Marked by Azurite (Razor’s Edge Chronicles, #4) by Celine Jeanjean – Review

Tags

5 stars, Adventure, Book Review, Celine Jeanjean, dogs, fantasy, magic, series, talking cats, urban fantasy

About Marked by Azurite by Celine Jeanjean

You know that sickly feeling in the pit of your stomach when things have not just gone wrong, but very, very wrong?

Yeah, that feeling.

Like when you find yourself alone, facing off against an angry pontianak, a type of Asian vampire, who on top of being powerful, magical, and deadly, hates your guts.

At the time the risk seemed worth it to find out more about my magic.

Now? I wish I’d just stuck to barbering the supernatural. Given my weak magic, I’m going to have to find a way to talk myself out of this. Fast.

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Review of Marked by Azurite

The 4th book in the Razor’s Edge Chronicles dives deeper into Apiya’s unknown past while putting her uncomfortably up close and personal with her mortal enemy.

Marked by Azurite continues to explore the contentious relationship between the Mayak (magical beings) and humans, while people like Apiya – the Touched (slightly magical humans) – are caught in the cross-fire. It all takes place on the island nation of Panong. I am fascinated with this colorful location, both the land and the people.

Apiya will travel to visit the Akha tribe based on a lead that possibly they might know something about who/what she is. I should mention, that in order make this trip, Apiya will have to leave the safety of her home after having been attacked by Yue, an angry pontianak. Chai tries to talk her out of it, but in the end, as the friend I know him to be, Chai will always accompany Apiya on her crazy, dangerous quest. Chai is the best friend everybody needs.

Apiya’s other best friend is her dog Hunter. After her near death experience Apiya says “Just cuddle your dog…” Dog people will love Hunter.

Cat people will get a kick out of Tim (the talking cat). Even Apiya is warming up to Tim, although neither Apiya or Tim will be admitting liking the other anytime soon. Their relationship is a constant source of humor.

Marked by Azurite provides more juicy background on the Mayaks – Sarroch and Mr. Sangong. And my view of them continues to evolve. Sarroch, as the helpful ally and impossible love interest for Apiya, has become the unreliable associate (you will have to read to find out why). And Mr. Sangong, who is Apiya’s unreliable mentor, is becoming more dependable.

I am absolutely crazy about these books! Each one is a short novel and should be read in order. My recommendation is that you grab them all and binge the entire series.

Thanks to the author who provided a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.

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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir – Review

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5 stars, Andy Weir, Book Review, scifi, space exploration, space opera

About Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.

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Review of Project Hail Mary

A high school science teacher on a mission to save the world.  The sun is cooling.  Fast. Earth will die if Ryland Grace can’t find a solution.

In a star system, light-years away, there is a similar problem, but that world is not dying.  Why?  And can Ryland figure it out fast enough to tell Earth how to fix their problem?  The scientific mystery proves to be Grace’s greatest challenge. Well, second greatest.  The first challenge is figuring out how he ended up in a spaceship, light-years from home with no memory of who he is, how he got there and why he got there.  That is a pretty major handicap for tackling the science problem….which he doesn’t remember.

(Note: the rest of this review includes an element some might consider to be a spoiler, but since it was a major part of the story I felt I had to include it. )

You can see that this is going to be a major drama unfolding.  Throughout the story, Grace slowly regains his memories, revealing the problem, the proposed solution and why Grace is there.  It takes 90% if the book to get all that information. In the meantime, Grace begins to work the problem which he approaches with humor, logic and lots of determination. He finds Earth is not the only planet that is in trouble and finds an ally in Rocky.  Grace and Rocky solve many problems, including how to communicate between the species and work together even though they need totally different living environments.  Both characters are depicted with a sense of humor, heart and perseverance.

There is a lot of science.  The author tries to make it relateable.  I found some of the scientific descriptions tedious and could not help thinking that the movie would be better (not something I’ve said before.)  But all around the science was the drama, the friendship, the heartbreak and the triumph.  The hopeful ending may have made my eyes water.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book so that I could bring you this review.

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Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6) by Martha Wells – Review

Tags

3.5 stars, AI, artificial intelligence, Book Review, humor, Martha Wells, mystery, robot, scifi, series, space opera

About Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!

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Review of Fugitive Telemetry

SecUnit is still anti-social and full of snark,  And smarter than everyone else.  That doesn’t mean SecUnit has all the answers.  If that was true, there would be no story.

Is this book scifi?  A little.   Fugitive Telemetry is actually murder mystery.  Sure, SecUnit has superior technology and logical thinking abilities.  But a murder mystery is a murder mystery.  A space setting does not change that.

I enjoyed the first installments of SecUnit’s story (1-5). In previous books, the I felt SecUnit’s emphasis was on protecting humans. In Fugitive Telemetry it’s emphasis was on solving a crime, which made SecUnit seem self-absorbed.  Or maybe SecUnit is just more comfortable being itself – becoming more of an individual.  Time will tell.

I missed ART, the AI from previous books. ART is a friend and that is what our favorite SecUnit needs.

I’m pretty sure that Murderbot fans are going to love this book even if I did not.  Fugitive Telemetry is entertaining, but is my least favorite of the series.

Thanks to the publisher who provided a copy through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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