science fiction

All posts tagged science fiction

THE LIGHT YEARS – R.W.W. Greene

Posted by Daniel on June 7, 2021
Posted in: SF/FANTASY. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

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It’s a little bit strange that this is a new book because it feels a lot like something I might have read in the 1970’s.

People have left Earth to establish colonies – the colonies are based on their cultures, and of course the Americans and the Middle Easterners got into a war and blew each other up, leaving a lot of refugees. Lost in that war was the American technology for lightspeed travel. Currently, anyone traveling between the colonies travels in standard relativity time.  This means that a trading ship might visit a colony, then head off for another colony and so on, and while only a year passes for those on the ship, it’s 24 years for those on the colonies.
The Hadjj are a family-owned trading ship.  The entire family stays together on the trading ship because it’s the only way to grow up with your family.
The captain of the Hadjj makes a contract with a young, poor couple to commit their children in marriage – the captain’s son, Adem Sadiq, and the couples’ unborn daughter (who will be named Hisako).  Only a year will pass for Adem on their trip, but the unborn daughter will be nearly 24 when they return.
For the young couple, it is a way to get their child out of a life of abject poverty and Adem will have a partner and mate – something difficult to find given his trade-ship life.  But for Hisako, she grows up knowing of this arranged marriage and has no say in it and will meet her fiancé on their wedding day.
The book is from the alternating viewpoints of Adem and Hisako.  Once you get past the establishing of the characters and the world that this is set in, there really isn’t much of interest about these two characters to keep the reader engaged.
The book felt heavy-handed with message and moral.  There’s a the uncle who wants to get rid of the ‘liberal’ views of the captain (they’ve been rescuing refugees) and become more profitable, and he’ll do it by taking control of the ship. There’s the 60s/70s ‘free love’ attitude that we shouldn’t have hang-ups about sex and who we choose for a partner at any given time. And there’s the sense of music over-coming all ills.  Both Adem and Hisako create music and post it to what constitutes social media in this future.
There is a little something that happens as we get to the end of the book, which has some interest, but because we’ve spent so much time with Adem and Hisako … who aren’t particularly interesting beyond their arranged marriage … the ending feels like a tacked-on short story to this book about Adem and Hisako.
I found the basic idea here interesting, and the writing decent, but the story was not well plotted.
Looking for a good book? The Light Years, by R.W.W. Greene was a bit slow and not particularly engaging.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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The Light Years
author: R.W.W. Greene
publisher: Angry Robot
ISBN: 9780857668363
paperback, 400 pages

THE DISPATCHER – John Scalzi

Posted by Daniel on May 17, 2021
Posted in: MYSTERY, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

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In the not too distant future, it will become nearly impossible to kill someone. 99.9% of the time, when someone is intentionally killed, they come back – their bodies disappear from where they were “killed” and reappear at their home, naked, in bed.  Only death by natural causes or true accidents are otherwise permanent. No one knows how or why this has happened, but it has definitely changed everyday life in many ways – including the creation of a job as “Dispatcher” … someone who ‘kills’ people for pay so that they can be reset for whatever personal reason they might have. (Let’s say someone is in surgery and something goes wrong … ‘dispatch’ them so that the don’t actually die, allowing doctors to try again.)

But while some old problems have gone away, some new problems arise. What happens when a ‘dispatch’ goes wrong and the target actually dies? Who is responsible?  And if you wanted to really torture someone now you could torture them to death, have some goons waiting for the body to reappear, take the person and keep up the torture.

Enter Tony Valdez, a licensed and bonded Dispatcher. When a fellow Dispatcher is kidnapped, local police call upon Tony to help them understand the Dispatcher job and to navigate some of the Dispatcher shortcuts to getting a job done.

What a  great, almost obvious, idea.  I mean, so many people today play video games in which a character ‘dies’ and their life is reset to a home base (or at least reset to somewhere presumably safe) – why not take this into the ‘real’ world?

The book, and particularly the character of Valdez, have all the hallmarks of a Scalzi story – some irreverent humor and some scathing satire. And if you read Scalzi, chances are this is just what you are looking for.

Unlike many of his other books, this one is almost 90% detective mystery, with a sci-fi setting. He does this well, though for such a short book (a novella or even novelette, actually) we spend perhaps too much time setting up the world and the main character before we get to the mystery.

