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Review: The Weapon of a Jedi (Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens) by Jason Fry
This book boiled down to “Just how did Luke get so good at using a lightsaber, anyway?” Which is an important question to ask, in the continuity between the films A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Unfortunately, the reality of the the limitations established in the Star Wars universe at that point in…
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Review: “Christmas Past” (Chronicles of St. Mary’s short story) by Jodi Taylor
Though this review won’t get posted until after the holiday itself, this story was easily one of my favorite Christmas presents this year. Taylor blows me away with her ability to weave humor and heartbreak into the same passages. Though this story didn’t have quite as much of the usual St. Mary’s shenanigans, it was…
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Review: Moving Target (Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens) by Cecil Castellucci & Jason Fry
This was an excellent Star Wars young adult novel that succeeds at showing realistic decisions that must be made in war, and how people involved in those wars end up making essential decisions regardless of how much power or authority they might have. I also appreciated that Princess Leia is given much authority and agency…
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Review: Shattered Empire (Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens) by Greg Rucka
One of my biggest pet peeves about most war movies is how the characters celebrate at the end of a big battle as if everything is going to be easy from there on out. This graphic novel shows how the opposite is the case and does an excellent job of leading into how the remnants…
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Review: Valhalla (Stargate SG-1 #14) by Tim Waggoner
I enjoyed this book more than I otherwise might have, reading it so soon on the heels of watching Thor: Ragnarok in theaters. Any Stargate reading for me is a visit to a world I love, and this was a solid, though not necessarily memorable, entry into the media tie-in offerings for this world. One…
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Review: Artemis by Andy Weir
When the credits rolled on Ant-Man, I turned to my husband and exclaimed, “Marvel made me a heist movie!” When I read the first blurb about Artemis ages ago, I turned to my husband and exclaimed, “Andy Weir is writing me a heist novel!” Considering I read the book in the space of a solid 4 hours…
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Review: Patterns of Interference (Star Trek Enterprise: Rise of the Federation #5) by Christopher L. Bennett
Obvious benefits of a media tie-in novel are the lack of production value constraints. This means authors are free to make use of a vast array of characters and create new planets beyond the typical constrictions of special effects. Bennett has capitalized on these abilities to great extent, especially writing a familiar cast of characters…
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Review: The Bronze Skies by Catherine Asaro
After I finished this novel, staying up until past midnight on a work night, I posted a complaint on Facebook. Not about this novel, but about how I had over 100 more books on my “to be read” shelf, but all I really wanted to do is go back and re-read everything else in Catherine…
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Review: The Resurrection Pact (Winston Casey Chronicles #1) by Jay Smith
Disclaimer: I purchased an ebook version of this novel at release, then acquired a hardcopy version in a book trade with the author, whom I consider a friend. Once upon a time, I was one of THOSE World of Warcraft (WoW) players. Had a full-time job, but still spent 30 to 40 hours a week…
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Review: DYSTOPIA BOY: THE UNAUTHORIZED FILES by Trevor D. Richardson
Disclaimer: I consider myself friends with the author, and I received a harcopy version of this novel through a book trade with him. There’s so much talent packed into this novel that I’m honestly not sure where to begin. It’s a beast of a book that almost drags on too long, but at the end,…
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Review: GENRENAUTS: SEASON ONE by Michael R. Underwood
Sometimes, you find a published story that incorporates major elements of an idea you had once upon a time and you’re disappointed, because now it’s already “taken.” But other times, you stumble across a story that’s very similar to a vague idea you had back in high school and you’re thrilled, because someone has already…
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Review: AND THE REST IS HISTORY (Chronicles of St. Mary’s #8) by Jodi Taylor
I am finally caught up on everything in this series, and now I have to wait for the next installment! I picked up the first book just under a year ago, and I think that I’m thrilled to be up to book number 8 (plus all the short stories) in such a short period of…
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Review: “My Name is Markham” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story” by Jodi Taylor
This short story is very different from anything else in the Chronicles of St. Mary’s series specifically for what is says on the tin: The narrator of this story is security officer Markham rather than historian Max. Now, this isn’t the first time this has happened (see “The Very First Damned Thing”, narrated by none…
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Review: “The Great St. Mary’s Day Out” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
While I have to wonder at the logic of involving time travel in a holiday for this lot of miscreants, considering all the things that go wrong normally, I have to admit that the story wouldn’t really work, otherwise. (Though I do have faith that they’d get up to the same sort of trouble during…
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Review: “The Very First Damned Thing” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
It was very, very cool to not only get a glimpse of the origins St. Mary’s but also a peek into Dr. Bairstow’s head. At this point in the series, seeing his relationships with the people that he intentionally sought to staff St. Mary’s was more interesting than the jump to Waterloo (despite the delightful…
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Review: “Christmas Present” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
How do you balance the heavy subject matter of lovers lost in time, potential suicide, and imminent attack by Boudicca’s army? Add a giant pig, of course.
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Review: “Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings” (A Chronicles of St. Mary’s Short Story) by Jodi Taylor
Taylor hooked me immediately with the problem that needed to be solved in this adventure. The rising sense of horror at what happened felt very visceral, and what’s even better is that the threads that came about to create this situation were beautifully laid in previous installments of this series.
