Becalmed by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Becalmed (2012), a novella originally published in 2011 in Asimov’s Magazine, acts as a prequel to the second DIVING UNIVERSE novel, City of Ruins. You can read it at any point in the series.
Becalmed tells the story of how the spaceship Ivoire, captained by Jonathon “Coop” Cooper, was damaged as it entered foldspace after a failed diplomatic mission to the Quurzod people on the planet Ukhanda.
June 27th, 2023. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
A Swift and Savage Tide by Chloe Neill fantasy book reviews
A Swift and Savage Tide (2021) is the second novel in Chloe Neill’s CAPTAIN KIT BRIGHTLING series. You’ll want to read the first novel, The Bright and Breaking Sea, first. These are pleasant romantic fantasies that will especially appeal to readers who enjoy a nautical setting.
Captain Kit Brightling has, once again, been called on by her queen to save their country from usurper and former emperor Gerard Rousseau.
June 20th, 2023. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Chloe Neill | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Jupiter Knife by D.J. Butler & Aaron Michael Ritchey
Hiram Woolley and Michael are back in The Jupiter Knife (2021), a follow-up to The Cunning Man. (Each novel can stand-alone so it’s not necessary to read The Cunning Man first, but I think you’ll enjoy The Jupiter Knife a little more if you do).
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed The Cunning Man (first in THE CUNNING MAN series) when I read it a couple of years ago.
June 13th, 2023. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Aaron Michael Ritchey, Dave (D.J.) Butler | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Heaven’s Queen by Rachel Bach
Heaven’s Queen (2014) is the final book in Rachel Bach’s PARADOX trilogy. I read the first two novels, Fortune’s Pawn and Honor’s Knight nine years ago in audio format, but this final installment, though published in print in 2014, wasn’t available in audio format until November 2022 (I didn’t look into the reason for this). Not surprisingly, I had to go back and read the first two novels again to refresh my memory because I didn’t remember the story very well.
June 5th, 2023. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Rachel Bach | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn (2020), the first book in her LEGENDBORN CYCLE, wasn’t on my radar until I saw it on the Locus Awards finalists list for Best Young Adult novel. I grabbed the audiobook and one of the YAs that lives in my house (Tali, my 18-year-old daughter) and we listened to Legendborn together as we worked a jigsaw puzzle. We agreed to give Legendborn a rating of 3.5 which is quite a bit lower than the book currently rates at both Amazon and GoodReads,
January 12th, 2023. Kat Hooper and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Tracy Deonn | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Network Effect by Martha Wells
Martha Wells’ Murderbot has been gathering enthusiastic fans (which would be certain to have Murderbot hiding behind its opaque armored faceplate), along with multiple Nebula, Hugo and other awards and nominations, as each of the first four novellas in the MURDERBOT DIARIES series has been published over the last three years. In Network Effect (2020), the first full-length novel in this series, Wells is able to explore a more complex plot and to more fully develop Murderbot’s character and its relationships with others.
December 29th, 2022. Tadiana Jones, Jana Nyman, Marion Deeds, Kat Hooper and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Martha Wells | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Ecologic Envoy by L.E. Modesitt Jr
The Ecologic Envoy (1986) was the first novel published in L.E. Modesitt Jr’s THE ECOLITAN MATTER quartet but, according to the series’ internal chronology, it comes third, after The Ecolitan Operation (1989) and The Ecologic Secession (1990). You don’t need to read those two novels first because The Ecologic Envoy and its sequel, The Ecolitan Enigma,
August 5th, 2022. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | L.E. Modesitt_Jr | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Ecologic Secession by L.E. Modesitt Jr
The Ecologic Secession (1990) is the second novel (according to internal chronology) in L.E. Modesitt Jr’s THE ECOLITAN MATTER quartet. In the first book, The Ecolitan Operation (for which there will be a few spoilers in this review), we met Major JimJoy Wright. He used to be the Empire’s best secret agent, but after they tried to assassinate him, he switched sides.
Now, after faking his death and being given a new identity,
August 3rd, 2022. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | L.E. Modesitt_Jr | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Ecolitan Operation by L.E. Modesitt Jr
Major Jimjoy Wright is the Empire’s most successful secret agent. That’s because he’s strong, brave, clever, deceptive, ruthless, and totally goal-oriented. Once he accepts a mission from his government, nothing gets in his way. He always gets the job done.
Though JimJoy thinks he’s highly ethical, most people would find his consequentialism to be psychopathic. For example, JimJoy is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people. This doesn’t bother him because if he hadn’t destroyed them, millions of other innocent people probably would have died (it’s like an extreme version of the Trolley Problem).
July 29th, 2022. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | L.E. Modesitt_Jr | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft
Thomas Senlin’s bizarre, chaotic, and perilous adventure in the Tower of Babel finally ends in the fourth book of Josiah Bancroft’s BOOKS OF BABEL series: The Fall of Babel. If you haven’t read the first three books, Senlin Ascends, Arm of the Sphinx, and The Hod King, stop now and get those under your belt before reading this review.
July 12th, 2022. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Josiah Bancroft | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…