People have been saying for years how hilarious the Jodi Taylor books are - both the Chronicles of St. Mary's AND the Time Police series. But Killing People have been saying for years how hilarious the Jodi Taylor books are - both the Chronicles of St. Mary's AND the Time Police series. But Killing Time was the first laugh-out-loud-uncontrollably book in either series for me. I absolutely loved this one!!
The MacGuffin in Killing Time is an out-of-control steam engine train with a malicious mind of its own. And it is jumping randomly through Time. The only good thing is that the Time Police have in their favor is that they have all of the recorded sightings, going back hundreds of years.
A lot happened in the previous book and in this book, it has yet to be decided whether Team 236 (our protagonists Luke, Jane, & Matthew) will even stay together or be broken up or even if one or more members might be leaving the Time Police entirely.
Come along if you dare for a real roller-coaster of a ride and be prepared to face an out-of-control train which just happens (of course) to have two Team 236 members trapped onboard with the original 1911 passengers!
Highly recommended for all Time Police series fans, time travel fans, and fans of ripping good yarns!...more
Too many times I have bemoaned what appeared to be the FINAL book in a series only to happily discover, some years later, that the next book is about Too many times I have bemoaned what appeared to be the FINAL book in a series only to happily discover, some years later, that the next book is about to be published.
Amazon's blurb said, "the fourth and final installment of the Finder Chronicles". This time I hope that Amazon is wrong.
The Finder Chronicles have been a particular delight. Our protagonist, Fergus Ferguson, is really good at his job, which is finding that which has become lost. He also frequently finds himself in the middle of the action.
Amazon also describes this series as MacGyver meets Firefly.
As it happens, I never watched MacGyver, but its reputation is that give MacGyver a paperclip and some other unlikely tool, and he can get himself out of most any fix. Fergus also is an extremely gifted problem solver, and also uses whatever tools he or his companions have to hand.
Firefly is found family making the best of the few resources available to them, again like Fergus.
Highly recommended to fans of space opera, capers/heists, dealing with known & unknown alien races, and just a thumpingly enjoyable adventure tale!
Toll of Honor is not a "normal" Honor Harrington book. In fact, the protagonist (if this book even has one) is newcomer Brandy Bolgeo.
Yes, Honor is "iToll of Honor is not a "normal" Honor Harrington book. In fact, the protagonist (if this book even has one) is newcomer Brandy Bolgeo.
Yes, Honor is "in" this book. But it is more like watching her one step removed. A typical example is a video call Honor makes to her good friend Alistair McKeon telling Alistair what has been going on recently in her life.
The first portion of the new book Toll of Honor recounts a VERY painful time in young Honor's life. It covers Pavel Young from when they first meet at the military academy to the infamous duel (which Honor wins).
This portion of the new book mostly deals with how Honor's friends feel seeing the grief/pain in Honor's eyes (if you had not read the entire Honor Harrington series, Pavel Young has Honor's first love killed in a duel and Honor never forgive him for this). Book two covers more of the early RMN war against the Peeps.
I will admit that I did enjoy seeing well-loved characters from Honor's military career again, especially Scotty Tremaine and Horace Harkness. And I especially enjoyed seeing the beginning of Honor's time with Andrew LaFollet and her Grayson armsmen.
In the Author's note following the end of this novel, David Weber says this is "the first volume of what we will be calling The Expanded Honorverse series: novels dealing with earlier periods in Honor's life and, for that matter, her parents' lives."
I hope that we might see Brandy Bolgeo again and follow more of her career, but I won't be surprised if we don't.
Recommended for all Honor Harrington series fans who would like to also revisit earlier times in Honor's life. Just not with Honor as our primary protagonist (as was true with the books in her main series). ...more
I appreciate how, even though this series DOES jump (FTL) between star systems, when it comes to in-system navigation Another good, satisfying outing.
I appreciate how, even though this series DOES jump (FTL) between star systems, when it comes to in-system navigation (in particular orbiting planets), physics (as we know it) applies.
Best of all, there will be another in this series!
This second installment of a misfit crew filled with all kinds of folks down on their luck that can't hardly win for losing!
People keep showing up andThis second installment of a misfit crew filled with all kinds of folks down on their luck that can't hardly win for losing!
