And Now For Something Completely Different (The Chronicles of St. Mary’s, #9.7) by Jodi Taylor – Review

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5 stars, Book Review, humor, Jodi Taylor, moon landing, time travel, Zara Ramm

About And Now For Something Completely Different by Jodi Taylor

Here’s a question for you. What’s the most exciting thing ever found in a fire bucket? And don’t say ‘fire’ because you’ll be wrong.

Suppose – just suppose – it was the technology to take a pod to Mars? Yeah, now we’re talking!

Every Christmas, for reasons which seem good at the time – especially after an eggnog or two – Max and the others leap into the nearest pod and indulge in their illegal Christmas jump. It’s a tradition. This year, however, just to be different, they find themselves part of someone else’s illegal Christmas jump. It’s time to don a spacesuit and bring your own urine!

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Review of And Now For Something Completely Different

I once wrote a blog post comparing The Chronicles of St. Mary’s to Doctor Who. At the time, a major difference between to two was that the Doctor can travel anywhere in space, while the St. Mary’s crew are confined to Earth.

No longer.

When Director Pinkerton, from a future St. Mary’s, invites Max and Peterson to join the group to witness the first manned Mars landing, all kinds of alarms go off. Seriously, they don’t, or at least, no St. Mary’s historians hear them. Of course, they forge full steam ahead in a specially outfitted pod designed to travel in space. The Mars landing is a very significant historical event. Or will be. Or will have been. Depends on what era you hail from.

The Time Police are not happy.

I have to say, having Director Pinkerton as the main voice was lovely.  She is as smart and charming and brave as Max and will make one heck of a Director.  Or makes one heck of a Director.  Or was a really great Director.

So many possible disasters, so many actual disasters.  So much hilarity! I can’t recommend reading or listening in a public place. Unless you don’t mind the stares that fix on you when you laugh out loud.

And Now for Something Completely Different is short (73 pages) or 1 hour and 54 minutes as expertly read by Zara Ramm. You can’t go wrong this 2 hour distraction.

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Forever Wolf (The Legend of All Wolves, #3) by Maria Vale – Review

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5 stars, Book Review, favorite series, favorites, Maria Vale, nature, pack, romance, wolves

About Forever Wolf by Maria Vale

Born with one blue eye and one green, Eyulf was abandoned as an infant and has never understood why, or what he is…Varya is fiercely loyal to the Great North Pack, which took her in when she was a teenager. While out on patrol, Varya finds Eyulf wounded and starving and saves his life, at great risk to her own.

Legend says his eyes portend the end of the world…or perhaps, the beginning…

With old and new enemies threatening the Great North, Varya knows as soon as she sees his eyes that she must keep Eyulf hidden away from the superstitious wolves who would doom them both. Until the day they must fight to the death for the Pack’s survival, side by side and heart to heart…

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Review of Forever Wolf

From the beginning of the series, I have admired the unique take on the wolves that can wear skin. This is truly a unique world. After reading book three, I am now into the head of one of the bravest wolves of the Great North Pack. This is what the author does. With the first person perspective, Ms. Vale has told a story through a remarkable character and I am even more in love with this series.

And this story blew me away.

Forever Wolf is told from Varya’s view point. She is an introvert. She only speaks when necessary. The author such does an incredible job of getting the reader into the heroine’s head, that other characters often seem to have little importance. This is an introvert’s way of observing the details without engaging other people. Even Eyulf (the other half of the romantic couple in Forever Wolf) is in the background for most of the story. Until he isn’t.

At first, Varya appears cold and distant. Emotionless. Hard to relate to. But Varya has emotions. Sister, does she have them! They will be triggered by the arrival of Eyulf, and also by a pack crisis.

The story of the pack continues with the shifters bearing down. Causing trouble, not just for the pack as a whole, but within the pack. The pack must make a critical decision that could mean destruction or freedom. Silver (main character in book 1) becomes a speaker to keep the old ways. I love that from book 1 to to book 3, Silver has become so much more.

The decision the pack makes will have immediate consequences. Varya and other pack leaders do everything they can to insure pack survival. Because, ultimately, that is what the story of The Legend of All Wolves is about. Survival of pack.

