Tag Archives: ARCs

books, Reviews, science fiction, Space opera

The Relentless Legion (The Divide 3) by J.S. Dewes

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Stars: 3 out of 5

I loved the first two books in this series. In fact, I rated both of them 5 stars, so I was both excited and apprehensive to pick up the final book in the trilogy. Would the author be able to stick the landing? Will the ending be a satisfying payoff for having invested so many hours into this story? Would the characters I grew to love get the futures they deserved? Would all the plotlines be tied up neatly (or messily, I don’t care, as long as they are not left hanging)?

The answer is meh… kind of?

The biggest issue with this book is the pacing. The first two books were characterized by an almost breathless pacing where action was non-stop, and things went from bad to worse, yet the characters still persevered and somehow managed to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. This made for very tense, but also immersive reading. I remember finishing each of the first two books within 2-3 days of starting them. This book, though… let’s just say that it took me two weeks to get to just over 50%, after which I put it down and didn’t touch it for half a year (set aside in June, and finished end of November).

The reason is that it’s boring. Almost nothing happens for Rake or Cavalon for the first 50% of the book. Yes, we get some action in Jackin’s POVs, but… let’s just say that he is not having the best of times, so those passages are quite heavy, and with nothing to compensate for it in Rake and Cav’s POVs, it makes for a long read. They are basically stuck in that ancient fortress, twiddling their thumbs and talking circles around what they could/should/might do. And when the action finally picks up, it’s not because of a decision that Rake made, but because it was forced on her by Augustus. 

And then in the last quarter of the book, the pace suddenly revs up to 100mph, and everything careens towards the ending like a car without brakes. The ending is a jumbled mess. Too many deus ex machina moments and wins that are literally handed to our heroes on a silver platter. Why spend over half a book trying to find the cure to the mutagen, when it will be handed to them on a thumb drive in a parallel universe? Why portray Augustus as the big bad for three books just to resolve this situation in less than a chapter? Everything feels rushed and half-baked in the ending. I would have rather the author sped up through the first slogging part of the book and took more time bringing all her plots to the resolutions they deserved.

The biggest strength of these books has always been the characters. I love Rake, and Jackin, and Cavalon as our protagonists. I grew to dearly care for them, as well as the side characters like Mesa, Griffin, Puck (oh, Puck)… So as far as the characters go, this book does a good job with them. 

Cavalon especially gets a huge boost in character development. He finally overcomes his fear of abandonment, his impostor syndrome, and realizes that just because he is Augustus’ clone doesn’t mean he will become another Augustus. I loved watching him grow a spine and take charge of his own destiny.

Jackin gets a good send-off as well, though I feel like the horrors he went through in captivity weren’t addressed as thoroughly as they should have been. There is no way he would be this okay after all this, as he is portrayed to be. I know the author wanted to have a happy ending for everyone, and I really want that as well, but it’s just not realistic. He needs therapy. He needs rehab. His road to being physically and mentally okay would be a lot longer than it is portrayed to be.

My biggest disappointment, though, is what the author did with Rake. She was such a driving force in the previous two books! Yes, she had moments of doubt and despair, but she always knew when to act and get shit done. And it feels like the author took all of her agency in this book. She isn’t acting, she is reacting. She is reacting to Jackin being back, she is responding to Augustus attacking the fortress, and she is reacting to the information Kaize gives her about the generation ships. In fact, the only time she seems to act on her own is when she takes Jackin to get his implants removed and when she decides to strike at the heart of Augustus’ empire at the very end. 

Other than those instances, she is just spinning her wheels for three-quarters of the book, and it seems like everyone around her is trying to push her to do something, anything, and she just… procrastinates, is not the right word. Overthinks everything, maybe? And because of that, the final promotion Lurgen tosses at her doesn’t feel earned. She is portrayed as this great leader who is able to galvanize people and persuade them to follow her into a literal insurrection, but nothing in her actions in this book supports that. The previous books? Yes, absolutely. This book? It’s like she is a different person. And that’s so disappointing, because she has always been my favorite character.

I am, however, glad that we avoided the dreaded love triangle. I loved her friendship with Cav. They really felt like siblings more than colleagues or friends. 

