Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty

Title: Station Eternity (The Midsolar Murders #1)

Author: Mur Lafferty

Publisher: Ace 2022

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 457

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Chapters Have Cliffhangers

Amateur detective Mallory Viridian’s talent for solving murders ruined her life on Earth and drove her to live on an alien space station, but her problems still follow her in this witty, self-aware novel that puts a speculative spin on murder mysteries, from the Hugo-nominated author of Six Wakes.

From idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve. But outside of a classic mystery novel, being surrounded by death doesn’t make you a charming amateur detective, it makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So when Mallory gets the opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she thinks she has the solution. Surely the murders will stop if her only company is alien beings. At first her new existence is peacefully quiet…and markedly devoid of homicide.
 
But when the station agrees to allow additional human guests, Mallory knows the break from her peculiar reality is over. After the first Earth shuttle arrives, and aliens and humans alike begin to die, the station is thrown into peril. Stuck smack-dab in the middle of an extraterrestrial whodunit, and wondering how in the world this keeps happening to her anyway, Mallory has to solve the crime—and fast—or the list of victims could grow to include everyone on board….

The Currently Reading Podcast and Schuler Books made me pick up this book! I was very intrigued by a murder mystery on a space station that only a few human (and lots of aliens) inhabit. We are thrown into Mallory’s life on Station Eternity without a life raft. We have to navigate the quickly changing situation all the while meeting new characters and even new alien species. We start to get a handle on her life when a murder occurs and a station disaster and some people from Mallory’s past all pop up in very unexpected places. From there, it is nonstop until the end. The pace alternates between quieter backstory chapters and frantic action-packed chapters in the present. We have to work with Mallory and Xan to solve a murder and understand all the connections that are present on this space station. My favorite parts of this book were the descriptions and depictions of the alien races, especially the concept of the sentient space station. It was a mix of Star Trek: DS9 and Farscape for me. I will definitely be putting the sequel on my future TBR.

The Midsolar Murders

• #1 Station Eternity

• #2 Chaos Terminal

Next up on the TBR pile:

Timemaster by Robert L. Forward

Title: Timemaster

Author: Robert L. Forward

Publisher: Tom Doherty Books 1992

Genre: Scifi

Pages: 301

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

Read the tale of Randy Hunter, billionaire industrialist, who communicates with aliens, achieves interstellar flight and explores far-flung worlds in a future filled with technological wonders. The future physics is mind-boggling but firmly grounded in the science of today, and the action never stops.

This was a recommendation from J that ended up really not landing for me at all. I was intrigued by the science included in this book. We get some interesting sections detailing various new scientific ideas and inventions. Unfortunately, in between all those sections was an appalling collection of characters and interactions. The misogyny is rampant with some very offensive dialogue. I kept thinking that this book was written in the 1950s. Imagine my surprise when I realized that the book was actually written in 1992! Seriously, I just couldn’t get over this fact and very quickly soured on the book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The End and Other Beginnings by Veronica Roth

Title: The End and Other Beginnings: Stories from the Future

Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books 2019

Genre: SciFi Short Stories

Pages: 262

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR; 52 Book Club - Time in the Title

No world is like the other. Within this masterful collection, each setting is more strange and wonderful than the last, brimming with new technologies and beings. And yet, for all the advances in these futuristic lands, the people still must confront deeply human problems.

In these six stories, Veronica Roth reaches into the unknown and draws forth something startlingly familiar and profoundly beautiful.

With tales of friendship and revenge, plus two new stories from the Carve the Mark universe, this collection has something for new and old fans alike. Each story begins with a hope for a better end, but always end with a better understanding of the beginning.

With beautifully intricate black-and-white interior illustrations and a uniquely designed package, this is the perfect gift for book lovers.

A collection of science fiction short stories isn’t usually a winner and this volume was no exception. I usually find a few stories that really interest me, but often the stories are dull or uninspired. This one dives into the future featuring a few dystopian worlds and a few alien worlds. I preferred the dystopian worlds to the alien worlds. I liked when the stories stuck to simplicity. When authors try to cram too much world-building into short stories, they do not really work. Oh well. Stories can’t always be winners.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Title: Parable of the Sower (Earthed #1)

Author: Octavia E. Butler

Publisher: 1993

Genre: Scifi

Pages: 345

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR; Unread Shelf Project; Read Shelf RC - September (A Book that Represents the Reader You Want to Be)

Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others.

