Review: Embassytown by China Miéville

Embassytown by China Miéville
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My friend recommended this book. Thanks, Kay!

Libby had this book in the Kindle version, so I picked it up. And though it was text-to-speech enabled, there are many reasons the Audible version is so much better. Susan Duerden (Narrator), for one. Her voice and acting skills made the story come to life. I went ahead and picked up the Audible to Whispersynch. I finally gave up on the Kindle version, as the Audible was all I needed. Still, it was interesting to see how the author stacked the words visually as well as auditorily.

This story is about how language being taught to alien beings could help them and the Terrans to live. But first, the Terrans had to understand the alien language., which seemed non-existent. And when it is to be heard, it is in layers. TTS can’t do that. Somehow the narration system can do it. Fantastic!

If you are a language nut like I am, you will love the vocabulary of this book. I felt my heart race faster as words that weren’t junior high level popped up. So in a sense, I became the alien who loved words.

If you are a sci-fi fan, this book should do the trick!

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Review: The Alien Within: Book 2 of The Alien Chronicles by Robin Martin

The Alien Within: Book 2 of The Alien Chronicles by Robin Martin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think I like this book better than the first one. There was a little more sanity and well thought out decisions made. Of course, there was a little teen angst but it seemed the major characters thought with true love and caring for the object of the love.

The author chose to go into the heads of the major characters to give the reader insight into their souls. I think I would have loved this book as a teen. I liked it a lot as an adult.

The ending came far too soon but at the appropriate time. I can’t wait to read the next book! I’d love to see the author take us to the cloud to meet the other aliens that were still in their own form and see how this Alien turned human affects their thoughts and ways of living.

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Review: My Alien by Robin Martin

My Alien by Robin Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Though I have rated this three stars, I still went and bought the next book. I have to stay true to me and my feelings.

The first part of this book is a lot like The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Ugh! what a horrid book that was. So as this alien takes over this teen girl it feels just like that!

Then this turned into a YA. Yes, with all that angst! UGH! times two!

By this point, I was ready to throw the book away. But I couldn’t get my other book to load up. So I continued reading. Somewhere around the three-quarters mark, I somehow cared for a couple of the characters.

I didn’t like the ending, a bit of a cliff-hanger. But curiosity got the better of me. I want to see what happens.

If you liked The Host, you might love this book, too. If you love teen angst, this is right up your alley,

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Review: The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The Host by Stephenie Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It has been weeks since I finished ‘reading’ this book. I couldn’t decide how I felt about it. I think it is somewhere between hating it and being okay with it.

Kate Reading was the narrator. I nearly returned the Audible version. The voice seemed all wrong for the alien. And all wrong for the strong host.

The story did start to get interesting about halfway in. We finally meet the human tribe hiding from the aliens. I liked some of them. But the narrator’s voice seemed wrong for these characters, too. It amazes me that I stuck with this book in spite of how I felt listening to it every night.

The ending was a surprise for me and satisfying. I know a lot of people loved this story. The writing was good. But it didn’t do much for me.

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Review: The Fresco by Sheri S. Tepper

The Fresco by Sheri S. Tepper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I hate it when I do this: read a book, finish before I’m sleepy, start a new book and nearly forget to write my review of the last book! Boo! Me! And this book deserves reviews!!!

My friend, Kay, gave such a marvelous review that I knew I had to read it. I highly recommend it!

It has everything. Aliens, other planets, other points of view. The main character is female, Benita, who finds herself in a bad, abusive marriage. She is looking to get out and not be found.

What finds her is new opportunities the likes no one would expect to happen. That is all I can give you without feeling I’m spoiling it for you.

Needless to say, there is adventures and space travel, and meeting alien beings. Like all good sci-fi, this has a lot of philosophical, political, social, and spiritual commentary. Much of it tongue-in-cheek humor that may cause snorting of the hot tea if not careful.

If you get the chance to read this, you should. I’m sorry that it isn’t loanable. Seems many Benitas out there might not be able to afford it but would benefit from the read. Benitas need humor, escapism, and ideas. In fact, I think everyone could learn something and enjoy this story.

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Review: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I recently read the third book in this series and decided to reread the whole series again. I stand with what I wrote below. I was lucky to find the book on Libby as an audiobook. I have since bought the Audible version as I may have to read this another 100 times. I love Becky Chambers’ writing and these stories SO much!!!! Now I’m ready to read #3 again. I’m a happy camper!