So in summary, this is an okay ending to an otherwise great series.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Dark fantasy, Reviews

The Failures (Wanderlands 1) by Benjamin Liar

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Stars: 2 out of 5

That cover is gorgeous, by the way, and drew me to the book in the first place. The blurb sounded intriguing as well. And after reading the inspirations the author took from other authors that I love, like Sanderson and Erikson, this book should have been right up my alley. 

Then why was it such a frustrating read? Well, because of the squandered potential. The world is unique and intriguing. There was so much potential, but it is squandered.

The first problem is that because the world is unique, the author throws too much of everything at the reader at once, but at the same time, doesn’t explain enough of how this world functions or even how it all fits together. Case in point – the different POVs from various groups (the Killers, the Monsters, the Lost Children, etc.). We alternate between them from chapter to chapter, but NOWHERE does the author mention in which chronological order these events actually happen. For half the book, I was under the assumption that all these stories happened at the same time, just in different parts of the Wanderlands. So I was very confused when I started encountering characters from the other storylines in Sophie’s neck of the woods. Or when I discovered that Candle is another certain someone we follow in another story arc. This makes for a confusing and messy narrative where the reader is left to puzzle out what even came first and what is even important.

 As an aside, the whole Deadsmith story arc could have been cut out of the book without really impacting the overarching plot. Yes, he is the one who broke Candle and pushed another character on her path, but did we need chapters and chapters of his endless pursuit of his Prey? Just to see him appear for like two paragraphs at the end of the book and bugger off again? Also, what was the whole point of Lourde/West/Mr. Vulch? 

The other issue is the characters. They are so larger than life that they stop being characters and become caricatures. It’s hard to empathize with any of them apart from Sophie. By the end of the story, I didn’t care about what happened to any of them apart from Sophie and Ben, who, surprise, surprise, were the most human of them all. 

I was also disconcerted by the use of names of Christian origin in a foreign world. It’s not a future Earth, it’s a completely different world. So why do we have a James, a Chris, a Katherine? Or even Sophie, for that matter? I understand the Behemoth having Earth-sounding names, because they come to the Wanderlands from other worlds, some of which might be our Earth (as implied for Gun and Jackie), but the characters that are born and raised there? You don’t even have to use your imagination anymore to create names, ChatGPT can do that for you, so this screams of lazy writing.

Finally, I understand that this is the first book in a series, so it has to do a lot of setup, but I also expect to read a fully finished story arc – with a beginning, a middle, and a resolution, or a return to the status quo, by the end of the book. Here, we have a cliffhanger. NOTHING is resolved for none of the characters. Yes, you could argue that Sophie’s story gets some kind of resolution, but does it really? After almost 600 pages of setup, and hints at something catastrophic, we just end mid-action, almost. There are more questions than answers. Where is Winter? What is happening in the rest of the Keep? Why did the Consort take the Cold Key? 

As it stands, I was left frustrated and disappointed by the end of this book, and with no desire to read the next one.

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Reviews, science fiction

The Reinvented Detective by Cat Rambo

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5

I honestly expected more of this anthology. I mean, stories about detectives set in the far future, solving cases using technologies we can only dream of? That’s right up my alley! The cover is gorgeous as well, and contributed to my requesting this book from NetGalley. The contents were rather disappointing, though.

I think I liked maybe three stories out of the whole anthology. Murder at the Westminster Dino Show by Rosemary Claire Smith was a fun short story that made me chuckle a couple of times. I mean, pocket-sized dinosaurs? Humanity would be crazy enough to fall for that trend. The downside of this story was that the protagonist wasn’t particularly bright. Heck, it felt like her pet dinosaur brought her all the clues she needed.

In the Shadow of the Great Days by Harry Turtledove was also fun enough to read, even if it presented a rather bleak image of the future.

The Unassembled Victims by Peter Clines was the highlight of this anthology for me. It was well-crafted, and I loved the characters. It set up the tone and the world effortlessly. It made you care about what was happening. More importantly, both detectives were actually smart people who did some detecting. I wouldn’t mind reading other stories set in this world, because there is so much to explore there.