When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind.

We choose this book for my sci-fi and fantasy bookclub after a few difficult books. Ooops! Looks like we picked another difficult book. I had previous read Kindred and was really interested to read other Butler works. I completely understand why she wrote that book. I am more confused about why she wrote this book. Right away we are hit with a very depressing story featuring a young woman who survives and creates a religion. And somehow we have to contend with a very detached style of writing. We never really see Laura truly get horrified by the events in the story. On the other side, I did definitely have visceral and a dramatic reaction to the events. I even took a break after the big events right in the middle of the book. I picked it back up and finally finished the story and immediately just sat back and took a minute. It was a rough story full of graphic events. After thinking, I was impressed with Butler’s skill at creating an entire world that feels so prescient to today’s world. I see the importance of this book. But ultimately, I have a huge issue with the religion piece of this book. I’m still struggling with Laura’s push to create a new religion. The presumption that religion is a good thing stopped me and almost made me stop reading this book. I will be attending an online book discussion on Sunday. Really looking forward to hearing what everyone thought about the book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

Title: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot #2)

Author: Becky Chambers

Publisher: Tordotcom 2022

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 152

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) and Mosscap (a robot sent on a quest to determine what humanity really needs) turn their attention to the villages and cities of the little moon they call home.

They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe.

Becky Chambers's new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter?

A lovely continuation of the explorations of Sibling Dex and Mosscap. This time we get to see Mosscap interact with a variety of humans and learn about different settlements. I loved seeing Mosscap get a bit of distance from the forest and move into more settled areas. My favorite section was actually the small chapter set on the coast. We get to learn more about the current state of the world as Dex explains how humans on the coastlines live. I was fascinated. And though it all, they discuss life and identity. I can’t wait until the next volume of their journey to the city.

Monk and Robot

• #1 A Psalm for the Wild-Built

• #2 A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin

Title: The Left Hand of Darkness

Author: Ursula K Le Guin

Publisher: 1969

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 315

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants’ gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters...

I tried reading this one again as part of the Nerdy Bookish Friends book club read. And I still didn’t like it. Back in 2011, I found this very clunky, slow-moving, and confusing. This time, I mostly still agree with that. While I can appreciate Le Guin’s attempt to discuss the big questions in sci-fi and her inspiration of many modern writers, I still find her work oddly stilted and non-engaging. I disliked every singly character we meet and was not engaged in the supposed plot line. The discussion of non-gender can be interesting, but I found many of the passages to contain a lot of misogynistic language. Feminine behaviors and attributes are almost always deemed to be unsavory. I would prefer to read a more modern take on gender and questions of gender than this ponderous tome.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

Title: Hench

Author: Natalie Zina Walschots

Publisher: William Morrow 2020

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 403

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath the surface of the world isn’t glamorous. But is it really worse than working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this economy?

 As a temp, she’s just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called “hero” leaves her badly injured.  And, to her horror, compared to the other bodies strewn about, she’s the lucky one.

So, of course, then she gets laid off.

With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks.

Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how to weaponize it. By tallying up the human cost these caped forces of nature wreak upon the world, she discovers that the line between good and evil is mostly marketing.  And with social media and viral videos, she can control that appearance.

It’s not too long before she’s employed once more, this time by one of the worst villains on earth. As she becomes an increasingly valuable lieutenant, she might just save the world.

This book came a recommendation from my favorite podcast, Currently Reading. I don’t always align with the hosts’ tastes in books, but when we do, I absolutely love the book! We get a complete flip of the superhero genre, imagining if the fact of having superheroes create much more damage and trauma than they save. I fell for Anna right away even if she is very prickly and has questionable social skills. I was rooting for her to find a good position and then the incident happens. From there, I felt like the novel was full-steam ahead, diving us and Anna into the world of real supervillains. We get to peel back the layers to see all the dirty secrets and revel in the downfalls of many superheroes. I especially loved Leviathan and his entire character arc. This is a very fast-paced thriller style science fiction novel with a few very graphic scenes of mutilation. Nothing I couldn’t handle, but just imagining the body horror scenes at the end has me shivering a bit. Oh so good!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Title: Light from Uncommon Stars

Author: Ryka Aoki

Publisher: Tor Books 2021

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 372

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six.

