Tag: SF Page 14 of 30

The Salvage Crew (Audiobook) by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, Nathan Fillion: A Unusual Tale of Artificial Intelligence, Cascading Failure, and Poetry

By

On January 27, 2021

In Audiobook, Fiction, Science Fiction

The Salvage Crew

The Salvage Crew

by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, Nathan Fillion (Narrator)

Unabridged Audiobook, 8 hrs., 21 min.
Podium Audio, 2020

Read: January 20-22, 2020

Red Dwarf Remix?

I’m not suggesting for a second that Wijeratne’s mind worked this way (at least I don’t mean to), but this is the impression I got as this started.

The Red Dwarf TV Show/Novels had a couple of great ideas at the beginning—an AI that ran the ship, that had a strange personality, an odd sense of humor, and wasn’t entirely reliable. The second was that the ship generated a holographic officer based on the memories and personality of one of a dead member of the crew (whoever was highest ranking/most needed among the dead). A long time ago, it had been determined that AI with memories and real emotions actually perform better than those not based on actual humans.

Our main protagonist and narrator in this novel is an AI, made from the memories and personality of an engineer who served his whole professional life in space (after leaving his family’s farm). He’s now in charge of a small salvage crew for the company Planetary Crusade Service, sent to a tiny planet Urmahon Beta to recover as much as they can from an old colony ship that presumably crashed there.

His role is Overseer, and his crew nicknames him OC. This is OC’s first command, if it goes well—and a few others—he can move up to a larger, better body/command. In a few decades or so, he could work is his up to a large ship, overseeing a major operation. Again, that’s if everything goes well.

Everything Doesn’t Go Well

OC is promised an “A-Team” of a crew for his first command. He doesn’t get one. They’re not a B-Team either. There are not enough letters to describe how far this trio is from an A-Team. For that matter, I’m not sure OC is A-Team material either—they land far off-course (turbulence during descent, we’re told).

Almost instantly, the crew starts falling apart, ignoring orders and protocol. They begin to build a base to work from, but get distracted by things like indigenous flora and fauna, personality conflicts, and evidence that suggests they may not be the only salvage crew on the planet (there’s a rival company with bionic operators with aggressive tendencies).

From a rough start, it gets worse, and the next few weeks are a spiral of cascading failure, disease, injuries, strife, crop failure, questionable vodka distillation, bargain-basement tech, and…well, I can’t keep going. It gets messy, and what starts off as a quirky, comedic version of The Martian with a side of Red Dwarf turns into something tense, taut, dark, and suspense-filled. It doesn’t stay that way, depending on how you want to count things, ends up taking one or two other overall flavors, while never completing shedding the offbeat humor that characterized the book since the opening paragraph.

Poetry and Other Quirks

I’m going to focus on OC, rather than the rest of the crew (and they are all worth writing about) to keep this short (and because you really need to get into spoilers to do a proper job of talking about the humans). He is funny. There’s a snarky, offbeat humor to his narration and dialogue throughout.

He’s also a poet. I’m not saying he’s a good one, but he is one. Frequently in Fantasy novels (particularly older ones that wear their Tolkien-influence on their sleeves), you get a lot of poetry/songs/etc., but that’s rarely a feature of Science Fiction novels. The Salvage Crew is the exception to this rule. OC writes it, recites it to his crew to encourage them, he quotes and ruminates on other’s poetry…he’s the most poetic AI I think I’ve ever encountered in a novel. He’s also a Buddhist, and will often apply that to his situation.

He also has the best curses. He’s frequently letting off steam by cursing his crew, PCS executives, or local fauna to a horrible future reincarnation. I could have listened to some of those for a solid hour.

Fillion’s Narration

It’s tough to say for certain, but I think that Fillion raised this about a star in my book (maybe just a half). It’s his voice, his charm that hooks you in and gets you to like, believe in and root for OC. That said, at some point, I stopped thinking of this as Fillion, and just let OC tell me a good story.

It’s not the best narration I’ve ever heard, but it’s really good and it made me hope that Fillion does more audiobooks.

Co-written by AI?

So, there was apparently actual AI software involved in the writing of this. I learned about this when I started writing this post, and I’m not sure I understood everything I skimmed (I didn’t want to take the time to read carefully instead of just posting this). I’m intrigued by this notion, but am relieved to see that the software only “helped” with portions of the book and that Wijeratne was the final word.

So, what did I think about The Salvage Crew?

Roughly the first half of the book* is about what I expected—an amusing SF adventure—and was a lot of fun to listen to. The rest of the book isn’t what I expected from the premise in terms of story or tone. And I was riveted. There are portions of the book that get into more philosophical territories, and while I wasn’t as interested in them as I think the novel wanted me to be, they were really well constructed and told.

