Prevent the Past, #2 3) by Rebecca Hefner – Two Book Reviews

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, paradox, Rebecca Hefner, romance, scifi, series, time travel

About A Destiny Reborn by Rebecca Hefner

Lost in a timeline that was never theirs…

Thrust into a world they barely comprehend, two time travelers are forced to survive with only each other as allies. Claire Finch, the kind, bubbly scientist, has sacrificed her hidden dreams for the cause: to prevent the apocalypse and save the world. Cyrus Montgomery, a tough, stoic soldier weary from the battle scars of war and barren dystopia.

Together, they traverse the unfamiliar circumstances, both fighting and denying their mutual attraction.

But destiny can be manipulated by unseen forces, and as they navigate the uncharted timeline, they discover a united strength they never possessed apart…and learn that true love ultimately prevails if the warnings of the past are heeded with caution and diligence.

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Review of A Destiny Reborn

If you are going to read any of the books in the Prevent the Past series, read A Destiny Reborn. This one can be read as a standalone. (Although, I recommend the entire series).

Before they time traveled, Claire and Cyrus were already attracted to one another, although neither had let on. When their trip to the past took them even further into history than intended, a great relationship between the friends may be the last thing they are thinking of. But it may prove to be the most important asset.

Claire and Cyrus working together to figure out how to live in the past is what made me fall for these characters. And while the romance was a foregone conclusion, I enjoyed the evolution of their friendship into something much more. I also enjoyed the connection to a younger version of Marie from book 1.

Throughout the story, the reader wonders how Claire and Cyrus are going to make it back to the mainstream of the story and connect with their friends. (Actually, you only wonder if you have not read book 1.) Being complicated, time travel cannot easily fix things. The final outcome for Claire and Cyrus and what it will mean for their friends proves to be perfect.

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

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About A Timeline Restored by Rebecca Hefner

Eli Hernandez spent decades cultivating an image of fear and domination as the nefarious leader of the New Establishment. Yet, deep inside, he still clutches onto the barest hope that his irredeemable soul has vestiges of virtue.

Alora Castillo lost everything one fateful day long ago as Eli looked on, unable to stop the carnage. Resolved to detest him, she must forge ahead when they are thrust together as unlikely allies.

As the ragtag team of time travelers strives to reconnect with their leader, dark forces hide behind the scenes, manipulating fate as the cycle carries on.

Determined to succeed and prevent the past, the team battles the evil regime, unwilling to accept failure. But accepting the yearnings of the heart requires forgiveness—a concept Alora dismissed long ago, no matter how fervently she secretly longs for Eli’s embrace.

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Review of A Timeline Restored

Alora and Eli seem to be the most unlikely couple. Alora views Eli as the enemy that destroyed her family. While Eli has done terrible things in his past, he wants the same thing as Alora – to prevent the catastrophe of the evil regime.

This is, perhaps, the most complicated story line of the series. In it, a group of people from the future work out how to live in the past while they plot and plan to save the earth from President Edward Randolph. Throw in enemies working against them who are also time travelers, plus that whole time paradox issue and you have plenty to sink your teeth into in A Timeline Restored.

While the blurb for this book talks about Eli and Alora, readers should know this story includes the rest of the Lainey’s scientific time traveling team (except for Claire and Cyrus from book 2). Each character has his or her very important role to play in saving the world.

Eli and Alora do have the biggest part of the story. Their love/hate relationship (or is it hate/love) is tempestuous and passionate, stormy and exciting. Both Alora and Eli will need to change how they view each other if this is ever going to work out. Of course it will work out. This is a romance. But the journey is bumpy.

Full of exciting action and steamy romance with a few twists that will sneak up on you, this series is best read in order. Plus there is that whole time travel thing. Read these books out of order at your own risk of paradox.

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

Tags

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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