When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate.

But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.

As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.

This book defies a simple description or genre. There’s sone science fiction. There’s some fantasy. There’s some family saga, even if it’s a found family. We’re thrown into multiple lives without much extra information. The first section of this book is rough. We get details of familial abuse. We get details of sexual assault and some descriptions of sex work. Once Katrina starts to settle into life with Shizuoka, I started to settle into the story and really appreciate the book. We dive deep into the main characters and sit with their highs and lows. It’s the lows that really pull at the emotions. While I really enjoyed the story and characters, it does settle into a melancholy atmosphere that I appreciated. The writing style took a bit to get used to, but ended up being a an interesting concept. We get a bit of stream of consciousness as a variety of music is played. I loved how we get to read exactly how the specific music affects certain characters. I’m still processing all my feelings and thoughts on this book, but it was definitely a winner.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Title: The Age of Miracles

Author: Karen Thompson Walker

Publisher: Random House 2012

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 294

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project; Unread Shelf Reading Challenge - Shortest Book on My Shelves

Spellbinding, haunting, The Age of Miracles is a beautiful novel of catastrophe and survival, growth and change, the story of Julia and her family as they struggle to live in an extraordinary time. On an ordinary Saturday, Julia awakes to discover that something has happened to the rotation of the earth. The days and nights are growing longer and longer, gravity is affected, the birds, the tides, human behavior and cosmic rhythms are thrown into disarray. In a world of danger and loss, Julia faces surprising developments in herself, and her personal world—divisions widening between her parents, strange behavior by Hannah and other friends, the vulnerability of first love, a sense of isolation, and a rebellious new strength. With crystalline prose and the indelible magic of a born storyteller, Karen Thompson Walker gives us a breathtaking story of people finding ways to go on, in an ever-evolving world.

This was our pick for June book club. I was very excited to read this one as I loved Walker’s other book The Dreamers. Unfortunately, I did not love this one. Fundamentally, I felt like this story went absolutely nowhere. In The Dreamers we get to see how an entire village reacts to the science fiction events. We see families and relationships change and evolve. There was a big emphasis on the emotional toll of the unexpected events. In this novel, we get the events, but I didn’t get to really see the emotional toll. I think that part of problem is that the narration is focused on an 11-year-old girl. Julia’s naive outlook on life means that we get a very skewed perspective of the world. I didn’t love focusing on Julia through this story. And then don’t get to really idea of how any other character feels about the events. I would have liked a different style of narration. The science itself was very weak and I didn’t love her non-explanations. Ultimately, this book was not for me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Title: Klara and the Sun

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Publisher: Knopf 2021

Genre: Scfi

Pages: 303

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

It’s the second Ishiguro that I’ve tried and he is definitely not for me. Overall, my big thought is that Ishiguro is just retreading sci-fi tropes and ideas but without adding anything new or interesting. I never found any part of this book to be new or fresh. I found no real message about humanity or identity. I definitely did not connect with any of the characters. Klara has the mindset of a 5-year-old and never really changes. Josie is a brat throughout the entire book. Ishiguro never really explains much of anything about the larger world or being “lifted.” The reader is left in the dark for most of this story and I just didn’t appreciate it. Is this supposed to be our future? If yes, then I need a actually discussion of how we are going wrong and how we can avoid it. We don’t get any of that. It’s just a superficial story. And don’t get me started on Klara’s insistence that the sun will bestow some blessing on Josie. Just ugh!

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Disasters by M.K. England

Title: The Disasters

Author: M.K. England

Publisher: HarperCollins 2018

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Hotshot pilot Nax Hall has a history of making poor life choices. So it’s not exactly a surprise when he’s kicked out of the elite Ellis Station Academy in less than twenty-four hours. But Nax’s one-way trip back to Earth is cut short when a terrorist group attacks the Academy.

Nax and three other washouts escape—barely—but they’re also the sole witnesses to the biggest crime in the history of space colonization. And the perfect scapegoats.

On the run, Nax and his fellow failures plan to pull off a dangerous heist to spread the truth. Because they may not be “Academy material,” and they may not even get along, but they’re the only ones left to step up and fight.