* This is an estimate, I didn’t jot down notes about when the tenor of the plot/novel changes)

I’m really glad I took a chance on this book, I’ll definitely listen to future audiobooks by Fillion (assuming any are produced) and am probably going to be trying some of Wijeratne’s other novels. I heartily recommend it to SF readers/listeners.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Podium Audio via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

4 Stars

2021 Audiobook Challenge

Pub Day Repost: We Could Be Heroes by Mike Chen: A Super-Powered Thief and Vigilante Together Could Be Extraordinary

By

On January 26, 2021

In Fiction, Mike Chen, Science Fiction

We Could Be Heroes

We Could Be Heroes

by Mike Chen

eARC, 336 pg.
Mira Books, 2021

Read: January 11-14, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!


At this point with Mike Chen, I don’t bother looking at the book blurb, I just read what he publishes. But so I could decide how much to say in this post, I had to go look at the blurb. Just between you and me, I think I wouldn’t have given as much away as it did, but now I feel a little freer about what to say.

Jamie Sorenson/The Mind Robber

Two years ago, Jamie Sorenson woke up in an apartment with no memory of who he was or how he got there (the name is something he picked). He’s a coffee snob, has taken in a stray cat that he’s named, “Normal.” He reads a lot of autobiographies and memoirs from the library, because he likes hearing life stories since he doesn’t have one.

Oh, and he has super-powers. He can read people’s memories, and erase a little bit of them. He uses these abilities to rob banks as “The Mind Robber.” He’s not living an extravagant lifestyle with these funds, in fact, he lives fairly frugally. His goal is to save up enough to finance his retirement on a tropical beach—just him, Normal, coffee, and books. If he can just pull off one or two more without getting caught, he should be able to do just that.

He was almost caught once, and he’s pretty sure he won’t be able to evade capture too easily next time. He was almost caught by:

Zoe Wong/The Throwing Star

She, too, woke up without memories in an apartment two years ago. She had a name tag, so at least she didn’t have to come up with a name. She spends her time watching horror movies on an app on her phone and drinking so much I think I might have liver damage from reading about it. She makes ends meet by working for a food delivery service.

She doesn’t drive for one, though, she has super-powers, too. Including speed—not Flash or Quicksilver fast, but she’s fast. So fast that she can deliver food fast enough to maintain a 5-Star rating, even though she’ll take quick detours to beat up criminals. She’s also super-strong (not quite Superman-level, but more than Captain America) and has a couple of other tricks up her sleeve.

She’s assembled enough of a uniform to stand up to the punishment her speed puts on normal clothing and to protect her identity, and was dubbed “The Throwing Star” by the press. Although, she’d prefer Shuriken, not that anyone asked. Besides, she’s pretty sure she’s of Chinese descent, not Japanese, so both names are problematic.

The Team Up

Jamie regularly attends a support group for people with Dementia or other memory problems. No one’s treating them there, it’s just a place for emotional support. One day, not long after he’s almost captured by The Throwing Star, Zoe walks in. Afterward, the two have a quick conversation by the coffee pot and (thanks to their abilities) recognize each other. For the sake of the group, they don’t start battling each other, instead, they talk.

A few things happen, and then Zoe decides to ask Jamie to help her with her memory—surely, he can use his powers for something other than crime, right? They strike a little quid pro quo deal and get to work.

From this point, two things happen, one harder to believe than the other. First, they start to uncover things about Zoe’s past (and Jamie’s, although he’s really not that interested at first) that lead them to a therapeutic organization that seems to have something else going on. And, the two begin to become friends.

It’s that “something else,” naturally, that gets their attention. It’s not long before they discover that not only does this organization (or maybe just what it’s a front for) hold the key to their pasts but has a secret plan to change to the world as we know it. To combat it, this thief and this vigilante might have to be something more, they might have to be heroes.

The Mad Scientist

A mad scientist at work is a mainstay of Super-Hero Fiction and Chen delivers that well. Not just a mad scientist, but one who doesn’t see herself in that way. Indeed, she’s going to save humanity from itself and the world from humanity while she’s at it. And sure, she’s doing this on her own, without consulting the countless lives that she’s going to radically alter, because when you’re a super-genius with a messianic-complex (among other psychiatric problems) playing with unimaginable technology, who cares what anyone else might think?