People keep showing up and somehow become part of the crew. Especially people who, at first, appear entirely useless. In this series, even unlikely new crew members learn how to pull their weight, even if in unexpected ways.
And, of course, Murphy's Law still applies. If something can go wrong, it will and spectacularly!
I'm a firm believer that there is a market for books which are just plain fun to read! ...more
You had me at "found families". Although, I must say, Imperial Deserter was a rough read for me at first. I had been so excited to find this book thatYou had me at "found families". Although, I must say, Imperial Deserter was a rough read for me at first. I had been so excited to find this book that I had already purchased several of the sequels. So, I gritted my teeth and kept reading when the book wasn’t what I had expected.
I'm happy to say that maybe somewhere near halfway into this first book it started clicking for me and I have definitely enjoyed this series ever since. OK. It's not the greatest prose ever written but author Andrew Moriarty knows how to end every chapter with a cliffhanger! Shades of serials like Buck Rogers! This is definitely a fast AND entertaining read!
My worst problem is that I was handicapped by the notion that this was Firefly reborn, and I kept trying to map the various characters to the beloved Firefly cast. Nope. Big mistake. This cast of characters stands on its own and rightfully so.
Each character enters the ship for his/her own reasons. The group quickly agrees to overlook the past. Whatever happened before joining the crew of the Heart's Desire is no one else's business. At the same time, each character has a rich backstory to mine. No sense revealing all in book one!
Highly recommended for space opera fans, fans of found families, military science fiction fans, and series fans!...more
I have really enjoyed the Icarus series. Timothy Zahn writes tightly plotted space opera thrillers that keep me guessing as the plot slowly unwinds.
ThI have really enjoyed the Icarus series. Timothy Zahn writes tightly plotted space opera thrillers that keep me guessing as the plot slowly unwinds.
This time crocketts (that is, orbital surveyors looking for unknown habitable planets) Roarke and his alien partner Selene have a new variable to juggle as they agree to pick up a passenger and take her wherever in the Spiral she wants to go. All they know about her is that she is a professional assassin on a job, and they are her ride.
But things are never what they seem in a Timothy Zahn Icarus book.
Who is their passenger really and why have they been promised a portal (that is, a teleporter) just to serve as a common carrier (has anyone not ever heard of commercial space liners?)?
In the Icarus universe, an alien race called the Patth first developed a working fast stardrive and they jealously guard their monopoly. (Humans and the other races have space travel themselves, but it is much slower.)
Then the Icarus Group discovered the first portal. Not surprisingly, the Patth wanted a portal, too.
And the Mafia (mobsters) are alive and well in the Icarus universe. In fact, it was a mob boss who contracted with Roark and Selene to ferry the assassin to her chosen destination.
Can we say double cross, anyone? It is for sure that you can't be certain who is on whose side as the plot thickens!
Highly recommended for space opera fans, mystery fans, series fans, and fans of plenty of character-driven action! ...more
I totally loved both Firefly and The Expanse. Found families mean a lot to me. So, I was absolutely the target market/reader for L.M. Sagas' new serieI totally loved both Firefly and The Expanse. Found families mean a lot to me. So, I was absolutely the target market/reader for L.M. Sagas' new series.
In this future, the Trust (think big-money/corporate types) and the Union (labor) are the main players. The Guild (and its Rangers) is caught in the middle trying "to keep everyone's hands above the table" (Amazon blurb). Our protagonists are on the Ambit, a Guild ship.
Cascade Failure (Ambit's Run book one) grips you right away and you are in for one heck of a ride as this is a fast-paced hard sf space opera novel with plenty of character-driven action!
Highly recommended for Firefly and Expanse fans, hard scrabble sf space opera fans, and fans of found family tales! I can hardly wait for book two Gravity Lost which comes out July 2024!
For the longest time, if the author had a traditional publisher you HAD to wait a whole year for the next book. Ms. Sagas is published by Tor Books, which is a traditional publisher. I have no idea why we get book two 4 months after book one came out, but I am certainly not complaining!
A friend told me not that long ago about Star Trek: The High Country, the first and so far, ONLY tie-in novel for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I reaA friend told me not that long ago about Star Trek: The High Country, the first and so far, ONLY tie-in novel for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I read that book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had read a LOT of the Star Trek The Original Series tie-in novels not long after the original series was cancelled, in mass market paperback.
Star Trek: Picard: Firewall is the first Seven of Nine tie-in novel that I have read.