This was a delightful romp! We are thrown right into the action and it doesn’t let up until the last page. I loved falling in with Nax, Case, Zee, Asra, and Rion as they attempt to survive being fugitives as help to stop of the galaxy-wise plot of the Earth First group. The pages kept moving as we slowly get to know each of the members of the crew. I would have like a bit more information about the other members of the crew, but we do get a decent amount from Nax. I also appreciated how real the teens were portrayed. Each are becoming experts in different fields but still have insecurities and make mistakes. They are not perfect, but are constantly trying. I would have loved to read more about the adventures of the crew of the Swift Kick. Maybe soon.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

Title: The Last Cuentista

Author: Donna Barba Higuera

Publisher: Levine Querido 2021

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 320

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Había una vez . . .

There lived a girl named Petra Peña, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita.

But Petra's world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children – among them Petra and her family – have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race.

Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet – and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard – or purged them altogether.

Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?

Ultimately, I really enjoyed the combination of folklore and science fiction to detail Petra’s journey to the new planet. I loved the weaving of cuentas into how Petra sees the world, her past, and her future. I loved exploring more of her heritage. Once we start to piece together what has happened on the ship, the story started to get a bit weaker. I did love Petra’s interactions with the Zetas and Voxy. But, some of the science fiction elements as they relate to the Collective are just not believable even for this avid reader of science fiction. I feel like more time needed to have passed to get the Collective to the start that they were in when Petra awakens. Still, it was an enjoyable YA sci-fi story.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The School of Good Mothers by Jessamine Chen

Title: The School for Good Mothers

Author: Jessmine Chan

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2022

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 336

Rating: 1/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Frida Liu is struggling. She doesn’t have a career worthy of her Chinese immigrant parents’ sacrifices. She can’t persuade her husband, Gust, to give up his wellness-obsessed younger mistress. Only with Harriet, their cherubic daughter, does Frida finally attain the perfection expected of her. Harriet may be all she has, but she is just enough.

Until Frida has a very bad day.

The state has its eyes on mothers like Frida. The ones who check their phones, letting their children get injured on the playground; who let their children walk home alone. Because of one moment of poor judgment, a host of government officials will now determine if Frida is a candidate for a Big Brother-like institution that measures the success or failure of a mother’s devotion.

Faced with the possibility of losing Harriet, Frida must prove that a bad mother can be redeemed. That she can learn to be good.

I absolutely detested this book. We are reading it for book club and I know I am going to rant at the meeting. Overall I had a few big issues with the book:

1. Who is this book for? I know how much society pressures mothers and then blames them for anything negative that affects children. Fathers are largely absent from this scenario. The book detailed all of that, but was it new information? No. I know exactly how all this works.

2. No character growth. I was hoping that Frida and many of the other characters would experience some great character growth. Unfortunately we don’t really that growth. Additionally, Frida repeats herself so much. We hear her whine over and over again. The reputation really got to me.

3. Conflicted feelings about Frida’s socioeconomic status. Frida is struggling financially at the beginning, but she does have access to resources. Most of the women that she meets at the school do not have access to those resources. The cult between those women and Friday wasn’t really explored and glossed over so much.

4. The school itself is just ridiculous. I understand that speculative fiction likes to exaggerate circumstances to make a point, but the school and specifically the “children” were just too much to be believable. I just couldn’t.

5. I know we are supposed to be very annoyed by Frida’s ex-husband and I definitely was. But what was his purpose in the book. Every time he was mentioned or appeared, I just shouted “Fuck the Patriarchy.”

Overall, I slogged through this book and immediately felt like I wasted so many reading days. This felt like a very bad copy of The Handmaid’s Tale that just doesn’t live up to the hype. When I add in all the bullshit about restricting the rights of women, I was so incredibly mad at this book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Kaiju Preservation Society by Jon Scalzi

Title: The Kaiju Preservation Society

Author: Jon Scalzi

Publisher: Tor Books 2022

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 272

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization.” Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on.

What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at least. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm, human-free world. They're the universe's largest and most dangerous panda and they're in trouble.

It's not just the Kaiju Preservation Society who have found their way to the alternate world. Others have, too. And their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die.