That sounds almost dismissive, and I don’t mean it to be. She’s a well-drawn character, absolutely convinced she’s doing the right thing, and is pretty convincing about it. Don’t get me wrong, I love a super-villain who’s just out to watch the world burn, or driven by pure avarice. I was raised on that stuff. But a super-villain convinced they’re the city’s/nation’s/world’s savior? There’s something more compelling about them, and that’s what we have here.

Extraordinaries

One challenge that non-Marvel/DC Super-Hero Fiction has it coming up with what they’re going to call their costumed, super-powered crime-fighters. Most of the time, I note the term and move on, while it’s usually a serviceable term, it’s a challenge to come up with something that really clicks on this front.

Chen’s world uses the term, “Extraordinaries.” That’s catchy, a little quirky, and it sticks with you. Sure, this is a minor point, but you add up enough of these minor points, and you elevate a good book into something more.

The Mike Chen Factor

The something more…does this have it? Readers of this blog know that I’m always game for a Super-Hero novel, and from early on, it was clear that this was a good one. And that’d be enough for me to recommend it, maybe even highly recommend it. But Here and Now and Then and A Beginning At The End have taught me that I should expect something more than just a good Time Travel/Dystopian/Super-Hero novel from him. The Mike Chen Factor.

And while I didn’t go looking for it—that would distract me from this entertaining story—I did keep wondering when it’d crop up (and if I’d recognize it right away). I think it popped up in a couple of different places and while I espied one instantly (or pretty quickly) the other slipped by me until it was in full bloom—making it my favorite.

The first thing that makes this more than a good Super-Hero novel is that it’s about the role our memories play in who we are—our identity, our personality, how we act. Two characters whose tabulas are about as rasa as you can get make excellent candidates to explore this. In the end, one character’s deliberate choices in spite of natural inclinations and what we learn about their past becomes something they didn’t expect. While the other character is driven by their past (especially the parts they can’t remember but shaped who they are) and ends up being a better (more complete) version of what they were all along.

So, you know, if you were looking for Chen to settle a debate, I think you can skip that.

The other expression of the Mike Chen Factor was the friendship that develops between Jamie and Zoe. This was something special. Too, too, too often when we look at relationships in fiction (in whatever medium) we focus on romantic relationships, familial bonds, or even that between enemies. We don’t see enough explorations of friendship. I wish we had more of them—Rick and Louis aren’t the only one’s with a beautiful friendship, a well-written one is a great thing.

And Jamie and Zoe’s friendship promises to be a beautiful friendship, it’s off to a great start, anyway. I think the reader sees it before either of them do, which is an added layer of fun. But before they realize it their mutual aid pact starts to carry shades of something else. They banter, they tease each other (including in that almost-cruel way that only good friends can), they look out for each other beyond what’s needed for their project and care about each other. Eventually, they’re inspiring each other to be more than they think they are.

So, what did I think about We Could Be Heroes?

This was great. It was a good Super-Hero Story that had a lot of other things going on. Like Chen’s other work, it could probably spawn a sequel or two—but probably won’t.

Can you enjoy this without spending time thinking about what he’s exploring in terms of identity, memory, and friendship? Sure—I don’t know why you’d want to, but if you’re just looking for a compelling story featuring people in outlandish dress flexing super-abilities, this would absolutely fill that need. On the flip side, if you prefer to focus on the other material? This would work, but you’d have to put up with the Super-Hero stuff, and that might be harder for you. If you’re a Greedy Gus like me and want it all? You’re definitely in for a treat.

There’s a little something for everyone here, get to it.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Harlequin Trade Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

We Could Be Heroes by Mike Chen: A Super-Powered Thief and Vigilante Together Could Be Extraordinary

By

On January 18, 2021

In Fiction, Mike Chen, Science Fiction

We Could Be Heroes

We Could Be Heroes

by Mike Chen

eARC, 336 pg.
Mira Books, 2021

Read: January 11-14, 2021
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!


At this point with Mike Chen, I don’t bother looking at the book blurb, I just read what he publishes. But so I could decide how much to say in this post, I had to go look at the blurb. Just between you and me, I think I wouldn’t have given as much away as it did, but now I feel a little freer about what to say.

Jamie Sorenson/The Mind Robber

Two years ago, Jamie Sorenson woke up in an apartment with no memory of who he was or how he got there (the name is something he picked). He’s a coffee snob, has taken in a stray cat that he’s named, “Normal.” He reads a lot of autobiographies and memoirs from the library, because he likes hearing life stories since he doesn’t have one.

Oh, and he has super-powers. He can read people’s memories, and erase a little bit of them. He uses these abilities to rob banks as “The Mind Robber.” He’s not living an extravagant lifestyle with these funds, in fact, he lives fairly frugally. His goal is to save up enough to finance his retirement on a tropical beach—just him, Normal, coffee, and books. If he can just pull off one or two more without getting caught, he should be able to do just that.