The book takes place about two years after Voyager returned home to the Alpha Quadrant and Starfleet. This is the tale about how Seven of Nine joined the Fenris Rangers, a group independent of Starfleet operating near the Romulan Neutral Zone.
The novel begins in the present when someone is asking Seven of Nine about her time with the Fenris Rangers. Seven relates the tale and then says that what she just told that woman happened many years ago.
But I was very interested myself in how Seven became a Fenris Ranger and I highly recommend this book!
A different Seven of Nine Star Trek: Picard tie-in novel, No Man's Land, came out back in 2022 on Audible as an "Original Audio Drama". No Man's Land has both Raffi and Seven and is set just after the close of Star Trek: Picard season one.
I am pleased that both the trade paperback and ebook versions for No Man's Land are coming out in September 2024, and I have already pre-ordered the Kindle ebook version!
Highly recommended for Star Trek fans, Star Trek: Voyager (which has some 50 tie-in novels, at least 5 of which include Seven of Nine on the cover) fans, Star Trek: Picard fans, series books fans, and fans of good space opera stories told well!...more
One of my favorite sf series has always been Sector General by James White. These books were published between 1962 and 1999.
The premise of Sector GeOne of my favorite sf series has always been Sector General by James White. These books were published between 1962 and 1999.
The premise of Sector General was a Galactic hospital, designed to treat aliens of all races and needs. (For example, the methane-breathers had their own floor.)
Each section of the hospital, in fact, is tailored specifically to a particular habitat for its extra-terrestrial patients. Hospital staff also come from all races, human included.
I'm pleased to say that the Sector General series has been so well-regarded that an omnibuses (most contain 3 books) have appeared so that the series remains in print. (At least available from Amazon.com. Unfortunately, not all are in eBook editions.)
I have no idea if author Patrick Chiles was also a reader of the Sector General series, but he has captured the heart of it in Interstellar Medic.
An Earth EMS (yes, she rides with the firefighters on their fire engines) Melanie Mooney accidentally comes across an alien crash scene and thinks it is some kind of experimental or military plane crash. Her EMS instincts & training serve her well when she boards the stricken craft.
Mel gets visited later by Emissaries (extraterrestrials who specialize in First Contact) and invited to join the Galactic Union's Medical Corps as a medic.
Seems that most of the alien races are uncomfortable providing medical care to anyone not of their race. Mel, on the other hand, treats any and all beings as best she can. The aliens were particularly impressed with her empathy and willingness to help beings she had never encountered before.
And I have not even mentioned that Interstellar Medic does intersteller travel without exceeding the speed of light (that is, breaking physics as we understand it). OK, the Galactic Union DOES have an advanced understanding of physics but so many space opera books I read and enjoy have their starships jumping to warp speeds left and right. It is refreshing to see a series which includes dealing with relativistic time dilation for near light speed travel.
The Long Run is book one. I dearly hope that author Patrick Chiles is already at work on book two. He DID refer to the Long Run as the "first installment" and he HAS written other series.
Highly recommended for Sector General fans, hospitals/emergency medicine in space, series fans, and fans of character-driven action & stories! ...more
I am happy to say that IMHO the second book in this cozy space opera detective mystery series, The Investigations of Mossa & Pleiti, is even better thI am happy to say that IMHO the second book in this cozy space opera detective mystery series, The Investigations of Mossa & Pleiti, is even better than the first!
In Book Two, we learn Mossa is from the moon Io and our intrepid crime-solving duo Mossa and Pleiti make an interplanetary trip from the metal rings of Giant [think Jupiter] to the moon Io.
Pleiti is scared out of her wits. Pleiti has been riding automated railcars around Giant all her life. The very thought of leaving the planet Giant and venturing UNTETHERED into space, even for the short hop to Io, is beyond her experience and absolutely terrifying.
Mossa takes it in stride, of course, because she grew up on Io and occasionally makes trips back to her home moon.
Mossa's organization The Investigators was originally formed to track down & account for missing persons. In Book 2, they not only have another missing person to find but they discover that as many as seventeen people in total have gone missing from Giant in recent years!
Again, a masterful recounting of Mossa & Pleiti on this new case.
