Book Review: Kinfolk

Kinfolk by August Niehaus
My GoodReads rating: 3 of 5 stars

Overall Kinfolk was an enjoyable book.

 
Kin, the main character, was supposed to be a war-hardened badass but he came across as an incompetent, constantly horny, distracted basket case. His awesomeness is told to us more often than shown to us.

Fraya, the captain of the pirate crew Kin serves with, is always kissing her crew, flirting with them, trying to seduce one or more of them... and it's never explained why she's like that. It's implied her crew loves her and would do anything for her, but it seems more like her crew are just thirsty for her. Most of the rest of the crew are side characters.

 
The main antagonist, Tana, is a cartoony villain who seems like she just wants to have sex with everything. In fact, a lot of the characters seem like all they want to do is have sex with the main character. Tana's motivations are revealed late, but not thoroughly explored nor explained other than cursorily.

Cessie, the young girl Kin kind of adopts, is awesome and the only believable character.

The best part of the book is that there's a treasure hunt, but it's not resolved, and that ongoing threat is saved for future books.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy from Netgalley for the purposes of this review.  

View all my reviews

Book Review: The Ninth Metal

The Ninth Metal by Benjamin Percy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A superhero origin story in disguise as a rough family drama.

Only, the superheroes are more anti-hero. There's really no likeable characters in this book. John, arguably, the main character is a murderer and his family is basically the local mafia. Stacie, the rookie cop, is a wholesome character but is changed by the events of the book. Victoria basically tortures a kid "for science" but knows it's wrong and wants to free him. There are other characters that come and go, all are driven to extremes because of the gold-rush atmosphere after a meteor crashes into their town and leaves masses of a new metal that has world-changing properties.

Speaking of the meteor - it's like if the vibranium meteor from the Marvel movie Black Panther crashed in Minnesota instead of Wakanda. The metal has many properties similar to that comic book metal, at least as portrayed in the MCU movies.

Hints sprinkled throughout the story indicate there may be more to the metal than just as a power source and creation of superheroes. Lovecraftian dreams, portals to elsewhere are just a part of the subtle world-building I hope is explored deeper in the sequel. I didn't realize this was the first book in a series until I looked it up on Goodreads. I'm intrigued enough by the world-building to read the sequel when it comes out.

Review eARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.

View all my reviews

Book Review: Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back

From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back by Elizabeth Schaefer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not nearly as good as the first one. I found myself not caring about most of the characters that were created for this book. There wasn't any "WOW, So that's what was going on during the movie!" in most of the stories as there was during the first book.

That being said here are a few of the stories that stood out to me:
The Willrow Hood story - interesting to have some of his (and the camtono's) backstory.
The Man Who Built Cloud City story - I knew what was going on with him pretty much from the start, but it was still a cute story.
The Wampa story was interesting/sad.
The tauntaun stories made me mad at the Rebels...


View all my reviews

Book Review: Devolution by Max Brooks

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre

When Mt. Ranier erupts, a green community in the middle of nowhere is overrun by Sasquatch and must find a way to survive, or die trying.

I liked the main character, Kate, relates her current experiences back to what she experienced during the earthquake in California. Like seeing the evacuation traffic stuck on the highways, comparing the Earthquakes happening at night, the differences in the shaking, general lifestyles, etc. Being from California, she calls I-5 “the 5” which apparently is a California thing; in the Seattle area we do NOT call it “the 5.” I found it clever whenever she addressed something ridiculous they needed to do to Siri to point out how reliant on technology they’d become.

I liked Dan’s character-change from when he first arrives to when another kicked him into action, the foreshadowing in the brother’s/park ranger’s notes: the first “find” of the animal remains, etc.

The use of bigfoot lore added to the “realism” of the story: the smells, knocking/banging/howls, rock-throwing, mention of Grover Krantz a couple of times, etc. As did the use of PNW details: blackberry bushes (are EVERYWHERE in the PNW), there really is a Whole Foods on Denny Way, Puyallup “Did I spell that right?” Heck, not even locals can spell or pronounce it right!

During the final batter, I liked the use of broken glass and their cars. The exploding houses were gratuitous but I liked it.