The rest of the stories in this anthology fell rather blah to me. The biggest issue is that in many of them, there wasn’t much detecting or unraveling of clues. I also either didn’t connect with the protagonists or the writing styles. And I will admit that I don’t particularly care for poetry. Some of the stories also felt half-baked, as if the author had a word count to meet and didn’t particularly care about aspects like worldbuilding or characterization.

All in all, this is more of a miss for me, with one excellent story and two okay ones.

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, epic fantasy, Fantasy, Reviews

The Lost War (Eidyn 1) by Justin Lee Anderson

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Stars: 2 out of 5

I was excited about this book when I read the blurb. It also has raving 5-star reviews on Goodreads, so I was really looking forward to a great new epic fantasy series when I picked up this book…

That excitement turned into confusion within the first few chapters. It really felt like I was reading the second, or maybe third book in a series, not the first one. Characters kept mentioning events that happened or things they did, and I was like, What am I missing? I even went on Goodreads to check that there wasn’t a prequel or something I missed. Nope, this is book 1. 

And I could have pushed through the confusion and still liked the story. There are plenty of wonderful books that literally drop you in mid-action and let you figure out the world and what the heck is happening as the book progresses. Unfortunately, this book isn’t one of them. 

The problem here is that nothing that happens for the first 70% of the book matters where the story is concerned. The characters meander from point to point and keep making seemingly random detours. It almost feels like the author had a plethora of great ideas and didn’t want to sacrifice any for the sake of the plot, so he plopped them all in. What’s the harm, right? Especially since none of it matters, once you get to the plot twist in the end. Well, it made for a bloated and boring narrative. 

The characters could have been the saving grace of this book, but I hated all of them, apart from maybe Samily. I especially grew to despise Aranok. He is supposed to be one of the most powerful magic users in the kingdom, and the King’s Envoy (with or without memory modification). Yet he behaves like a spoiled 5-year-old with poor impulse control. He is a grown man, for Pete’s sake! Why does he throw temper tantrums every time something goes wrong or someone dares to go against his orders? He treats everyone else around him with such smug superiority, I wanted to slap the shit out of him most of the time.

And all the female characters just fawn all over him and excuse/justify/downplay his horrible behavior. Because he is so “special”. Excuse me? I haven’t seen his “specialness” in this book, not even once. I’ve seen him make stupid decisions and put himself and his companions in mortal danger time and time again. And it fell on others to pull his butt out of the fire every time. 

I also found it extremely irritating that he kept questioning Samily’s faith. That was rude and boorish, as well as painted him in a very negative light. We get it, you are an atheist. That doesn’t mean you have to disrespect someone else’s faith or try to make them miserable because of it.

I also don’t particularly like when the author fridges characters just for shock value, like he did with Vasin and Glorbad (spelling?). Also, what the heck is it with these unpronounceable names? And Minygogg, really? Maxigogg was already taken?

I also don’t think that the plot twist ending justified the meandering plot and boring sidequests. If anything, it made me mad that I wasted so many hours reading a story that didn’t particularly matter because it was all a lie. That I had to endure countless pages of Aranok being an ass just to learn that, hey, even with his memories restored, he is just as big on ass. Needless to say, I have no desire to follow his adventures into the next book. I think this series and I will be parting ways on book 1.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Post-Apocalyptic, Reviews, science fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Space opera

We are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse 1) by Dennis E. Taylor

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Stars: 4 out of 5

This was a rather unique premise for a story. At least, I haven’t encountered this kind of story before. I have read plenty of books about real AI and sentient starships, but not one where the digitalized consciousness of a real person is put into a starship. 

The world in which this story takes place is a rather bleak one, and I would really hope that humanity can do better. Though, judging by everything happening around the world right now, I might be giving our race too much credit. I think humanity has an infinite potential for self-destruction. Unfortunately, I can very well see humanity going into an all-out nuclear war just to prevent a nation from sending out a probe ahead of others. It’s not science fiction anymore, it’s a fact of life.

