Earth, 1975 … but with a different history than the one we currently know.  It’s been 25 years since man first walked on the moon, and 18 years since a space fleet stopped an alien invasion.

Enter Brooklyn Lamontagne. A 20-something unskilled dude floundering through life. To avoid a prison sentence for a stupid crime of 8-track tape theft that went wrong and left one man dead, Brooklyn agrees to join the EOF (Extra-Orbital Forces) for a ten year stint. Little does he know what he’s in for. From bootcamp in Texas to special training in the Arctic, to the moon for computer work, to deep space on a ship where the entire crew are gay men, to being a pin-cushion for a mad-scientist doctor experimenting on expendable men, to being shot and presumed and left for dead in space, to being prisoner and sent to work in a camp on Mercury.

It is there, on Mercury, that Brooklyn learns about the aliens who invaded decades earlier and, more importantly, of potential plans for a new invasion.  But what can he do, as a prisoner in a place so remote that even fully-loaded weapons are cut into scrap metal because there is no one to use a weapon against.

This was solid, wall-to-wall action, a thrilling space opera – perfect for readers who don’t want to spend too much time getting reflective or deeply into relationship building.

We get just enough of Brooklyn’s back story to recognize that he’s on a down-ward spiral and he’s going to be that character who doesn’t have much to lose, making his choices for action that much simpler to make. And in this, author R.W.W. Greene doesn’t disappoint.  Brooklyn ‘grows up’ through the course of the book and he’s kind of fun to follow. And because Greene keeps the action moving so rapidly, we never really get the chance to sit back and reflect, which is probably good because we’d probably realize how thin the plot actually is.

The end comes about leaving waaaaay too many questions unanswered. In fact, the last quarter of the book seems to be building to something and just as we get there, the book comes to end. Meaning this is the first in a series and by itself an incomplete book. I’ve noticed some people writing that this works as a stand-alone, but I disagree, given how many questions remain unanswered.

Looking for a good book? Mercury Rising by R.W.W. Greene is an exciting space opera but the plot points remain unresolved at the close of the book, which is too bad.  The writing itself would have me wanting to read the next volume, I didn’t need an incomplete book to try to lure me to the next volume.

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

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Mercury Rising

author: R.W.W. Greene

series: ?

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 9780857669728

paperback, 378 pages

Welcome to Liberty. An independent state, free from all the politics and machinations of the United States’ government. However, its citizens recognize that it’s simply a matter f swapping one government for another and here paranoia runs high – and for good reason.

Eleanor navigates her free state while exploring her newly discovered (or newly defined) magical powers. She’s invited to join the local witch coven, who will help her understand and use her powers. But there’s a testing period where the coven needs to get to know Eleanor and she them.

Eleanor is given a task by the coven leader to help another coven search for a missing witch, Daria. Daria may be linked to the water shortage that Liberty is currently experiencing. Eleanor wouldn’t mind this mission, but she’s stuck with Stan, a beer-drinking, talking cat. Stan used to be Eleanor’s co-worked until she transformed him into his current form after an unpleasant incident.

This book is one of the wildest, most creative speculative fiction novels I’ve read in awhile.  It’s definitely not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you don’t mind a wild journey, this is worth a shot for you.

The book plays with time a little bit. We start in the middle of the action and only later in the book do we go back to get some of the history. This caught me off guard and I had to go back and re-read a couple of things to make sure I was understanding what was happening.

Stan the cat is hilarious. I generally don’t enjoy the talking cat ideas in a lot of fantasy, but this one, who had been a pretty selfish, jerk of a human being and who really hasn’t learned his lesson even yet, was a perfect foil for Eleanor.

One of my favorite moments in the book happens about 2/3 of the way through. Eleanor is being tested by the coven. Part of the test is having witches compete with one another and the competition gets to Eleanor – feeling more pressure to ‘win’ and she takes a shortcut and her transformation spell causes a plant to die.

The moment hung there again, and Eleanor felt the shame of it. She had cheated, and cheated badly. She looked at Gloria, trying to gauge how severe her punishment would be. Surely she wouldn’t be dismissed, would she? This felt so vital to her now, so much a part of her belief in herself. What would she be if she couldn’t go on to become a full-fledged Wiccan? How would she learn what she needed? “I failed,” she said quietly. “I know it and feel it. I didn’t want Chandler to be better than I was, so I tried to steal knowledge from her, when I didn’t see it.”

Gloria nodded, and to Eleanor’s relief, she smiled. “That’s progress, isn’t it? You can’t overcome your faults if you don’t know what your faults are, can you? So you’re willing to steal. And you’re jealous. And proud. Anything else?”

“Impatient,” Eleanor said. “Acting without thinking.” She waited. “I think that’s it.”

“Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone with those attributes had power?”

“Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone with those attributes had power?” – Wow.  That resonated.

This is my first experience with the writing of Karen Heuler (other than a short story back in 2017) and I’m excited to read some of her backlist titles as well as anything new.

Looking for a good book? The Splendid City by Karen Heuler is a creative journey that is part urban fantasy, part supernatural fiction, and 100% fun.