He was almost caught once, and he’s pretty sure he won’t be able to evade capture too easily next time. He was almost caught by:

Zoe Wong/The Throwing Star

She, too, woke up without memories in an apartment two years ago. She had a name tag, so at least she didn’t have to come up with a name. She spends her time watching horror movies on an app on her phone and drinking so much I think I might have liver damage from reading about it. She makes ends meet by working for a food delivery service.

She doesn’t drive for one, though, she has super-powers, too. Including speed—not Flash or Quicksilver fast, but she’s fast. So fast that she can deliver food fast enough to maintain a 5-Star rating, even though she’ll take quick detours to beat up criminals. She’s also super-strong (not quite Superman-level, but more than Captain America) and has a couple of other tricks up her sleeve.

She’s assembled enough of a uniform to stand up to the punishment her speed puts on normal clothing and to protect her identity, and was dubbed “The Throwing Star” by the press. Although, she’d prefer Shuriken, not that anyone asked. Besides, she’s pretty sure she’s of Chinese descent, not Japanese, so both names are problematic.

The Team Up

Jamie regularly attends a support group for people with Dementia or other memory problems. No one’s treating them there, it’s just a place for emotional support. One day, not long after he’s almost captured by The Throwing Star, Zoe walks in. Afterward, the two have a quick conversation by the coffee pot and (thanks to their abilities) recognize each other. For the sake of the group, they don’t start battling each other, instead, they talk.

A few things happen, and then Zoe decides to ask Jamie to help her with her memory—surely, he can use his powers for something other than crime, right? They strike a little quid pro quo deal and get to work.

From this point, two things happen, one harder to believe than the other. First, they start to uncover things about Zoe’s past (and Jamie’s, although he’s really not that interested at first) that lead them to a therapeutic organization that seems to have something else going on. And, the two begin to become friends.

It’s that “something else,” naturally, that gets their attention. It’s not long before they discover that not only does this organization (or maybe just what it’s a front for) hold the key to their pasts but has a secret plan to change to the world as we know it. To combat it, this thief and this vigilante might have to be something more, they might have to be heroes.

The Mad Scientist

A mad scientist at work is a mainstay of Super-Hero Fiction and Chen delivers that well. Not just a mad scientist, but one who doesn’t see herself in that way. Indeed, she’s going to save humanity from itself and the world from humanity while she’s at it. And sure, she’s doing this on her own, without consulting the countless lives that she’s going to radically alter, because when you’re a super-genius with a messianic-complex (among other psychiatric problems) playing with unimaginable technology, who cares what anyone else might think?

That sounds almost dismissive, and I don’t mean it to be. She’s a well-drawn character, absolutely convinced she’s doing the right thing, and is pretty convincing about it. Don’t get me wrong, I love a super-villain who’s just out to watch the world burn, or driven by pure avarice. I was raised on that stuff. But a super-villain convinced they’re the city’s/nation’s/world’s savior? There’s something more compelling about them, and that’s what we have here.

Extraordinaries

One challenge that non-Marvel/DC Super-Hero Fiction has it coming up with what they’re going to call their costumed, super-powered crime-fighters. Most of the time, I note the term and move on, while it’s usually a serviceable term, it’s a challenge to come up with something that really clicks on this front.

Chen’s world uses the term, “Extraordinaries.” That’s catchy, a little quirky, and it sticks with you. Sure, this is a minor point, but you add up enough of these minor points, and you elevate a good book into something more.

The Mike Chen Factor

The something more…does this have it? Readers of this blog know that I’m always game for a Super-Hero novel, and from early on, it was clear that this was a good one. And that’d be enough for me to recommend it, maybe even highly recommend it. But Here and Now and Then and A Beginning At The End have taught me that I should expect something more than just a good Time Travel/Dystopian/Super-Hero novel from him. The Mike Chen Factor.

And while I didn’t go looking for it—that would distract me from this entertaining story—I did keep wondering when it’d crop up (and if I’d recognize it right away). I think it popped up in a couple of different places and while I espied one instantly (or pretty quickly) the other slipped by me until it was in full bloom—making it my favorite.

The first thing that makes this more than a good Super-Hero novel is that it’s about the role our memories play in who we are—our identity, our personality, how we act. Two characters whose tabulas are about as rasa as you can get make excellent candidates to explore this. In the end, one character’s deliberate choices in spite of natural inclinations and what we learn about their past becomes something they didn’t expect. While the other character is driven by their past (especially the parts they can’t remember but shaped who they are) and ends up being a better (more complete) version of what they were all along.

