Empty Space: Betrayal By Michael Jan Friedman - High-Powered Space Opera!

Empty Space: Betrayal by Michael Jan Friedman

I received a copy of this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Over the years, I have come to know that when I see the name Michael Jan Friedman on the cover of a sci-fi space opera novel, it is going to be a truly great one. Empty Space: Betrayal certainly fits in as a great space opera story involving a cast of some of the most interesting characters I've read about in all my years of reading. The reason the characters are so amazing is that they differ greatly from many I can remember reading. I put a lot on the quality of the players in a tale, and, right from the beginning, the principal character is unique in my experience.

Another great part of reading Mike's stories is his outstanding plot twists. The reader never sees what comes when it comes to books by this highly experienced author.

Empty Space: Betrayal is a great story space opera fans should not miss.

While the Terran system faces threats from alien species, it falls to the men and women of the Terran Fleet to provide an adequate defense. This becomes increasingly difficult when the Terrans are suffering heavy casualties. One of those casualties is Captain Robinson Dark, an officer who dies in the line of duty. However, the Terrans have learned how to reanimate their fallen officers to fight another day, at least for a while, until they eventually suffer from madness and become a danger to their fellow crewmates.

Because of his reanimation, Captain Dark no longer qualifies to command a starship, even though he retains all his skills and knowledge from before his death. On the other hand, he can very well command a mission to retrieve alien technology to help the Terran war effort.

He has to make a deal with an enemy to get his job done. It is almost like making a deal with the Devil, but as shaky as that may appear, it goes pear-shaped unexpectedly. Nothing is assured even in what seems to be a well-planned mission.

Robinson Dark is a captain and a leader. He is also what is called an "empty," a reanimated individual who retains knowledge and experience from their previous life, but not their emotions. While devoid of emotion, Dark is not without compassion. He indeed cares about those in his command, and he also defends other empties from the bigotry they face at the hands of those who are living their "first lives." While there are those who feel animosity at being commanded by empties, Dark is highly respected by most of those he commands, and he leads them well.

My favorite point of plot involves a precarious alliance Dark forms with a Poyan Elder, Za'mogh. When Dark discovers a secret about some alien technology, he must find a way to get to it, so he makes a deal with Za'mogh to retrieve the tech and share it with the Poya. This tech could mean a huge shift in power in the galaxy. Unfortunately, Za'mogh has ambitious enemies and must watch his back. Dark doesn't know about Za'mogh's problems. This all makes for a great story full of twists and turns. It is pure literary fun!

The theme that stands out to me the most in Empty Space: Betrayal is that of betrayal and deceit. Za'mogh gets an abject lesson on that theme, but he also teaches a lesson in the consequences of it. This, for me, was the best part of the story.

My takeaway from this story is from a line uttered by Michael Corleone in the film The Godfather Part II. He said, "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer." The line speaks for itself and, as an aside note, the quote is commonly attributed to Sun Tsu or Machiavelli, but there is much ongoing debate on this score.

I deeply appreciated and enjoyed reading Empty Space: Betrayal. It is a great space opera with feeling. It has everything one could want from a sci-fi novel: great heroes and appalling villains, and a character who defies being either a hero or villain. There are numerous obstacles for the characters to work through. Mike's writing flows off the page and into the mind's eye to play out in an extremely entertaining way. It is an entertaining work of genius from an author who excels at writing just plain fun stuff.

Highest Recommendations!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Michael Jan Friedman is the author of 83 books, nearly half of them set somewhere in the wilds of the Star Trek universe. He has also written for the Aliens, Predator, Wolfman, Lois and Clark, DC Super Hero, Marvel Super Hero, and Wishbone licensed book universes. Eleven of his titles, including the autobiography Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Ghost Hunting (written with SciFi's Ghost Hunters), have appeared on the prestigious New York Times primary bestseller list, and his novel adaptation of the Batman and Robin movie was for a time the #1 bestselling book in Poland (really).

Friedman had worked at one time or another in network and cable television, radio, business magazines, and the comic book industry, in the process of producing scripts for nearly 200 comic stories. Among his comic book credits is the Darkstars series he created for DC Comics. He also co-wrote the story for the acclaimed second-season Star Trek: Voyager TV episode "Resistance," which guest-starred Joel Grey. In 2011, Friedman spearheaded the establishment of Crazy 8 Press, an imprint through which authors publish their purest and most passionate visions. Crazy 8 Press currently features more than 80 original titles.

As always, Friedman advises readers that no matter how many Friedmans they know, he is probably not related to any of them.

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Motus By P.A. Kramer - Underground Life Is Challenging!

Motus by P.A. Kramer

I received a copy of this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

From the moment I opened Motus all the way through to the end, I was completely engaged.

Motus is a hard sci-fi look into a society living an underground existence. Among the things I enjoyed about this tale were the principal characters, Corun and Cassi. Supporting characters were also well-written and added to the story. The world building was easy to visualize, and the descriptions of the surroundings were colorful. I also thought the science was plausible and easy to understand.

There wasn't anything I didn't like about this tale, and I didn't want to set it aside.

The civilization of Motus has been around for a very long time. Corun, a man who digs to provide the people with the resources necessary for life, find a strange rock he has never seen before. He hopes his find will help him change his life, and perhaps even elevate him in the strict caste system governing Motus. But alas, the substance he found is simple slag from the city's own furnaces.

Employing a little deductive reasoning, Corun is a bit alarmed to realize he is living in a city that moves through the same places over and over. He also realizes that this could mean the end of the city as resources are used up.

Corun meets Cassi, a smart woman who has a secret. She is advocating for change, which could get her into a lot of trouble. When she isn't working her assigned job, she writes pamphlets that will hopefully inspire people to fight for better conditions for all the people in Motus, not just the elites.

