Review: Neodymium Apocalypse, Part 1 by Jen Finelli, MD

 Genre: Space opera

Description:

The macro premise here is that the galaxy in which the book takes place is being pushed towards heat death by Superbeings (who may be gods, or may be from another dimension). A small band of very young warriors is trying to prevent this. For much of the book some of them do not know that is what they are doing. But contact with a child-Messiah space-lemur brings them round. (That last sentence might be a spoiler, but you have to agree, it was too tempting to leave out.)

Author:

Finelli says of herself “I’m a physician and injured adventurer … I often write fantastical science fiction with a real life military, medical, or combat edge. When I’m not doing that, I play with trauma and pain and hope.” Of this Neodymium series she says it is, “something like a manifesto about hope, independence, diversity, and the question of suffering with free will.”

Her writing influences include C.S. Lewis, Kevin J. Anderson, James Beamon, and Alicia McCalla (with whom she wrote the SUPERHERO MEGA ANTHOLOGY). She podcasts. She has some 25 titles on Goodreads, a number of which are set in this Neodymium universe. However, her most popular title is Bleed.

She says you're welcome to download some of her stories for free at byjenfinelli.com/you-want-heroes-and-fairies, or join her quest to build a mobile indigent clinic for the forgotten at patreon.com/becominghero. Jen's a practicing MD, FAWM candidate, and sexual assault medical forensic examiner – but when she grows up, she wants to be a superhero.

Appraisal:

This is a book with interesting things to say about the way we live now, and the ways in which that might change in the future. It is wise about personal and societal gods, and how individuals and populations relate to them. It has interesting things to say about feminism, family, personal identity, and religion. As here:

‘“Is Njandejara [most people’s god of choice] angry with us?” Lark asked finally.
“You want him to be angry at those who’ve wronged or failed you,” Joshua said. “What should he do for the people you’ve wronged or failed?”
“That is a good question,” Lark said.’

Isn’t it though.

There are a lot of great ideas in this book.

The novel has a large cast (a list of whom are given at the back of the book, with no signpost to it at the beginning …). A number of important characters have pseudonyms and/or nicknames. Sometimes more than one.

There is a substantial subplot involving a small group of fellow combatants and/or brothers of Jaika, one of the major characters. They have been enslaved. Every so often Jaika bemoans the fact that saving the galaxy is delaying her freeing them. Every so often we step out of the plot (which is moving along very nicely) to visit them in their captivity, which I have to say I came to resent. Their situation does not change, as the book is galloping along elsewhere. This (rather baggy) book could have been tightened up considerably if the reader’s visits to the enslaved were removed and some back story provided for those who stumbled into this book believing it to be the first of a series.

But the thing which frustrated me the most about the book is that, as well as being Neodymium Apocalypse, Part 1 it is also, Book 4 (of 5) of The Neodymium Chronicles. This may be news to the author, but it does not stand alone. As a final confusion, it appears that Book 3 in the series is currently in space-dock having a major refit.

If you’re into space opera there is much here that is worthy of your time. The thoughtful passages have interesting things to say; the world-building is good and the sapient species are cleverly drawn; the action passages are exciting and clearly executed; the medical and technical material is convincing. All good. There is no real resolution at the end, but it is poised to leap into the final book with grappling hooks extended, so you know what is in store there, so it is satisfying enough.

However, if you want to give this series a go, do yourself a favour and start at the beginning.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

Review is based on an advance reader copy, so we can’t gauge the final product in this regard.

Rating: *** Three Stars

Reviewed by: Judi Moore

Approximate word count: 115-120,000 words

Review: The Risks of Dead Reckoning by Felicia Watson

Genre: Space Opera

Description:

This is the third and final part of Watson’s trilogy about the Uniterrean space ship Lovelace and her crew.

Amazon’s description says: “The Lovelace is ordered to respond to a distress call from unexplored space, and from a crew who all died 200 years ago. What they find is not only amazing, but potentially lethal. If Lt. Decker is going to make it down the aisle, she will have to survive the dangers of planet Tolu first.”

It “harkens back to the classic science fiction of Asimov, Clarke and Herbert, but with the richly developed characters of a Roddenberry-esque story.”

 Author:

“Felicia Watson started writing stories as soon as they handed her a pencil in first grade. When not writing, Felicia spends her time with her darling dogs, her beloved husband, being an amateur pastry chef, swimming, and still finds time for her day job as a scientist.”

"She’s especially drawn to character driven tales, where we see people we recognize, people who struggle with their mistakes and shortcomings, acknowledge them, and use that knowledge to grow into wiser human beings.”