This was just what I needed this week! I came off of a few heavy books and I really wanted something fun. Scalzi delivered on the fun that I wanted! We jump right into an alternate Kaiju Earth filled with wonders and so many dangers. We get to learn with Jamie as he navigates his new job. I sped through book desperate to see what happened next. Sometimes you just need a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously. This fit the bill to a tee.

Next up on the TBR pile:

When the Tripods Came by John Christopher

Title: When the Tripods Came (Tripods #0.5)

Author: John Christopher

Publisher: 1988

Genre: Middle Grade Scifi

Pages: 160

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

When it comes to alien invasions, bad things come in threes.

Three landings: one in England, one in Russia, and one in the United States.

Three long legs, crushing everything in their paths, with three metallic arms, snacking out to embrace—and then discard—their helpless victims.

Three evil beings, called Tripods, which will change life on Earth forever.

And with this book, we finally get to see how exactly the Tripods invaded Earth and eventually dominated the human population. This was very much a War of the Worlds type adventure following one family as they slowly realize what is happening and try to escape. The book opens with a bit action sequence and keeps the pace throughout. I read it in one setting on the edge of my seat waiting to see how it all comes to be. We get to travel with Laurie’s family as they escape to what will become The White Mountains. I really enjoyed this prequel. Good middle grade science fiction that doesn’t seem too dated for our current times.

The Tripods

• #0.5 When the Tripods Came

• #1 The White Mountains

• #2 The City of Gold and Lead

• #3 The Pool of Fire

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart

Title: The Paradox Hotel

Author: Rob Hart

Publisher: Ballantine Books 2022

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 336

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR

January Cole’s job just got a whole lot harder.

Not that running security at the Paradox was ever really easy. Nothing’s simple at a hotel where the ultra-wealthy tourists arrive costumed for a dozen different time periods, all eagerly waiting to catch their “flights” to the past.

Or where proximity to the timeport makes the clocks run backward on occasion—and, rumor has it, allows ghosts to stroll the halls.

None of that compares to the corpse in room 526. The one that seems to be both there and not there. The one that somehow only January can see.

On top of that, some very important new guests have just checked in. Because the U.S. government is about to privatize time-travel technology—and the world’s most powerful people are on hand to stake their claims.

January is sure the timing isn’t a coincidence. Neither are those “accidents” that start stalking their bidders.

There’s a reason January can glimpse what others can’t. A reason why she’s the only one who can catch a killer who’s operating invisibly and in plain sight, all at once.

But her ability is also destroying her grip on reality—and as her past, present, and future collide, she finds herself confronting not just the hotel’s dark secrets but her own.

Such a twisty, head-turner of a novel. Right away I had hoped that this book would be great based on the hotel as a character aspect. I do so love it when the setting becomes it’s own character within the novel. This one does not disappoint. From the beginning I knew bad things were going to happen but understanding the how’s, why’s, and who's. was the big draw for me. We’re thrown into an unknown situation with a narrator who may or may not be unreliable. From there, we follow January as she tries to unravel the mysteries within the Paradox Hotel and what exactly is going to be the sequence of future events. This science fiction book involves some science but never gets bogged down in the technical talk. We get enough to attempt to understand what is happening within the hotel. But the more immediate mystery is a murder that only January can see. All of the characters kept me guessing as to their motivations and endgames. January was a treat to follow even if I didn’t quite love her ending. I ended up really enjoying this time travel adventure.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Pool of Fire by John Christopher

Title: The Pool of Fire (Tripods #2)

Author: John Christopher

Publisher: 1968

Genre: Middle Grade Scifi

Pages: 204

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

After being held captive in the City of Gold and Lead—the capital, where the creatures that control the mechanical, monstrous Tripods live—Will believes that he’s learned everything he needs to know to destroy them. He has discovered the source of their power, and with this new knowledge, Will and his friends plan to return to the City of Gold and Lead to take down the Masters once and for all.

Although Will and his friends have planned everything down to the minute, the Masters still have surprises in store. And with the Masters’ plan to destroy Earth completely, Will may have just started the war that will end it all.

We finally get to see the conclusion of Will’s adventure in the revolt against the Masters. The third book starts right up with the plot and keeps going until the end. We get to revisit the city of the Masters and find out more about how they operate. We reconnect with Beanpole and Henry while learning more about the the other cities of the Masters. I loved how the big confrontation happened and was right there with all of them. My only issue was the very pessimistic ending of the story. It felt really realistic, but very sad. Not quite sure what I feel about all of that. Now, I need to read the prequel.

