• About
  • Review Ratings
  • Author’s Information
  • Recommended Authors

Whiskey With My Book

~ And a cozy spot to enjoy them both.

Whiskey With My Book

Tag Archives: sci fi

Weekend Tales

03 Friday Mar 2023

Posted by WWMB in On the Bookshelf

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Art, currently reading, historical, Karen Hallion, Madeline Martin, N. E. Davenport, romance, sci fi, WWII

Today I am sharing the books I am currently reading or listening to. If you feel so inclined, do the same by posting in the comments at the end.

I chose this poster in honor of Women’s History Month which kicks off this week. This poster and many other very
cool posters like this are available at Society6 from Karen Hallion Illustrations.

Clicking on the book covers below will take you to Amazon. Use of these links supports this blog and is very much appreciated. I also recommended checking with your library (if you want to save some $$$).

On my Kindle, I have an advance copy of The Blood Gift by N.E. Davenport. Last year, I read The Blood Trials, the first book in this Scifi duology. I really like the first book, and so far, book 2 is pretty good. However, with over a year of elapsed time between books, I am finding it hard to remember all the finer details of book 1. I hoping it all comes back to me as I continue.

About The Blood Gift

After discovering the depth of betrayal, treachery, and violence perpetrated against her by Mareen’s Tribunal Council and exposing her illegal blood-gift to save her Praetorian squad, Ikenna becomes a fugitive with a colossal bounty on her head.

Yet, somehow, that’s the least of her worries.

Her grandfather’s longtime allies refuse to offer help, and the Blood Emperor’s Warlord is tracking her. She’s also struggling to control the enormous power she was granted by the Goddess of Blood Rites…and come to terms with the promises she made to get such power.

Amidst all of this, the Blood Emperor wages a full-scale invasion against Mareen and leaves a trail of decimated cities, war crimes, and untold death in his wake. As the horrors increase, Ikenna and her team realize they must assassinate the Blood Emperor and quickly end the war. But the price to do so is steep and has planet-shattering consequences.

The price to do nothing, though, is annihilation.

War has erupted. Alliances are fracturing. And Ikenna is torn between her loyalties, her desires for revenge, and the power threatening to consume her. With the world aflame, only one thing is certain: blood will be spilled.

*****************************************

My current audiobook is The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin. I downloaded this from my library. I view it as a companion book to The Last Bookshop in London, which I listened to and loved last year. Both books are based on the events of World War II, with book-centered heroines. But each takes place in a different European location.

About The Librarian Spy

Ava thought her job as a librarian at the Library of Congress would mean a quiet, routine existence. But an unexpected offer from the US military has brought her to Lisbon with a new mission: posing as a librarian while working undercover as a spy gathering intelligence.

Meanwhile, in occupied France, Elaine has begun an apprenticeship at a printing press run by members of the Resistance. It’s a job usually reserved for men, but in the war, those rules have been forgotten. Yet she knows that the Nazis are searching for the press and its printer in order to silence them.

As the battle in Europe rages, Ava and Elaine find themselves connecting through coded messages and discovering hope in the face of war.

*****************************************

Tell me! What are you reading?

The Ice Ghost (Rewilding Reports, #2) by Kathleen O’Neal Gear – Review

16 Monday May 2022

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

5 stars, Adventure, Book Review, Cli-fi, Ice Age, Kathleen O'Neal Gear, Post Apocalyptic, sci fi, series

Review of The Ice Lion

Quiller is the victim of Trogan’s prophetic visions.  While he forces her to find the Old Woman of the Mountain, Quiller’s husband RabbitEar and her friend Lynx try to rescue her.  The adventure through the underworld will test everyone involved, reveal some of the Jemen’s secrets and raise more questions about how the people living in the current Ice Age came to be and what their purpose is. 

God save me from religious leaders. Especially if the flock is kept ignorant.  The mysterious leaders can make anything up!  I’m talking about Trogan, who Quiller’s people believe is an evil witch.  Evil is a pretty good description for him.  High-handedness, threats and violence are not justified because Trogan, is being led by a ‘god’. 

While Quiller and company are trekking through the underworld, her tribe, the Sealion People are threatened by the Rust People (Trogan’s tribe). Among the tribe is Quiller’s adopted family, which includes enigmatic son Jawbone.

I have found this evolving story to be fascinating.  Between a post-apocalyptic ice age, human genetic manipulation, advanced human abilities, and the humanity of the Ice Age archaic peoples, I have embraced the story arc.  To get the most out of this book, read The Ice Lion first, then pick up The Ice Ghost.  The next installment will be highly anticipated by this reader.

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

**********************

About The Ice Ghost by Kathleen O’Neal Gear

In the brutal Ice Age caused by the ancient Jemen war, many archaic human species, including Denisovans and Homo erectus, hover on the verge of extinction. There seems no way out, until the greatest Neandertal holy man, Trogon, has a vision. Legends say the truce that ended the old war left one hostage in the hands of the victorious rebels: the godlike Jemen leader known as the Old Woman of the Mountain. According to Trogon’s vision, only one person knows the location of that burial cave. Trogon must capture young Quiller and force her to lead him there…for the Old Woman may not be dead. She may only have been in stasis for a thousand summers, and when reawakened she will save them from oblivion.