I had to Google what “Devolution” means:

Definition, from Google: noun - the transfer or delegation of power to a lower level, especially by central government to local or regional administration. This seems appropriate, as this is a story of the transfer of power from, eventually, the Bigfoots to the group.
Similar: Decentralization, delegation, dispersal, distribution, transfer, surrender, relinquishment. - All appropriate for this book.
FORMAL: descent or degeneration to a lower or worse state. Definitely the characters of Tony and Yvette.
LAW: the legal transfer of property from one owner to another. Applies to Kate’s house? Wasn’t it her brother's?

Some things I wasn’t crazy about:

It’s written as a “journal” or “found footage” - I’m not a fan of that style of writing. The book had footnotes. Which were only necessary because of the “journal” trope. They should have been worked into the narrative somehow. But since it’s supposed to be a “real” book about these events, I guess it fits. I was confused about the parts that aren’t Kate’s journals. Who’s writing them? Her brother? The “author” of the book? Multiple people?

I didn’t relate to any of the characters, so I didn’t really care about any of them. They were all caricatures or stereotypes. There was so much talk/info in the beginning of the book about the Mount St. Helen eruption that I forgot about the current setting, the modernity of Greenloop, that I thought the book was taking place around the time of that eruption. I didn’t remember the current-day setting until we got back to Greenloop. I was 42% in, and there was still no horror. Not even much suspense. Just the vague sense of foreboding that’s telegraphed from the parts that aren’t Kate’s journals… and the book jacket. Mostly just “this thing happened. Then this thing happened.” At about 60% in we finally get some action/thriller-type stuff.

I’m not a fan of graphic descriptions of gore. There was a lot in the final battle. Yeah, it’s sold as a horror novel so I expected it at some point, still don’t like it.

A couple of other items:

For someone writing a journal or letters to her brother or whatever, that wasn’t fond of the idea in the first place, Kate sure is good at writing and noting every little detail.

The end. While I kinda liked the author/brother/whoever is writing trying to come up with logical things that could have happened to Kate and Pal based on evidence, I didn’t like not knowing. It felt kind of like the ending the Clue movie: “but here’s what REALLY happened!” Give us a scene with a helicopter landing and seeing them cowering in a doorway, give us a scene of them walking out of the mountain into a SAR bivouac, give a reunion scene with Kate and her brother. Actually end Kate’s story.

Note, I was given a copy of this book by the publisher to participate in the Emerald City Comic Con Horror Book Club, which was canceled along with the Con due to the COVID-19 virus plaguing the Seattle area (and many other places).


View all my reviews

Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone

Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone

So... when I read the back of the book. I thought to myself, I know exactly what the twist is and how it ends. I got about 10% in and couldn't take it anymore, I jumped to that last couple of chapters, and I was pretty close. Gave up on it.


View all my reviews

Postgraduate by Ian Shane

Postgraduate by Ian Shane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ian Shane's writing in Postgraduate captures the drama, friendships, and struggles of young adults in college still finding themselves, and of the middle-aged struggling with discovering who they've become is not who they set out to be. The loss of friends, family, and relationships is felt throughout.

Each chapter is titled after a song in the playlist of the life of the main character, Danny, and shows Shane's own love of the music from his college years. Danny's recover from a divorce leads to a mid-life crisis; as he rebuilds his music collection he decides to start an internet radio station built on the bones of his old college radio station. A chance call from an old professor gives Danny the chance to recover a lost love, attempt to mend old friendships, and mend himself in the process.

Within Postgraduate, I like how the story flows from Danny's middle-age life, back to his college years telling the story of what started him on his path, and back to Danny's current life as he must face the music and start all over.


View all my reviews

Good book! Stars Uncharted

Stars Uncharted by S.K. Dunstall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book hit many of my likes in a story!

• Space travel.
• Set in an indeterminate future time.
• Space salvage (though not much of this, and mostly just kind of mentioned).
• No aliens.
• Tech that just exists, with no need to explain it.
• Male and female characters that don't fall in love and are just friends or co-workers (though a couple of them maybe started down that path).
• Main characters living on the raggedy-edge of making a living, worrying about where their next paycheck is coming from, but happily working for it doing what they want.

And probably many more.

Read it!