I understand that this was written with the intention of being an audio piece – read by Zachary Quinto. While I may have missed any specific inflections that Quinto may have added, because I read this rather than listened to it, I think it stands just fine as s short sci-fi mystery.  It’s also quite a clever world and I’m eager to read the next volume and wish that Scalzi would return to this series.

Looking for a good book? John Scalzi’s The Dispatcher, originally written for audio and now published in a special edition by Subterranean Press, is a clever sci-fi mystery with all the loveable wit and gruffness that Scalzi brings to his books.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Dispatcher

author: John Scalzi

series: The Dispatcher #1

publisher: Subterranean Press

ISBN: 1596067861

hardcover, 130 pages

A KILLING FROST – Seanan McGuire

Posted by Daniel on April 16, 2021
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Ah, “An October Daye Novel.”  This is a sweet elixir to fans of urban fantasy.
October (Toby) is finally planning her wedding to Tybalt, King of Cats, after a long engagement period. But Toby discovers that there is an archaic tradition in Fairie wedding ceremonies that states that the father of the bride must be invited to the wedding or political turmoil could ruin the kingdom. Nothing is ever simple for Toby, is it?
This custom holds true for Toby’s stepfather (legally her father), Simon Torquill. There are two immediate problems with this.  First, Toby has to find Simon. The two haven’t been close lately, and Simon made a deal with the Sea Witch and has been lost since. Then Toby has to help Simon restore his memory in order for him to recognize October as a child he cares for.
This is not exactly what Toby wanted to be doing as part of her wedding planning.
I really like this series. Author Seanan McGuire is an absolute master. Her storytelling is beyond par and her characters are incredibly real. This is the 14th book in the October Daye series and if you’ve read any of them you are likely already attached to the characters that McGuire has given us.
If you are a fan of some of the other characters, such as Toby, you may find this a little disappointing.  This book really focuses back on October, which I personally really liked. This was more of an adventure story than some of the last couple of October Daye books.
But there’s more than just the fairly obvious adventure. I also felt I learned more about the family history in this book, giving some great perspective on the entire series.
If I’m ever given a choice of reading material, and Seanan McGuire is one of my choices, I’ll choose a McGuire book every time. If you like fantasy, do yourself a favor and start this series.
The book includes a novella at the end (as most McGuire books seem to do) which also reveals some background of additional characters in the series.
Looking for a good book? A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire is the 14th book in the October Daye series and sets October on a family adventure in a world full of other-worldy beings.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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A Killing Frost
author: Seanan McGuire
series: October Daye #14
publisher: DAW
ISBN: 075641508X
hardcover, 368 pages

ROMULUS BUCKLE & THE ENGINES OF WAR – Richard Ellis Preston, Jr.

Posted by Daniel on April 14, 2021
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Swashbuckling steampunk.  That’s Romulus Buckle.
Romulus Buckle is the captain of a zeppelin which is soaring over the frozen wasteland known as Southern California, where warring clans battle one another for precious supplies. Buckle has worked hard to bring about an alliance between the clans in order put an end to the fighter. But that alliance is tenuous at best and actions taken by the Founders (one of two major organization/factions along with the Imperials) put the peace between clans at risk.
Just as Buckle is gearing up for a war – something he would prefer to avid but he will meet it head on if he must – he learns that his long-lost sister is being held captive at a secret base. That base could also hold the secrets to defeating the Founders in the upcoming war. Buckle has no choice but to infiltrate the base.
This is the second book in the Romulus Buckle series, though only the first one I’ve read. I did feel that there was probably information about Buckle and the world of the book that was presented in the first book that would have been helpful to know when reading this book.
The book was entertaining, but really it was mostly action sequence after action sequence. It seemed as though each time Buckle finished a battle, he was preparing for another one. Sometimes they were mano a mano, sometimes they were via his airship.  About two thirds of the way through I rolled my eyes at ‘yet another battle sequence.’
When Buckle gets word about his daughter, the story of the book picks up.  Prior to this it seemed to be just action, action, action without motivation. Having a viable purpose seriously helped the book.
The read was fine, but it didn’t make me interested in picking up any other books in the series.
Looking for a good book? Romulus Buckle and the Engines of War by Richard Ellis Preston, Jr. is a swashbuckling action/adventure steampunk novel. If this is something you’re looking to read, then you’ll enjoy this book.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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Romulus Buckle and the Engines of War
 
author: Richard Ellis Preston, Jr.
series: Chronicles of the Pneumatic Zeppelin #2
publisher: 47North
ISBN: 1477807683
paperback, 486 pages

THE FORBIDDEN STARS – Tim Pratt

Posted by Daniel on April 5, 2021
Posted in: SF/FANTASY. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Humanity was given access to a greater section of the universe when an alien race gave us access to 29 wormholes, bringing humans to twenty-nine new star systems.  What the alien race never mentioned was that another race of beings, now known as the Axiom, controlled every other system in the galaxy. The Axiom are an aggressive, dominating race, but fortunately they’ve been asleep since humans gone out to the new systems.

