Tag Archive: dystopia


Review: Space Junque


Space Junque
Space Junque by L.K. Rigel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Strong fem lead. Check. Space ships and shuttles. Check. Dystopian post apocalyptic world. Check. Adventure. Check. BUT… The story had holes and often lost me. Dare I even say, it bored me? Yet, I couldn’t resist looking to see if I have book two. Big mistake. I’ve started reading it. Actually, not only do I have the next book, I have the omnibus edition with all three books. So that is what I will be reading from next.

Space Junque has been on my to read shelf for so long I had forgotten it. I’m glad I finally got around to reading it. It is unique in the genre. I’m hoping the next parts of the story are better.

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Review: Mars Rising


Mars Rising
Mars Rising by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am SO SAD! This is the end of the series. I could live in this series forever. I want to be Jess, or Harpreet. They are my favorite characters. Both are pilots who fly between Earth and Mars and globally on either. Oh, include the moon in that for Jess.

REAL science fiction. Real research involved in the science. These things are all possible and hopefully the space travel will be something we do.

Mars as a colony is grand! Its a believable world peopled according to what is possible in the beginnings of populating another planet.

Creepy things have taken over the political system of Earth. Such a marvelous planet to an outsider. Rain, oceans, breathable air. But recycling bodies? ‘Rebodying’. Ew. Although some of the science might be worth looking into for incurable diseases.

I know. You are looking at what I am saying and wondering what in the world I am talking about. Sorry. I should stick with reviewing. I try so hard not to make spoilers that I find relaying what the book is about nearly impossible. Meanwhile, these are the books I would have died to have to read when I was a kid. Still they hold up for me at 64. Though a little heavy in males, I find that the author has included all ages and sexes which is refreshing. And they learn from each other.

Okay, there is a bit of romance, but Jess isn’t all googly she holds on to herself and the couple completes each other intellectually and emotionally. That, too, is refreshing.

Cidney Swanson, also took a chance an included a sibling that has a disability. Jess’s brother, Ethan, seems to be a bit of a savant or has autism or Asberger’s Syndrome. She never labels his differences as such, just describes him with his assets and problems in ways that he is just human like all of us. Ms. Swanson is amazing in how she portrays this character.

In fact, the writing of these books is fantastic. I think I found an editing oops, but it was so minor that I can’t remember it at all. THAT’s how an author writes!

The series ended very well. I was glad to stick it out to the end. I didn’t have that incomplete feeling I often feel at the ends of books. Even still, I feel I will have to reread them all again and again! I recommend everyone who is a sci-fi buff to read them all. By the way, The first book, Saving Mars, is free right now. But for once I don’t feel bad about spending the money on the rest of the series. I think Ms. Swanson’s promotions of her books are very well done. Please, find these and enjoy them like I did–do.

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Review: Released


Released
Released by Megan Duncan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Enough with the demons! That I feel this way is not the fault of the author, Megan Duncan. In fact, had I read this way back in April 2011, I might not have had demon overdose. But way back then, I don’t think I could have handled the blood and guts and smells this book evoked.

The overdose that I’ve acquired isn’t just in ugly demons. I am done with Young Adult books with girls that start strong but then fall in love and start getting hurt or fainting or crying. Oh, and the moody-angst! Had it up to here! Again, not the author’s fault. Her’s was probably one of the first of these genres.

When the teens leave their home at the beginning, I wondered why. Sure there were ugly demons that had killed everyone they knew, but if they are tough enough to move on, aren’t they tough enough, smart enough to kill the demons where they were?

Then, when the kids visit this elderly man, I wondered how he was doing so well and why not stay and pick his brain about how he was doing this alone. But they choose to leave. Well, that is typical teen behavior, it’s all about the indestructible teen on an adventure.

Okay, what did I like? I obviously cared or I wouldn’t have given the book three stars. In spite of myself, I loved the characters, especially the siblings, Abby and Carter. They made a good team and had a lot of smarts on their own. I loved the immediacy of the author’s writing. She kept me engaged in the story even when I wanted to stop due to the gruesomeness of the demon hounds. Oh, and I love the cover! That’s the Abby I want to know and love!

