Redshirts and Portrait of a Spy – Minireviews

Title: Redshirts
Author: John Scalzi
Source: library
Rating: ★★★☆☆

I loved the premise of Redshirts, in which the characters realize the following: “(1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces, (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations, and (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed. Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission” (source). The building of this world is hilarious as Scalzi calls out sci-fi TV shows for all the unbelievable little things they do. Unfortunately, I didn’t think there was much to the plot. It wasn’t especially interesting to me and after the setup, the humor mostly disappeared. The premise was brilliant, the execution largely forgettable.

Bookends About Fragments

Title: Fragments
Author: Dan Wells
Source: library
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: I still loved the writing and the characters, but the plot suffered from some serious middle-of-a-trilogy lag.

In the first book of this series, Kira discovered that a race of manufactured super humans called the Partials contain the cure to the disease that has been ravaging the human race. Unfortunately, the Partials are facing their own imminent demise, fueling suspicion and prejudices that are pushing humans and Partials closer to another war. In order to bring the sides together, Kira needs to learn more about why they were designed the way they are. She also desperately wants to know what her unique blend of human and partial characteristics make her.

Bookends About The Obsidian Mirror

Title: The Obsidian Mirror
Author: Catherine Fisher
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: A fun, light adventure story without a really great protagonist but which works because of the mysterious setting with potential for some great world building.

The many characters in The Obsidian Mirror are all drawn together by one thing – the mirror’s amazing ability to bend time and space, allowing the user to travel forward or backward in time. Jake desperately wants to find out what happened to his father, who he believes was murdered by the mysterious recluse currently in possession of the mirror. Others want to own the mirror to gain power, others to destroy it, and others for reasons yet undiscovered. Unfortunately, they can’t all get what they want…

Bookends About After the Ending

Title: After the Ending
Author:  Lindsey Fairleigh and Lindsey Pogue
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Summary: By far one of the best fiction books I’ve read  this year! You’ll have to read the review for more, because there were far too many good things about it to fit here.

After a virus kills nearly everyone they know, best friends Dani and Zoe are stranded on either side of the country and working their way towards each other. They quickly discover that those not killed by the virus are developing side effects, from murderous rages to unbelievable new abilities. In order to survive the frightening new world, they’ll have to develop their own new abilities and learn to fight to survive.

Bookends About Starship Troopers

Title: Starship Troopers
Author: Robert Heinlein
Source: library
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Review Summary: It does what it does well, which is just to be a book with some dry humor and a very military feel, but I prefer at least a little world building in my sci-fi.

The plot of Starship Troopers is pretty short and sweet, following the military career of a young man some time in the distant future. In this futuristic society, only those who join the military are allowed to vote. This decision is justified by the belief that those people willing to sacrifice them selves for the good of society are those who deserve to have the vote. However, our protagonist mostly joins up because all his friends are doing it and a big part of the book is how is abilities and interest in the military evolve.

Bookends About Glitch

Title: Glitch
Author: Heather Anastasiu
Source: library
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: Very cool idea for a world, but the plot is a little too YA cliche for me to really love it.

In this dystopian novel, humanity has given up the ability to feel emotion or think for themselves. Instead, they are all connected to a network which regulates their activities and decides when they should be deactivated. However, many young adults are beginning to “glitch”, suddenly experiencing emotion and also displaying strange new mental powers. As Zoe struggles to hide her glitches and control her erratic telekinetic powers, she also has to deal with feeling emotion for her family and for boys for the first time.