Fortunately, Bob is a very endearing character who brings much-needed levity to what otherwise would be a very depressing book. His positive outlook and curiosity are what made this book fun. All the problems he encounters don’t discourage him at all. He approaches them as challenges to overcome. In that sense, this book reminded me of The Martian and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. The protagonist has the same vibe – ready to McGiver his way out of any situation. 

Granted, it feels like some of the problems Bob faces are non-problems at all, because he overcomes them so easily. I understand that this is a world 100 years into the future, but some of the technological advances seem implausible with the state of science and technology we are at now. Unless there are some significant breakthroughs in the next 100 years, and a lot more money is invested into research. It’s even less plausible in a country that reverted to fundamentalist Christianity like FAITH. 

But the story is engaging enough that I was willing to overlook the parts that stretched my disbelief a little too much. I was invested in the exploration of every star system the new Bobs go into. Heck, I was on the edge of my seat during the first contact story and the migration Bot initiated with the Deltans. 

My only issue, and the reason this book didn’t get 5 stars, is that it ends on a cliffhanger. None of the story arcs were brought to a satisfying conclusion, but just left in media res, to be picked up in the next book. 

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Fantasy, Reviews

The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed

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Stars: 5 out of 5

This is a wonderful fairy tale in the best tradition of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. The true and harsh tales, not the sanitized Disney versions most of the modern children grew up with.

Veris has to venture into an enchanted forest to rescue the children of the man who was responsible for her parents’ death. This already presents a huge moral dilemma for her, because she hates the Tyrant and everything he represents, but she also understands that the children are innocent, even if they are his.

Because these enchanted woods are not the Disney fairy tale woods. They are dark and ancient, and cruel, but they have rules. Follow those, and you might, just might survive the trip and even come back whole.

I loved the description of the woods and the horrors and wonders that call them home. The author uses language like a scalpel to craft mesmerizing images of beauty and horror at the same time. These woods are alien, their inhabitants even more so. And I was genuinely afraid for Veris and the children, because what can mere mortals do against something this ancient and powerful?

We need more stories like this.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Fantasy, Reviews, YA

Abeni’s Song by P. Djali Clark

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Stars: 5 out of 5

I don’t usually read YA as a rule, probably because I am a few decades past the age when those particular stories were interesting to me. However, I had fun reading this one because it’s very well-written and avoids the pitfalls of other young adult books – insufferable heroines, children who seem to be smarter and better at everything than adults, or dreaded love triangles. 

This is more of a fairy tale and a coming-of-age story or even a hero’s journey story, and it plays by the rules of those genres. Yes, Abeni can be annoying and quick to judge others, brash and even stupid at times, especially at the beginning of the story, but she grows and matures as we follow along. This is very much a journey of self-discovery for her. It’s also a story of found family, of seeing past differences and finding friends in unexpected places. And about courage as well. Not only the courage to confront an evil that terrifies you because it’s the right thing to do, and there is nobody else to do it, but also the courage to take a long, hard look at your own motivations and shortcomings and acknowledge that you were wrong.

I like how we see Abeni growing up and assuming the role of protector for the newly reborn Asha, even though she is still a child herself. Yes, it’s terrifying, and Abeni tries to pass that duty to others, like Asha’s sister, but she still does what she feels is right in the end. 

And no hero’s journey would be complete without trials and adventures. Some are scary, some are sad, and some are there to remind us that there is always a light even in the darkest places. I loved the episode in the Vale of Lost Things. It is an amazing place to visit, though I wouldn’t want to stay there permanently. 

I also liked that Abeni had to confront how anger and resentment can warp people when she confronted the Goat Man. In a way, she could have chosen the same path. He’d even said that she had a lot of anger burning inside her, and that the Witch King could use that anger. I think it’s one of the reasons why she was so upset about how the villagers treated Songu and why she agreed for him to come with them at the end of the book.

Abeni started this book losing everything – her family, her friends, her home. She ended the book having found new friends as well as a purpose in life. And I think she also learned several valuable lessons.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Dark fantasy, Fantasy, Reviews

Grave Empire (The Great Silence 1) by Richard Swan

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Stars: 5 out of 5

I really loved this book! And I think I found a new favorite dark fantasy series to follow. Also, I didn’t realize that this was a continuation series to a previous series called Empire of the Wolf, though from what I saw, Grave Empire happens several centuries into the future, so knowledge of the prequel isn’t a must. In any case, I will definitely go back and read that series as well while I wait for the next book.