So, you know, if you were looking for Chen to settle a debate, I think you can skip that.

The other expression of the Mike Chen Factor was the friendship that develops between Jamie and Zoe. This was something special. Too, too, too often when we look at relationships in fiction (in whatever medium) we focus on romantic relationships, familial bonds, or even that between enemies. We don’t see enough explorations of friendship. I wish we had more of them—Rick and Louis aren’t the only one’s with a beautiful friendship, a well-written one is a great thing.

And Jamie and Zoe’s friendship promises to be a beautiful friendship, it’s off to a great start, anyway. I think the reader sees it before either of them do, which is an added layer of fun. But before they realize it their mutual aid pact starts to carry shades of something else. They banter, they tease each other (including in that almost-cruel way that only good friends can), they look out for each other beyond what’s needed for their project and care about each other. Eventually, they’re inspiring each other to be more than they think they are.

So, what did I think about We Could Be Heroes?

This was great. It was a good Super-Hero Story that had a lot of other things going on. Like Chen’s other work, it could probably spawn a sequel or two—but probably won’t.

Can you enjoy this without spending time thinking about what he’s exploring in terms of identity, memory, and friendship? Sure—I don’t know why you’d want to, but if you’re just looking for a compelling story featuring people in outlandish dress flexing super-abilities, this would absolutely fill that need. On the flip side, if you prefer to focus on the other material? This would work, but you’d have to put up with the Super-Hero stuff, and that might be harder for you. If you’re a Greedy Gus like me and want it all? You’re definitely in for a treat.

There’s a little something for everyone here, get to it.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Harlequin Trade Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

The Friday 56 for 9/18/20

By

On September 18, 2020

In Currently Reading, News/Misc., Quotations, The Friday 56

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from 56% of:
Annihilation Aria

Annihilation Aria by Michael R. Underwood

Wheel was tired of waiting. Kenoa had flown up to low orbit to join her, so she’d spent most of the day talking to a destroyer-sized turtle while a barely-sentient tentacle-beast tried to stick its limbs up her nose.

Velocity Weapon (Audiobook) by Megan E. O’Keefe, Joe Jameson: A Brother, A Sister, A Battleship, and the War that Unites Them

By

On September 16, 2020

In Audiobook, Fiction, Science Fiction

Veloctiy Weapon

Velocity Weapon

by Megan E. O’Keefe, Joe Jameson (Narrator)
Series: The Protectorate, #1

Unabridged Audiobook, 18 hrs., 22 min.
Audio, 2019

Read: July 9-15, 2020

What’s Velocity Weapon About?

There are two primary storylines—either one of them would have been a decent basis for a novel on their own. Combine them and you’ve got something special.

Sergeant Sanda Greeve is flying a fairly routine patrol when she’s attacked—a rare burst of heat in a long Cold War. She wakes up in a ship from the fleet that attacked her. Alone. Except for the AI that runs the ship (is the ship?). Bero, the AI, shows Sanda footage and evidence that the Icarions that build him wiped out all life in the system except Sanda 230 years ago.

The second primary storyline features her brother, Biran. Biran’s speaking at his graduation ceremony when his sister (and others) are attacked. The news disrupts the ceremony, and Biran uses finds himself in the position of having to calm those who are watching (live or on the news). In the days and weeks following, he rises to a prominent position—becoming the government’s spokesman, reassuring and leading the populace through this time.

We bounce back and forth as Biran tries to stave off a war, and to Sanda dealing with its results. It’s a great concept and you just don’t know what to expect even though Bero has told Sanda what’s happening.

And then another escape pod shows up and all bets are off.

The Stuff I Should’ve Paid More Attention To

There were some flashbacks to the invention of the Gate technology that makes interstellar travel possible, which was pretty interesting, but there was something about it that I just couldn’t focus on for very long.

Similarly, there was a tertiary story to the main two. This one focused on a street gang involved in some pretty petty crimes, but they stumbled onto something pretty big. This was interesting, but I couldn’t keep most of the characters straight and had a hard time following it. This was solely due to my focus, and as many times as I told myself to pay attention, I didn’t. I predict that this is going to come back pretty significantly in the sequel—I’m just hoping I can play catch up. If you read and/or listen to this book—learn from my mistake and pay attention.

How was the narration?

I liked it. Bero in particular is hard to get right—and vital to get right. Jameson does it. Everything else came out good, too, don’t get me wrong, but for this, the AI is essential. He captured the tones, flavors, and diverse set of characters in an engaging and convincing way.

