Hell Difficulty Tutorial: Book Six by Cerim
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An absolute middle book syndrome.

A lot of progression things happen in the in-between floors of the Astral Prison, but for the most part, it's a time of relaxation and introspection and endless astral-battle simulations. And mimics. And damn mind mages.

But yeah, for the most part, a comfortable addition to the series.

Which shouldn't be quite THAT comfortable with a title of Hell Difficulty, should it?

Nah, never mind, impossibilities come in all flavors.

View all my reviews

Messenger Corps by J.N. Chaney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

All right. This is entirely on me. I really probably should have read up on what kind of book this was rather that making stupid little assumptions.

You know, like we could get some kind of heavy-mech space opera story based on a messenger service. Like full-out deliveries. With occasional oh-shit moments.

I thought to myself, hey, even if it's somewhat bad, that would be pretty cool and unusual, wouldn't it?

But yeah, no. This is entirely on me.

Instead, we get ancient AI, a powerful mech, and a story that has a bit too much religion and shades of warhammer 4ok and MilSF for my tastes. Too much concerning the "messenger" "chosen one" type tropes for my taste.

And worse, now that I'm reading up on it, it's apparently a continuation of another series of stories that I'm unfamiliar with and, sadly, probably wouldn't have been overly interested in. I'm just not that into long justifications for holy wars.

I still wish I had my bonkers, half-baked story handed to me instead. Alas. Stupid me.

View all my reviews

Dauntless by Jack Campbell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a straight-laced and uncomplicated mil-sf without strong command female characters. It's ALL about leadership, good intelligence, and respect. Earning it, displaying it, reaping the rewards of it.

It's what I imagine most old-school military fictions would be like (without knowing anything) with a patina of space battle to keep it fresh.

It's... pure. If that makes sense. Just trying to keep your men alive, bucking idiots, and overcoming the odds. Very little else.

View all my reviews

William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return by Ian Doescher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

'Tis a balm to my soul.

Truly, I didn't know I needed this as much as I know I did with the first two books. But Return of the Jedi is a great redemption arc. Funnily done, as Shakespeare style, it's still a great story at its core.

But to hear the rancor sing in couplets?

*chef's kiss*



View all my reviews

The Sixth Nik by Daniel Kraus
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

To be honest, this book dropped me head-first into a depression.

It was the body-horror, the truly despicable aspects of humanity, the child-rape, the forced birthing convincers, the society-condoned child-kidnappers, or endless examples of characters trying to do the right thing when absolutely incapable of following through that did it.

It was all of it.

It may be a pretty good novel. Touching on many, many timely issues and using SF to hit HARD on subjects that would be too horrible for mainstream fiction. It is pretty fearless.

But damn, it IS also extremely depressing. This may have living spaceships, bio-punk elements, colonies, revolutions, etc, but those are nothing compared to the underlying theme. Sixth Nik? The other. The chance.

You know, the hope that was left after Pandora opened the box.

Depressing.

View all my reviews

Ruin by Nicoli Gonnella
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For a finale, it's a great combination of blistering big action, ginormous stakes, big appetites, and ass-pulls that are enormous ass-pulls even for a series that basically defines itself on ass-pullery.

Don't mind me much. I've actually grown rather fond of this particular ass-pullery. For one, it always keeps the plot moving forward. For another, it gives the reader a sense that it could never really end because the plot armor is infinite.

But then it ends. Satisfyingly so, even. I like the turn it took and I feel no remorse for all those gods. None. It just goes to show, it doesn't pay to be a dick. If you do, expect to have a whale show up to a god-fight.





View all my reviews

Chains by Nicoli Gonnella
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've grown used to less downtime in this series. Hell, I expected chaos all the time and got it all the time. But this is all system, broken system, more broken system, and even more on top of that.

I don't mind it as a plot device as long as it's an actual device, but the series seems to be run on the broken bits.

That's not to say it's not worth it. I'm still enjoying great swaths of the excellent action and massive stakes. But sometimes I just have to laugh.

Let's break the chains of the gods, no? If only to kill them.

View all my reviews