When communication from the 29th wormhole/system has gone silent most assume it the result of internal strife. But Captain Callie and her crew of White Raven have heard that there might be something else happening at 29 – something that would be much more devastating to humanity – and so they pay a visit  and discover humans who have been grafted with all manner of additional and strange limbs and other parts. The Axiom, it seems, are awake and running a human harvesting facility and making plans to attack full force.

This is the third book in author Tim Pratt’s The Axiom series, and just as with the first two, I found this to be some really fun space opera. In my review of the previous book I mentioned that the stakes were about as high as they could get and having high stakes was a key ingredient in space opera.  Now, of course, I see that the stakes could get higher … and do.

There are some twists and turns along the way in this book. Just as we think we know someone and how they will react, they tend to surprise us. Some people will step up and make some life or death choices.

One of the things that stood out to me here is the action level. Pratt ramps up the actions and we have some all-out slug fests that are really page-turning. High on threat level, high on action, with characters who are flawed heroes – just what we need in some really exciting sci-fi.

Looking for a good book? Tim Pratt’s The Forbidden Stars is the third in his Axiom series. This one is a fast-paced thriller with mad-scientist-like aliens bent on taking over the universe. 

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Forbidden Stars

author: Tim Pratt

series: Axiom #3

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 0857667696

paperback, 400 pages

BACON AND EGG MAN – Ken Wheaton

Posted by Daniel on March 10, 2021
Posted in: HUMOR, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Our government is at war. With fast food.

We are in what might be best described as the future in an alternative timeline in what was once the United States of America.  The Northeast has seceded and the rest of the country is now run by “the electoral descendants of King Mike, a man who made it his mission to form a country based on good, clean living.”

And what happens when something becomes illegal? There becomes a black market for those things. Wes Montgomery is a journalist at the last actual paper newspaper in the union (now called the Federation). When he’s not covering the news, he’s making it, as a bacon and egg dealer on the side. He gets caught by the local constabulary but Detective Blunt has bigger fish to fry and wants to use Wes to get at the biggest illegal food dealers in the Federation.

Wes will be watched closely by Detective Hillary Halstead, who falls for his charm (and his steaks) and the two get intimately close. Together they will face the dangers of the underworld and enough gut-filling foods to film a feature-length dining scene ala Tom Jones.

I really loved the idea of this book, and the on-point pertinent satire. We’ve had leaders declare a war on drugs, a war on communism, war on immigration, war on business monopolies. How much of a stretch is it to suggest someone might declare a war on junk food – particularly in light of the fact that Americans are generally more obese than those of any other country and Americans also consume more junk food than anyone else.

Once the novelty of this idea wore off, however, the book began to sag a bit.  Wes’s slow, dry manner made it hard to keep up the energy needed to stay interested. What’s in the next chapter? More Food?  more sex?  And this is different from the other chapters how…?

This was fun, but I feel it would have been better off with tighter editing and a sharper focus toward the end.

Looking for a good book? Bacon and Egg Man by Ken Wheaton is a clever dystopian novel that follows in the footsteps of satire novels such as Catch-22, Candide, and Slaughterhouse-Five but doesn’t quite live up to these literary giants.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

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Bacon and Egg Man

author: Ken Wheaton

publisher: Premier Digital Publishing

ISBN: 162467111X

paperback, 274 pages

GLOW – Tim Jordan

Posted by Daniel on February 19, 2021
Posted in: SF/FANTASY. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

From the publisher’s description, as found on Goodreads:

After the Nova-Insanity shattered Earth’s civilization, the Genes and Fullerenes Corporation promised to bring humanity back from the brink. Many years later, various factions have formed, challenging their savior and vying for a share of power and control.

