“I came to realize that good and evil were out of my reach, that time was the only thing I had any control over. I could bMy rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
“I came to realize that good and evil were out of my reach, that time was the only thing I had any control over. I could buy time, create intervals. I could not truly make the world a better place, but I could make part of it a better place for a short while.”
Waking Gods bolsters and expands upon the Sleeping Giants storyline by adding high levels of adrenaline and excitement in this highly anticipated follow-up. Ten years have passed since the end of Sleeping Giants when Rose and team completed the reconstruction of the metal giant they named Themis after the ancient Greek Titan-goddess. They were beginning to slowly piece together information surrounding the mystery of her origins and are only briefly grasping her full technological capabilities when another metal giant appears in the center of London. It stands immobile for weeks, but without provocation, it attacks one-day leaving thousands dead, but some miraculously survived. More giants appear around the globe and Rose and team are given the impossible task of determining how to stop these attacks and to find out the reason behind them before Earth’s population is exterminated.
No sophomore slump to be had here. Listening to Waking Gods felt akin to being on a high-speed roller coaster: you’re buckled in, the ride is moving, and the time to change your mind has long since passed. But damn, is it a crazy good time.
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Waking Gods continues with the same interview style of storytelling, with a few new characters/voices to acquaint ourselves with. The plot was incredibly fast paced and read much like an action movie would just minus the visuals. Incredibly similar to The War of the Worlds in regards to the severity and devastation of the attacks but much less straightforward in terms of the reasoning behind the attacks themselves (and far more fascinatingly scientific (view spoiler)[the concept that the majority of humans are descendants of alien beings? Brilliant. (hide spoiler)]) Neuvel imbues his alien invasion with a history and purpose essentially giving the human race a chance at survival. He also manages to add a level of humor (there’s something unequivocally humorous about two individuals trying to manhandle a giant robot, albeit clunkily, into battle) that somehow manages to meld harmoniously with such a somber narrative. There are twists and turns aplenty, one particular scene made me loudly gasp and another where my face started leaking, and the ending will leave you thunderstruck. Neuvel’s endings, while definitely worthy of the term ‘cliffhanger’, never feel cheap but rather an apt ending that will lead to a brilliant beginning of the next, and possibly last, installment....more
Eleven-year-old Rose Franklin rides her new bicycle in Deadwood, South Dakota when she suddenly falls into a large hole. At tMy rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Eleven-year-old Rose Franklin rides her new bicycle in Deadwood, South Dakota when she suddenly falls into a large hole. At the bottom of this hole was a twenty-foot-long metal hand which she had fallen directly into the palm. Seventeen years later, Rose Franklin is a brilliant physicist who has been brought in to study the mysterious hand that she fell into as a child to determine anything she can about it.
“I don’t really believe in fate,” she says, “but somehow ‘small world’ doesn’t begin to do this justice.”
Its origins and its chemical makeup defy logic; it weighs far less than would be expected based on its mass and its composition couldn’t have come from Earth. When Army helicopter pilots Kara Resnik and Ryan Mitchell crash somewhere in Syria, they find an extremely long, metal forearm that connects to the metal hand like a magnet when placed nearby. The search for the remaining pieces of this metal body continues across the globe to hopefully one day determine the purpose of this creation.
I absolutely adored this story. Sleeping Giants is a science fiction story that delves into the mysteries of space, the mysterious mythology uncovered about the origins of the metal giant, and delves into the scientific aspects of the giant’s metallurgy in an informative and detailed way. The mysteries go beyond the giant though, expanding to each and every character and no one is left to fall by the wayside. Who is the unnamed narrator that possesses so much power and authority, how coincidental is it that Rose Franklin remains involved with the hand years later, what was the purpose of this metal giant and where did it come from? The whole book reads like one massive conspiracy theory, much like an episode of the X-Files and we’re slowly fed answers but never to the bigger picture questions. Will we ever truly know?
The fact that this was Neuvel’s debut is absolutely mind-boggling. The concept and the execution both are fascinating and immensely entertaining. The execution will definitely divide readers seeing as he traded a traditional narrative for a more epistolary type storytelling, using interview transcripts, news articles, journal entries, etc. for the entirety of the tale. If you’re an audiobook fan, this is even more brilliant to listen to with its full cast narration. I don’t re-read stories often but I re-read this one in anticipation of Waking Gods. I think I loved it, even more, the second time around....more
My rating: 3 of 5 stars I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the cMy rating: 3 of 5 stars I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
“The universe is infinite and strange. We cannot predict, only marvel at what it creates.”
Devi Morris’ decision to sign up for a job on a trade ship has led her into the very heart of a battle where entire worlds are destroyed and she’s the only one that can put an end to it. While this is quite possibly the worst situation she’s ever found herself in, Devi has never shied away from anything and isn’t backing down now.