Appraisal:

It is the 31st century. In the middle book of the trilogy the Uniterraen space ship Lovelace, was repurposed from a military vessel to a ship of exploration. The substantial crew consists of the main character, Lieutenant Naiche ‘Deck’ Decker, her captain father, her fiancé, her colleagues and friends and others who she probably just nods to in the corridor. This crew has been together a long time now and has become an efficient, well-drilled unit. It is also free of the angst that was evident in the first two books, as ‘Deck’ worked out her various issues with her father, authority in general, and her love life. This is conveyed without losing the seat-of-the-pants excitement that made the first two books such a pleasure. New characters supply the mis-steps that create the drama (at the heart of which we still find ‘Deck’, ‘Kai’ and ‘Con’).

Watson has a lot of fun working up Lovelace’s investigation of the distress call. The way the crew evaluates the paradox is deft. During their attempts to help, they find a couple of invisible worlds: Watson is a scientist, and knows how to build a good world, or two. There are humans and other species involved who have never heard of Uniterrae. It is with these that the conflicts reside which drive the book.

The heading of each chapter with an apposite quote is carried through this final novel: these continue to enrich the material which follows.

This is the shortest book of the three. It gallops along. ‘Deck’ and ‘Con’ her team leader continue to get themselves into scrapes, but in this book they act on actual plans that have received some thought and probing for weaknesses (until they go wrong, which they always do of course). In between missions (for which read adventures) there is a lot more introspection than in the previous volumes. Some of the younger crew members, with partners on Lovelace, begin to wonder about the logistics of having children: some of the older crew begin to ponder retirement, or at least a change of career. Here Watson shows her skill at developing character driven tales, as well as convincing Trekker-type space opera. Watson asks important questions of her cast. The downtime is not overdone.

By the end of the book, however, the major players have their stories tied neatly with a bow. I found it quite hard to slow down to that pace after the page-turning adventure that had come before. But this is, of course, life: one cannot go on saving the universe forever. At some point one has to learn how to change that diaper, or accept that desk job. Or, possibly, both.

I shall miss the crew of the Lovelace. I wonder where Watson’s imagination will take her next? I look forward to following her on the journey wherever she goes. She is a fine writer, with an empathetic heart, and that good scientific background.

You can enjoy this book as a standalone. But I recommend reading all three, in order.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

I was working from an ARC, cannot comment on what of the few typos and clunks I came across may have made it into the published book.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: Judi Moore

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words

Review: Spooky Action at a Distance by Felicia Watson

 

Genre: Space Opera

Description:

This is a sequel to Watson’s We Have Met The Enemy, which I reviewed on my blog in May this year. I enjoyed that, so when I saw this in Big Al’s ‘to review’ list I grabbed it.

This is, actually, the better book of the two in my opinion. The prose is supple and accurate. It begins with action. While the reader is given time to breathe, the action thereafter never really lets up. The introspection which sometimes slowed the pace of WHMTE is more lightly worn this time. Old griefs and enmities have been reconciled when this book opens (mostly): there is more humour. There is a fresh challenge to occupy the very talented and skilled crew of the UDC spaceship Lovelace. An engaging sense of jeopardy is maintained; characters interact credibly, and blossom – sometimes in surprising ways; McGuffins are skillfully crafted, aliens are both imaginative and credible, and the tech is believable and serviceable without getting in the way.

Author:

Felicia Watson’s day job is as a scientist. But when she’s writing she says she is “drawn to character driven tales, where we see people we recognize, people who struggle with their mistakes and shortcomings, acknowledge them, and use that knowledge to grow into wiser human beings.” (Goodreads biog). Certainly that is what she has done with these two books set aboard the Lovelace.

Appraisal:

I found this novel galloped along. I finished it inside a week (which is quick for me). The structure of the book works well, enabling the story to be character-driven as much as plot-driven. The Lovelace, the space-ship home of the protagonists, is tasked with an urgent mission to The Expanse to rescue two UDC ships which have become stuck there. Time is of the essence (of course) as The Expanse is becoming increasingly unstable and will shortly leave the area of space in which it is currently located.

There is a canine Corpsman (3rd class). There is interesting information on Native American peoples. There is pink dust (you will love the pink dust). The author continues to consider, alongside the rollicking action and with a light touch, what a more equable society in the future might look like, and how it might yet leave room for improvement.

As with WHMTE, Watson has prefaced each chapter with an epigraph. Once again she has ranged widely for these, from Milton to Emily Dickinson, and taking in some interesting outliers along the way. They are always germane to the matter in the chapter to come.

The only thing I didn’t get was the title.

