Tag Archive: sci-fi


Review: The Saving Mars Series

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December 29, 2013

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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Review: Defying Mars

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December 23, 2013

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

This series is so much fun, so exciting, that I read book 1 and this book 2 straight through. Then I was stranded without book 3. Yikes! As luck would have it the boxed set came on sale for $.99 so I picked it up and started to read the #3.

The first three are still on sale:

It is often the case that a sequel isn’t as good as the first book. In this case I think this one was even more exciting. I read until 4 in the morning just to see what would happen. The characters and worlds are well built and believable. In this book we get to know more about the support team and the depth of the antagonist.

So far in the series there are no cliffhangers. The reason to keep reading is that you care about the characters and worlds. Cidney Swanson’s writing style works for me. I had already read the Rippler series by her, and I think Saving Mars is even better.

Though this is considered Young Adult I think anyone could read it and have a great adventure. And it isn’t just for teen girls. I think guys of all ages would like this, too. All you need to be is a science fiction fan to love it!

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Review: Saving Mars

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December 21, 2013

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

Oh my! I finished this book two days ago. Why haven’t I written a review yet? Because it was so good I couldn’t wait to read the next book. Oops! I have no self-control when it comes to good books!

If you love science fiction with a spot of fantasy thrown in this is the book for you.

It fit all my criteria for my recent reading goals. This had a strong main character, who happened to be female. This character was flawed as were the other folks that people this novel and its planets. This story is quite accessible to male readers, too. And though I tagged it as Young Adult, I think any age would love it. It may have a few concepts too strong for little ones, but even those could be conversation starters. I would say this is easily rated G. Not to mention this old lady LOVED it!

All that said… As I mentioned before, I have book two already started, but I worried. I didn’t have book three. Today I saw that the box set of the trilogy was $.99. Grabbed it! Hope it is still on sale tomorrow for the rest of you! Sorry I am so late to let you all know.

Now back to reading.

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Review: Rippler

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December 13, 2013

Rippler
Rippler by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the moment I started reading this book I was hooked. It starts in the middle of the action, a new talent and a new fear. Who wouldn’t want to be invisible? But when there are people out to kill you or trap you for your genes, is anywhere safe?

There were a few things that made me unsuspend disbelieve when the main character’s running mate turns out to be a fellow rippler. What are the chances of that? But the story keeps going, and I was brought in running for my life with the characters.

This is a YA and as such there is a bit of the angst of teens, but not as much as other YA’s contain. And there is a tiny bit of romance but gentle and not quite as quite as squishy as the average YA. Instead it keeps you going wondering what was going to happen.

I was happy that there wasn’t a cliffhanger. But the reason I didn’t write this review when finished was I found that the trilogy was on sale for $.99 so then I started reading book two. Oops. I am enjoying it, too. 🙂

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Review: Dragonsdawn

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December 12, 2013

Cover of "Dragonsdawn (Dragonriders of Pe...

Cover via Amazon

Dragonsdawn
Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my third reading of this book. I still love it. This time I was able to purchase the Audible version to go along with my own hardback book. This particular book includes Chronicles of Pern: The First Fall. But since I am trying to read these in order I didn’t want to read that part yet. Yes, I realized that Moreta should have been the read, but I didn’t have that Audible version yet. So I jumped ahead. I do have Moreta now, so I’ll start it soon.

I loved discovering, again, how humans landed and learned to survive on Pern. I was fascinated by the amount of research that Ms. McCaffrey put into the writing of this book. Not only is this pointed out in her preface, but it is obvious in how the humans proceed in inhabiting this new land. Her characters are so realistic.

Dick Hill’s narration further developed each character. All voices done so well that you know who is talking without the identifying tags in the sentences.

I have mentioned in previous Pern reviews how I love the way Dick Hill reads. He keeps the reader/listener engaged. Even his dragon voices sound convincing.

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Review: The Dragonriders of Pern

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December 4, 2013

The Dragonriders of Pern
The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If it weren’t for Audible I wouldn’t have been able to read this book. The font is so small that I can’t stay with it for long. Having the story narrated to me helped. When I didn’t understand a passage I could check it out in the book for understanding.

