CLYDE WISHAM
Robert Reed thinks big. A massive artifact (it is really too big to call a ship) is cruising through the galaxy on autopilot. No one knows what it really is, where it came from, or what its purpose is. However, humans and some other races colonize it anyway. Conflict inevitably develops and the disagreement in this story is a dozy, lasting over 5000 years. The ending seems rather inconclusive, but it is an interesting story nonetheless. (I suppose I will have to read the sequel.)
This is Crigger's fifth book about gunsmith Boothenay Irons. The previous four stories had her time-tripping into trouble. Always, it was related to an old gun. This story is a bit different. Instead of going to a different time, she is kidnapped to a steampunkish alternate America. (Not a spoiler, as that is almost the first thing you find out in the story.)There she finds herself in the middle of a bloody power struggle. If she wants to get back to her own world, she will have to help one side or the other. She had better choose right; her life depends on it. Lots of action, quite a bit of humor, and even a little romance make [b:Gone Rogue 23450052 Gone Rogue (The Gunsmith, #5) C.K. Crigger https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1414325925s/23450052.jpg 43012611] a good read.
[b:Blood Moon 17857995 Blood Moon (Huntress/FBI Thrillers, #2) Alexandra Sokoloff https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1367169128s/17857995.jpg 24999447] continues the story of FBI special agent Matthew Roarke and the mysterious huntress. The story begins with Roark and his crew completing an operation against human traffickers. (An operation that began in the closing pages of preceding book, [b:Huntress Moon 15746576 Huntress Moon (Huntress/FBI Thrillers, #1) Alexandra Sokoloff https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342011571s/15746576.jpg 21437405].)After that, Roarke and crew come up with a scheme to try and capture the huntress, who is still out there killing bad guys. However, their plan is soon disrupted by the reappearance of a mass murder called “The Reaper”. While the plot isn't as intricate as that of [b:Huntress Moon 15746576 Huntress Moon (Huntress/FBI Thrillers, #1) Alexandra Sokoloff https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342011571s/15746576.jpg 21437405], it is just as full of suspense, action, and tension. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll stop there. Good story. I hope Alexandra Sokoloff continues the series.
One thing is for sure – you could never accuse [a:Philip José Farmer 10089 Philip José Farmer https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1234714074p2/10089.jpg] of thinking small. In [b:The Unreasoning Mask 968888 The Unreasoning Mask Philip José Farmer https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1286080989s/968888.jpg 953784] Farmer brings an intelligent shape changing starship that is emotionally attached to its captain. Add to that an artifact called the Glyfa, which is itself sentient and apparently older than the universe. Then toss in a danger to all intelligent life in the multiverse that Captain Ramstan must stop and you have the seeds to a damn good story.Good story – fast paced and complex.
The day-to-day and sometimes minute-by-minute actions of the Third Battalion of the 506th during operation Market-Garden form the core of this book, but it ranges considerably wider. For example a full chapter is devoted to the Dutch under Nazi rule – a subject that itself would take a full book to do justice to. I can only rate it three stars because the writing is somewhat unfocused and jolts from subject to subject (cobblestone writing). However the events themselves are quite dramatic and carried me through the book. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about one of the more important operations of World War 2.
Three and a half stars rounded up to four. [b:Euclid's Wall 16094139 Euclid's Wall Michael McCollum https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1350949985s/16094139.jpg 21900723] is a good after-the-fall story, with a really unique cause of the fall. It is also a high-seas, tall-ships adventure story with some solid science and a bit of romance thrown in. I enjoyed it.
Intense and brutal, [b:Germline 10432883 Germline T.C. McCarthy https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388708189s/10432883.jpg 15337363] is a totally absorbing military SF novel. It is also difficult to describe. It reminds me a lot of the stories that came out of World Wars 1 and 2 in that it is not about glory and has very little heroism. It is more about the ultimate hopelessness of war and the physical and mental destructiveness, even for those who survive. The term “germline” refers to genetically engineered soldiers who form an important part of the fighting forces. However, to me that isn't what the story is about. It is a grim, grim story of battle and it is also a story about friendship and caring.The main protagonist is Oscar Wendall, a reporter for Stars and Stripes. He has a drug problem and sees his career spiraling downward. He hopes that an assignment to the front will let him redeem himself. That isn't how things work out. Instead, he finds himself trying to survive in the midst of a brutal, all-out, no-holds-barred struggle – a struggle in which his own personal demons come out to haunt him.In the hands of a less skillful writer, this story would be a caricature of war. But, T.C. McCarthy pulls it off very well.