Glow follows the lives of three very different beings, all wrestling mental instability in various forms; Rex – a confused junkie battling multiple voices in his head; Ellayna – the founder of the GFC living on an orbital satellite station and struggling with paranoia; and Jett – a virtually unstoppable robotic assassin, questioning his purpose of creation.

…

I think that’s all you really need to know, although the description does go on.

Three beings wrestling mental instability, including a robotic assassin questioning his purpose.  Uhhhh….  That alone would suggest that either this is going to be a wild, Philip K. Dick-like tale or a messy conglomerate of ideas.  The possibility of the former is what had me excited to read it, but unfortunately it came across as the latter.

There’s a lot going on here … a LOT … but that shouldn’t be a detriment to the story – it should enhance the reader’s desire to put it all together. Unfortunately it is a detriment. We get bogged down in the weight of this world and all the information that we have to receive in order to make sense of it all.And somehow there’s characters in here, involved in the story, but I never felt I got to know them and I certainly cared even less about them.

A big chunk of the plot revolves around ‘Glow’ – a nanotech drug. While there was a pretty interesting facet of this drug (the ability to survive from host to host, carrying portions of the previous host(s) into the next host), I really couldn’t shake the feeling that this was so familiar.

Drugs and drug use in science fiction is not a new concept but it does feel as though we’ve suddenly seen a rash of ‘tech drugs’ in recent sci-fi and I can name three that have come from publisher Angry Robot (Ramez Naam’s Nexus series; Ferrett Steinmetz’s Flex series [okay … not a tech drug, but a high-profile drug around which the series is based]; and Amanda Bridgeman’s Salvi Brentt series’ drugs).

‘Glow’ didn’t feel new and creative but rather a slightly creative rehash of what has gone (recently) before.

Looking for a good book? Glow, by Tim Jordan, is a science fiction novel that tries to encompass too much in a wildly inventive manner and the result is a difficult to read mess.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Glow

author: Tim Jordan

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 0857668439

paperback, 400 pages

ADMIRAL – Sean Danker

Posted by Daniel on February 17, 2021
Posted in: SF/FANTASY. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

There was a time when I wouldn’t have even considered reading a military fiction book, even military science fiction. But the descriptions I had seen for Sean Danker’s Admiral looked really appealing to me so I thought I’d give it a read. I’m glad I did.

A ship in deep space has for sleepers (individuals in a cryogenic stasis) aboard.  They are members of the Evagardian Imperial Service. The ship loses power and brings the individuals out of their sleep.  They all seem a bit groggy and unfamiliar with one another.  The last to wake is in a sleeper pod bearing an admiral’s insignia. And so the individual takes command over the other three (an ensign, a private, and a lieutenant).  But is he really an admiral?

They find themselves stranded on a planet, their supplies running out, no way to send a distress call, and their limited sensors indicate they may not be alone.  Can someone who may or may not really be an admiral command this small team and keep everyone safe until help arrives?  Will the three others support and follow the one they think is possibly an admiral? Why did their ship suddenly lose control? Where are they and is anyone else near?

Sean Danker has written a powerful science fiction mystery with a great deal of suspense.  There are some shades of Alien here, but this story is much more about the four protagonists. Who are they? Who are they to one another? Who are they to those who sent them out on the ship?

The action is intense and because we get to spend some time with each of the four protagonists we get to experience their concerns and fears, which compounds our own. I felt as though we never really know what is happening, but that puts the reader in the same position as the characters. This helps us empathize with them, creating an intense experience.

This book was Danker’s debut, and he really hit a homerun.  There are now six books in the Admiral series as I write this and I’m definitely going to go look for the next one right away.

Looking for a good book? Admiral, by Sean Dankers, is a solid, suspenseful, sci-fi mystery, well worth reading.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Admiral

author: Sean Danker

series: Evagardian #1

publisher: Ace Books

ISBN: 0451475798

hardcover, 309 pages

CAPTAIN MOXLEY AND THE EMBERS OF THE EMPIRE – Dan Hanks

Posted by Daniel on February 12, 2021
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

It is 1952 and World War II is over, but it’s still fresh in people’s minds.  And when you’re an ace fighter pilot who worked privately for a secret branch of the U.S. government, you’re now out of work and looking for excitement.  Samantha “Sam” Moxley is that fighter pilot – a dominant woman in a male-dominated service. Sam steps up and takes charge when things get tough and she thrives on adventure.  Now she realizes that the organization that she once worked for, known as “The Nine,” has to be stopped from getting their hands on a special key that leads to the renowned Hall of Records.