What I liked the most was that the world feels lived in. You can feel the weight of centuries and the lore and history that comes with it. I was also surprised to see that this particular world is in the throes of the industrial revolution, instead of the usual medieval setting so common to fantasy worlds. It was fun to see how stage coaches and steam engines would coexist with magic and horrors from beyond the grave.

The protagonists were also fun to follow. I felt sorry for Peter, who felt like a fish out of water most of the time. He didn’t want to be an officer or be sent so far from home. He only accepted the commission because his late father bought it for him, and he really didn’t feel particularly welcome at home anymore. He is faced with unimaginable horrors, on top of all his doubts about being a coward or an incompetent officer, and he ends up… something else. I’m sure he will have a crucial role to play in the next book.

Renata is a lot more independent and opinionated. She also has nerves of steel. Nothing in her training as a diplomat would have prepared her for the horrors she had to face by the end of this journey, yet she persevered where a lesser person would have lain down and waited for the end. And the hidden reservoir of grit in that girl surprised everyone, even herself.

The only character I really didn’t care about is Lamprecht. He is simply despicable. And I don’t understand why Yelena was helping him in his research for so many years. Why didn’t she put a stop to it as soon as she realized that he wanted to bring one of the vacants back to Sova with them? I know that he is set up to be the villain in the next book and a foil to Renata and Peter, but the man really has no redeeming qualities, whereas the other two are pretty multifaceted people. It makes me almost a caricature instead of a character.

I loved the hints at different other races and their origins, and how science and progress can coexist with religion when the existence of the afterlife is a scientifically proven fact. I would have loved to learn a bit more about Nema Victorianism and how it differs from Nema Conformism, and why those differences are considered so big that nations go to war because of them. I understand that it’s a nod to the splintering of the Christian church back in the day, but I would have loved more details.

All in all, though, I am looking forward to the next book. The board is set, the pieces have taken their places; let the best player win.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Horror, Reviews, Zombies

How We End by L.M. Juniper

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Stars: 3 out of 5.

Reading zombie books is my guilty pleasure, and I realize that there is only so much you can do with the genre before you run out of fresh ideas and start repeating common tropes, even inadvertently. 

How We End surprised me in the beginning with how different it was from other zombie books: people cooperated and helped each other when faced with the horrors of zombie apocalypse, instead of being complete arsholes, as they are usually depicted in other books. In a way, this was a story of found family and overcoming hardships together more than a zombie survival book. Seven strangers are thrown together during the first outbreak in London, and they decide to stick together and try to survive this nightmare. It was refreshing to see this aspect of humanity brought to the forefront, rather than the cruelty, looting, and killing that are usually prevalent in zombie books.

The characters are also pretty interesting, though only two of them, Liv and Jake, get any sort of development or story arc. The rest are more there for support and to add necessary survival skills to the group. Like how convenient that the American couple stranded with them are a cop and a restaurant owner who can cook pretty much anything and knows how to forage? And for some reason knows exactly what kind of edible wild plants and mushrooms are available in the UK, even though he is from Louisiana and was a tourist in London? 

And here we come to the crux of my issue with this book – everything is a bit too convenient. Need a car? Fareena knows how to hotwire them! Need a houseboat to use the canals? Fareena’s aunt used to live in one, so she knows how to navigate them! Need to stock up on food for the winter? Rob can forage! And cook! And pickle! And smoke meat! Need a water filtration system? Another member of the group used to be a cosplayer who loved to tinker with stuff… don’t ask me how that translates into knowing how to make filtration systems. Oh, and Jake was a doomsday prepper with a stocked pantry and a bugout bag ready to go!

There is never a struggle or mad dash for survival, unless it’s needed by the story to fridge a character. And even then, some characters survive against impossible odds when others just get offed seemingly immediately. How was Frances okay after an infected clawed all over her face and scalp? I distinctly remember the author mentioning blood and wounds… yet this is never mentioned again once they get on the boat. Jake has traumatic bruising on his arm… which is conveniently glossed over and never talked about again. More importantly, it never impedes him from doing anything.