[b:Fire And Ice 672619 Fire And Ice (Liam Campbell, #1) Dana Stabenow https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351459395s/672619.jpg 14413090] is a pretty good crime thriller. State trooper Liam Campbell steps off the plane at his new station in Newenham, Alaska and literally right into a murder scene. Talk about being tossed into the deep end! To complicate things, his predecessor leaves without giving him any kind of briefing or workup. Also, Liam's old flame is standing right there on the tarmac by the fresh body, making it a totally “WTF?” moment. Before he can even begin to come to grips with the murder at the airport, Liam is called away on another incident.Liam never gets a chance to catch his breath as one incident follows on another. However, he doggedly presses on and eventually begins to tie the various threads of these seemingly disparate crimes together. Eventually we reach a conclusion with most of the bad guys paying for their crimes in one way or another.This story gives us lots of action with murder, assaults, and old mysteries. Also, there is some romance (integral to the story), and more than one colorful, oddball characters. (Additionally, I learned much more about herring fishing than I ever expected to know.)All in all, a good and interesting story.
[b:Wall, Stone, Craft 22916356 Wall, Stone, Craft (short novel) Walter Jon Williams https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-6121bf4c1f669098041843ec9650ca19.png 42482551] is one of [a:Walter Jon Williams 48960 Walter Jon Williams https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1275489992p2/48960.jpg] Dead Romantics stories. This short novel ... well, let's just say the main characters are Mary Godwin (AKA, Mary Shelley) and a young Lord Byron along with several other notables (some fictional and some not). They have an adventure both rollicking and sad in a past not so different from our own. How could you not read it? I did so in one sitting.WJW never fails to tell a good story.
Three and a half stars. I rounded up.[b:Out of the Black 18692689 Out of the Black (Odyssey One, #4) Evan C. Currie https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1405288872s/18692689.jpg 26540819] is the fourth volume in Currie's Odyssey One series. It brings the story of the war with the Drasin to a close. However, it leaves some questions unanswered; so, I expect there will be more books in this universe. This book begins exactly where the previous book, [b:Homeworld 18043147 Homeworld (Odyssey One, #3) Evan C. Currie https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1370523301s/18043147.jpg 25319833], ends. The two books form one continuous story; so, you need to read them both together. In fact, I recommend reading all the preceding books first.This is pure military SF. All of the books in the series are full of combat – on the ground, in the air, and in space. If that is what you like, this series could be good for you.
[b:1635: Papal Stakes 13547089 1635 Papal Stakes Eric Flint https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348473184s/13547089.jpg 19112223] is one of the many novels in the Assiti Shards (1632 Universe) series. This story follows directly after the events of [b:1635: Cannon Law 35481 1635 Cannon Law (Assiti Shards, #7) Eric Flint https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406525686s/35481.jpg 35415].As is typical of books in this series, there are multiple antagonists. It also features lots of action, dastardly deeds, political intrigue, and more than one do-or-die situations. This one differs in that it includes a theological debate sponsored by Pope Urban VII. That debate is integral to this book's story and I think it is also setting up the basis for plots in future books. What's a Pope-on-the-run to do?Those who have read earlier books will be happy to learn that Harry Lefferts and his Wrecking Crew have another rescue to pull off. But this time things don't go all their way. The life of a hero can be hard.Well written and suspenseful historical drama – recommended for fans of the series.
[b:Huntress Moon 15746576 Huntress Moon (Huntress/FBI Thrillers, #1) Alexandra Sokoloff https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1342011571s/15746576.jpg 21437405] had been sitting in my TBR list for a while. Though highly recommended by a friend, I had been putting it off because I thought it was urban fantasy, which I haven't been in the mood for lately. In fact it turned out to be a crime thriller, and a good one. It has strong hint of dark supernatural forces, but PTSD developed by the mysterious young “huntress” after a horrible event in her childhood could explain that. There are in fact totally evil monsters in the story, but they are all flesh-and-blood men. Their motivations now – well, that is where the hint of supernatural comes in.Alexandra Sokoloff tells a good story in two alternating threads. The first is of the young woman, the huntress, whom death seems to follow. The other is of the FBI agent who is hunting her. As the two threads come together the suspense builds powerfully. The plot is quite twisty; several times Sokoloff surprised me (which is something I like).I thoroughly enjoyed this book – 4.5 solid stars rounded up. Upon finishing it, I immediately bought the sequel ([b:Blood Moon 17857995 Blood Moon (Huntress/FBI Thrillers, #2) Alexandra Sokoloff https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1367169128s/17857995.jpg 24999447]).
In this the fourth installment of James S.A. Corey's Expanse series, Holden and the crew of the Rocinante have another mission. This time it looks simple enough. Holden is tasked with mediating a dispute between squatters on a new planet and the company that has the right to exploiting that planet. Of course things soon go bad. First, the dispute turns bloody, and then things go from bad to worse as the planet itself starts waking up – violently. Soon Holden & Co. find themselves once more in a do-or-die situation.
Good book.
