involving the long struggle for freedom for the natives of La’heng. I have to say that although I missed Grimspace and some of the crew from the past, I was still captured by this story. I love Jax's relationship with Vel, and the way she continues to mature (finally!) in her relationship to March, as well as others. As Jax matures, the combination of desperate action, friendship and loss makes this war feel real.

I'm happy with the ending, but I wish there was more. Since it's not an epic with a final goal, there could be room for more someday - right? I'll miss this world and these people.



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Review: Aftermath

Aftermath by Ann Aguirre

My rating: 3 of 5 stars





Aftermath ended up being a lot different than I expected, although it was true to its title. With the cliffhanger at the end of the last book, I fully expected the war with the Morgut to be ongoing - it seemed like an epic kind of war that was turning out to be the point of the whole series.

But no, by the time we find out what happens to Jax, everything has changed. In a kind of 'I really hoped this would end up better,' jarring way. If Killbox had been the end of the series, I believe it would have had that epically amazing ending that I felt was coming but didn't get. Now with two books left in the series, where does it go from here? What is bigger than the Morgut invasion?

I'm still not really sure what this was about. Plot-wise it's a mixed bag with a couple of important events, but nothing you could call 'the climax.' Mostly I think it was about Jax trying to live up to her promises and figure out what to do next. Maybe it's setting up the last book in some way that I can't picture right now, but this entire book felt more like a wrap-up chapter for Killbox.

One thing I can say, this book took me by surprise a couple times, but mainly because the shifts were random. And it still was a decent read. I'm curious to see where it goes. I do hope the end of the series is more... momentous.



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Review: Killbox

Killbox by Ann Aguirre

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



And this is the reason I wait for an entire series to be released before I embark on it. You never know when an author is going to leave you hanging at the end. What a cliffhanger! I am so, so glad the next book is already out.

This installment takes a while to get warmed up, but once it gets going, all hell breaks loose. It's war now, and the scale is exploding. I've gone from learning to care about a small crew of a rogue ship to fearing for their lives as the fate of all known races takes priority. This series is definitely more than a futuristic romance even though it started that way. Although the romance is there, it's not the whole story. Love and true friendship are precious when everything is falling apart, and you feel that in this book while you experience everything falling apart and have no idea how they're going to make it - and who won't.



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Review: Doubleblind

Doubleblind by Ann Aguirre
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This third book of the Grimspace series takes place entirely on the xenophobic planet of Ithiss-Tor. Jax has finally arrived to act as Ambassador to the "Bugs" who are desperately needed to strengthen the Conglomerate's position against the Morgut. There is danger every step of the way as Jax navigates the treacherous waters of diplomacy with a mostly hostile species. Intrigue, betrayal, and the nuances of cross-cultural communication make this a fascinating read - a definite change of pace from the previous action-packed installments.

Jax's relationship with March also develops significantly, repairing my dissatisfaction from Wanderlust. I don't want to spoil anything, but I was much happier with their story this time around. I also really enjoyed Jax's growing friendship with Vel, which gets significant attention since they are on Vel's home world and he is Jax's lifeline.

I did find one aspect of the story annoying. In order to keep us informed about what is happening "back home" while Jax is risking everything on Ithiss-Tor, there are news feeds interspersed throughout. I found the switches from first person narrative to news feed or interview transcript jarring. The tone did enhance the feeling that these exchanges take place far in the future, but I felt that they interrupted the flow and made me feel more like a distant observer. Aside from that, this was a strong chapter in the Grimspace series, and I'm looking forward to reading more.

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Review: The Merchant of Death

The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I really wanted to like this book. The premise is great, the plot is fun and has plenty of action and twists. But somehow the writing style was a barrier for me. It's written in first person through journal installments. I simply couldn't get into it, couldn't feel close to what was happening. I also could hardly stand Bobby's voice, which is very juvenile and tedious, and because of the journal format, colors everything that happens. I had to struggle to finish. Maybe this setup appeals more to kids - and they are the target audience, so I suppose this could just be one of those kids books that doesn't translate well to all adults.

Then, in spite of my experience with this first book, the actual plot somehow convinced me to read the next two in the series against my better judgement. It's really hard for me to leave a story unfinished, and I would like to know how it all ends. Unfortunately, it didn't improve and I finally decided to stop torturing myself. It's a shame because the story itself has really great potential. The execution is just so boring! I have so much more to read and don't want to waste anymore time feeling these books drag by.



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Review: Wanderlust

Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I think for my experience / mood while reading Wanderlust, I should rate it 2 stars. But the end gave it a nudge back towards 3. I really don't enjoy books where nothing goes right and everything falls to pieces. This was one, and I also found some of the plot devices to be outrageously unbelievable.

That said, I believe it was necessary in order to give the series somewhere to go. It's like Grimspace was written without much thought of a larger story, and too much was wrapped up all nicely. When that happens, you have to break it all again. So, I understand what this book was about. I just didn't have fun reading it. I hope things will start to get put back together again in Doubleblind. I think I'll take a bit of a break before I try it, though.



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Review: Grimspace

Grimspace by Ann Aguirre

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I've been reading mainly fantasy and historical fiction for forever, and really needed to change it up for once. I haven't had much success with the sci fi genre so far in books, even though I love shows like Star Trek and Farscape. But with some Goodreads recommendations helping me to sort through the chaff, I took the plunge on this one, and I'm so glad I did. This was a great space adventure with plenty of emotion and depth (not dry, boring and uber-geeky, in other words), dashing through space, space stations and planets, sorting out conspiracies, and even with psychic powers and romance. I'll definitely be reading the next book.

Just in case this matters to you, the romance was a bit - er - warmer than I usually go for, but it wasn't very graphically explicit, and didn't take over the book. It's clear what's happening, though, so I just thought I should mention it for those who avoid sex scenes like the plague.



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Review: The Never War

The Never War by D.J. MacHale

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



MacHale has set himself an enormous task with this series, having to build a new world in each book. Unfortunately, up to this point the journal format has fallen short. It simply doesn't allow the kind of depth necessary and overlays everything with a distinct teenager's voice, creating distance between the reader and the action. I personally find his voice irritating on top of it all.

But finally, with this book we have an improvement! I believe this one works better because the setting is Earth. It's Earth in the past, which adds a fun twist (especially because I love historical fiction), but also adds a whole lot of depth. No world-building is necessary here. Finally, we're not reading the story entirely through Bobby's juvenile descriptions because we have our own framework for the world he's in! The story itself has a chance under these conditions, and I was able to overlook the method of delivery for once (although it did grate still from time to time).

I'm glad I persevered to this point, but have decided to stop while I'm ahead. I don't want to return to the boredom of Bobby's journals on the next world, although there's part of me that hopes his juvenile voice will mature and make it easier to swallow. It's hard for me to stop without knowing the rest of the story, but the small glimpse we are given of the next world reminded me not to get too excited here.



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