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 Partials

Title: Partials
Author: Dan Wells
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Summary: Fairly typical YA dystopian novel, but with a particularly likable protagonist with strong morals and leadership ability; believable science; and unusually nuanced ethical questions.

In this dystopian wasteland, only a small fraction of the human population has survived  war with the genetically engineered super-human Partials and the ravages of a virus. Although the surviving humans and all Partials are immune to the virus, no human baby has been born immune in over a decade. As a 16-year-old-medic, Kira experiences first hand the horror of the baby-killing virus and the violence caused by factions disagreeing about mandatory pregnancy laws. With astounding insight and determination, Kira pursues a solution – a possible connection between the Partials and the virus – in what may be humanities last hope for survival.

A Group Read Review – Leviathan Wakes

Title: Leviathan Wakes
Author: James Corey
Source: library
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: Very interesting premise, intriguing, and sometimes well written, but it didn’t really draw me in.

Typically classed as a space opera, Leviathan Wakes has a little bit of everything – action, horror, mystery, and of course science fiction. We alternate between two perspective, one a shuttle captain drawn into the mystery surrounding a deserted ship sending out a distress signal and the other a cop searching for a missing girl who we know was on the now deserted ship. This shuttle eventually leads them both to a secret some people are willing to “kill on an unfathomable scale for” – even if that means engineering a war.

Doing Dewey’s Best of Bradbury

Today, to commemorate Ray Bradbury’s passing on June 5th, I’d like to share with you some short excerpts from what I think are his best short stories. These are stories and particular passages which stuck with me after I read them and really made me think.  I hope they do the same for you.