"Outland", by Dennis E. Taylor, 2016

"Outland", by Dennis E. Taylor, 2016

The story is very well written. The best books have subplots while still signaling to the reader the main plot is still progressing. Taylor does an excellent job of keeping the reader interested while the primary, time-constrained plot, matures.

The story itself is fairly basic. I believe most people will be able to predict clearly the series of events about to take place. One of the charming things about this book is the age of the characters. They are mostly grad and doctoral student which makes them a bit older and able to cope with more stressful situations.

Taylor portrays the age of the characters well. They invent a possible world-changing technology and the best idea they can come up with using it is a get rich quick scheme. The pitfalls of their ideas any adult can see a mile away. At the same time, the story is clever and surprising and seems to border YA.

The other fun part of this story is there are a ton of great references to different movies and tv shows including StarTrek, StarGate, and Sliders.

The whole experience of this Audiobook surprised me. Not only was the story great but the narration and pace was able to keep my interest over 10.5 hours. 

My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars) - I loved it!

"The Atlantis Trilogy Series" or "The Origin Mystery", A.G. Riddle, 2013

"The Atlantis Trilogy Series" or "The Origin Mystery", A.G. Riddle, 2013

The Atlantis Gene (The Origin Mystery, #1)
The Atlantis Plague (The Origin Mystery, #2)
The Atlantis World (The Origin Mystery, #3)


Homo sapiens’ evolutionary “Great Leap Forward”, which occurred about 80,000 years ago, was a time period in which a rapid advancement in human behavior and tool production occurred.  There are a number of theories on why this took place including the possibilities in changes to the human genome.  A.G. Riddle has his own more imaginative theory on the “Great Leap Forward” which includes the lost mythical island of Atlantis, and, of course, aliens.

A.G. Riddle’s Origin series is a trilogy but in reality is actually one long book and a complicated one at that.  It is complicated mainly because there is a lot of jumping from one time period to another, includes a lot a characters, and the first book leaves a lot more questions than answers, which is why I strongly recommend reading the entire series in order to really appreciate it.

The series really focuses on four major characters; Dr. Kate Warner, a brilliant geneticist; David Vale, an agent with a counterterrorism group known as the Clocktower; Dorian Sloane, Director of Immari International- a powerful global corporation; and later in the series, Targen Ares, an alien from the Atlantis home world.  Kate Warner and David Vale are the protagonist and meet up early in the series.  It becomes obvious very early on in the story that these two will develop a more romantic relationship as they share a common thread, which is to save the world from evil.  That evil happens to be Dorian Sloane and Targen Ares.  Ares and Sloane are interesting evil characters as their malevolence is driven by a common goal which they believe to be in the best interest for the survival of humanity.  My feelings at the end was rather ambivalent toward these two, especially Sloane as he is more a victim of a destiny that he had no control over.

This series has a lot to offer, science, conspiracies, Armageddon and, of course, aliens, but for some it may be overwhelming which is reflected in the many reviews that have come out over this series.  I found myself having difficulties particularly getting through the second book, as it seem to go on longer than it should have.  The third book was undoubtedly the best as it wrapped up all the questions that had been presented early in the series.

Most Favorite Novel in the Series- Atlantis World- because everything starts to come together

Least Favorite Novel in the Series- Atlantis Plague- just a bit too long

★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars) - I really liked the series overall.

Star Carrier (Lost Colonies Trilogy Book 3) by B.V. Larson, 2016

Star Carrier (Lost Colonies Trilogy Book 3) by B.V. Larson, 2016

Once again, we’re with Captain William Sparhawk, of House Sparhawk, and his stuffy, straight-laced way of speaking and acting. You’d think this book was written back during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but it’s definitely not. We’re far, far in Earth’s future after the Cataclysm. Earth is now aware of other civilizations out in space and many of them were former colonies of Earth. Captain Sparhawk of the Star Guard was a part of a dying military establishment that had nothing of importance to do until he found a derelict battle cruiser, the Defiant, drifting outside the asteroid belt. He commandeered the vessel and eventually recommissioned it as a Guards vessel. He was left in command and then sent to find out where this huge ship had come from.