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ARENA ONE: SLAVERUNNERS
ARENA ONE: SLAVERUNNERS by Morgan Rice
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Oh, I am so mad!!!!! I hate when this happens. I’m trying to clean up on books that have been sitting around for a long time. In this case, it was a Smashwords freebie. I know, what did I want for free? Nowhere did the ebook announce that it was a sample. I was reading along with the text-to-speech going. The indicator said I would finish this book in an hour. I thought it was a short story and I could free up a tiny amount of space if I read it. An hour later was an actual cliffhanger with the advertisement to get the real book on Amazon, Kobo, etc. So grumbling I clicked on the URL and saw that the real thing was actually FREE. Had it cost anything I would have backed away. But then the Amazon ad came up that I could get the Audible version for only $1.99. So I got it.

So far I kind of like the main character. I find it impossible that she and her sister had lived alone for so long and her not know how to hunt and fish. What have they been living off of? Then there is a tree that falls over from pushing it with her knife edge. TOO many impossible things. If she hadn’t ridden on the motor bike for a long time, what makes her think she can drive it at such horrendous speeds? Okay, I know, I should have suspended disbelieve and just enjoyed it as a tale.

I think I will let this one go at one star for now, let some time go by and come back in with the narrator helping me.

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Caged in Bone
Caged in Bone by S.M. Reine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Whew! Another 3:30 morning for sleep. Today I slept until nearly 3:00 in the afternoon. Caged in Bone was so stimulating that I just couldn’t go to sleep even when I finished reading it. Sure we were left in a safe spot having a few threads tied up. But you could tell there was more. Luckily, I was too tired to see if I had the next book ready so I didn’t start reading it yet. I am itchy to get started on it, though.

Have I mentioned that I love Elise Cavanough? After this many books with her as the main character, I nearly think of her as real. Heck, she did live in Reno for quite a while; she could have been a neighbor. **wink**

This book is a continuation of the stories before, saving Heaven (Shamain), trying to resurrect someone we love (sorry, Spoilers!) all the while each character fighting their own personal demons, real and imagined. The book grabs you and won’t let go.

By the way, disclaimer: I was given this book by the author for an honest review. So I say, those five stars and my review are fully an honest reaction to a fantastic book in a fantastic series of serieses (is that a word?).

Please read these books. Starting with Seasons of the Moon series, then Cain Chronicles, then Descension and Ascension (which I think I am nearing the end) then the newest one is the Preternatural Affairs series. I can’t wait!

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Review: Ashes


Ashes
Ashes by Linda Laforge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I won this paperback version from First Reads giveaways on GoodReads.com Thank you!

This is the first ‘tree’ book I have read in a long, long time. Most of the time I have a hard time with font and line spacing and find myself frustrated and getting headaches. The font in this book was dark against white background and was large enough to allow short periods of reading. Still, I miss the text-to-speech help and the ability of instant dictionary lookup.

This book is strange. Science fiction gone wonky and scary. Maybe because of that it is best that I did take it in small doses. There is dystopia and questions of paranoia to keep you wondering what is really happening. But stay with it. The story is good, and very imaginative. I am so glad I read it.

On the downside, I think the book could use more editing as there are misspelled words and sentences that make no sense. It isn’t often enough to pull one out of the story but it is there. Oh, and without giving any spoilers, the lisping is the worst to read. The message given is strong and I think would stand better without that constant impediment.

Anyway, I think most sci-fi buffs will like this book, especially those who like apocalyptic dystopias.

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Review: World After


World After
World After by Susan Ee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was another book to keep me up until 3 in the morning. This series is so exciting! It involves so much action that from the beginning, in book one, until now the end of book two, one is caught up in the story. Susan Ee’s writing keeps you captured in her world.

It was so long ago that I read the first book that I was a little worried that I would have to go back and read book one again to remember all that had happened but Ms. Ee does a marvelous job reacquainting the reader with ‘World Before’and ‘World During’ that it all flows quite well as we step into ‘World After’.

Book one had us meeting Penryn, her little crippled sister, and their mentally ill mother. The world was hard enough for poor Penryn to live in then the Angels and Demons decided to cause the apocalypse. Survival was the theme in both of these books. But there is a minor (?) romance between Penryn and an angel.

This book continues the survival, fighting, and romance. Penryn is quite the character and struggles to help her family and the other humans to survive. She learns to use the angel’s sword and tries to save everyone. She is quite spunky and able to hold her own no matter what.