I love this series. I read them all a long time ago. It is so fun to get back into Pern and enjoy the dragons and fire lizards. Anne McCaffrey wrote so beautifully. I loved her vocabulary and the extent that she researched the sciences of these books. Her characters are well developed and fallible. In this part of the series the traditions of a male dominated system are challenged. The dragons make those changes happen. A new more equality-base system is about to emerge. I look forward to more in the series.

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Review: The White Dragon

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The White Dragon
The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wish I would have written this review when I finished reading/listening this book. I have already started another in the Pern series (Dragonsdawn/Dragonriders’s Dawn).

Okay, let’s see. I remember loving The White Dragon more than the others the first time I read it. Maybe that was because I read it after the Menolly stories last time around. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums. As a music major at the time I was thrilled by the music of Pern. But White Dragon was more mature with a wider vocabulary. It also helped titrated me up to the rest of the books of Pern. This time I was more interested in the trials of the way Pern, herself, demands that traditions be challenged.

The name Ruth, in my life, has been a female name, so it still throws me that the white dragon is Ruth. He named himself. Who would argue with a dragon? Still, I loved the book. Can’t say if it is my favorite this round. We’ll see!

This time I am listening to the Audible versions while reading the paper book (hard back). I love Dick Hall’s voice, especially when he does his rendition of Masterharper Robinton. He keeps the characters individualized. And the voices for the females are not silly. It is a pleasure to listen to his voice.

Oh, the book form for this was Dragonriders of Pern which had the three books: Dragonflight, Dragonquest and The White Dragon.

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Review: Dragonquest

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November 30, 2013

Dragonquest
Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a continuation of The Dragonriders of Pern. I didn’t have the money for the Kindle version so I managed to listen to this Audible version while attempting to decypher the book with its tiny font. Because of the narrator’s wonderful voice and character depictions I was able to keep track of where I was in the story even when my eyes refused to read any more.

I loved this book the first time I read it nearly two decades ago and found it equally exciting this time. Other books in this series are about the dragons and their riders and the fight against thread. This books challenged us to look at traditions and even break them to see if there might be a better way to do things. New sciences were discovered or recovered in this book. These kept me involved wondering if our own descendants may run into similar discoveries should we let go of our tightly held concepts. Who know, maybe gravity will cease to be so grave!

Anyway, I am lucky to have the next of the Dragonrider books in Audible form and have already cheated ahead. I remember White Dragon as one of my favorites, so I’m getting back to my ‘reading’ um, listening. 😉

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Review: Dragonflight

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November 27, 2013

Dragonflight
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a second reading for this series. I loved these books so long ago, and find I am excited to be back in Pern. I didn’t change my star rating as they are just as wonderful now as when I read them the first time.

The difference, this time, is I had the Audible version to listen to while keeping track on the Kindle version, and in the huge book version, Dragonriders of Pern, that contains Dragonflight, Dragonquest and White Dragon. My eyes couldn’t stay with the book version at all. The font was too small.

This Audible version had Dick Hill as narrator. His deep voice resonated within me, especially when he did the voice for Robinton. Oh, how I had missed that Masterharper! Mr. Hill was able to keep the characters different while not making the females sound silly. In fact, I think his strength was in drawing out Lessa’s personality.

My soul misses Anne McCaffrey and her wit and imagination. At least we still have all her books to immerse ourselves in.

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Review: Proximity

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November 25, 2013

Proximity
Proximity by M.A. George
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked up this book on an author-giveaway-day on Smashwords. Somehow I forgot that I already had it. Then Kindle had a freebie day and I pick it up there, too. Does that ever happen to you? I look at the cover, it does play into how I feel about a book. Then I read the blurb and about the author. This book must have passed those criteria with flying colors!

After a slow start, getting to know the characters, Proximity took off. I was hooked. From about 60% of the book, I couldn’t stop reading. In fact, I was still reading at 5 this morning. Thank goodness for an ending that didn’t leave me hanging. Sure there was a few threads that need to be taken care of, but I was left elated which, of course, made me wakeful, wondering how the next bits will be taken care of. (Non-spoiler enough?)

I can’t wait for payday so I can get the next book. Thank you M.A. George for writing such a different, kind of story. Oh, and I need to mention how I loved that the characters were very well educated with goals and talents, along with a little romance. Very good!

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