So, what did I think about Velocity Weapon

When this came out, it looked intriguing. When I started seeing it show up on my Goodreads feed and book blogs I follow, I really became interested. But I didn’t follow up on it. I spent pretty much e the entire time listening to Velocity Weapon berating myself for that.

This is the kind of thing I like in SF. A clever story, compelling characters, and great tech in space. I liked the humans, I really enjoyed the AI (I sort of figured this would be a variation on the AI in Rockwell’s Serengeti books, and wow, I was wrong). It was a SF adventure, but it was also a straightforward thriller (with SF frills). I had a blast with this and am looking forward to the sequel.

4 Stars

2020 Library Love Challenge

Firefly: The Sting by Delilah S. Dawson (and several artists): The Women of Serenity Misbehave on Their Own

By

On September 1, 2020

In Comics, Fiction, Science Fiction

Firefly The Sting

Firefly: The Sting

by Delilah S. Dawson, Art by: Pius Bak, Serg Acuña, Richard Ortiz, Hyeonjin Kim, and Rodrigo Lorenzo
Series: Firefly

Hardcover, 128 pg.
Boom! Studios, 2019

Read: July 17, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

What’s Firefly: The Sting About?

While Mal and the Serenity are tied up, Inara takes Zoë, Kaylee, and River to a luxury spa. The ladies are having a wonderful time when they’re essentially taken hostage by Yo-Saff-Bridge who wants them (or at least Inara, Zoë, and Kaylee) to help.

It’s a great scheme, even if she has to threaten the lives of the rest of their crew to get their cooperation.

After the setup, we get four chapters showing how Saffron’s plan goes, each chapter focusing on one of her accomplices. While we see them carry out the plan (and as it goes horribly awry, as all plans we see with this crew do) we get the chance to get into the minds of the women of Serentiy. Zoë and Wash are having some troubles as they consider having a child (more her troubles than his at this point) and she’s thinking about what they’re going through. Inara’s decided to leave, but she can’t bring herself to tell Mal. Kaylee’s focused on her friends, thinking about them.

The best chapter is River’s chapter (which is a tautology, I realize). Part of that is because that’s the action’s climax and River gets the chance to shine, part of that is because it’s about River.

How was the Art?

There was a different artist for each of the five chapters, which was an interesting approach. It kept things from getting stale, it helped ensure that each chapter was easily distinguished from the others, and you could probably make the case that each art style used was the best way to capture the primary character for that chapter.

I didn’t love all of the art, but a couple of the chapters blew me away, the characters have rarely looked better.

So, what did I think about Firefly: The Sting?

I appreciated this approach to storytelling and Dawson has a good handle on each character, and captured the voices perfectly (I could really hear Jewel Staite’s voice as I read Kaylee’s thoughts/speech bubbles). I’m not sure it was the best story, but the way that Dawson and the artists told the story more than made up for it. And it’s always fun to see Yo-Saff-Bridge try to dig herself out of trouble.

3.5 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Vagrant Queen by Magdelene Visaggio, Jason Smith: A Quirky Space Opera that Hits the Mark

By

On July 20, 2020

In Comics, Fiction, Science Fiction

Vagrant Queen

Vagrant Queen

by Magdelene Visaggio, Jason Smith (Art)
Series: Vagrant Queen, Vol. 1

Paperback, 192 pg.
Vault Comics, 2019

Read: July 4, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

As I do occasionally, I hopped on goodreads to skim some reviews to get a couple of names, so I didn’t have to go looking through the book. And I made a mistake—I never read these things, I just skim, until I’ve written my post. But this time, I saw that Beth Tabler had posted her review there, and I read it. Save yourself some time, and go read it, it’s better than anything I’m going to but here (although I’m not quite as enthusiastic about it as she is).

Let’s get this out of the way, I’m having a very difficult time not talking about the job the late SYFY show did of adapting this. I could go on and on…I don’t know if I’d have liked it if I’d read the comic first, but I think I would. It captures the spirit of the book, and a fair amount of the letter. Coming the other direction, I’m pretty impressed.

Enough of that, talk about the book

Once upon a time, there was a child queen, Eldaya. Eldaya seems to have had a good heart and a desire to rule her people well. Her handlers seemed all in favor of that, but some things came first. Somewhere along the line, her advisors/hanlders—as well as her predecessors—lost track of their purpose, and let the galaxy (not ours) go to pot, letting injustice and suffering grow. Eventually, this bubbles into a French Revolution-style revolt. Eldaya, her mother and some loyal people escape—for a while. They’re eventually found, and some of the revolutionary forces almost get the queen, they get almost all of her staff and mother.