I was about a third of the way in the Kindle version of the book when I realized that I had the Audible version of the book that I had purchased a while back. I must admit that the narrator, Caitlin Davies, was able to read the story exactly how I had been hearing it in my head. What is nice about having the audio version is you get to hear how the names should be pronounced. In this case I had been calling Raffe ‘RAF’ with a long ‘A’ sound and silent ‘e’. Apparently it is ‘Rawffa’. Sounds a lot better the right way, I must admit!

Though almost all threads have been tied up, and the ending is sweet, there is enough to let me know there will be more. Yay! I do really enjoy this series. Oh, and those who don’t believe in angels demons or the bible will still enjoy this series as a fantasy. I recommend it to all for a fun adventure.

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Damnation Marked
Damnation Marked by S.M. Reine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve done it again! Grrrr! Ever get done with one book in a series and without stopping to do a review, jump right in and read the next book? Well, that’s what I did. Now I am 80% into book five and I can’t remember book four. But that should give you a bit of an idea about how well I liked the book. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen to the characters.

This book didn’t end with a cliffhanger, by the way. One could very well let it go and read the next book when they can. But Reno and Tahoe were left in a big mess. I am afraid to go downtown now as I am sure I will see it all apocalyptic and ruined! That is the fun of these books for me. The author has included landmarks around here and has hell take over. And it is during the snows so reading it in the right season helps to add to the allure.

Elise, the main character is a strong person often too strong for her own good but we do get to see her insecurities and weaknesses. She has a good support system around her but often chooses the role as protector rather than put her friends/family in the way of danger. She’s sassy and fun.

The problem I had with this book is the same I had with the last one, the jumping back and forth in time. If you read on the Kindle, especially using text-to-speech the sections go by and it is easy to get lost. I think asterisks would help to signify a new point of view or scene, especially when many of the sections contain the same people just earlier or much later.

Still, this is a fun series, and I feel I must continue reading until I catch up with Sara’s stories. What an imagination!

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Review: Striking Mars


Striking Mars
Striking Mars by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the best sci-fi series I have ever read. Lots of space travel and well researched situations to keep the reader engaged. Check out my reviews on the previous four books to feel my glow. I am so excited that there is going to be yet one more book that I totally turned ‘Fan Girl’. As soon as I finished reading this book last night I wrote to the author to gush and beg for the next one. Gosh, I can’t wait to read six. It is supposed to be out this Spring, yet another reason I want Winter to LEAVE!

Once again, I am so impressed with the main character Jess and her autistic (?) hacker brother, Ethan. There is a lot of enjoying time on Mars through the family left there, time on Earth, and even time on the Moon. It was just so much fun!

Please do yourself a favor and grab the triology for $2.99 Then enjoy a great adventure. Then follow up with the science links that Ms. Swanson puts in the back of the book. It is worth every penny!

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The Saving Mars Series
The Saving Mars Series by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh. My. Goodness. I love, love, love this series! Oh, how I wish this would have been around when I was a young adult. I think it would have been the motivation I needed to pursue being an astronaut, math skills be damned!

Don’t be afraid to read it if you are a little younger than a “young adult”. I think even as young as a 10 year old could read it as this is a fairly benign story. Still it is a great adventure with space travel and futuristic life on Mars and Earth. I’m 64. I can’t get enough of these books. There are older characters to relate to in the story, too.

Speaking of characters, as much as I love the girl from Mars, Jess, her brother, Eth, is even more fascinating. He is a highly functioning autistic person or maybe he has Asberger’s syndrome. The author never applies a label, which I find refreshing. Eth uses what he knows and plays the role he is assigned in the mission even through his own disabilities. But then the rest of the crews does the same thing. Each character has their own short-comings and strengths. That is why the series works so well.

As I have stated in the reviews of the first two books, I think guys would like this as much as the gals as there are characters they can relate to, and the action and adventure just keeps coming.

On this, the third book for me, I found it a little less action and more setting the stage for more to come. I can hardly wait for the next book, but I have to wait for my next paycheck as I have spent my allotment for books for this month. By the way, this three volume set is still $.99.

I think everyone, especially science fiction buffs will love this series. The author has done her homework and even gives websites for Mars fans to look up all they need to know about Mars and spaceflight. Enjoy!

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