Earth had once been a spacefaring planet, but then the oldsters decided they had enough of that and shut down the bridges to hyperspace which connected various star systems. Only recently had they sent Sparhawk and the Defiant to explore these other regions mainly for two purposes. One was to find out what was out there, what had happen to the colony ships long ago sent through these bridges and then abruptly cut-off, and secondly to maybe get rid of Captain Sparhawk who seemed a little to rebellious to the oldsters.

Earth was now apparently ran, behind the scenes, by a bunch of very, very, very old people who had once been in power in the government and chose not to give up that power. They secretly built and underground bunker and have stayed there for many decades slowly controlling everything and everyone on Earth. How they do this is something you’ll soon find out. You will find also find out that they have conceived of a plan to ensure Earth’s lost colonies don’t come back to harm Earth after being abandoned. Sparhawk might have a hand in this effort.

I get a kick out of the arrogant writing. It’s as if Sparhawk is a Prince of some kingdom and he manages his ship that way. He’s tries to be “easy going”, but the writing just doesn’t let him get that way. I don’t know how to pin-point it, but you get the feeling that his crew should be answering his commands with, “Yes, your Majesty!”, instead of “Yes, Sir!”.

Still, the writing is good and the stories follows from one to the next. We get a lot of character crossover so you’ll be instantly familiar with the characters in this book. I’m not sure if this series continues. While I think the author would like to see it go forward, he kind of ended everything on a very high note so it would be interesting to see Captain William Sparhawk and the Defiant in another book.

★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars) - I really liked it.

"Starfire" by B.V. Larson and Thomas LeMay, 2014

"Starfire" by B.V. Larson and Thomas LeMay, 2014

The author made up a nation called the United States and one called Russia. Gave them some alien tech in an alt-history and then made up a US government that operates unlike any proper government. The author made up some science and tech and made it act remotely according to the laws of physics.

This is part SciFi part "espionage." It lost three stars for one reason, it stopped; it just stopped. It's as if the author just decided not to write any more. Of course, this could be part one of a series but even at that, the active characters need some kind of resolution of their current circumstances and sitting on the beach looking up at distant sniper/guards isn't much resolution. No resolution for one of the key characters, this book just stops. There isn't even some tickler, a hint of direction, anything that would want you to pick up the next book in the series (if there is one).

As others have observed, the characters aren't compelling, largely stereotypical, no one is particularly unique. Spoiler alert... the simple plot is some type of alien craft broke up into three pieces and crashed on earth in the early 1900's. The Russians have a piece, the Americans have a piece. The Russian piece calls home to a moon of Jupiter. The Americans in an alien ship chase the Russians with an adapted alien drive to Europa, the moon. It doesn't work out well and some of the Americans and one Russian make it back to Earth with nothing but their lives and a lot of questions.

My rating ★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5 stars) - It was ok.

Dreadnought (Lost Colonies Trilogy, #2) by B.V. Larson, 2015

Dreadnought (Lost Colonies Trilogy, #2) by B.V. Larson, 2015

With Dreadnought, BV Larson starts to uplift this series from YA ghetto into more serious SF literature. Don't worry. We are still following the exploits of breezy (and slightly snidely) Sparhawk on his conquests of both the interstellar and sexual kinds. Zey is still fun, but the focus shifts to the slippery detestable Stroj called Lorn, and Yamada develops some interesting depth. The style remains snarky, with still a good deal of Heinlein.

The Battle Cruiser Defiant has been retrofitted with the best of Earth and Beta technology. It's mission is to re-open channels to the Colonies. On board is Sparhawk's Great Aunt Ambassador Lady Granthome who, of course, is constantly meddling in Sparhawk's affairs. The Colonies discovered turn out to have either fallen back into primitivism, barely clinging to survival, or have technologies far in advance of Earth's. And, oops, there's Stroj constantly attacking him. The style is light, moving the story along a breezy and quick pace.

