Remnants of Hope by Antoine Henderson, Science Fiction, Space Pirates
Remnants of Hope< is a freebie from an author launching his new novel, Rogue Star. Remnants of Hope uses the same characters.
The main problem with this novel is the characters are lifeless. We have the noble smuggler Taran, his friend?/lover?/second-in-command? former/current assassin Nadal-Ti, fearful alien technical genius Blurb and faithful android/ship’s computer Delta-811. We never learn much about Nadal-Ti and the others are stock characters.
Plot uses a pirate attack, indigenous people whom Delta-811 can somehow understand, a strange and never-described star system with lots of planets and cut off from all other star systems. The story never really comes together.
The writing is not bad but it’s also not very good. I read it on vacation while dodging cold rain so managed to finish. I will not look for further stories by this author.
3 Stars
Star Cat Origins by Andrew Mackay, Prequel Freebie for the Star Cat Series
Star Cat is a cute, clean longer novella that author Andrew Mackay gives away to introduce us readers to his Star Cat Feline Space Opera. It is cute and sweet, with a five year old Jamie and his cat. Jamie’s dad dies at the beginning and his mom is heartbroken; Jamie is too young to fully appreciate death but he’s not happy either.
The space program is desperate to find a way to respond to an unknown signal from Saturn, which may be a distress call, and notice that cats seem to respond to the message. Jamie sees the ad asking cat owners to enter their cats in the Cat Trials, which is in Book 2, Star Cat: Infinity Claws
Star Cat is well-written but not for me. If I were pre teen I’d probably like it.
3 Stars
Lunacy on Omega Station: A Pulp Superhero Space Opera (The Shattered Cosmos Book 0) by Chucho Jones
This is bad. Really bad. Ridiculous plot, ridiculous characters, poor writing, boring.
1 Star
Waning Chance (The School of Ancestral Guidance Saga) Book 1.5 by Thorn Osgood
In all fairness I did not read the first book in this series nor did I finish this one. It was written OK, just didn’t seem to go anywhere and was depressing to boot. I was curious about the Ancestral Guidance stuff and the portals but not enough to keep reading when my books-to-read pile grows ever larger.
2 Stars
Star Warrior (Star Warrior Quadrilogy Book 1) by Isaac Hooke
Star Warrior starts well but I had to quit about half through. We have Tane, a farm boy who gets semi-kidnapped/semi-rescued by two people with unusual mental powers… Wait. This is familiar!
Author Hooke brings in some unique twists. He imagines a parallel but opposite universe that has all of our stuff but no people. We can visit there, remove things, take them back to our universe, use them, and not affect them here. The problem is the folks who live in this opposite universe attack on sight and some of them are equally advanced as the farm boy’s world. Interesting concepts.
I took this on vacation and simply lost interest. First hero Tane acts dumber and dumber and more annoying by the moment. I wanted to smack him upside the head and tell him to grow up! The skill level nonsense is annoying too. Apparently in Tane’s world one can purchase nanite injections to get new abilities or to augment existing abilities. Tane is able to get injections that increase his dexterity and coordination, nice, huh? Skill levels got boring about the third time, obnoxious by the seventh!
2 Stars
A Different Kind by Lauryn April
A Different Kind has an unusual lead character, Payton Carlson, head cheerleader, prom queen, the in girl, at least until the little grey men abduct her. Payton rekindles an old friendship with the loner kid across the street, Logan, and discovers the Grey’s interest in her is not benign.
I got about half through A Different Kind and may go back and finish this one. It is quite well written and author April develops Payton from a typical bratty popular kid into someone with more depth and character that I almost cared about. It just didn’t quite tug my interest long enough. Perhaps it’s a better read for a cozy winter evening.
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