Fields of Fire by Marko Kloos
Started: 1/7/19
Finished: 1/8/19
Book 5 in the Frontlines series. Have I mentioned that these are all written in the present tense? I always notice when the book starts and then stop noticing because I’m in the story.
aliens
Chains of Command by Marko Kloos
Started: 11/12/18
Finished: 11/23/18
Book 4 in the Frontlines series. Still fun, still good. Revenge with a dash of moral ambiguity.
Angles of Attack by Marko Kloos
Started: 11/8/18
Finished: 11/12/18
Book 3 in the Frontlines series, light space military in the not-too-distant future. Fun and easy. Reminiscent of Starship Troopers, but nearly every space military novel told from the point of view of a soldier is.
The Wrong Stars by Tim Pratt
Started: 10/13/18
Finished: 10/25/18
Not great. Again, it’s the writing. The story is fine, but there’s SO much exposition dumped into dialogue, there’s lampshading which only serves to point out small inconsistencies or weirdnesses that I might not have noticed without it, and there’s too much telling and not showing. Callie’s an expert at this or that? Show me, don’t tell me. I will not be continuing this series.
Family by M.C.A. Hogarth
Started: 10/4/18
Finished: 10/5/18
The last book (novella) in the Dreamhealers series, although it was the first story written, is a little different from the rest. Still good, but I actually thought something bad might happen in this one (it didn’t).
I couldn’t have picked a better series to read in the last weeks of my pregnancy and the first week after Jack’s birth.
Dreamstorm by M.C.A. Hogarth
Started: 9/27/18
Finished: 10/4/18
I started this one in the hospital the day after Jack was born, so I didn’t get a lot of reading done for a few days, but again, this was the right series at the right time. Calming, nice story, some drama that will be resolved without lasting harm to the characters. This is book 4 in the Dreamhealers series.
Dreamhearth by M.C.A. Hogarth
Started: 9/22/18
Finished: 9/27/18
Let’s stick with what’s working – pastoral SF that is lovely and calming and about people who don’t want to cause anyone any pain. This is book 3 in the Dreamhealers series.
Mindline by M.C.A. Hogarth
Started: 9/20/18
Finished: 9/22/18
Another really NICE book, sequel to Mindtouch in the Dreamhealers series. More drama, but again, not a lot of action. More of the “Can Jahir survive in the career path he’s chosen? Will Vasiht’h be able to help?” kind of thing. Friends, found family, love but not sex.
Mindtouch by M.C.A Hogarth
Started: 9/15/18
Finished: 9/20/18
What a pleasant surprise this was. I heard of it in a Tor.com article about books with ESP, and it’s certainly that, but it’s also just a really nice book. There’s no action, not a lot of drama. The characters are all aliens and engineered species, but it’s about people who are different finding each other and learning how to cope with new things and becoming friends. I was totally engrossed and happy to realize it’s the first in the Dreamhealers series.
Lines of Departure by Marko Kloos
Started: 9/7/18
Finished: 9/11/18
Book 2 of the Frontlines series. The adventures of Andrew Grayson in the space infantry continue!
Space Opera by Catherynne Valente
Started: 8/12/18
Gave up: 8/13/18
I was so ready to love this book and then I didn’t. It was written in the Hitchhiker’s Guide style (which I knew going in – that was part of the appeal), but it was too deliberately and obviously and painfully done that way, and it wasn’t fun to read. I gave up.
Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor
Started: 6/26/18
Finished: 6/27/18
Third (last) in the Binti series, it’s an immediate sequel to the second one and doesn’t stand as well on its own, but it wraps up the trilogy nicely (and is still very good).
Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor
Started: 6/16/18
Finished: 6/17/18
Second in the Binti series, Binti comes home on a visit from the university and finds trouble. Possibly better than the first one. SO GOOD.
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Started: 6/15/18
Finished: 6/16/18
Young adult novella, set in a future with tech that looks like magic. A young woman belongs to an insular African village and leaves it (runs away?) to go to an interstellar university. The first in a trilogy. SO GOOD.
Provenance by Ann Leckie
Started: 5/2/18
Finished: 5/6/18
Set in the same universe as the Imperial Radch series, it’s completely different. The plot hinges on whether or not someone is who they say they are (or rather, who they say they aren’t) and whether a certain artifact is real. Also, there’s some fun with proxies. It doesn’t sound riveting, but it kept my attention. I really need to read the other two books in the Ancillary series.