But according to the Denisovans–Quiller’s people–Trogon is the most powerful witch alive. He’s up to something evil that will surely spell their destruction. He must be stopped before it’s too late.

Quiller’s best friend Lynx must brave towering glaciers, dire wolves, and prides of giant lions to save her and stop Trogon.

**********************

Links

Add The Ice Ghost to your Goodreads shelf:

Purchase The Ice Ghost (releases May 17):

**********************

The Ice Lion (Rewilding Reports, #1) by Kathleen O’Neal Gear – Review

10 Thursday Jun 2021

Posted by WWMB in Book Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

5 stars, Adventure, Book Review, Cli-fi, Ice Age, Kathleen O'Neal Gear, Post Apocalyptic, sci fi, series


About The Ice Lion by Kathleen O’Neal Gear

One thousand years in the future, the zyme, a thick blanket of luminous green slime, covers the oceans. Glaciers three-miles-high rise over the continents. The old stories say that when the Jemen, godlike beings from the past, realized their efforts to halt global warming had gone terribly wrong, they made a desperate gamble to save life on earth and recreated species that had survived the worst of the earth’s Ice Ages.

Sixteen-summers-old Lynx and his best friend Quiller are members of the Sealion People—archaic humans known as Denisovans. They live in a world growing colder, a world filled with monstrous predators that hunt them for food. When they flee to a new land, they meet a strange old man who impossibly seems to be the last of the Jemen. He tells Lynx the only way he can save his world is by sacrificing himself to the last true god, a quantum computer named Quancee.

**********************

Review of The Ice Lion

If you don’t read the blurb (which is an iffy representation of the book, by the way), when you start reading this truly awesome book, you might think this is a story about some prehistoric people. You will read about tribes such as the Sea Lion people, living off the land, struggling against both nature and each other. Then stuff gets thrown in. Like the zyme (a slime that covers the ocean surface). Like the name Hoodwink, which stands out among names like Lynx, Ice Giant, Bluejay, and Mink. And talk of the Jemen, the more advanced beings from that past. There is also a mysterious watcher, observing members of one tribe help another and wondering if he can hope.

It will become obvious that the story takes place far into the future, after man has brought ruin to his environment and caused an ice age. But the tribes don’t know this, because the live only for today and tomorrow.

Lynx is a young member of the Sea Lion tribe. He has been accused of cowardice, because his wedding party, including his wife, was slaughtered by Lions. As punishment, he is abandoned in the wilderness to experience a spirit quest. Survival means he may become a gifted shaman. Otherwise, he faces death. During his quest, Lynx meets Arakie, and old man that Lynx believes to be one of the Jemen. The reader knows there is both more and less to the old man. He is wise, but not all-knowing. He seems to be part archeologist, part biologist, part futurist. He really is quite enigmatic and I really like his place in this story. The travels of Lynx and Arakie will put Lynx in the position of changing the life of an outsider.

Quiller is Lynx’s friend. Ex-lover really. Disappointed when he decided to marry someone else, she is still determined to help him make it back alive. But first she must join a scouting group looking for the Rust people, their tribe’s mortal enemy. In doing so, Quiller will connect with the Rust people in an unforeseen way.

The icy setting with its mountains and ocean, provide a cold backdrop to the warmth of the peoples, who’s lives are going to be inescapably altered when paths cross and the past is excavated.

I loved this book with it’s juxtaposition of primitive people against a technologically advanced past. The people are in for some big changes and I am eager to see where the story goes.

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

**********************

Links

Add The Ice Lion to your Goodreads shelf:

Purchase The Ice Lion (releases June 15):

**********************

← Older posts

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 451 other subscribers

Tags

4 stars 5 stars Adventure aliens Art book feature Book Review cats excerpt fantasy giveaway guest post historical humor magic mystery paranormal Pauline Baird Jones reading romance scifi scifi romance series space opera Steampunk

Recent Posts

  • The Dueling Duchess (Wicked Women of Whitechapel, #2) by Minerva Spencer – Review
  • The Poisoner’s Ring (A Rip Through Time, #2) by Kelley Armstrong – Review
  • The Bond (The Secret Tales, #1) by Sanna Brand – Review
  • MicroP (The Cyborg Chronicles, #5) by Pauline Baird Jones – Review
  • Weekend Tales

Archives

  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016

Currently Reading

NetGalley Challenge 2016

2016 NetGalley Challenge

Copyright Notice

© This site's content is protected by copyright.

FTC Disclaimer

Some of the books reviewed on Whiskey With My Book are provided by authors, publishers, or other third party promoters. Other than review copies, no compensation is accepted for reviews.

Affiliates

This blog uses affiliate links to direct you to sites where you can make purchases. Use of these links supports this blog and is much appreciated!

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Whiskey With My Book
    • Join 337 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Whiskey With My Book
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...