View all my reviews

Aye, Robot - a review

Aye, Robot (A Rex Nihilo Adventure) by Robert Kroese
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another fun Rex Nihilo book. Not as ...crazy as the first one, but still had some moments of "Did I really just read that? And why did I enjoy it so much?"

When I first found this book on Amazon, I tweeted this:

So yeah, I'll be looking out for more Rex Nihilo books.




View all my reviews

Book Review: Dark Disciple (Star Wars)

Dark Disciple: Star Wars by Christie Golden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dark Disciple is, I think, probably the best Star Wars novel I have read. It may also be worst Star Wars novel I have ever read, darn it.

First, let's just get this out of the way: if Obi-Wan ever says he has an idea, or might know someone for a part in a plan, you say NO! And get away quickly. Kenobi's plans never end well.

The story has some predictable elements, but they're executed well and in a Star Wars way that makes sense. It's also fun getting there, and also heart wrenching.

Not to spoil too much: I expected someone to die within these pages. I understand why the choice was for that character within the story, throughout the whole of Star Wars - I still didn't want it to happen.

If you are a fan of Star Wars, especially The Clone Wars series, you must read Dark Disciple!

View all my reviews

Book Review: Leviathan

Leviathan by Jack Campbell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow. What a ride.

Black Jack Geary has certainly taken the First Fleet into battles where the odds seem insurmountable, but he's Black Jack and has always managed to scrape through. Now he's facing the dark ships, and their AIs are designed to act and react like he would!

I really enjoy the Lost Fleet novels. There's plenty of action and down-time as well, but when the combat starts I can't put it down. There's plenty of character within these stories as well, and when we lose one it hurts; when we lose ships-full, it's incomprehensible.

Many surprises lead Geary to the dark fleet's home base where he hopes he can destroy their repair and replenishment facilities since he can't outright destroy the fleet the itself without significant losses to his own fleet. Old friends and new return to help out where they can.

An emotional ending brings the book to a close, though the First Fleet sails on.

Leviathan is great read!



View all my reviews

I received my review copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

Book Review: Lords of the Sith

Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Darth Vader? Scary awesome when he was younger.

I need more Star Wars fiction like this that features Vader in his prime: piloting the heck out of his starfighter, using the Force to do crazy things without thought of failure, plowing through enemies with his lightsaber; you know, still doing the things Anakin Skywalker was doing during the Clone Wars, but blatantly evil.

I really enjoyed the introspection Vader had in his quiet moments, the seeming omniscience Palpatine showed of Vader's thoughts, and Vader's responses to his master questioning and testing him. There need to be more Vader/Palpatine stories!

Also? Palpatine unleashed! He and Vader become stranded together on a planet, and as they make their way to civilization they encounter wildlife and terrorists (freedom fighters) that are trying to kill them. Since they're pretty much alone, Sheev can use the Force without witnesses. I'm just glad it wasn't Jedi facing them when he and Vader both ignited their lightsabers. The lords of the Sith tore through the jungles and caves (and citizens) of Ryloth with a controlled fury.

Darth Sidious expertly manipulated the fledgling rebellion on Ryloth to his own ends, as always. And the sad Imperial presence there suffered as well under an inattentive Moff and a traitorous second-in-command. I really didn't care much about the Imperial characters beyond the Darths, though they served their parts well in the story. There are rumors Moff Mors may be a recurring character. If so, she had better stop being lazy and start serving her Emperor!

It would have been nice to get to meet a young Hera, the daughter of the leader of the rebels on Ryloth. She's mentioned briefly, but we know she becomes the leader of a rebel cell years later in the Star Wars cartoon Rebels.

Many characters die within these pages, and the Emperor achieves his goal; but an ember still remains for the rebellion.

Great space combat, awesome Vader scenes, and the Emperor being cunning. What's not to love?



View all my reviews

I received my review copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

Book Review: Heir to the Jedi

Heir to the Jedi by Kevin Hearne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Heir to the Jedi, by Kevin Hearne, is the third Star Wars book in the "rebooted" expanded universe; where everything going forward now is approved by a story group and will all be official stories.

Heir is set shortly after the original Star Wars movie and is told in first-person from Luke's point of view. I normally don't enjoy first-person POV stories, but this one didn't bother me. I found Luke to be much better at putting his thoughts to paper than trying to express himself verbally to his uncle.