Plenty of red herrings and unexpected twists and turns as Mossa and Pleiti try to suss out their new working relationship with Mossa as Investigator and Pleiti as both sounding board for Mossa's theories as well as some amateur sleuthing by Pleiti in her own right.
Highly recommended for cozy detective mystery fans, space opera fans, gay romance fans, and series fans! And especially Sherlock Holmes fans!...more
Are you up for an alternate history gender-switched Sherlock Holmes in space set on an alternate Jupiter-equivalent? Instead of private detectives, thAre you up for an alternate history gender-switched Sherlock Holmes in space set on an alternate Jupiter-equivalent? Instead of private detectives, this world has Investigators (Scotland Yard-equivalent).
Our Watson-equivalent is a Classics scholar at the University where the missing man had worked. Mossa, our Investigator does not know whether this man is dead or alive. Either way, she needs to find him. Turns out our scholar Pleiti and Mossa had had a romantic relationship some years ago.
Mossa asks Pleiti for help because (among other things) Pleiti knows Mossa's methods (a great timesaver were Mossa to have to ask one of Pleiti's colleagues for help instead). Pleiti, of course, agrees to join the case.
This book is brilliant because (not surprisingly) Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are NEVER mentioned but you can see them so clearly in our two protagonists.
I also especially enjoyed the setting - the planet Giant where intrepid humans have built metal rings in Giant's atmosphere (which are terrific for railcar travel). The atmosphere is just breathable (with the addition of special atmoscarfs).
This book ticked all the boxes for me. An excellent mystery totally worthy of Sherlock Holmes himself set in the outer atmosphere of a large gaseous planet (I had never seen this setting before, but it was very well thought out) with all of the excellent worldbuilding in a good sf novel.
Highly recommended for fans of Sherlock Holmes, mysteries in sf settings, gender-switched stories (where the protagonists are two women instead of two men), series fans (spoiler alert - I am already starting book two!), and cozy mystery fans (thank you, I do not need the gore!). ...more
A Fire Born of Exile by Aliette de Bodard is a gender-switched Count of Monte Cristo novel set in space with mindships!
The important thing to rememberA Fire Born of Exile by Aliette de Bodard is a gender-switched Count of Monte Cristo novel set in space with mindships!
The important thing to remember about mindships is that they are similar to Anne McCaffrey's Brain and Brawn series. That is, human women volunteer to match one of their human eggs to technology so that their child is born a fully functional (if tiny) mindship.
In this series, mindships go into deep space beyond where humans can go (and stay sane). There is a toddler mindship in this book. When it is time to go to bed, the toddler mindship is told that she has to get some sleep so that she can have her engineering builds overnight. (This is how baby mindships gradually grow into the full size of massive adult mindships.)
Mindships are VERY MUCH a part of their human families, even being the head of the family if eldest living family member (in good health, not someone damaged who requires a guardianship, etc. etc.)
So, in A Fire Born of Exile (the second book in the Xuya Universe Romances series), the setting is Vietnamese (think Asian like China but of course very much NOT China). In its way, it is kind of like Jane Austen times because the head of the family (and/or the parent) is very much in charge of their children's lives. Manners are extremely important, just like in a Jane Austen novel.
So, yes, this book is about getting revenge. But our heroine doesn't count on meeting the love of her life!
I very much love space opera and particularly the Xuya Universe. (I also very much enjoyed Xuya Universe novella The Tea Master and the Detective in which a Sherlock Holmes-type character solves a murder mystery with a Tea Master mindship. Different mashup.)
Highly recommended for space opera fans, romance fans, series fans, and Vietnamese culture in space fans! ...more
This is the second book where I had to shelve my preconceptions and just read the novella to see where the plot goes. But that's OK.
I know that authoThis is the second book where I had to shelve my preconceptions and just read the novella to see where the plot goes. But that's OK.
I know that author Alexis Glynn Latner writes hard sf, at the same time writing a romance (yes, boy meets girl), but you have to let the book tell the tale.
That said, I thoroughly enjoyed both the hard science in the setting, the romance, and the sheer adventure of Ms. Latner's books!
Halo Gate is an alien artifact. It kills the unwary who try to storm the gate. Yet people still feel compelled to see what is beyond this mysterious gate!
This is very much set in the same Starways series as Ms. Latner’s recent trilogy Witherspin, Starmaze, & Adversary. In fact, the NEXT Starways book picks up from where both Adversary AND Halo Gate left off.