So, unfortunately this another series ending on a low note for me. But there’s good and bad so I’m going to start with the good. Rachel Bach has created a fascinating world here that is full of action and adventure and all around badassery. The action isn’t consistent in this installment and is for the most part relegated to the latter half of the book but they were action scenes that ended up being well worth the wait.
As far as the bad bits, I had a real issue with the romance in this installment which pains me to say as I loved how it had been handled up until now. Devi and Rupert are an amazing pair yet their romance/love has never gotten in the way of plot or changed Devi’s badass-ness in any way. In Heaven’s Queen there is so much freaking time spent on discussing and thinking about their relationship problems and trying to fix them. Granted, I appreciate the time spent on making their make-up legit and not allowing Devi to immediately accept apologies, everything becoming hunky dory instantly, but I wouldn’t hesitate to say this installment was 80% relationship drama and 20% plot wrap up. There was too damn much awesome space stuff and world ending shit going on that should have been in the spotlight. I love me so Devi and Rupert but good grief, enough is enough.
There was also the issue of Anthony. At the beginning of this book, Devi realizes that her and Rupert lost time in hyperspace. Like, a years worth of time. Anthony is one of the only people Devi stays in touch with so when she goes missing and searching leads to nothing she’s eventually declared dead. Considering Anthony and Devi were in a quasi-relationship for 7 years or so I would imagine this would be a big deal to him. When he finds out that she’s actually alive he sets out to get her immediately, finds her with Rupert and in the biggest dick move of all she tells him he wasted his time coming for her and to basically fuck off. It wasn’t just bitchy it was cruel because she knew exactly what his feelings for her were. She didn’t have to reciprocate but she could have been a little more considerate.
Heaven’s Queen still managed to serve as a satisfactory conclusion, wrapping up all loose ends, but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed after how truly amazing Fortune’s Pawn was. Devi will definitely go down in my personal record books as one of my all-time favorite heroines though and I look forward to picking up other works from Rachel Bach/Rachel Aaron....more
My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the cMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
In the final moments of Fortune's Pawn, Devi discovers that Caldswell is not all that he appears to be and is actually a leader of the organization known as The Eyes, which are responsible for ridding the solar system of planet destroying phantoms that no one is aware of. Except she doesn't remember anything because Caldswell performed a memory wipe on her and not only does she not know who he truly is but now every time she looks at Rupert she develops an unreasonable repulsion towards him. Intent on moving on from the attack that took her memories, she begins to focus solely on her job again but problems continue to arise. The glowing bugs that no one else can still and the mysterious dark stain that spreads across her body are issues but it's becoming more and more clear that she doesn't have a single person she can trust anymore.
Much of Honor's Knight is spent in a state of confusion as Devi attempts to recall recent memories that constantly evade her. Despite her mental handicap, Devi never fails to be as fearless as we've come to expect from her, even more so when she's struggling for her very own survival. It seemed like there were fewer action scenes than in Fortune's Pawn as there was slightly more focus on world-building but the action we did see was still fierce and explosive making for yet another incredibly intense read. What I touted about Fortune's Pawn being sci-fi lite wasn't exactly the case with Honor's Knight. However, by this point I'm so immersed in this world and completely fascinated by Devi that I really enjoyed the added details and the expansion that went on in this installment.
The revelations are non-stop in this incredibly exciting second installment in the Paradox series. You won't find a hint of middle book syndrome, nor as brutal of a cliffhanger as the one in Fortune's Pawn, but you'll definitely be left antsy for the final installment....more
So my reading sci-fi is completely out of character and if it wasn’t for the recommendations of trusted individuals I never would have picked this up.So my reading sci-fi is completely out of character and if it wasn’t for the recommendations of trusted individuals I never would have picked this up. Regardless of this being set completely in space, this is definitely what I would consider sci-fi-lite. The world building is sufficient enough without boggling my mind with excessive detailing which I appreciated. Fortune’s Pawn was absolutely fantastic though. I can’t remember the last book I read that was so freaking exciting, and I don’t say that lightly. It was so thrilling my mouth was hanging open in several scenes, I was flipping pages at lightning speed and I made sure to limit my blinking so as to not miss out on precious reading time. You know that moment in a relationship where you can look back and remember when you fell in love? I remember the exact moment I fell in love with this book and how I got so damn excited I put the book down and yelled:
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I wish I was exaggerating. My fiancé looked at me like I was a complete nutter.
The battle scenes were thoroughly exhilarating and the absolute best part of this book but this book would be nothing without Devi Morris. She’s a mercenary and a total badass but she’s far from perfect. She makes silly decisions because of love but they’re all credible and realistic decisions. At no point did she turn into some weak-willed chick just because she had a crush and I’m so very thankful that the romance didn’t completely overpower the story. It was the perfect balance. And speaking of Rupert...