Given that this is the second book of two – does it stand alone? Pretty much. There are just a couple of things you will need to take on trust if you don’t start with We Have Met The Enemy.

I don’t give 5*s to many books I review. The top rating needs to be reserved for the really good stuff, right? This is a ***** book. If you like SF, I heartily recommend it to you.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: Judi Moore

Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words

Gold (Farther Than We Dreamed Book 5) / Noah K Mullette-Gillman

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Space Opera / Science Fiction / Epic Fantasy

Approximate word count: 25-30,000 words

Availability

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“Noah Mullette-Gillman was born in Montclair, New Jersey. He spent his childhood there, as well as in the town of Manly, Australia, and the woods of Upstate New York. He earned a multidisciplinary degree in Philosophy and Creative Writing at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.”

Mr. Mullette-Gillman is also the author of Luminous and Ominous, The Dead Have Ruled Earth For 200 Years, Magic Makes You Strange, The Confessions of Zeuspater, and a mythological short story The White Hairs.

To learn more check out his website or friend him on Facebook.

Description:

“Barely finding his feet amid a new reality in a new galaxy, Charlie Daemon must investigate the mystery of his planet and starship, the U.U.S. Shamballa, a crew made up of the greatest historical figures of the 22nd through 29th centuries, and discover if they are alone in the Universe.”

Appraisal:

In this episode, past relationships are further explored as well as new worlds. Our crew is off to find more fuel reserves for the U.U.S. Shamballa. The world they find is a frozen planet with curious creatures and strange properties. As such they can’t stay to do the actual mining themselves so they employ their robot forces to do the work. Mullette-Gillman has quite an active imagination and employs it well here.

Captain Daemon makes some personal advancements and further exploration of another city on U.S.S. Shamballa is explored. Wu Gwei goes into fight mode when he makes an assessment of a situation − he was a war lord in his previous life. Daemon has to exert his position as Captain to shut him down. Crew member Kalligeneia Athanos’ past life is examined more closely and we learn her history. I am enjoying these flashbacks into each crew member’s life.

Tension is ratcheted up a notch when the crew wonders if they have a traitor on board when alien visitors show up and the shields of the U.U.S. Shamballa have been lowered for them to enter. There is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of this section of the story. Nayara Borges is still unaccounted for and I am getting tired of hearing about Amber. She is Charlie Daemon’s girlfriend who died in the last epic war before Daemon materialized on the U.S.S. Shamballa.

I’m not sure I approve of these serialized editions of stories many authors seem to be leaning towards. Reading the four episode bundle was fine, but reading one novella with a partial story at a time is taxing. I want more story. I may have to wait for the bundles to come out before reviewing. I feel like certain story arcs should be completed with no cliffhangers between segments of a story. It’s a personal thing with me and I was tempted to remove a star.

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of proofing errors.

Rating: **** Four stars

The Secrets of the Universe / Noah K Mullette-Gillman

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Space Opera / Science Fiction / Epic Fantasy

Approximate word count: 100-105,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“Noah Mullette-Gillman was born in Montclair, New Jersey. He spent his childhood there, as well as in the town of Manly, Australia, and the woods of Upstate New York. He earned a multidisciplinary degree in Philosophy and Creative Writing at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.”

Mr. Mulletter-Gillman is also the author of Luminous and Ominous, The Dead Have Ruled Earth For 200 Years, Magic Makes You Strange, The Confessions of Zeuspater, and a mythological short story The White Hairs.

To learn more check out his website or follow him on Facebook.

Description:

“Charlie Daemon was a late 21st century rock n roll star.

One day he was ripped out of his life, away from the woman he loved, and woke up in the far future, the captain of a spaceship/moon on the other side of the cosmos. His crew is made up of twelve of the greatest artists, scientists, and leaders of the next eight hundred years: The doctor who invented the Martian race, the Queen of the British Corporation, a Chinese cyborg-warlord, an eight foot tall Australian Aborigine, a post-human physicist covered in white fur.

Together they must understand why they are there, explore the galaxies, explore reality, and come to grips with the results of lives they don’t even remember living.”

Appraisal:

This story starts off with Charlie Daemon having a very bad day to say the least. This causes Charlie and Dr. David Aelfwyrd to have a troublesome relationship that brings up some questionable ethics surrounding the Doctor. As the story unfolds we learn about each of the twelve crew members through flashbacks exposing their pasts. They are a little jarring at first because they seemed to throw me out of the story. However, they are well-marked by dates and provide needed details.

