Review: The Last Best Hope (Star Trek: Picard #1), by Una McCormack, 2020

The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Last Best Hope (Star Trek: Picard #1), by Una McCormack, 2020

The book follows Picard from the first moment he learns about the Romulan supernova, all the way through his eventual resignation from Starfleet after the synth attack on Mars — the final scene in the book takes place just moments before Picard and Raffi discuss his resignation in “The End is the Beginning.”

2019 Comics Countdown #1 and #2 by Kirsten Byer seems to be the blueprint for this novel. Between reading the comics and watching Season 1 of Picard, I wasn't sure how much I would get out of this book, so I set my expectations accordingly. To my delight, I enjoyed this read quite so. If the comics were the skeleton, then this book is the meat that thoughtfully fleshes out the characters and fills in the details the television show expects us to accept. I feel the author truly captures Picard's essence yet transforms him into the much older Picard character depicted on the television show. If I had read this book before season 1 of Picard, the depiction of the older Picard wouldn't have been so jarring and easier for me to accept. Another brilliant move by the author was to explain Raffi Musiker's relationship with Picard in a manner that allows us, the reader, to understand her motivations and experiences when she was a Starfleet officer. How she came to call him JL and her position as Picard's new "number one" on the USS Verity was handled carefully and just as craftily.

I rate this 4.8 out of 5 stars.

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Review: Severance - The Lexington Letter, Ben Stiller

Severance - The Lexington Letter by Ben Stiller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Short and intriguing. Certainly adds more clues or misdirection to the AppleTV+ show Severance. Probably best read before Season 1 episode 7.

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Review: "The Oracle Year: A Novel", by Charles Soule, 2018

The Oracle Year by Charles Soule
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"The Oracle Year: A Novel", by Charles Soule, 2018

Charles Soule's debut novel, released in 2018, is witty and fast-paced about a man who wakes up one morning and can predict the future. Will Dando posts his predictions online as the Oracle to protect his identity. The revelations cause social unrest, geopolitical fighting, and chaos in general. All of which garnered some powerful enemies looking to control, or even kill, Will Dando.

The book, at times, read and felt like a series of comic book volumes, which I suppose I should not be so surprised given the author's previous body of work is in comics. The story got off the ground pretty quickly and, just as quickly, got mired with details of characters with no apparent function of how they would fit into the plotting. If you are patient enough to get past the halfway point, the payoff is worth it. All the players start fitting into roles that make sense for the plot.

About 1/3 through, I wanted to put the book down and mark it "DNF" (did not finish), but I'm glad I stuck it through the middle slump. I understand why this book is currently being adapted to a television series; it has all the hallmarks of what makes each chapter and cliffhanger episode. Quite similar to how Flash Forward by Sawyer was adapted to a television series. If there is another installment in this series, I will probably pick it up, and I would definitely tune in for the show as long as it doesn't get butchered like Flash Forward.

I give this book 3.25 stars out of 5.

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Review: The Old Adventures of Natch and Mercy: Assault on Tirak Al

The Old Adventures of Natch and Mercy: Assault on Tirak Al by Benjamin Buck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A mercy of goodness and a natch of heaven..

Overall, a pretty good start with intriguing characters. I love the color palette. My only wish is that it was a longer.

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Review: "High We Go in the Dark" by Sequoia Nagamatsu, 2022

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How High We Go in the Dark is Sequoia Nagamatsu's debut novel about a climate change virus in 2030. The book has drawn a lot of comparisons to Mandel's Station Eleven. The book is a vignette of short stories interlinked loosely by people, themes, places, time, and death.

A 30,000-year-old arctic virus is released from permafrost around the 2030s and has effects rippling into humanity's future. All the stories center around death, letting go, and ways we as humans deal with the frailty of life.

There are certainly quite a few exciting ideas and inventions presented by the author that suggests science-fiction is the category this fits in. However, I think some of the science and circumstance is close enough to our time and current technology to be considered speculative fiction.

I think the essential stories bookend the novel, with the middle ones slouching, with the exception of the story detailing the USS Yamato and humanity's journey into the stars. I became excited at the halfway point when humans left to colonize another star system and hoped the author continued that thread. Instead, the timelines diverged, and we find ourselves in the past, picking up where the plague left off when the USS Yamato departed Earth. The story's trajectory and divergence seem to work together, but I don't feel the author quite brought everything together at the end.

I rate this 4 out of 5 stars.

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Review: "Small Things Like These" by Claire Keegan, 2021

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Keep the enemy close, the bad dog with you, and the good dog will not bite." --Claire Keegan

One of the book's central themes is the spirit of generosity and is set in Ireland around the mid-1980s, just before Christmas. The book is a concise story of a man coming to terms with a consciousness born of his personal narrative.

Bill Furlong delivers coals throughout his community. Upon delivering to the convent (a Magdalen laundry), he uncovers abuse and is compelled to confront the complicit silences of a church-controlled town.

This compact and gripping novel is impactful, poignant, timely, and delivers a social commentary with moral clarity.

I give this book 3.75 out of 5 stars.

#HistoricalFiction #Ireland #MagdalenLaudry

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Review: Oracle," by Andrew Piper, 2021

Oracle by Andrew Pyper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Oracle," by Andrew Piper, 2021

Oracle is a psychological thriller by author Andrew Pyper and narrated by Joshua Jackson as an Audible Original.

In ORACLE, Nate Russo, an FBI psychic, tracks an elusive serial killer, finding the missing and murdered by "reading" those close to them. The latest case has Nate and his partners tracking a serial killer who likes to bury women and girls alive. 

This is crime-fiction, psychological thriller, and haunted house all blended and done very well. The first few chapters started slow but quickly built momentum. And as I got to the halfway point, I found myself racing faster and faster towards the conclusion. For a book I normally wouldn't pick up given the nature of the story, I am delighted I did. I will probably continue on to the Dreamland Murders to get my fill of Nate Russo.

I give it 4.5 out of 5.

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Review: "The Last Shadow" by Orson Scott Card, 2021

The Last Shadow by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Orson Scott Card's latest novel, The Last Shadow, brings the Ender series and the Shadow saga back into the same timeline and ultimately brings a conclusion to both series.

It is readable and relatable for anyone who has read Ender's Game. It's pretty interesting how Card writes about hyper-intelligent kids, people, and aliens and the interactions among them. This final installment wraps up – loosely – the lives of the principal characters of the whole series: Ender, Jane, Valentine, Bean's children, the Hive Queen, the pequeninos, the descolada virus, etc. 

A nice touch is how Card answered many questions about what happened between Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead. If you are a fan of the Ender Series, I think you will find this book to be an engaging and bittersweet conclusion. Parts meander a bit here and there, but it provides a rewarding ending for the most part.

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Review: Star Trek: Picard: No Man's Land: An Original Audio Drama

Star Trek: Picard: No Man's Land: An Original Audio Drama by Kirsten Beyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Star Trek: Picard: No Man's Land," by Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson, 2022

"No Man's Land" is an audio drama read by Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd along with other voice actors. The story takes place between ST: Picard Season 1 and Season 2 and revolves around Seven and Raffi.

The story fills in some blanks of what happened with Seven and Raffi between season 1 and season 2 of Picard. It's partly a love story (or a breakup, depending on how you view it), wrapped around the adventures of Seven with the Fenris Rangers.

Seven is definitely more human and less borg in this audio drama which makes sense as it would align with her character on the tv show. I found myself not caring much about what the bad guy did or even the plot, and just the interaction between Sever and Raffi was enough for me to enjoy the story.

I rate the story a 2.5 out of 5, and performance 5 out of 5.

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