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

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The Splendid City

author: Karen Heuler

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 9780857669858

paperback, 275 pages

There’s a corporate structure to working in Hell, and Peyote Trip knows this better than most.  He is a dealmaker, currently working on the fifth level where the basic utilities don’t work and haven’t for centuries and the only thing to drink is Jägermeister. Another dealmaker is Cal. They share some of their work and frustrations, but since they both want to move up they keeps their tips and tricks to themselves. Fortunately, Peyote sees a way to move up the corporate ladder and there couldn’t be a better time for that chance.

Peyote needs one more member of the Harrison family to sell their soul, which should have been easier than it’s been. But with their heading off to their lake house, with Ruth, the best friend of the daughter Mickey, going along, the family dysfunction will be at its peak – a great time for making a deal with the devil!

All is not fair on earth or in hell and things are not always as they seem on the surface.

This is such a promising story.  The concept gets an A+. But the execution leaves much to be desired.

Peyote seems to be the focus of the book but his story is slightly less interesting than that of the Harrison’s. Slightly. Neither is particularly engaging.  And this is the biggest problem with the book.

The story of Peyote and that of the Harrison’s would appear to be tightly linked but the reader really has to force this connection throughout the reading. We alternate back and forth and we know there’s supposed to be a connection – this is what the book is leading us to. But it takes much too long to get us there and in the meantime we’re spending more and more time for setup that doesn’t pay off.

Peyote tries too hard to come off as the suave, sassy underworld hipster. He wants to be Mr. Applegate from Damn Yankees, or Crowley from Good Omens but he’s not. And without that charisma or appeal he really is just a low level hell worker.

I really wanted to like this but at its best this just incredibly average.

Looking for a good book? Sign Here by Claudia Lux is dark fantasy masquerading as a comedy that doesn’t quite work.

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

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Sign Here

author: Claudia Lux

publisher: Berkley

ISNB: 9780593545768

hardcover, 416 pages

Grimshaw Griswald Grimsby is not a member of the magical elite. Nor is he an Auditor, after being kicked out of the training program for being “not Department material.” Still, he’s convinced he’s got skills and he hasn’t given up hope that he’ll still be able to prove himself. But it soon won’t be a case of ‘hoping’ to prove himself, but a necessity.

Grimshaw’s mentor, sometimes known as the most dangerous witch alive, is murdered, just down the street from where Grimshaw works and now the Auditors have put Grimshaw as their number one suspect.

With Auditors on his tail, supposedly the best of the best, Grimsby forms an alliance with ‘the Huntsman’ aka Mayflower – a retired legend – and a creature from ‘Elsewhere’ named Wudge and he’ll need to step up his own game to stay ahead of the Auditors and try to find the one who actually killed his mentor.

I knew, going in to this book, that this wasn’t a Jim Butcher (author of The Dresden Files series) novel. I was not aware at the time that James J. Butcher is Jim Butcher’s son. But not knowing this, I couldn’t understand how or why someone would publish a book that resembled Harry Dresden and The Dresden Files so much.  And it does … it does resemble Chicago’s best-known wizard. Clearly James J. has learned a thing or two from Jim.

There are more than a fair number of similarities between Grimshaw and Harry Dresden – both talented in magic and both more than a bit rogue within their communities. But there are plenty of differences as well. Grismby isn’t the hardened, grizzled old wizard. He’s young – college-aged – and hasn’t seen it all … yet. He’s a bit more unsure of himself and, by necessity, throws in with those who may or may not be good for him.

There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of world-building here.  This is our world with one difference – magic is out there and everyone knows it. Otherwise this is a fairly typical urban fantasy, fitting right in alongside his father’s works or that of Seanan McGuire’s Toby Daye series.

Grimsby and Mayflower are fun characters to follow and I suspect that this companionship will generate some fun stories. They are, with this first book (a debut novel) little more than stereotypes – pretty much the same character types you’d see in way too much urban fantasy.  Hopefully, as the books continue, these characters and their relationship will grow and develop to become much more unique.

Looking for a good book? Dead Man’s Hand by James J. Butcher is a decent debut, urban fantasy novel with room to grow the characters. Being the child of a famous author will earn Butcher some interest, but he’ll need to step up and work harder than most to prove he’s fit for the arena.

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

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Dead Man’s Hand

author: James J. Butcher

series: The Unorthodox Chronicles #1

publisher: Ace

ISBN: 9780593440414

hardcover, 384 pages

Two stories in one …

The Environmental Rescue Team is an old organization dedicated to preventing the collapse of ecosystems. Destry is an analyst with the E.R.T. currently working on the planet Sask-E to terraform an earth-like world. Her companion is a moose named, Whistle. But Destry discovers an ancient city on this supposedly barren world, hidden inside an old volcano. She knows what the E.R.T. wants her to do, but Destry is the one on the planet and she’ll need to make a decision, which will have repercussions one way or the other, depending on her decision.

Jump ahead 700 years and Misha, Destry’s protege, is now building a planet-wide transit system, working with Sulfur – an engineer from Volcano City. The two discover a secret about the corporation that has been buying up massive amounts of land around the planet. The information is too valuable and important not to share, but too dangerous to do anything other than keep it quiet. What will they do?