Luke and R2 are given a mission, with a few side missions, and along the way he learns a little bit about himself and a little bit more about using the Force.

If you want to get to know Luke Skywalker when he was fresh from destroying the Death Star, give Heir to the Jedi a read.



View all my reviews

Book Review: Homefront

Homefront by Scott James Magner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fascinating premise, emotional ride, and kind of a twist ending potentially setting up a sequel, Homefront is quite a ride.

We start off the book being introduced to a cast of unusual characters from the Colonies on some kind of mission they don't expect to succeed. These characters appear to have a caste system, and are each of a variety of post-human. Shortly, we're introduced to regular humans as well and their space defense force. From there, the body count rises, and new relationships and families are formed.

I can't really describe more without giving too much away, even though I may have already. Even the blurb from the book itself is intentionally vague.

Homefront brings space battles, ship-board combat, ground combat, plenty of character building and world building, relationships developing and ending, emotions flying all over the place, and plenty of character deaths.

Good stuff!



View all my reviews

Star Wars: Tarkin

Tarkin by James Luceno
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tarkin is the second novel in the new Star Wars unified canon. The novel tells a story featuring Wilhuff Tarkin, shortly before he's promoted from Moff to Grand Moff. It also tells a coming-of-age story for a younger Tarkin back on his home planet, depicting the events that shapes him into the man we know from the film and the cartoons.

There were two casts of characters set during the main story: Tarkin, Vader, and the Imperials; and a group of rebels that steal Tarkin's personal ship and set about attacking Imperial installations. I would have liked to have spent more time getting to know the rebels, and maybe see them turn up in previous or later stories (we might, I don't know). Vader's characterization... interests me. More on the that after I tell what I thought of the book. One little tidbit I found interesting that Luceno tells us in the narrative: Tarkin suspects and all but knows outright that Darth Vader used to be Anakin Skywalker.

I was excited to read Tarkin. The promotional material said Luceno was giving Tarkin the "Plagueis" treatment - the book he wrote about Palpatine's rise to power. I found Plagueis a fascinating read. Tarkin kept me entertained. It was enjoyable, but for the new canon books, New Dawn was better. I found myself wishing to spend more time with the rebels on Tarkin's ship, and with the Emperor on Coruscant (I wish he'd get rid of Mas Ameeda though, that overgrown horned smurf is just a Bib Fortuna wannna-be).

If you're a fan of the original Star Wars movie (Episode IV: A New Hope), Tarkin gives some insight and backstory into one of the main villains. If you're a Star Wars fan in-general, you will pick up Tarkin and happily devour it. It's a good Star Wars book and, so far, the first two novels in the new Star Wars canon are much better than the much of the later Legends novels.


Now, back to Darth Vader's portrayal within the pages of Tarkin. I think Vader must be a difficult persona to put into prose in-general, not just in this book; he's had several different portrayals on-screen that all must agree. There was the Vader in the original Star Wars that was practically screaming at his troopers to tear Leia's ship apart to find the plans, and almost demurred to Tarkin (which is a topic that kind of comes up in this book); there's the Vader from Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi which was quiet, foreboding, and almost terrifying, and an old man that seemed barely able to fight; then there was Anakin from the prequels, a whiny, bratty, Jedi with an overpowerful sense of entitlement and attachment; and finally there was Anakin from the Clone Wars cartoon, a hero, sometimes quiet sometimes bratty, powerful in the Force with an underlying tension, emotional and caring; and finally Darth Vader from Episode III, which was just Anakin from the previous movie turned completely to the Dark Side. How can an author successfully write a character that combines that combines all those differing characterizations. What we see on screen is just a few minutes out of a day, a few days out of a lifetime, for that character. From little Annie's "Yippee!" to Old Vader rasping "tell your sister you were right," we've seen the highlights of Vader's life, with many missing segments.

I can't put my finger on it, but Vader's portrayal felt slightly off. I'm not sure what I expected though. Maybe it's because we don't know him yet in this time period. We don't know how he's handled adapting to his new life, his new master, his new job description, his lack of friends and family. We haven't yet had a book about his new life in this era. The more I think about it, the more I see that maybe his characterization was a combination of all those influences I mentioned above. He was often quiet and foreboding, then explosively angry, at one point genuinely curious (I would love to see that scene on screen!). Darth Vader must be a complex character to pin down and write.