It’s years later now, and the queen has adopted the name Elida. Elida’s a mavericky, smark alecky, savanger—doing all she can to survive. She wants nothing to do with her past and is doing all she can to pretend it has nothing to do with her (and it works, there are few who have a clue about it)

Elida has a…frequent ally, I guess. He’s not really a friend. He’s definitely not an enemy. Think Empire-era Han and Lando, maybe. Isaac is from Earth (a planet that no one believes exists), and will do almost anything for a shot to get back there—even if it is in another galaxy.

One of the revolutionaries, Lazaro, has been hunting for the Queen since she fled her home—and after all this time, he thinks he can capture and kill her.

Throw these three into a galaxy-wide chase with Elida trying to rescue her long-lost mother from the clutches of the revolution…and you’ve got yourself an exciting little space opera.

How’s the art?

I don’t have a lot to say about it, really. Which solely reflects on me, not on Smith. The art is quirky, vibrant—there’s a great sense of motion to it. I really dug Smith’s approach.

I think Lazaro is frequently depicted a bit too cartoonishly. Which is odd, as he’s about as far from comic relief as you can get.

What did I think about Vagrant Queen vol. 1?

It was fun, with some great action. I wanted a little more depth to everything, but not much. For a little bit of fun SF adventure, Vagrant Queen fits the bill nicely. I’ll be back for Vol. 2.

3.5 Stars

2020 Library Love Challenge

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: 13 Worlds by J. J. Hair

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On June 22, 2020

In Fiction

Book Details:

Book Title: 13 Worlds by J. J. Hair
Release date: 5/10/2020
Format: Ebook/Paperback
Length: 102 Pages

Book Blurb:

Directed by an omnipotent super-being known as the “Guide”, Commander Culben, Dr. Reeves, and the crew of starship Ranus have set out on a mission to destroy thirteen different planets: analogous but unique versions of 1st and 2nd Earth. The planets’ inhabiting civilizations are believed to be on the verge of developing advanced DNA-editing technology known as CRISPR, which would lead to the creation of Supremes: an advanced human species capable of wiping out all life in the galaxy.

…If history can be believed. What begins as a straightforward mission quickly becomes a series of moral quandaries. Is the crew doing what’s best for the galaxy? Can the Guide be trusted?

While the Ranus pursues its targets, each world begins to learn of its fate through the eyes of Lisa Fry, Clarke Gabriel, and other medical scientists. Can their discoveries change their fate?

About the Author:

J. J. Hair has always had a passion for writing. He wrote his first book when he was 18; it was too short to be a full novel, too long to be a novella. While the storytelling was technically strong, the characters of his first effort were fairly two dimensional. What was the secret ingredient to making good characters? J. J. Hair would argue it was just living out life.

He worked as a Process Engineer for five years among different manufacturing companies. This involved interacting with a wide range of different personalities. It is in these personal interactions in life where we begin to ascertain what makes a character interesting. J. J. Hair has returned to fiction writing (with a current focus on science fiction) with the belief that his new writing has improved both in prose and characterization.

J. J. Hair’s first published science fiction novella is 13 Worlds. It is currently a stand-alone book, but there is potential for expansion. He has written two novellas in the fantasy genre prior to 13 Worlds and will likely consider polishing these stories up for publication assuming enough interest exists.

His writing takes inspiration from Robert Heinlein and Orson Card, but brings his own unique storytelling and characters to his novellas. His all-time favorite sci-fi novels are: Red Planet and Ender’s Game. J. J. Hair also takes inspiration from some of his favorite video games: the Final Fantasy series (VII, X, and XII in particular), Persona 3 and 5, and most Bioware-developed RPGs (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the Mass Effect trilogy, Jade Empire).

Goodreads ~ LinkedIn ~ Facebook

Purchase Links

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Crossing in Time (Audiobook) by D. L. Orton. Narrated by Noah Michael Levine, Erin deWard: This Romance/SF is a Wild Ride!

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On June 16, 2020

In Book Tour, Fiction


Crossing in Time

Crossing in Time

by D. L. Orton, Noah Michael Levine (Narrator), Erin deWard (Narrator)
Series: Between Two Evils, Book 1

Unabridged Audiobook, 10 hrs., 17 min.
Rocky Mountain Press, 2015

Read: June 4-5, 2020
Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

Typically, when I post about an Audiobook, I close with a discussion about the narrator(s). But I’m going to start with it this time because Levine and deWard did such a great job, they’re the highlight of the experience for me.*

* This is not a slight against the novel. They were just that good.