What makes this book better is that the story starts to look beneath the surface of his society. Like Heinlein, Larson uses the story to start challenging accepted social notions like social class, sexual relationships, dynasties, power, and corruption. The last line of the book completely lays open the undercurrent and prepares the reader for the final book of the trilogy.

I recommend starting this series from the first book, Battle Cruiser, as this book assumes that the reader is already familiar with the world and characters from that book. It does not, for example, go into detail as to why the colonies are "lost" again. So new readers will not understand why the Stroj are the bad guys.

My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars) - Wow. I loved it!

Battle Cruiser (Lost Colonies Trilogy, #1) by B.V. Larson, 2015

Battle Cruiser (Lost Colonies Trilogy, #1) by B.V. Larson, 2015

Just fantastically entertaining. A little slow at the beginning, but picks up quickly, and has a great

ending. A new universe for Mr. Larson and it could prove very interesting as a series. Some of the science isn't great, but easily overlooked.

When in space, the story is very entertaining. Unfortunately the same can't be said for the "non-space" parts - there is some attempt at political intrigue but it isn't as tightly written and the characters are somewhat flat. The space-action is entertaining and the crew members' characters completely fleshed out and multi-dimensional.

The main character, William Sparhawk, is rebelling against his family's wishes, but it's not really explained why in any interesting detail. The main parties are the politicians, who seem to be opposed to the military section for monetary reasons - and the military who have very few ships, but at least three admirals.

I quite liked the 'universe' setup, so there is here is potential for a decent series, especially if the author concentrates on the space action.


My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars) - Wow. I loved it!

Book description:

A century ago our star erupted, destroying Earth’s wormhole network and closing off trade with her colonized planets. After being out of contact with the younger worlds for so many years, Humanity is shocked when a huge ship appears at the edge of the Solar System. Our outdated navy investigates, both curious and fearful.

What they learn from the massive vessel shocks the planet. The lost colonies have survived—but the reunion isn’t going to be a happy one. Our descendants are vastly superior in the art of warfare. Worse, there are other beings undreamed of beyond the human frontier: strange, unfathomable…alien.

Battle Cruiser Defiant, the first capital ship to darken Earth’s skies, is tasked with exploring new passages to the younger planets. Old Earth must reunite with her children…but can humanity survive the inevitable conflicts? Captain William Sparhawk, determined to follow a path of honor and truthfulness, dares to rise to the challenge.

BATTLE CRUISER is book #1 of the Lost Colonies Trilogy, military science fiction novels by bestselling author B. V. Larson.

"Armada" by Ernest Cline, 2015

"Armada" by Ernest Cline, 2015

Dull, predictable, and imitative-- I couldn't wait long enough to turn the page. Not because I was at the edge of my seat with action and thrills, but because I just wanted it over.

Zack, our hero, is a high school student who is one of the best players in the world at space shoot-em-up game called Armada. A spaceship lands on the school lawn and enlists Zack to fight aliens.

The twists are trite and predictable; the action sequences were pedantic at parts, and parts of the ending well, corny.

The author's "secret sauce", according to the interview he gave with the Verge, is "pop-culture" references.  Though the book's the plot resembles the plot of the movie "The Last Starfighter" or the book "Ender's Game", it's all the references to our pop-culture that sets it apart.


★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5 stars) - It was ok.

Book description as found on goodreads.com:

Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure.

But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe.

And then he sees the flying saucer.

Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders.

No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it.

It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little…familiar?

Fear the Sky (Fear Saga #1), by Stephen Moss, 2014

Fear the Sky (Fear Saga #1), by Stephen Moss, 2014

Riveting, gripping and just absolutely brilliant!

Easily classifiable as an action and thriller story, this book is definitely hard science fiction at heart. And what a fantastic job the author does and hitting all the genre points.