Together, Corun and Cassi deduce that change is necessary, and they are the ones who have to lead it. Their choices, other than following the status quo, are to either dig deeper into the rock, or dig up to the surface of the planet. They have been told all their lives that the surface is uninhabitable by the elites, but is that the truth? Corun decides it is time to find out.

Corun, the principal character of Motus, is a worker who can be depended on for an honest day's work. He is good at his job and respected among his peers. Like any typical miner, he is tough, and the people he associates with are also just as tough. They work hard, and they play hard. But Corun is also a thinking man. There are some things that don't seem right with Motus, and it takes Cassi to help him better understand the city's situation.

Cassi is a young woman with roots in the elite class, but she is also well-educated and knows and has access to resources that few others have. She thinks and studies and writes about the evils of the current system and passes what she learns on to others to inspire them to think about change for the better.

Together, these two might just change the world.

My favorite plot point is that, thanks to Corun's discovery, the workers establish how they are actually mining their own graves by digging through their own waste material. They realize that there must be a major change in their direction to stave off disaster in the near future as their resources are used up and soon to disappear.

This is also related to what is, for me, the major theme of the book.

The theme of a struggle against stagnation is rooted in the politics of Motus. There are three major philosophies in the story. One is the Ascensionists, who believe that they need to move toward the surface of the planet and see if the legends about its habitability are accurate. There are the Descensionists who feel they need to dig deeper into the planet to uncover new resources. Then there are the Lateralists, the elite who are in charge of making decisions.

The Lateralists are imposing their wishes on everyone despite the promise of doom in order to preserve their hold onto power. They know the consequences and what will eventually happen, but maintaining their power pulls them to ignore the consequences.

My takeaway from Motus is to remember a quote from a politician: "It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it." — Aung San Suu Kyi

But political considerations aside, this is just a plain good story. The story is paced well, with the action always moving forward. I appreciated the focus of the tale on the characters who were allowed to tell the overall story through their thoughts and dialog. I appreciated how the relationship between the principal characters developed over time, slowly. I also enjoyed the lighter banter that would occasionally crop up and remind me that the characters are human. I also loved the intensity and urgency the characters felt after the discovery Corus made at the beginning of the book. Motus is a well-written speculative look into reasonable actions people can take when they find themselves facing the end of their existence.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

P. A. Kramer is a scientist and science fiction writer who also publishes under the name Philip A. Kramer. He has short fiction and non-fiction published by Baen Books, Writer’s Digest, The Colored Lens, Eldritch Science, and in several anthologies with award-winning and best-selling authors. He is the winner of the 2017 Baen Memorial Short Story Award and the 2017 N3F short story contest. After obtaining a doctorate in Biomedical Science, he now helps authors write with scientific authenticity on his blog. He is formerly a resident of Seattle but now lives in North Carolina with his wife and daughter.

For updates on his books, visit his website at pakramer.com and subscribe to his newsletter. 

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Artifacts And Enigmas: Mysteries From Redemption By Darran M. Handshaw - An Excellent And Entertaining Collection Of Short Stories

Artifacts and Enigmas: Mysteries from Redemption by Darran M. Handshaw

I received a copy of this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Not long ago, I read and reviewed the first book in the Chronicles of Actaeon series by Darran. When I learned there was a short story collection in that universe, I was all in.

Artifacts and Enigmas is a science fiction/mystery collection of eleven stories. Each one is separate, but they also tie in together by the end of the book. The book is set in more of a fantasy-like setting, but the characters explain events in scientific terms. The stories are from the point of view of two characters who are learned and expert in their given roles. Together, they go about solving and explaining a variety of bizarre crimes and is loaded with fascinating plot twists and turns, making it a very entertaining read.

In the ancient, ruined city of Redemption, Knight Investigator Aethelgard goes about his business solving crimes. He uses his powers of observation and deduction, and nothing gets by his keen senses. But when he is confronted with crimes involving Artifacts of the Ancients, he finds himself in need of help from his friend and Prince Engineer Actaeon, who is an expert in the areas of uncovering the mysteries of science. Together, these two are a team that gets to the bottom of all sorts of criminal activity that threatens the people of Redemption as their city is rebuilt.

Underlying everything lurks Aethelgard's longtime nemesis, who must be defeated.

My favorite plot point throughout all eleven stories is the friendship Aethelgard and Actaeon enjoy. For the most part, their relationship is excellent, although they don't always agree. Their friendship is tested along the way, but because of their sense of purpose and their understanding of the way the world works, and how people think and behave, they can resolve their differences to the benefit of both, and the people of Redemption.

My takeaway from Artifacts and Enigmas is the importance of teamwork. Each of the two principal characters have their areas of expertise, and when they are together, they are an unstoppable force to be reckoned with.

I enjoyed this collection of stories. They are all high quality and fun to read. I didn't find any of the tales predictable, and each one has plot twists, making the reading experience enjoyable. This collection is highly entertaining and very well written. I recommend Artifacts and Enigmas for readers who like stories in the combined Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre, or for those who are seeking something uncommon in science fiction.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Darran M. Handshaw is the author of The Engineer and The Dark Heart of Redemption. In addition to writing, Darran works as an R&D Concept Engineer at a technology company where he invents and designs new products. He holds more than 110 patents in data capture, vision systems, and emergency services. Darran also volunteers as a firefighter with his local fire department, where he serves as an Ex-Chief and active firefighter and teaches fire prevention to the children of his community. Darran hails from Long Island, NY, where he lives with his beautiful wife, Stefanie, and incredible son, Corwin, who fill his life with love, wisdom, and endless adventures.

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