Highly recommended to hard sf & space opera fans, romance fans, series fans, and fans of well-told tales set in space!
Wow. Eighteen well-crafted hard sf short fiction pieces. Hard sf that respects physics. But still providing the wonder that truly good hard SF is capaWow. Eighteen well-crafted hard sf short fiction pieces. Hard sf that respects physics. But still providing the wonder that truly good hard SF is capable of.
I had had the privilege to hear a good number of these stories read by author William Ledbetter live during science fiction con author readings. Many cons only give each author 30 minutes (saving the author Guest of Honor who might get a 60-minute slot). So, I recognized many stories but had not necessarily heard how they ended until getting to read them in their entirety now.
But, at the same time, I had missed quite a few of these stories because they had previously been published in a wide variety of publications, including such respected magazines as Asimov's, Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Fantasy & Science Fiction, etc. (17 previously published with one original just for this collection.)
I am pleased to report that "The Long Fall Up", for which Mr. Ledbetter won the Nebula Awards in 2016 for Best Novelette, is not only the cover piece but also the first short fiction work in this collection. Nebula Awards are voted on by peers, that is, other sf authors, as opposed to Hugo Awards, which are voted on by fellow sf fans (whether writer or just reader).
Highly recommended for people who enjoy speculative hard sf, subtle worldbuilding that tells you just enough to ground you in the story, and stories that really grab your attention and won't let go until the end! ...more
Gregory Roarke gets by on his wits AND sneaky planning. (By which I mean he takes actions offstage and then rolls the dice and What a satisfying read!
Gregory Roarke gets by on his wits AND sneaky planning. (By which I mean he takes actions offstage and then rolls the dice and hopes for the best.) Icarus Twin is the third book in this series. Icarus Hunt was written back in 1999. Then author Timothy Zahn was able to sell a trilogy to Baen: Icarus Plot, Icarus Twin, & Icarus Job. I was checking Fantastic Fiction today and, to my delight, there was now an additional listing for Icarus Changeling! So, I am a very happy camper!
The Icarus Hunt was Jordan McKell and his alien partner Ixil's book. (Not to worry. Jordan & Ixil appear in the rest of the books, too.) But beginning with Icarus Plot the main characters are Gregory Roarke and HIS alien partner Selene.
Ixil's superpower is that he has two symbionts Pix and Pax. Pix and Pax are about the size of ferrets and intelligent. Smart enough to scout for Ixil and report back exactly what they have seen and heard. Ixil gives them their instructions and then they carry them out.
Selene's superpower is that her sense of smell is at least 1000 times better than ours as humans. She can detect faint smells that humans have no hope of smelling AND she remembers what she smells permanently, no matter how long ago. So, she is a superb tracker, a walking bloodhound.
AND Gregory listens to his dad. Gregory's dad had a pithy aphorism for any and all occasions. I loved them. If you get tired of them, then this series is DEFINITELY not for you! (An example of an aphorism is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it.") In Icarus Twin, a few of the other characters join in the fun and give aphorisms that they imagine Gregory's dad would have said, too!
Suffice it to say, Gregory & Selene (as well as Jordan & Ixil) are in competition with a particular alien race for something they both want very much. Both are on the hunt, and both want to find the prize first! I particularly enjoyed Icarus Twin because Gregory teams up with one of the competitor aliens even though both agree that they are not friends and in fact are in deadly competition. But Gregory has a proposal, and it is in the alien's best interest, for now, to cooperate with him, warily of course.
Highly recommended for great worldbuilding, terrifically developed aliens of all races, the feel of James Bond (including plenty of fast action), and for all Timothy Zahn fans as well as series fans. You could possibly start with Icarus Twin, but I definitely recommend reading Icarus Hunt and Icarus Plot first. And hang on to your hat because Icarus Twin is a great ride!...more
Chaos Terminal is another fine outing in the Midsolar Murders series. Mallory Viridian feels off her game, but a killer is loose once again on EternitChaos Terminal is another fine outing in the Midsolar Murders series. Mallory Viridian feels off her game, but a killer is loose once again on Eternity Station. AND this time Mrs. Brown, the sentient station's host, has left for some badly needed host training leaving Mallory in charge.
Highly recommended for all space opera/murder mystery mash-up fans, fans of space station settings, and fans of well-developed alien species. ...more