Sam pulls together a team to help her because she knows first hand the resources that The Nine have to draw from to get what they want, and right now they want Sam’s sister.
It’s hard to imagine any reader picking up this book and not making the comparison to Indiana Jones or Benjamin Gates. In fact the book almost relies on the reader being familiar with the action hero stereotype.  Knowing the type, we then know how unusual it is for a woman to be in the role and the author doesn’t have to work too hard defining the character.
The plot and story are right out of the adventure movie world – stop the bad guys (played by big government) from gaining too much power (because we know that absolute power corrupts absolutely).  But there will be obstacles in the way, often with a supernatural bent to them.
Author Danks Hanks cranks up the action and keeps it revving through the entire book. I’m not sure this is good, though.
The action seems to hold steady at an even pace, so it stops feeling exciting. This pace sort of works when you are watching a movie like The Mummy, Tomb Raider, or, yes, Indiana Jones, but in a 370 page book we need a little more character development time with action folding out of the plot, rather than the plot simply being the action.
The supernatural elements that are hinted at are never fully brought to light.  Perhaps this is held back as a teaser for further adventures, but it comes across as sloppy writing – a forgotten element left unfinished.
I had really enjoyed another pulp-style action book from publisher Angry Robot a little while back and so looked forward to continuing the trend, but this particular venture doesn’t work. I liked the idea and I think I’d like the characters if I got to know them.
Looking for a good book? Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire by Dan Hanks is a recreation of the Indiana Jones adventures with a woman as adventurer protagonist. There’s plenty of action but it’s not built around a terribly exciting story.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire
author: Dan Hanks
publisher: Angry Robot
ISBN: 0857668722
paperback, 380 pages

A TEST OF COURAGE – Justina Ireland

Posted by Daniel on January 25, 2021
Posted in: CHILDREN'S, SF/FANTASY, YA. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I am all in favor of anything that will get school-aged kids to read.  Books based on a popular television or movie franchise are a great way to get kids reading, and is there any better franchise out there right now than the Disney-owned Star Wars series?

There’s a new space station about to be commissioned and there will be many high-level dignitaries arriving for the dedication.  A ship on the way to the ceremony experiences catastrophic explosions, ripping the ship apart. Fortunately, a maintenance in the area is able to rescue the passengers and they are able limp along to a habitable moon while they wait for rescue.  But is the moon already inhabited?  Are there unknown dangers?

Teen Jedi, Vernestra, is among the survivors.  She is currently charged with protecting her padawan, a young inventor (Avon Starros) and J-8, Starros’s unusual droid.  The two will face a number of tests, challenging the youth to stay the course and trust in the Force.

The writing is crisp and there’s plenty of intrigue and action to keep young readers engaged. And having our protagonist a young girl is a sure-fire way to get all genders of young readers interested.

I’m not particularly well-versed in the Star Wars world but I know that there are many dedicated fans who know all about and regularly discuss (argue) Star Wars canon. In fact, I don’t much care one way or the other what is ‘canon’ – I just want to read a good story.  But knowing just the little I do about this world, I have to wonder about the idea of having a fifteen or sixteen year old Jedi Knight. Not as a padawan, but a full-fledged Jedi. Great for selling books and maybe even a Disney television show, but as part of their ‘official canon’?

As a book, this works just fine.  This doesn’t have to be set in the Star Wars universe – this could be any teenage sci-fi hero.  We get plenty of teen concerns – doubts about their own abilities and trying to find their way in an adult world while still struggling with the awkwardness of coming out of childhood.

How this fits in the Star Wars: High Republic universe, I have no idea, but that’s not part of my milieu.

Looking for a good book? A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland is a good middle-grade sci-fi adventure book that happens to be set in the Star Wars High Republic universe.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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A Test of Courage

author: Justina Ireland

series: Star Wars Disney Canon Junior Novel, Star Wars: The High Republic

publisher: Disney Lucasfilm Press

ISBN: 1368057306

paperback, 240 pages

STARSHIP REPO – Patrick S. Tomlinson

Posted by Daniel on January 4, 2021
Posted in: HUMOR, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

What happens if you don’t make your payments on the starship you’re flying? It gets repossessed, of course. But what does it take to repossess a starship? Firstname Lastname is about to find out.