I don’t care if his name is funny, Rupert is fabulous. He’s a total badass just like Devi but he’s much more subtle about it; less flashy. Their romance is blended well with the story and mystery so it didn’t fell like yet another unnecessary romance showing up when it never should have been invited. When I think back, they fell for each other pretty quick it seemed but the feelings of insta-love weren’t there for me (*phew*). There was some major relationship drama going on though, a constant push and pull between them. “I love you! But I can’t, I’m dangerous. Oh, but I love you! I have no self control!” If I hadn’t been so completely enthralled I would’ve been raising my eyebrow at this. It’s not revealed the details as to why he’s so dangerous so I’m hoping his secrets and “danger” better be really freaking dangerous to justify this dramatic time wasting nonsense because those two are pretty fabulous together.
One more lovely thing about this story that’s worth mentioning is the fabulous secondary characters. Hyrek is the ships doctor who is also a xith’cal, an alien race, and he’s got a super snarky sense of humor I immediately loved. There is Devi’s partner Cotter who was a big meathead that was always good for a laugh, Caldswell is the mysterious captain with a bucketful of secrets and Devi’s roommate Nova who totally reminded me of Luna Lovegood. It was a wonderful cast of characters.
There have been comparisons to Firefly, Alien and even Battlestar Gallactica. Well, I suck and haven’t seen a single one of those (I TOLD YOU I don’t do sci-fi) but the one thing I can compare it to is Ann Aguirre’s ‘Sirantha Jax’ series. Devi reminded me a lot of Sirantha (but Devi quite a bit more of a badass) and the storyline was much more thrilling, so if you enjoyed that series you’ll absolutely love this. Suffice to say, this is going on my best of 2013 list and I’m immediately starting book two. Boy am I so very fortunate to have it available. Upon completion I felt like running around flailing my arms like a crazy person so I hope my thoughts came out in a sensible manner. Read this book, people....more
'We look not at the things which are what you would call seen, but at the things which are not seen. FoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Source: Library Checkout
'We look not at the things which are what you would call seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal. But the things which are not seen are eternal.'
A Wrinkle in Time is a story of three children and their travels through the universe to find a young girl's lost father. Meg Murry is a self-conscious child who is constantly critical of herself. Charles Wallace is Meg's younger brother and is a genius but does whatever he can to keep a low profile. Calvin O'Keefe is the complete opposite of the siblings but crosses paths and quickly becomes a vital link to their exploits.
The setting of A Wrinkle in Time is a strange mixture of genres and isn't easily categorized. It's about fantasy and adventure but religion and the battle between good and evil play a major part which is what has led to this book being challenged throughout the years. In A Wrinkle in Time Charles Wallace requests that Calvin read him a bedtime story from The Book of Genesis, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which are all three described as being guardian angels and messengers of God, and several bible quotes are strewn throughout. Yet fundamentalist Christians have an issue with the New Age elements, the blending of religion and science and how the book never comes out truly as a religious text but is left open to interpretation as to how literal the Biblical aspects truly are.
While a Wrinkle in Time is listed as a children's book, it's heavy with literary allusions that children won't likely understand completely. Heck, I'm still contemplating it. Not only are there philosophical references and historical figures mentioned aplenty but the interpretation of how time works, the explanation of a tesseract, The Black Thing and IT and Camazotz is not simple to understand. But that lack of understanding and a slight obliviousness may be what makes this ultimately enjoyable for children. This is the first time I have read this having missed out on this as a child, and while I did enjoy this and will likely pick up the remaining installments this definitely left me contemplating how there are some things that simply can't be rationalized or made complete sense of....more
Most dystopian's tend to be the story of what came after, of how the Earth had changed and how lives were transformed. In 'And All The Stars' we get aMost dystopian's tend to be the story of what came after, of how the Earth had changed and how lives were transformed. In 'And All The Stars' we get a glimpse into the inner-workings of the change while it's actually happening and affecting people now. Strange clouds have spread across the skies of the city and sparkling dust is emanating from them.
'The rest, from just below her collarbone down, was an unbroken dark blue, studded with motes of light. Galaxies, nebulae and fiery novae. They weren't on the surface of her skin, but seemed to float below it, as if she had become a window on a night sky at the centre of the universe.'
As time progresses, Madeleine's symptoms begin to show: from extreme hunger cramps, all-over body aches, and then the velvet begins appearing on her skin. She has no idea why this is happening and who is behind all of it but she's determined to survive this.
The story incredibly original and the writing was extremely well-done and descriptive. Unfortunately I still felt that things weren't as clear as I would have liked and I felt myself getting completely lost in the story. Highly original story that focuses more on friendships than relationships and just so happens to be a stand-alone novel. Recommended for fans of dystopians with a sci-fi twist....more
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