In my experience, when there is a male narrator and a female narrator—the female will read all the narration and dialogue in the female character POV chapters, and the male will read all the narration and dialogue in the male character POV chapters. But here, deWard reads all the female dialogue, no matter the narrator (and vice versa). That’s a nice touch, and once I got used to it, I really appreciated it. Particularly, it helped the conversations between characters feel like conversations—there was a little bit of talking over each other, and so on. And when the two laughed together? That was either fantastic work by the narrators or by the editor (or both).

Levine, particularly when he was narrating the main male protagonist, sounded like a guy recounting a story from his past to a friend—and I could’ve listened to him all day. deWard was almost as good (the main female protagonist character was never as relaxed, so it would be out of character to sound that way—so it may be unfair to compare like that). They both made all the characters come alive (even the few I’d rather hadn’t)—and made the experience richer.

This is a Romance/Science Fiction story. It’s heavy on the romance (too heavy for my taste) and the SF is a wild, multi-dimensional/time travel story with the fate of the human race (throughout the multiverse) hanging in the balance. Orton typically balances the focused story on the central romance and the wider, all-humankind story really well—but she has a tendency to over-focus on the love story. That’s going to delight many readers/listeners, but it was a stumbling block for me. Both are told with heart and humor (not getting in the way of drama), that will suck you in and not let you go.

I don’t really know how to summarize the setup of the book in a paragraph or two—and the Book Blurb gives away a bit too much (but really is an entertaining blurb), so I’m not going to get into it more than I did in that last paragraph. Just trust me on this—if you like the feel of what I’m describing, give this a shot.*

* Or, fine, read the Spotlight where I’ve copied the Blurb.

The characters—from minor to major—are wonderfully drawn and fully-developed. There are a couple of characters that are technically allies to the protagonists (and humanity in general, but function largely as antagonists. And man, I really didn’t like them at all—just as I wasn’t supposed to. But those that you were supposed to like? I just wanted to spend more time with them all—the point-of-view characters in particular.

There are some wonderful dogs throughout the book, and I fully expect that they’ll be pretty important before the trilogy ends. For those of you who prefer felines, there’s one of them, too—and the inclusion of the inferior pet doesn’t hurt things at all.*

* Man, I hope that comes across as tongue-in-cheek.

As I said, this is the beginning of a trilogy and ends in a way that practically demands moving on to the next volume as soon as possible (which is easy as the entire trilogy is published)—while not really a cliff-hanger, it sure works like one.

This was a fun novel—even if it’s not really my cup of tea. I’d probably give it a 3-3 1/2 Stars, a fun read that I’d recommend…but that narration knocks it up to 4 (maybe I should give it a 4 1/2), a strong recommendation from me.

There’s a little too much romance in this Romance/Science Fiction for my taste—but it’s a compelling and entertaining read full of wonderfully drawn characters. I strongly recommend the audiobook, but if that’s not your thing, I expect the print edition will almost be as good.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.
My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Crossing in Time (Audiobook) by D. L. Orton. Narrated by Noah Michael Levine, Erin deWard

By

On June 16, 2020

In Book Tour, Fiction

I’m very pleased today to welcome The Ultimate Blog Tour for Crossing in Time by D. L. Orton. Narrated by Noah Michael Levine, Erin deWard. This Tour Stop consists in this little spotlight post and then my take on the audiobook coming along in a bit. Let’s start by learning a little about this novel, okay?

Book Details:

Book Title: Crossing in Time by D. L. Orton. Narrated by Noah Michael Levine, Erin deWard
Publisher: Rocky Mountain Press
Release date: April 30, 2019
Format: Ebook/Paperback/Audiobook
Length: 559 pages/ 10 hrs and 17 mins

Book Blurb:

When offered a one-way trip to the past, Iz sacrifices everything for a chance to change her dystopian future—and see her murdered lover one last time.

After a perilous journey through a black hole, she wakes up on a tropical beach, buck naked and mortally wounded—but twenty years younger! With only hours to live, she must convince an enraptured but skeptical twenty-something guy to fix their future relationship and thereby save the planet (no one is quite sure why.)

But it’s easier said than done, as success means losing him to a brainy, smart-mouthed bombshell (her younger self), and that’s a heartbreaker, save the world or not.

Across the infinite expanse of space and time, love endures…

(Unfortunately, it’s not going to be enough.)

 

About the Author:

D. L. OrtonDL ORTON, THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR of the BETWEEN TWO EVILS series, lives in the foothills of the Rockies where she and her husband are raising three boys, a golden retriever, two Siberian cats, and an extremely long-lived Triops.♂

In her spare time, she’s building a time machine so that someone can go back and do the laundry.

Website: http://www.DLOrton.com.

My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided.

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