And the action comes to a grinding halt in the last quarter of the book, once they all get to Jake’s parents, and what we get is a long group therapy session with absolutely nothing else happening. Then the author remembered that this was actually a zombie book and decided to end it with a bang… so they go on a hospital raid… for no reason. Yes, they would eventually need meds, but going into ground zero for infection half-cocked with people they had never worked with before is the epitome of stupid. Not to mention, the action sequences in the hospital dragged way too long. 

By the time they reached Jake’s parents’ house and everything that happened there, I was rapidly losing interest in the story. The hospital raid didn’t really do anything to help with that. The book went from a solid 4 stars to about 2, so I rounded it up to 3 because the first half of the book had promise.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Dark fantasy, Fantasy, Reviews

The Witch Queen of Redwinter (The Redwinter Chronicles 3) by Ed McDonald

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Stars: 2 out of 5

I don’t think I have ever been this disappointed by the conclusion of a series before. This book was a huge letdown both as a standalone and as a book destined to wrap up Raine’s story. It was messy, it was dragging, and it lost all of my goodwill by the time we arrived at the end.

The biggest issue is the fact that the stakes went sky-high in between book 2 and book 3, even though only about six months passed between the events of book 2, when Raine and companions ended up in the Fault, and the beginning of this story. Yet all of a sudden, the world is ending, all other nations have fallen, the Fault is bleeding back into the real world, and ancient monsters stalk the forests and mountains again. 

How did that happen so quickly? We didn’t even know this danger was looming on the horizon. It was never forshadowed in the previous books. As far as I know, the stakes in the previous books were localized to Redwinter and this one particular Crown. There were no hints of a bigger conflict brewing anywhere. When I picked up this book and started reading about all of these catastrophes happening, I really thought I had missed at least one more book in the series that would have built up to this conflict. You simply can’t introduce such huge portions of new lore in the last book and not leave your reader lost and dissatisfied. 

And even despite all these new revelations piling up on top of me from the beginning of the book, this story is boring and feels like an ever-ending road trip of little significance. I understand why the author decided to split Raine into two; otherwise, there would have been no way of showing what was happening in the real world while she stumbled her way through the Fault, feeling sorry for herself. But the unintended consequence is a disconnect between the reader and the two Raines. Who am I supposed to care about? Who is the real Raine and who isn’t? Also, neither of the two is particularly likable.

This split narrative also kills any forward momentum in this book. The moment you get invested in something happening to emo-Raine in the Fault, the chapter ends, and we are thrown back into the real world and dominatrix Raine being awful and not caring about anyone or anything. It’s hard to follow two separate stories when they constantly switch places, but also when you are less and less invested in either one.

The other issue is that I didn’t particularly like what Raine has become in this book. Neither of her two incarnations was likable. The one in the Fault continues to be whiny and woe-me, my destiny is so hard, I love those two people, but I can’t have them. Doom and gloom, and somebody, please, put her out of her misery! 

And the author’s solution to this dilemma? A trisome… Yeah, no. Hard pass.

The Sarathi Raine in our world is everything wrong with death witches in the first place. The way she throws away lives like kindling is simply disgusting. And I can’t forgive what they did to Castus, who was the best character in this quagmire, hands down. He deserved better.

By the time the ending finally arrived, I was done with this book and mentally exhausted. Also, any connection or ties I had to these characters were long gone. Yes, I was glad that Ovitus finally got what he deserved, but the rest of them? Couldn’t care less. I also didn’t need this chapter-long excursion into the past to show us how the Queen of Feathers interacted with all other Dark Queens to set up the tools of the last battle. Those were just names and voices in Raine’s head in the previous books. I had no connection to them. Why did I have to waste time on this?

I am sad. I loved the first book in this series. It was well-written and hinted at an interesting world to explore. Then book two focused on teenage feelings instead of developing the lore and foreshadowing the events to come. Now, book three tried to stuff too much information into one book and failed horribly.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.