Mullette-Gillman has built an elaborate world with epic characters. The crew is made up of a hodge-podge of individuals that each have expertise in different areas. If you are not willing to invest thought and attention to the characters then this adventure through time and space may not be a book for you. They thought they knew their mission but questions have been raised that no one has the answers to. Who knows how long they have been up there goofing off, just having a great time with all the amenities of the rich and famous. At times it all seems like a dream.  

Each episode explores a new world or area of their fantastic world ship. Each adventure they gain new knowledge about themselves and the universe around them. The plot moves at varying speeds and there were twists no one could have predicted. At times it is exciting, at other times is harrowing and devastating. Science Fiction is not generally my preferred genre so I did feel out of my element with this story, but I found it thought provoking. Give it a try and tell me what your thoughts are.

FYI:

The Secrets of the Universe contains episodes 1-4 of the Farther Than We Dreamed saga: Clay, Waves, Crystal, and Cosmic Shag.

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of typos and other errors.

Rating: **** Four stars

The Far Bank of Rubicon / Erik Wecks

Reviewed by: Sooz

Genre: Science Fiction/Space Opera

Approximate word count: 105-110,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Erik Wecks is a full-time writer with completed fiction and non-fiction works. He lives in Vancouver, Washington with his wife and three children. He also writes for blogs such as GeekDad.com, LitReactor.com and you can find more information on Erik at his website ErikWecks.com.

Description:

Jonas, a young prince in the House of Athena, sees his life go from peaceful and boring to becoming a soldier in a war that is looking to bring down the empire. As one of the few shining moments in a war that the Empire may not win, Jonas has to figure out how to save the Empire from the Unity.

Appraisal:

I have to be in a mood for a “space opera” because I am usually investing a lot of time into them with getting to know characters, learning history of a new galaxy, and obtaining deep background information that sometimes may not happen in other types of genres.

The Far Bank of Rubicon offered exactly what I was looking for when I picked it up. Intrigue. Struggle. Believable characters. Strange, new worlds.

Author Erik Wecks writes the book chronologically, starting when one of the main characters is a child. While the timeline tends to jump a bit, we learn about the main characters by catching up with them through important moments that lead up to the start of a galactic war.

I found it very easy to root for the perceived good guys and hoping the characters to succeed. But The Far Bank of Rubicon is only the first volume in The Pax Imperium Wars. There is much, much more to be told with the first book as a starting point.

I did find it a bit wordy. The longer I read, the more I enjoyed the Far Bank of Rubicon and the world the Wecks had created. However, it started a bit slow. One issue is that it often read like something that would play out on a TV screen, and that doesn’t always translate well for a book.

Good or bad (I haven’t figured out which yet), it reminded me of Battlestar Galatica, the early 2000s version with the high jacking of electronics, the name Athena, and going on the run in space.

Overall, it was enjoyable and I look forward to seeing how the series plays out.

FYI:

This is the first volume in the series.

Rating: ****Four Stars

Serving Time / Nadine Ducca

Reviewed by: Michael Thal

Genre: Science Fiction/Space Opera

Approximate word count: 120-125,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: YES  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

A resident of Granollers, Spain, a city near Barcelona, Nadine Ducca is a translator and interpreter. Currently, she’s coordinating the Cambridge English Language Assessment examinations as well as translating and interpreting documents for Granollers City Hall. During her free time she writes flash fiction for online magazines and she’s working on Making Time, the sequel to Serving Time.

Description:

Did you ever wonder why we have crime, wars, and pestilence? According to Nadine Ducca, author of Serving Time, the Creator, Logos, after setting up the universe, took off for parts unknown, leaving our universe to be ruled by Time and a legion of demons.

With twists and turns on every page, Ducca mixes mythology, religion, and violence to a new level that may enthrall some readers.

Appraisal:

Through a convoluted plot of settings, times, and characters, Serving Time is a science fiction novel that takes place in the 24th Century in a solar system comprised of many diverse colonies. Eneld Cross is about to leave his home on the moon to help solve the problem of plant life taking over Mars. His brother, Tristan, is sick and tired of his job—corporate assassin.

Fearful of dying on Mars and a compulsion to be his brother’s keeper, Eneld decides to accompany Tristan at his new job—shipping illegal drugs to outlying colonies for StarCorp, an unethical corporation.

This reviewer was confused during a few plot sequences taking pages of careful reading to determine what was happening. Perhaps if the author included transitions that provided clearer sequential plot order, the confusion would have been alleviated.

Ducca does a nice job of developing characters like Time, her kid sister Future, and Eneld. However, the evil that seems to permeate the book is overstated and not reflective of the true human spirit.

Rating: *** Three stars