***

Can I give this book 20 stars? This is MY kind of sci-fi! No wars and shooting and one-up-manship. We get to know another social order, the good and bad of it. We watch someone growing up within and without that order. We get to know other beings. We get to travel in space. There just happens to be males and females. In this case, a female lead but it could as easily have been a male. Good choice to have a female to have the adventure. YAY! Male in the story, not necessarily a romantic counter point. A friend. Believe it or not!!!!

Though this is book two in the series it could stand alone. But if you get the chance to read the first book, do so. It was fun, too! You can find my review of the first book in GoodReads under The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.

What I think I liked best about this book is how the author took us into a young girl’s thoughts without making us feel childish or talking down to us. And how well she matured said girl through the years helping the reader feel that maturity and sense of growth. How a sense of time alone doesn’t become boring as it might if we lived it, but a chance to learn and explore ideas and abilities.

Oh, and one of my favorite reasons for reading sci-fi is to learn new philosophies or enjoy those we might have left behind for a revisit now. I think Becky Chambers may be my new favorite sci-fi author!

This book is now on my gotta buy the Kindle and Audible versions so I can reread it soon!

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Review: A Space Girl from Earth by Christina McMullen

A Space Girl from Earth by Christina McMullen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Maybe it is because I have been reading Sci-fi for so long, but I wasn’t as impressed with this book as I wanted to be. Maybe it is because I have to read using Text-to-Speech and I miss a lot in that process. I just couldn’t get into this book. I didn’t care for this girl raised by a super model. Yawn!

To find out that the daughter is from another planet and possibly a princess? Still didn’t care. I think the only thing I really felt her heart and soul was her feelings for the assassin-bot. But even that didn’t do much for me.

I did like the idea of being able to transport to other places and feel things through the strange ‘freckles’ but once again, I liked the ideas present, still not the characters. Please, why do main characters have to be the most beautiful? Most people aren’t How do you expect regular people to like the character when they can’t relate at all?

I did appreciate the chance to read this.

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Review: Semper Audacia by M. Pax

Semper Audacia by M. Pax

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A space opera novelette. This was more like it! Though this wasn’t a full size novel or series, I felt satisfied. The depth of character, world-building, plot, action, adventure, all left me feeling like I’d been to outer-space, meet new beings, experienced friendships, saved and lost lives. In fact, this little book crammed more in than many long series I’ve read.

All that said, I found myself lost trying to figure out if this were memory or the present. In the end, it all sorts itself out. Maybe the author wanted that bit of confusion.

I recommend this little prize to my fellow sci-fi friends.

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Review: Semper Audacia by M. Pax

Semper Audacia by M. Pax

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A space opera novelette. This was more like it! Though this wasn’t a full size novel or series, I felt satisfied. The depth of character, world-building, plot, action, adventure, all left me feeling like I’d been to outer-space, meet new beings, experienced friendships, saved and lost lives. In fact, this little book crammed more in than many long series I’ve read.

All that said, I found myself lost trying to figure out if this were memory or the present. In the end, it all sorts itself out. Maybe the author wanted that bit of confusion.

I recommend this little prize to my fellow sci-fi friends.

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Review: Doctor Who The Pirate Loop

Doctor Who The Pirate Loop by Simon Guerrier
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What was I thinking? Me? Reading a paperback? These old eyes can’t handle that small font. I had to read it in short chunks, about 10 pages was all I could handle without my eyes hurting. But it was Doctor Who. My favorite Doctor. And I like Martha. So, since I knew the people I didn’t get lost like I might have without the visual aids in my brain. Also, this is a book full of dialogue to make the paragraphs short with lots of space between lines.

I only gave this book three stars. Not because of any great fault in the writing. But because there were things said and done that weren’t characteristic for the Doctor or Martha. Example: ‘Wosname’ is said often in Terry Pratchett books, but the Doctor doesn’t say this on the show. There were other bits like that that pulled me out of the program. For some reason I can’t remember the other examples.

Still it was a fun read and would be a great beach read. I think it would have been fun as an episode of the Doctor with David Tennant. And probably for those with good eyes this would be a quick read.

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