This book has some absolutely incredible world-building (pun intended). Author Annalee Newitz has really taken pains to bring us into a world that is both familiar and completely foreign. I felt as though we were dropped into the middle of the opening story and, like being dropped in the middle of a forest, we had to figure out what was happening as we made our way along.

I was excited by this and I read through this quite eagerly. But then the story changed. Or rather, then we got a new story. And I didn’t care.

Destry was a compelling character, and her work on Sask-E was fascinating – as was the company she worked for. Misha and Sulfur were quite bland and it seemed as though we went from a character-driven story to a plot-driven story with completely different characters. And the plot hadn’t hooked me enough to keep me interested.

There’s so much potential here, but the strong start disappeared and we were left with a story that needed some terraforming.

Looking for a good book? The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz starts out strong but when the book changes characters, setting, and time frame, that strength disappears.

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

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The Terraformers

author: Annalee Newitz

publisher: Tor Books

ISBN: 9781250228017

hardcover, 338 pages

I have recently enjoyed a few of the new Tim Pratt novels and I thought maybe I would go back and read some of his earlier works. As it turns out, this is apparently his first published novel (if my sources are correct).

This is the story of Marzipan (“Marzi”) – a young woman who writes and illustrates a graphic novel by the title of The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl. That book is what one refers to as ‘cowpunk’ – a hybrid of Western fiction and steampunk.

As you might imagine, writing and illustrating your own graphic novel doesn’t make for a big paycheck and Marzi does have another job as a night manager at a coffee shop. It is there that life gets a bit wonky for her when she begins seeing some of her characters (those she’s created for her graphic novel) in the coffee shop.

One of the things that Pratt does nicely here is blend the reality and the fantasy so that we’re always guessing. Is that really a crazy woman, or is this a flight of fantasy?

Pratt also makes the concept of Rangergirl and the graphic novel sound really fun. I don’t currently, regularly read any graphic novels, but if this existed I’d definitely want to check it out.

I’m by no means a Pratt expert, but I do think one can tell that this is an early book in the author’s career. It’s not the tightest of narratives and there is a fair amount of over-explaining. Mansplaining? This pulls away from the concept just enough to take away some of the enjoyment.

‘Cowpunk’ may be a new moniker (for me) but the concept has certainly been around.  Anyone ever watch The Wild Wild West?

This was a casually fun read but I’m glad it wasn’t my introduction to Pratt – it would not have made me curious or anxious to read more of his work.

Looking for a good book? The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl by Tim Pratt is a fun, fast fantasy. Delightful in its own way, and good for a beach read, but not the sort of book you’ll be thinking about much past the last chapter.

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The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl

author: Tim Pratt

publisher: Spectra

ISBN: 9780553383386

paperback, 416 pages

Book Two?! This is the second book in a duology?!  I’m such a Chuck Wendig fan … how did I miss the first book? Fortunately, I never felt like I was missing anything as relationships and circumstances felt well explained through the course of the book.

The story: Five years ago, many ordinary Americans fell victim to a strange affliction that caused them walk, zombie-like, to a destination that only they seemed to know. Others followed them, to protect them. They became known as ‘shepherds.’

The secret destination was Ouray, Colorado and this town in the middle of the mountains would become one of the last bastions of civilization as the sleepwalking epidemic was only the first incident in what would be the end of the familiar world and the start of something new and very different.

Those gathered in Ouray – sleepwalkers, shepherds, and survivors alike – struggle to understand their new situation and form new relationships with the strangers around them. Trust in one another is something to be earned, but there may not be time for this as Ouray is not the only civilization oasis. Other locations and other individuals are gathering, including some with nothing but the acquisition of power in mind.

There may be an answer to what has happened, but it will mean a dangerous journey and there are no guarantees they’ll find what they’re looking for.

This is an absolute epic.  Stephen King did it with The Stand, and Justin Cronin did it with The Passage. Now Chuck Wendig has done it with The Wanderers (and this, the follow-up, Wayward) … an apocalyptic, man-made (sort of) epidemic that vastly changes the landscape of the civilized world. And, just as I enjoyed King’s and Cronin’s works, I really liked Wendig’s bleak future.

For me, one of the hallmarks of Wendig’s writing is his absolute viciousness. He pulls no punches and aims for the jugular.  And that’s his heroes. And by that standard, this book was just slightly subdued, with only his villain, the self-proclaimed new President of the United States, Ed Creel, striking out cruelly and viscously.

The book offers a really nice balance of character and story. I believe you need to be invested in what happens and that usually starts with the characters and there’s a core group here, although even among this small group a few rise up and the ultimate confrontation will center around them.

This is a powerful book and I’m really eager now to read the first book in the duology.

Looking for a good book? Wayward, by Chuck Wendig, is an apocalyptic epic by one of the best, raw, sci-fi authors out there today.

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

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Wayward

author: Chuck Wendig

series: Wanderers #2

publisher: Del Rey Books

ISBN: 9780593158777

hardcover, 816 pages