Star Wars: Tarkin is due to be published November 4, 2014. I received an eARC from the publisher through NetGalley for review.



I think I wrote more about Vader than I did about the book itself...



View all my reviews

Book Review: Star Wars A New Dawn

A New Dawn: Star Wars by John Jackson Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A refreshing change from previous Star Wars novels, Star Wars: A New Dawn has launched the new Star Wars universe that will include the new novels, the new and existing movies, the new cartoons and The Clone Wars cartoon, some new fiction from Star Wars insider, new comics, and anything else coming out henceforth. It essentially excommunicates almost all previous fiction to the realm of Legend.

A New Dawn does not rely on the bloated universe that existed in all that legendary material before, and while the author had written in that sandbox, this new novel - this new world is fresher. It's still Star Wars. It still expects you, as a fan, to know know what certain races, ships, weapons, and armor look like, it doesn't bother to describe them in much or any detail. The story itself is clearly meant as a setup for the new Rebels cartoon coming out in October 2015 and serves to introduce two of the main characters to each other before the show starts. It's a standalone story though, no need to have any knowledge, or interest, of the Rebels show.

The two main characters are a former Jedi student now grown into adulthood and hiding in the bottle between shifts at a mining operation, and a Twilek pilot looking for civil unrest she can potentially exploit at some point in the future to undermine the Empire. A strong cast of secondary characters also have interesting stories that all intertwine with the main cast and each other. Really, it's more of an ensemble cast that shares the spotlight than focusing mostly on the two mains, though the Jedi Kanan is pretty much the primary character.

If you're a Star Wars fan: read this and get ready for Rebels. If you're looking to jump in to the world of Star Wars novels, this is a good place to start - though I'd suggest you'd have at least seen Star Wars Episode III to share a frame of reference with Kanan's character.


Disclosure: I received an eARC of this novel for review from the publisher through Netgalley.


View all my reviews

Book Review: Robogenesis

Robogenesis by Daniel H. Wilson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The world is in ruins following the events of Robopocalypse. Archos-18 was defeated, or was it? Other mega AIs scramble to life as well. The Freeborn, humans, and a strange intermingling of man and machine all try to find their place in this new world they thing free of the looming threat of the AI supercomputer. They soon discover they're wrong, and again the fight is on to survive.

Robogenesis picks up pretty well right after the events of Robopocalypse. Though at first we're with some new characters in Russia. We're reintroduced to characters from the first book as they're thinking the war is over and can start moving on with life. Things don't go well though, and the characters slowly realize the war never really ended, and eventually everyone is reunited, and some new characters are brought in as well on both sides.

I absolutely loved Robopocalypse. I was excited to read Robogenesis and see where the story went. This books feels like a middle book in a trilogy, especially the way it ended.

There was very little happiness for the characters in the book. I can only think of two events that were really happy. And I happen to like some happy in my books, even post-apoc end-of-world war stories need some happy in them in my opinion.

I think my favorite character this time around might be Houdini. Loyal and faithful Houdini. A close second would be Nine Oh Two, is almost more human than the human characters, and definitely more human than the other freeborn.

Overall, it's a good book. I don't think it's as good as the first one, but if there's a third book in the series I'll definitely keep reading!

I received an eARC of Robogenesis through Netgalley.


View all my reviews

Anthology Review: Far Orbit

Far Orbit: Speculative Space Adventures by Bascomb James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Far Orbit is a wonderful collection of short science fiction stories.

A few of the standout stories to me were:

Open For Business, by Sam Kepfield, is a tale of (practically current day) entrepreneurs starting up an asteroid mining company, and the fall out from doing so.

Composition in Death Minor, by Kevin Jewell, where a cellist assassin has to make a choice.

Spaceman Barbecue, by Peter Wood, is a Twilight Zone-esque throwback with a happy ending.

A Game of Hold'em, by Wendy Sparrow, is an Old West tale set on a colony world.

