The Vacuum of Space: A Funny Sci-Fi Mystery (Space Janitor Book 1) by Julia Huni - Light Sci-Fi That Is Heavy On Romance

The Vacuum of Space: A Funny Sci-Fi Mystery (Space Janitor Book 1) by Julia Huni

I kept seeing ads for the Space Janitor books popping up on Facebook and other places, so as it was offered on Kindle Unlimited, I thought I would give it a look. I've recently finished reading the first book in the series and have to say I am a little confused about a few things.

First, where's the humor? In this story, the only funny thing are the thoughts of the main character, Triana. The humor is veiled almost to the point of being absent and come as some light, sarcastic observations about the situations and other characters. I will admit, Triana has a fast wit, and many of her quips and descriptions are funny, but I was hoping to laugh more. The beginning of the story showed great promise, but it kind of fizzled as the tale progressed.

Second, where was the character development? Other than Triana, there isn't much. Most of the characters Triana deals with are one dimensional and I had no real reason to care for them. There is her grumpy boss who is just grumpy, her overbearing mother, her roommate who sleeps around, and her "shiny" detective quasi-boyfriend who seems to have only one thing on his mind. Among this group, there are no characters that were little more than cardboard cutouts.

Third, how do I classify this one? Well, it is touted as Space Opera. Okay, it is set on a space station, which is in space, so I'll give it that. But then there is the relationship between Triana and Ty O'Neill, the afore mentioned quasi-boyfriend. A good portion of the story is devoted to the development of this relationship, which really goes nowhere and reads a lot like a bad romance novel. Finally, there's what should have been the real substance of the book, and that is the solving of several murders aboard the station, which struck me as being a subplot.

So, my conundrum is trying to decide if the book is Space Opera, Sci-Fi Romance, or Sci-Fi Murder Mystery?

Please don't get me wrong, I don't hate this book, as a matter of fact, I liked it, but not enough to read the next four books in the series with a tip of my hat and a thanks to the author for making it available. I know there are those that love the Space Janitor series, but it just isn't for me.

At any rate, given the questions I have, I’ll quote the blurb from the back cover as a synopsis:

It's a dirty galaxy, and someone has to clean it.

Avoiding the wealthy inhabitants on the upper levels of Station Kelly Kornienko is bot-programmer Triana’s number one rule. Well, number two, right after "eat all the chocolate."

But when one of her cleaning bots finds a dead body, all the rules go out the airlock. A highly connected security agent interrupts her routine with stories of missing bodies, and Triana can’t ignore him; it’s cooperate or find a new job. A girl has to pay the rent, even on a crappy studio compartment.

Working with a shiny detective beats a shuttle dirt-side, so Triana lends her programming skills to Agent O’Neill’s investigation. Together, they find more victims and evidence of a major cover-up.

It will take all Triana’s technical talents, most of O’Neill’s connections, and some really excellent croissants to stop the murders, save her job, and ultimately, her life.

There isn't much I can add to this.

The principal character, Triana Moore, is the best developed character in the book. She is interesting and someone a reader can care about to a point. She has a lot of secrets and the author has a maddening but somewhat humorous habit of starting to give some background through some anecdote from Triana's past, but then chops it off with "but that's another story." She has a sense of humor and is quite witty with her quips about observations, situations, and other characters from time to time, but I wouldn't go so far to say it is more than mildly funny.

Mostly, she appears to be a young woman who is working a job and trying to make ends meet the best she can. She likes the work she is doing and has no problem continuing, but her discovery of a dead body sends her in a different direction. 

My favorite point of plot is a huge twist about the identity of a character. There are a couple of reveals of this nature in the story, adding a welcome dimension to the tale and is one aspect that kept me reading.

As I've mentioned, I liked this book despite being a little confused about what kind of book I was reading. While I don't mind some romance in my sci-fi, I thought it was a little overdone in this tale and it almost felt like material being used to extend to story to novel length. I got the theme that Triana and O'Neill were interested in pursuing a more personal relationship, but I think the point was overstated and more of a tease than anything else.

I think this first book in the Space Janitor series might appeal to a narrow audience who is interested in a lightly written, light sci-fi story that doesn't require one to think too much. It is well written and easy to understand with just enough technical jargon to set the scene and explain action anyone can grasp.

It was a fun little romp, but not enough to make me move to the second book in the series.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐                                                                       

Julia Huni is the author of the Colonial Exploration Corps, Space Janitor, Recycled World, and Krimson Empire series.

I grew up in the US Pacific Northwest, and after twenty years roaming the country with the US Air Force, I'm back. I have a spouse, three kids, and a dog named Pippin.