The story starts with a slowness that is crafted to lull you into a false sense security and hints at a larger impending doom looming in the sky and the invasion headed to Earth. Although there are quite a bit of members, the cast of characters is slowly introduced;  along with their brief backstory that helps make them memorable when they appear later in the book.

The book is a bit long and could have easily been two separate novels. The first half of the book spends a lot of time building a cat-and-mouse spy-style thriller and ending it with awesome fight sequences and close quarter hand-to-hand combats.

The second half of the book seems to have a shift of characters and a new focus. While the storyline is not quite as tight as the first half of the book, it does fit congruously to the overall story arc of the book as ties off some of the loose ends.

My favorite characters:

Lana Wilson (female alien robot, total-bitch princess from alien world)
Ayala (female Mossad intelligence/counter-intelligence agent)
Shaheem (male alien robot, turns into a double agent)
John Hunt (male alien robot, double agent)
Neal (human scientist)
Lori West (human scientist)

I would have rated the book five (5) stars, but I feel some portions of the second half of the book falters a bit.

My Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5 out of 5 stars) - I really really liked it.



Book Description by Author:

In eleven years time, a million members of an alien race will arrive at Earth. Years before they enter orbit, their approach will be announced by the flare of a thousand flames in the sky, their ships’ huge engines burning hard to slow them from the vast speeds needed to cross interstellar space.

These foreboding lights will shine in our night sky like new stars, getting ever brighter until they outshine even the sun, casting ominous shadows and banishing the night until they suddenly blink out.

Their technology is vastly superior to ours, and they know they cannot possibly lose the coming conflict. But they, like us, have found no answer to the destructive force of the atom, and they have no intention of facing the onslaught of our primitive nuclear arsenal, or the devastation it would wreak on the planet they crave.

So they have flung out an advanced party in front of them, hidden within one of the countless asteroids randomly roaming the void.

They do not want us, they want our planet. Their Agents are arriving.

Death Lord: A God in the Machine Novel by Larkin Magnus, 2014

Death Lord: A God in the Machine Novel by Larkin Magnus, 2014

The book came with a high recommendation from a friend who knows my taste fairly well so I figured I would enjoy this book. Boy was I wrong. I'm not sure it was a case of my expectations being so high as a result of the recommendation or if was just bad. But it just goes to show that what one read can be great for one person but unexpectedly terrible for another.

The Death Lords, a space military squad of genetically engineered soldiers with technological enhancements and psychic powers, space salvage mission unfolds in five parts and suddenly ends.

The book came across to me a bit space operatic, with definite stripes of military sci-fi, blended with a lot of fantasy.

Between the minimal dialogue among characters and the wordiness in minutiae as a tool for world-building, I found I couldn't care less about the characters and the story simply slow.

My rating: ★☆☆☆☆ (1 out of 5 stars) - I did not like it.

Steel World (Undying Mercenaries #1), by B.V. Larson, 2013

Steel World (Undying Mercenaries #1), by B.V. Larson, 2013

Steel World is a military Sci-Fi book with even pacing with the action scenes and enough intrigue in the story that made the read quite fast and over before I knew it.

Recruit McGill, our hero, enlists in humanity's mercenary legion. His first campaign involved defending the mineral-rich planet called Cancri-9, better known as Steel World.  He dies, he gets revived, he dies again, gets revived again, and so on. But along the way he improves his skills and knowledge of the universe ruled by the Galactics.

The book was enjoyable for what it is; a straight-forward military sci-fi action story. There were no plot-twists.  The characters are fairly flat, and our hero doesn't go through any major character development.

Exploring the alien technologies and alien cultures, which were present throughout the book, would have made this a more interesting book. We only get hints of culture of the seal-like aliens and small nuggets information on the inner workings of the Galactics.

All in all, it felt like a mish-mosh of Scalzi's Old Man's War, Heinlein's Starship Troopers, the Emily Blunt/Tom Cruise movie Edge of Tomorrow, and Card's Ender's Game. Steel World held my attention all the way through, but I didn't find it to be particularly outstanding.

My rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 out of 5 stars) - I liked it.