And I think my favorite was Bear Essentials, by Julie Frost, about a small trading vessel run by a grumpy man and his adult daughter, along with their small crew. This tale has them transporting a live bear from one world to another, along with an unusual passenger, and discovering something amazing along the way. I definitely want to read more stories about this crew (especially if that bear comes back).

Need a quick fix of good old-fashioned science fiction? Far Orbit is it!


An eARC of Far Orbit was provided to me by the publisher for review (thanks!).


View all my reviews

Book Review: Starship Grifters

Starship Grifters by Robert Kroese
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What did I just read? And why did I like it so much?

Starship Grifters is a crazy story about a gambling, alcoholic, con-artist and his robot assistant that accidentally become owners of a planet that put them deep in debt and smack-dab in the center of a conflict between the current galactic empire and the rebels who want to overthrow it.

There are character names like Rex Nihilo and General Issimo, the Malarchy Empire, and the prison planet Gulagatraz. There are borrowed quotes from The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy and Star Wars, as well as plenty of other similarities and ... parodies. If Ex Nihilo means out of nothing, then does Rex Nihilo mean king of nothing? There were probably other names that had plays on words that I didn't catch.

Taken piecemeal, that would make this book seem quite silly and derivative. However, on the whole it all works. I got caught up in the story, and the absolute wonder of how Rex Nihilo spins his yarns to con people, and the witty, snarky banter between him and his robot assistant Sasha.

If Douglas Adams and Mel Brooks wrote Star Wars as an episode of Leverage, and JJ Abrams and Michael Bay directed and produced it for the SyFy channel, you might end up with something close to Starship Grifters.

And that twist at the end... just another crazy whiskey tango foxtrot moment in a book full of fun moments.


Starship Grifters was provided to me by the author for review. Thanks!


View all my reviews

Completely Satisfying! Book Review: Heaven's Queen

Heaven's Queen by Rachel Bach
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rachel Bach (Rachel Aaron) has done it again: brought a fantastic series to a completely satisfying conclusion.

I'm kind of disappointed the series is over (as I usually am when a great series ends), but the end here successfully wraps up the story. Other adventures in the this universe could be told, but Devi's story is at a good place to leave her; happily ever after, as it were.

Devi's story starts out in Fortune's Pawn and seems pretty straight-forward and simple: mercenary on a new ship making her way. But things quickly escalate and by the end of that first book we know there's much more going on than that. The second book finds her on the run from people who think they're saving the universe and want to make a weapon out of Devi. This third book finds her quickly captured and she struggles to convince all the players she knows what needs to be done.

This series has space combat, powered armor, lots of gruesome hand-to-hand combat and gunfights, crazy-interesting aliens. It even has some romance, which becomes a crucial part of the story and Devi's character development as the series ends.

Good stuff!



View all my reviews

Book Review: Steadfast

The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Steadfast by Jack Campbell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is military science fiction done well! Not too political, not just all space combat - Jack Campbell hits all the right notes with the Black Jack Geary series.

In my opinion, Campbell outdoes Weber at military science fiction. Whereas Weber's excellent Honor Harrington series gets deep into the political actions of ...well, absolutely everyone who ever took a breath, Campbell's Lost Fleet series keeps the long-winded political machinations to a minimum. Oh, you'll still get interstellar politics and conspiracies, but it's always shown from the main characters' points of view.

You also get great space battles, interesting aliens, some exploration (though not in this particular book), and an galaxy in-flux as the war has ended and star systems are trying to figure out where they stand and with whom they stand.

To round out what makes the Lost Fleet series, and Steadfast in-particular, great reading is the characters. Everyone has a story and gets a little bit of the narrative without taking focus from the story.

One of the things I like about this series is each novel is named after a ship in the fleet. We find out what's special about Steadfast towards the end of this book.

While Steadfast, the novel, takes place deep within the series, it does a good job of briefly mentioning what's come before. If this is the first book you pick up, you won't be completely lost as to what's going on and why. I've read a few of the novels in the series before Steadfast, and enjoyed them all.

Fans of the Honor Harrington series, Star Wars or Star Trek, or any other military science fiction series will enjoy the Lost Fleet series.

Steadfast is due to be published on May 6, 2014.  Thanks to the publisher for providing my copy for review!


View all my reviews