I've been an IT guy, a choir director, an executive assistant, a stay-at-home mom, a college instructor, and that lady at the information booth in a tourist town. But writer is the best job ever, because I get to make stuff up. Stuff I wish were true; stuff I'm glad isn't true.

When I'm not writing, I like to knit, read, bake, and ski. I also love to travel.

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Red Hail By Jamie Killen - The Past And The Future Collide In A Fascinating Way

Red Hail by Jamie Killen

I received an advance review copy of this book and am leaving this review voluntarily.

I found this book while looking through selections on the BookSirens review site. The first thing that caught my eye was the opening to the blurb: "In 1960, the plagues came to Galina. Today, they came back for the survivors' descendants." I do enjoy a good historical sci-fi story, so I took the dive.

I found Red Hail a great story I enjoyed immensely. The characters were interesting and written well, and there were several I cared about. The interactions between characters was well written and believable. I felt as though I was in the places being described by the settings. There was nothing about this tale I didn't like. The story itself flowed very well and as it bounced between the two eras it covered, 1960 and 2020, I was always able to distinguish between the two.

There are some uncomfortable moments as it unfolds. Plot points include racism, sexism, religious conflict, and a few depictions of violence that may make some uncomfortable, but nothing was in any way gratuitous or sensationalized.

It's 1960 in the town of Galina, Arizona, located close to the border between the US and Mexico. A young woman goes to see a friend for help with a precarious situation. While they visit, there is a storm with red hail falling from the sky. Before long, many of the people of the town start showing strange, unexplainable behaviors. There doesn't seem to be anything medically wrong with those affected, but one group of people begin to blame the Hispanic population for the plague brought by the storm.

Move forward to 2020. Colin and his partner, Alonzo, have moved into their own place to live their lives together. A sociology Ph.D. candidate, Colin works on his dissertation on the Galina Plague. He does not know just how close he will get to his subject matter until Alonzo begins displaying symptoms sixty years after the event.

These two stories come together in a satisfying and fascinating way at the end of the tale. 

My favorite characters in Red Hail follow Esperanza Kearney (known to most as Anza) and a salty older woman named Dove McNally.

Anza lives with her father in Galina. At sixteen, she is an intelligent and hard-working young woman with a lot of potential. When she discovers she is pregnant, she seeks the help of Dove, a kind of expert on how to use plants for numerous things. Anza has ambitions for her future and isn't ready to have a family, and she is also petrified that her father would be more than a little upset at her situation. He also wishes to see Anza reach her full potential, and as a dedicated father, he will do just about anything to see his little girl be successful in life.

Dove has a lot of life experience and isn't afraid to use it. She is handy with cures and with a shotgun as well. She helps Anza as best she can through the story and is someone I would like to know. Dove is a truly fun character through the book as she helps those in need in whatever way she can.

My favorite point of plot in Red Hail is when the two stories come together. It had me laughing out loud, but not because it was funny, but because of how well the story was out together and how unexpectedly the plot twisted. It was worth the time to read to get to the end because of how neatly it was all wrapped up.

My takeaway from this tale is how one must be ever vigilant to watch out for superstition as an explanation for something that cannot be explained. Nothing can replace good, old-fashioned research and finding the empirical evidence. The beliefs of some of the town members turned Galina into a war zone for a time, and there was a lot of avoidable strife and loss of life.

Red Hail is a fun and entertaining story for any sci-fi fan looking for a good read. There is plenty of action and suspense, lots of interesting characters, and an out of this world ending.

I recommend this book for genre fans as well as those looking for a good story. It is on the light-side of science fiction and more character driven.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jamie Killen's introduction to the world of dark fiction came at the age of seven, when her well-meaning but perhaps overly enthusiastic dad decided that the works of Harlan Ellison made for some great bedtime stories. She's been avidly consuming science fiction, horror, and fantasy novels, movies, comic books, and podcasts ever since.

Jamie's short stories and flash fiction have appeared in dozens of anthologies and magazines. She is also a writer and director of several dark fiction podcasts.

Originally from Arizona, Jamie now lives in Texas with her longtime partner. When she isn't writing, she enjoys practicing her mixology skills by inventing new and exciting designer cocktails. She also likes craft beer, travel, and cuddling with her two adorable rescue mutts.

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Jumping off the Planet: The Far Side of the Sky, Book 1 by David Gerrold - A Bittersweet Tale Of A Dysfunctional Family On A Smart Kid

Jumping off the Planet: The Far Side of the Sky, Book 1 by David Gerrold

One thing I really enjoy is a tale told in the style of classic science fiction, which is why the writing of David Gerrold appeals to me in a big way. Jumping off the Planet is a great, character driven story with descriptions of settings to whet the reader's imagination. It contains science that is not with us yet, but it is so well researched that one cannot argue with its plausibility.