The Tripods

• #0.5 When the Tripods Came

• #1 The White Mountains

• #2 The City of Gold and Lead

• #3 The Pool of Fire

Next up on the TBR pile:

The City of Gold and Lead by John Christopher

Title: The City of Lead and Gold (Tripods #2)

Author: John Christopher

Publisher: 1967

Genre: Middle Grade Scifi

Pages: 209

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

When Will and his friends arrived at the White Mountains, they thought everything would be okay. They’d found a safe haven where the mechanical monsters called Tripods could not find them. But once there, they wonder about the world around them and how they are faring against the machines.

In order to save everyone else, Will and his friends want to take down the Tripods once and for all. That means journeying to the Tripod capital: the City of Gold and Lead.

Although the journey will be difficult, the real danger comes once Will is inside the city, where Tripods roam freely and humans are even more enslaved than they are on the outside. Without anyone to help him, Will must learn the secrets of the Tripods—and how to take them down—before they figure out that he’s a spy…and he can only pretend to be brainwashed for so long.

Finally, we get to see the aliens in the tripods! Overall this book was a very enjoyable ride. We get to follow Will as he travels into the city of the Masters. The writing becomes very descriptions as we learn more about the aliens and their plans for Earth. Thankfully the books moves quickly keeping the action continuing at a decent pace. I am definitely interested in how this story is going to end.

The Tripods

• #0.5 When the Tripods Came

• #1 The White Mountains

• #2 The City of Gold and Lead

• #3 The Pool of Fire

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

Title: Dead Silence

Author: S.A. Barnes

Publisher: Tor Nightfire 2022

Genre: Horror

Pages: 343

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR

Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.

What they find is shocking: the Aurora, a famous luxury spaceliner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. But a quick search of the ship reveals something isn’t right.

Whispers in the dark. Flickers of movement. Messages scrawled in blood. Claire must fight to hold on to her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora before she and her crew meet the same ghastly fate.

I cannot remember where I heard about this one (maybe Book Pages?), but I was totally in for a space horror story. This does not disappoint. Right away we know that something went horribly wrong onboard the ghost space ship Aurora. We then spend the rest of the book switching back and forth between the story of what the crew found and Claire’s present. Make not mistake, this story is creepy and very gory. If you cannot handle blood and gore, do not read this one. The writing dives right into very atmospheric settings and graphic descriptions. I was on the edge of my seat the entire ride. I would have liked a bit more time encountering the spooky while onboard the Aurora before Claire passes out and her memory mostly goes blank. But otherwise I really enjoyed this one!

Next up on the TBR pile:

The White Mountains by John Christopher

Title: The White Mountains (Tripods #1)

Author: John Christopher

Publisher: 1967

Genre: Middle Grade Scifi

Pages: 223

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Will Parker never dreamed he would be the one to rebel against the Tripods. With the approach of his thirteenth birthday, he expected to attend his Capping ceremony as planned and to become connected to the Tripods—huge three-legged machines—that now control all of Earth. But after an encounter with a strange homeless man called Beanpole, Will sets out for the White Mountains, where people are said to be free from the control of the Tripods.

But even with the help of Beanpole and his friends, the journey is long and hard. And with the Tripods hunting for anyone who tries to break free, Will must reach the White Mountains fast. But the longer he’s away from his home, the more the Tripods look for him…and no one can hide from the monstrous machines forever.

J has been trying to get me to read this series for years now. He read it during childhood and remembered it fondly. I finally started the series and blew through the first book in two days. This is short and middle grade, so not hard to read. There were some great sequences of the boys escaping through the countryside and coming across the ruins of civilization past. I especially loved the sections set in what was Paris. The overall escape adventure was fun to follow. There were passages that were slow and very old-fashioned in terms of style. And the ending was very abrupt and terrible. I really wish for two more chapters to detail their arrival at the White Mountains, but oh well. Maybe the next book will expand that setting.

The Tripods

• #0.5 When the Tripods Came

• #1 The White Mountains

• #2 The City of Gold and Lead

• #3 The Pool of Fire

Next up on the TBR pile: