Emily Suvada - This Mortal Coil / This Cruel Design / This Vicious Curse

Audiobook Review

Post apocalyptic YA with great concepts that becomes a little too far-fetched in the latter half of the third book. Concept: the world is overrun by a virus that blows up people. The only way to survive is eating the flesh of someone who’s sick but didn’t yet explode.

From there we move into split brains, gen splicing, and virtual reality, served with a dash of betrayal and a royal helping of romance. Like I said, pretty good all the way up to the virtual reality, that’s where it looses some steam.

Elizabeth Moon - Vatta's War - Series

Audiobook Review

Harringtonish... Nice read, still. Youngling gets kicked out of school, becomes trader, killer, captain, admiral, savior.

Predictable, I admit, but enjoyable.

Reading (old) Star Wars - 3

Book Review / Audiobook Review.

Even before The Force Awakens heralded the return of Star Wars I decided to dip in and refresh and improve my knowledge of the 'written' Star Wars universe. Would I have done so knowing most of it would become irrelevant with the changes introduced with The Force Awakens? Perhaps not...

Alan Dean Foster - Catalyst

Review.

Catalyst, or Cat-a-lyst, stayed on the shelf for two years before I read it. I was reading quite a bit at the time. (You wouldn't be able to tell, now would you?)

Eager for adventure, movie star Jason Carter tags along on a treasure hunt in Peru where he and his friend discover a lost civilization intent on conquering the world

Veronica Roth - Divergent

Movie Review / Audiobook Review.

There's a movie, and there's a book. I've seen and read both. The movie wasn't too bad, although the main character in the movie seems a bit 'soft' compared with the book.

Both movie and book are okay, but aimed at the angsty teen crowd hungering for some apocalyptical romance.

Ready Player One

Review.

Both book and movie are enjoyable and related, but target a different audience.

The movie is an enjoyable entertainment romp, the book might be an acquired taste for some.

Reading (old) Star Wars - 1

Audiobook Review.

I've been listening to some Star Wars audio books over the years... Some good. Most bad.

The first two I read (listened to) were so bad it was almost funny. Almost...

Bob Shaw - Orbitsville (Het Stalen Paradijs)

Review.

Starts as a space opera, turns into an exploration story, to end up with a bleak view of a bleak future. Hmm...

Parts are good, as usual Shawn brings a surprising concept and adds some twists. I like the story, but I do not fully agree with his conclusion.

Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff - Aurora Burning / Aurora's End

Audiobook Review

Very good. Very, very good. Ah, the first review of 2023 should be a positive one, shouldn't it?

I thought they couldn't pull it off. Ending the first book with an overpowered enemy is one of the two 'beginning writers' problems. (The other one is an overpowered protagonist.)

But they managed to do it. They managed to pull it off.

Bella Forrest - The Girl Who Dared to Think / ...

Audiobook Review

Just like Christopher Nuttall, Bella Forrest is sometimes accused of plagiarism. I think that's not entirely fair, because she wrote some interesting stuff, but it's clear that she's sometimes - strongly - 'inspired'.

Then again, it is impossible to write something entirely original, so let's just shrug.

E. William Brown - A Perilous Waif / Fimbul Winter

Book Review

I read two different, very different books by the same author. At first I wasn't even sure if it was the same author as these appear to be intended for very different audiences. Why he choose to publish both under the same pen name is a mystery to me.

Because Perilous Waif is fantastic, whilst Fimbulwinter is a piece of shite.

Faith Hunter - Junkyard Cats 4 / 5 - Junkyard Roadhouse / Junkyard Riders

Audiobook Review

Faith Hunter (better known for her Romantasy stories) does a pretty good (Scifi) Apocalyptic series of novellas, all titled Junkyard Something.

Andrew Seiple - Dire 1 - Dire Born

Review.

What to make of this one... a fresh take on the superhero / super-villain trope, with a villain who might just be a hero. Or not.

Glynn Stewart - Space Carrier Avalon / Stellar Fox / ...

Review.

It’s military space opera, small federation fighting big evil commonwealth, hotshot pilot becomes captain after an accident.

It isn’t bad, but we’ve seen all of this before. (David Weber, anyone?) Fortunately Stewart’s writing and plots are better than, for example, Nuttall’s.

Alex Hughes - Mindspace Investigations 1 / 2 / 3 - Clean / Sharp / Marked

Review.

He's Harry, Jim, but not as you'd know it.

Sharp and Marked are the sequels to Clean. A future PI, former drug addict, working for the police with unreliable psionic powers, who's trying to escape his past.

Bob Shaw - The Ceres Solution (De Ceres Dreiging)

Review.

I'm a bit on a Shaw run lately. This one I read in dutch.

Disabled man saves the world from overly powerful extra-terrestrials, who are disturbingly similar to us. During the plot the moon gets destroyed...

I like Shaw. He brings a certain 'weirdness' which appeals to me.

Faith Hunter - Junkyard Cats / Junkyard Bargain / Junkyard War

Audiobook Review

Entertaining set of 3 (now 4) novels, in which a post-apocalyptic junkyard owner becomes a kind of queen bee, driven by biotech, and assisted (hampered?) by gen-engineered cats, after aliens overcame earth’s finest.

The Verdict: great read. Looking forward to book 4!

Alan Dean Foster - Pip and Flinx 1 - The Tar-Aiym Krang (1972)

Book Review

In 1972 (that's a long time ago) Alan Dean Foster wrote the first of the Pip and Flinx novels.

It's an easy read, which would probably classify as a YA, with left and right a bit of exposition (and somewhat old fashioned) but it is still imminently readable. 

Aer-ki Jyr - Star Force - Origin

Audiobook Review

Okay. Those who've read my reviews might have figured out I don't like LitRPG much, and Cultivation even less. Now, LitRPG and Cultivation primarily take place in the fantasy domain, so what's this?

My key issue with LitRPG is its obsession with stats, and being better / worse than someone else. I have a similar problem with Cultivation, which often boils down to 'follow the rules and you will become god' -- which amounts to pretty much the same thing. Unfortunately, that's what Star Force is: yet another cultivation novel but this time set in space.

Tarah Benner – Lawless / Ruthless / Dauntless

Audiobook Review.

Semi post-apocalyptic setting with a strong romantic vibe. Falls a little flat because it’s not as post-apocalyptic as suggested at the start.

Why I read it? Well, it's part of my endless quest for first person present tense references... It was mentioned on a list of present tense books, but it was wrongly listed.

Update: finished all four. They're okay, but not exceptional. I think the world would have been a much bigger hell had the famish as described taken place.

(From TellTales 109)