The funny thing is, as I started reading this book, I realized it was very familiar for some strange reason, and then it hit me, this story was also included in a collection I bought several years ago directly from the author when he visited the town of Beatrice, Nebraska for a celebration of the life of Gene L. Coon. The collection, which includes four stories, is entitled A Promise of Stars: Stories from Beyond the Sky.

Jumping off the Planet is a sci-fi story that focuses on a dysfunctional family in the not-too-distant future where one can travel into space on a space elevator, and even catch a ride to the moon. Unfortunately, resources on Earth are scarce and availability is an ever-increasing problem, so the more affluent members of the human race live and work on stations along the length of the elevator. There is a lot of sadness and in this story, but it is balanced with some triumph for the principal character, a young man often referred to as "Chigger," a nickname given to him by his grandfather.

Charles "Chigger" Dingillian along with his two brothers and mother live in a Texas shanty town where they try to carve out a decent lifestyle. One day, Chigger's dad shows up with a seemingly fantastic offer. During his time with the boys, he is allowed by a custody agreement, he proposes to the boys they go on a vacation to the moon. The boys are skeptical, believing their dad to be making yet another promise he cannot, or will not, keep.

In effect, Max Dingillian kidnaps his three sons and races off on a cross-country adventure to Ecuador, where he plans to take his sons off the planet and away from their mother.

It isn't long after they depart the planet that Max's plan is discovered, and the chase is on to stop him. 

Chigger has had enough of the situation between his estranged parents and thinks about a solution to end his torment and hopefully give him and his brothers a chance at a better life. He has two choices: either go back to what it has been or divorce his parents.

Charles finds joy in almost nothing. All he wants out of life is to be left to himself and be allowed to listen to his music, the only thing that gives him solace. He really seems to hate his family, but it isn't true. It's not the people in his family he hates, but the situation they had put him in, particularly his mother and father, who are more interested in their own agendas than what is best for their kids. 

What I appreciated most about young Charles is his thoughtfulness about everything. Jumping off the Planet revolves around the inner workings of a kid who is brilliant in many ways. He takes note of his surroundings and comments on them, sometimes negatively, but he doesn't miss a thing. It is tragic knowing what he could be if only had the proper nurturing from adults who could provide an example of what it is to be adults.

One of my favorite things about this story is how Charles finds refuge in music, particularly in the music of John Coltrane. This is not surprising to me when one thinks about his style of jazz he dubbed "sheets of sound." As the sideman for the great Miles Davis, Coltrane invented his technique by the playing of rapid passages of notes that wove themselves together in a curtain of sound. That Charles latched on to them shows an advanced appreciation for music. 

This advanced appreciation is, of course, an extension of the David Gerrold's own appreciation for music of all kinds. One of the most profound statements offered in the book is a nearly perfect description of what the style of jazz music is about:

"Jazz isn't music. Jazz is what happens when the music disappears and all that is left is the sound and the emotion connected to it. Jazz is a scream or a rant or a sigh. Or whatever else is inside, trying to get out."

Gerrold, David. Jumping Off the Planet (p. 73). BenBella Books. Kindle Edition.

As a musician myself, I find this quote not only profound but also poetic and spot on!

My takeaway from Jumping off the Planet is the tragedy of what happens when parents fall out of love with each other and proceed to use their children as weapons against each other. This is idea is clearly illustrated in the text of this tale and hangs like a pall over the entire story.

No one is born knowing how to be a parent. There are no manuals or coaches to teach one how to be a parent. This story has a message to those that would be parents. When a man or a woman begin to feel sorry for themselves enough to put themselves in the center of their universe, they must remember that the small life they brought into the world is, and should be, the center of their universe. A child never asks to be born and in no case do they owe their parents anything, but their parents do owe their children everything.

I recommend Jumping off the Planet as an outstanding work of sci-fi that is also a deep character study of a family in turmoil that has gotten to a point unbearable for the children involved. It is often a disturbing tale with moments of laugh-out-loud irony and an ending that is not only triumphant, but leaves the question of what's next for these youngsters? Fortunately, there are two more books in this series, and I look forward to the continued saga of what will happen to the Dingillian clan and how the characters, particularly Charles, will grow.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

David Gerrold lives in California with his son, daughter-in-law, and his toddler grandson. He is the winner of numerous awards for his writing. You can follow him on Facebook or through his Patreon page. He is a self-described curmudgeon, and you are highly advised not to tread on his lawn.

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