Firstname Lastname is a young woman (and yes, that’s really her legal name, due to a clerical error, but she goes by “First”) who is one of the very few humans left in the universe (a botched invasion of Earth left both the invaders and humanity nearly exterminated) and she’s wandering, looking for work wherever she can find it. Often that comes by way of jobs that aren’t exactly legal. She’s hijacking cars and selling them to a fence when she finds herself caught in a trap specifically to catch car hijackers. But this trap isn’t set by law enforcement, but by an individual pulling together a crew of skilled thieves to work as a legal (but just barely) team repossessing starships.

It takes some time for the team to adjust to, and trust, one another, but they find a common bond in wanting to truly be legit, and they respect each others’ talents. First may finally have a home and a family.

This is a fast read that doesn’t take itself too seriously. This is light space opera (think Guardians of the Galaxy without the cute raccoon and tree or Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) with a wafer-thin plot. In fact, the plot feels more like a set-up for future stories because we don’t get much here other than an introduction to the characters as individuals and as a team. We get a sense of what they are capable of but what they are doing never feels as important as how it affects their relationships.

I quite enjoyed author Patrick S. Tomlinson’s ‘Children of a Dead Earth’ series (is this a recurring theme in Tomlinson’s work … a dead earth?) and was really interested in reading this new series. I like Tomlinson’s writing style but we’ll need to see more plot and less forced humor for me to continue with future volumes.

Looking for a good book? Starship Repo by Patrick S. Tomlinson is a quick, light space opera that doesn’t offer much interesting story but does set up some fun characters that will hopefully be challenged in future books.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Starship Repo

author: Patrick S. Tomlinson

series: The Breach

publisher: Tor Books

ISBN: 1250302714

paperback, 336 pages

THE RUSSIAN CAGE – Charlaine Harris

Posted by Daniel on December 14, 2020
Posted in: SF/FANTASY. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I jumped into this series three books in, and I think that was a mistake! Sometimes you can pick up a book in the middle of a series and still get everything you need to know about the characters and relationships and the world in which it is set.  And sometimes each book relies so heavily on the previous books that you might easily become lost if you haven’t read the previous installments.  This books leans toward the latter.

Lizbeth Rose is a woman on a mission.  She is traveling from Texas to California to rescue Prince Eli, her partner.  Except that they aren’t “Texas” and “California” anymore.  They are Texoma and the Holy Russian Empire.

Looking at the map provided in the book, Canada has expanded its territory and has taken over some the former United States’ northern states.  Mexico’s boarder with the U.S. has changed a bit, and the United States has been divided into five countries: Britannia, Dixie, Texoma, New America, and Holy Russian Empire.  Why?  I’m not sure.  Either that information was provided in an earlier book, or it hasn’t been given yet.  But what’s clear is that this is an alternate future and not all the territories are on good terms with one another.

We get the impression that Lizbeth is a fighter, a gunslinger. The few times that she is not permitted to carry a gun (or even a knife), she feels lost, uncomfortable.

Prince Eli is being held captive inside the Holy Russian Empire and Lizbeth manages to stop an assassination attempt on the HRE empress and gains an audience with the tsarina.  She also manages to visit a school where her younger sister, Felicia, is studying. She finds she will need Felicia’s help navigating through the HRE.

The tsar and tsarina had no idea that Prince Eli Savarov was being held captive – by their own guards – and promise to get him released.

Lizbeth and Felicia have ‘Grigori’ powers.  They are descendants of Grigori Rasputin and now they are being hunted since Rasputin died.  Rasputin’s blood was keeping the Tsar alive.  With Rasputin gone, the Tsar’s only hope is that blood of his descendants will have the same powerful effect.

Charlaine Harris is a very good writer (I’ve enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse books I’ve read, as well as the Aurora Teagarden, Lily Bard, and Midnight, Texas books) and there is a lot going on in this book.  But I definitely felt  behind when I started this, and even further behind the more I read. I’d like to go and read the first two books in the series and see if this all makes more sense.

Looking for a good book? The Russian Cage, by Charlaine Harris, looks to be an exciting series, but as a stand-alone book, you can’t help but feel you’ve missed something really important to understanding the story. Try the first book before reading this.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Russian Cage

author: Charlaine Harris

series: Gunnie Rose #3

publisher: Gallery / Saga Press

ISBN: 1481494996

hardcover, 304 pages