[b:Worth Dying For 8357992 Worth Dying For (Jack Reacher, #15) Lee Child https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356095648s/8357992.jpg 13212200], the 15th Jack Reacher novel, picks up shortly after the events of [b:61 Hours 6977769 61 Hours (Jack Reacher, #14) Lee Child https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320512665s/6977769.jpg 6932011]. Reacher still hasn't physically recovered from those explosive events when he finds himself deep in a new set of problems.It all starts simply enough. Reacher is making his way across Nebraska and stops at a remote Motel. He aids an abused woman and in the process runs afoul of the Duncans, who seem to rule this part of the Nebraska corn country. It soon becomes apparent that something evil is going on. The Duncans use local muscle to get rid of Reacher, or rather they try to. (As anyone who has read any Jack Reacher books knows, he is very very hard to get rid of.)Reacher soon finds himself fighting to survive against not only the local muscle, but also three sets of out-of-state gangsters, which just makes the mystery deeper. Why are all these thugs interested in this remote stretch of Nebraska? There is a deep secret here, and Reacher is just the man to dig it out.Lee Chile surprised me several times in this book as the story took unexpected turns.Good story.
Lightning Fall isn't the first novel to speculate about the probable effects of an electromagnetic pulse attack on the United States. The two earlier ones that I have read, [b:One Second After 4922079 One Second After William R. Forstchen https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316728333s/4922079.jpg 4987669] and [b:Lights Out 6845861 Lights Out David Crawford https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1252612238s/6845861.jpg 7057843], tell stories of smallish communities trying to survive in the aftermath. Bill Quick is more ambitious. He tries to tell a wider story by following individuals at various points around the country as the United States begins to die.It isn't a pretty story. It is a story of death and despair, a story of destruction, and a story of venal politicians looking after their own interests at all costs. But it is also a story of courage in the face of violence and downright evil. Though tens of millions have died by the end of the book there is some hope.It is a big story. I expect a sequel.
[b:On the Razor's Edge 16059450 On the Razor's Edge (Spiral Arm, #4) Michael Flynn https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1360343179s/16059450.jpg 21846212] is the fourth book in Flynn's Spiral Arm series. It picks up right where [b:In the Lion's Mouth 12160824 In the Lion's Mouth (January Dancer, #3) Michael Flynn https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317794427s/12160824.jpg 17131879] ended.Bridget ban's daughter, Mearana the Harper, has left with the Shadow Ravn Olafsdottr and headed into the Confederacy. It is unclear whether she was kidnapped or went willingly. Bridget and a team of Hounds that she persuades to join her head into the Confederacy (and toward Old Earth) in pursuit. They all know that they are being lured into a war between the “Shadows of Name” and that some of their number may not return. However, Mearana must be rescued and there is rumored treasure in the form of ancient artifacts/information – it must be done.Meanwhile Mearan's father, Donovan buigh the scarred man, is being held in wily old Gidula's stronghold on old Earth. Donovan has his own tight path to walk. He fears that if he gives Gidula the knowledge of how to enter the Secret City he will not survive long; so, he has to play Gidula along while he gathers his own resources.From that start intrigues pile upon each other. Donovan goes on a journey of discovery on Old Earth. The conflict widens into a full war between the Names and their Shadows, with Bridget ban and her Hounds, Donovan, and Mearana adding extra random factors. The conflict becomes something I can only describe as a Ninja war with high-tech weapons.This is a satisfying end to the series. Although you could read this story on its on, I would recommend reading the first three books first.
What a good book is [b:In the Lion's Mouth 12160824 In the Lion's Mouth (January Dancer, #3) Michael Flynn https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317794427s/12160824.jpg 17131879]. Michael Flynn has become one of my favorite writers.This is the third volume in Flynn's Spiral Arm series. It is interesting how, though the books do form a series and some characters repeat, the stories are individually very different from each other in plot and style.This book takes up the adventures of Donavan (who is also known of as the Fudir and the scared man) when he is abducted shortly after the events of [b:Up Jim River 7063585 Up Jim River (January Dancer, #2) Michael Flynn https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316129442s/7063585.jpg 7315893]. Donavan soon finds himself caught up in a rebellion and dealing with some very dangerous characters indeed. It is a good continuation of the series, providing some very good battle scenes and no little intrigue.
I was somewhat disappointed by [b:The Pericles Conspiracy 18427543 The Pericles Conspiracy Michael Kingswood https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1378138838s/18427543.jpg 26065458]. After reading Kingswood's short story [b:Passing In The Night 18285302 Passing In The Night Michael Kingswood https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1378274610s/18285302.jpg 17454535] I was expecting a good first contact story. What I got instead is a complex caper story. Also, I think the story could have been improved by another pass through by a good content editor (substantive editing). I became irritated by the overuse of the word smirk. It started dropping me out of the story every time I read it..
In short, [b:Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction 15798335 Scatter, Adapt, and Remember How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction Annalee Newitz https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1344370745s/15798335.jpg 21521261] describes how some species survived the five great extinctions in earth's history, tells how the human race survived choke points, how certain human groups survived hard times, and finally goes on to speculate on how humanity (or at least our decedents) can survive and flourish in the future. The bad news: the universe is a very dangerous place, and there are many ways humanity could become extinct. The good news: we are very good at surviving.
[b:ConVent 13483392 ConVent (The Vampire Con Series) Kate Paulk https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1351026806s/13483392.jpg 19017742] is a humorous and fairly interesting urban fantasy. However, all that convention and “fen” stuff just sort of went over my head. I doubt that I will continue the series.