The ending – climatic, explosive and emotional – had me in tears. Hence, my earlier ‘blew me away’ comment.

As much as I would like to tell you that it is possible to jump right into the series with Forever Wolf, I would recommend reading the first two books in The Legend of All Wolves to get the understanding of the Great North Pack and how they got to the position they are in. Besides, it truly is a great series.

Through Netgalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. On a totally different but related note, I was the very happy winner of a giveaway of a signed copy from Ms. Vale. Having a signed book is cool.  Reading the books is even better!

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Across the Stars (Cyborg Genesis #1) by Lauren Smith and Noah Chinn – Review

Tags

5 stars, aliens, Book Review, cyborgs, galactic government, Lauren Smith, Noah Chinn, scifi romance, series

About Across the Stars by Lauren Smith and Noah Chinn

“We wait, we hide, and watch Earth burn across the stars…”
– From the lost pages of the ARK Diary

She’s one of the last free humans. On the run… And running out of time.

Laina Roberts has been on the run for ten years, a freeborn human hiding from the cyborgs of the Silver Legion who now controls what’s left of humanity. Moving secretly from planet to planet and space station to space station makes for a damn lonely life—and don’t even get her started on how long it’s been since she last had sex. Sometimes she thinks it might be worth turning herself in to the cyborgs just to end the loneliness. That is, until she’s caught!

Captured by a hot-as-hell Legion officer, the cyborg Ronan makes her think being probed by him might not be so bad. But becoming a cyborg’s slave—sex or otherwise—isn’t high on her to-do list. She doesn’t trust him and doesn’t understand his constant questions about Earth—especially those about her long-dead relatives. Ronan can just kiss her ass—oh yes, please—because she is not going to let her desires or his incredibly perfect body weaken her resolve. She now has a new mission, to convince the cyborgs and the rest of the galaxy that all Terrans, humans and synthetic humans like cyborgs, have the right to be free.

If only he didn’t make her feel like melting into his arms and never leaving. Being captured by a cyborg might not be so bad after all…

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Review of Across the Stars

Loved it! Across the Stars is a great scifi story that takes place in a future where Earth has been practically destroyed and the majority survivors are cyborgs. Oh, there are humans out there, but the political environment that existed when the Earth survivors joined the rest of the galaxy made humans personae non gratae and, in effect, the slaves of the cyborgs. They are hunted all over the galaxy.

In fact, Terrans in general (which are mostly comprised of cyborgs and synths) are second class species, not considered sapient because they are not able to naturally procreate. However, they are admired for the mercenary and/or peacekeeping services they provide to many of the other races. This galaxy, in which Earthlings are no big deal, is going to be a fun place to set this series.

As the creators of the cyborgs, humans are critical to the survival of all Terrans, even if not everyone realizes that. There is going to be a bit of a public relations issue when they discover that Laina is the most critical part of the survival puzzle. When the cyborgs figure this out, Laina goes from being a prisoner/slave to precious cargo. And the Cyborgs are not the only ones that want her.  Just to make things more interesting…

Despite being constantly hunted Laina, does give the cyborgs the benefit of the doubt. However, some cyborgs hold grudges, even though the events that caused the destruction of their beloved Earth (that they blame on humans) happened centuries ago. I think all humans should hate cyborgs just as much, but that would make Laina less of a heroine.

The romance between Laina and Ronan is a little bit of instant attraction and a little getting to know each other’s differences.  The romance intertwines nicely with the rest of the story and just as much as I want to see Laina get justice, I also want to see Laina and Ronan get together.

This is a nice move into SciFi for Ms. Smith. Along with Mr. Chinn, the authors have created strong scifi concepts and an interesting vision of the future. My only complaint was that the space battle scene was sketchy. There was an awkward segue from just after the beginning of the battle to the end when the good guys won. If this series is to continue, the authors may need to work on their space battle scenes, as there could very well be more in the future of this series.

I would not normally look too closely at a book with naked man chest. But Lauren Smith’s name was also on the cover, and she can tell a story. Her books (the ones I’ve read) are mostly romance with a strong secondary non-romance plot to support the romance. I usually like it the other way around. But I admire Ms. Smith’s ability to grab my attention. And this is SciFi. So I had to read it. Good idea!

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