When Earth Shall Be No More by Paul Awad and Kathryn O'Sullivan - One Child, Two Timelines To Save Humanity

When Earth Shall Be No More by Paul Awad and Kathryn O'Sullivan

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

I was attracted to this book because of its cover design and the title. I was expecting a post-apocalyptic kind of story where the Earth is destroyed and some very rich man building a spaceship to carry an elite crew off the planet to save humanity. When I read the book, I found it was much more than what I expected.

This is a story full of humanistic ideas and interactions between two timelines. There are many twists and turns making the story compelling. The plot is driven by well-developed characters that a reader can truly care about and relate to. It is a tale of people forming relationships depending on cooperation for survival. It suggests just what humanity can do if people work together.

A reader will find this book hard to set aside once it is opened. 

The Earth has somehow been destroyed and Constance Roy, an environmental scientist along with forty-eight others, are taken aboard the Orb, a huge space vessel that is in orbit around the planet Jupiter. Constance and the rest of the humans are watched over by an automaton race of beings calling themselves Curators. Everything on board Orb is provided except for the solution to the problem of where to go before the ship's orbit decays and is crushed in the Jovian planet's atmosphere.

In another timeline on modern day Earth, Constance goes about her life as a single mom raising a son who appears to be someone very special. The youngster, Nicolas, appears to have a special gift of being able to understand things far beyond his age.

Onboard the Orb, the Curators have given up on any possibility that the humans will save themselves. Their bickering and single-mindedness seem to get in the way.

Just when all seems lost, the timelines collide. Nicolas's mother Constance makes a sacrifice, and the boy helps Constance in the Orb timeline to solve the problems. Convinced there is no hope for the future of humanity, the Curators seek to kill Nicolas, but Constance fights to make sure the boy can give hope to what is left of Earth's population to start over on a new world.

When Earth Shall Be No More is told from Constance Roy's point of view in both timelines.

Constance on the Orb and on Earth both have the same personalities. They think, talk, and act alike. Both are analytical and are good problem solvers. The difference between the two is their focus on the problems they face. Orb Constance is trying to find the target planet to settle on by following a string of cryptic clues left behind by a friend while the Earth version is concerned mostly with her son and his wellbeing. Earth Constance does not know what is happening when a mysterious stranger arrives on the scene and tries to kidnap Nicolas.

My favorite point of plot in this tale is how Nicolas has been nurtured to appreciate science and what it can offer to solve problems. She encourages Nicolas to read books and learn all he can about the things he is interested in. This alone makes the child a force in the future survival of humanity.

My takeaway from this story is how one should never underestimate the powers of a young person who is full of wonder and curiosity. One such individual can be both an inspiration and can present a unique point of view to the solution of a problem.

This book is an easy-to-read story that flows along at a good pace and will hold a reader's attention. It is an uncommon science fiction thriller that runs the entire spectrum of emotional content and is well worth the time as the opening to a series.

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Paul Awad and Kathryn O’Sullivan are an award-winning husband and wife writing and filmmaking team. They have collaborated on feature and documentary films, screenplays, and web series. Paul is a cinema professor and Kathryn is a theatre professor at Northern Virginia Community College. Kathryn is also the award-winning writer of the Colleen McCabe mystery series. They live in Reston, Virginia.

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Moments Asunder - Star Trek: Coda Book 1 by Dayton Ward - Mayhem Ensues From An Old Foe

Moments Asunder - Star Trek: Coda Book 1 by Dayton Ward

On April 23, 2022, I made a trek to Kansas City to attend Planet Comicon. My mission was two-fold; first I took part on a panel with my friend, Troy Rutter on Autograph Collecting. The second part of my mission was to meet Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore, authors of Star Trek literature. The panel, while not well attended, was a success. Meeting two of my favorite authors was also successful, and I returned home with an autographed copy of Moments Asunder, the first book in the new Coda series penned by Dayton. The next two books in the series include The Ashes of Tomorrow by James Swallow and, finally, Oblivion's Gate by David Mack.

This story introduces a conundrum with the return of a nemesis from ST: TNG, who has become stronger and more dangerous. In reality, this series avoids a problem of breaking continuity in the Trek timeline and resolve new ideas that have been presented in the Picard television series. So, moving forward, there will be continued consistency in future books.

It is hard to write about Moments because nearly everything I might say would be a spoiler. This story is so full, it never slows down and all the while urged me on to reading more. If you read this book, don't blink, you'll miss something. 

Moments is, as always, with Dayton's stories, well written, logical, engaging, and highly entertaining.

In order to avoid any undue spoilers, I'll quote the blurb from the back of the book...

Starfleet's Finest faces a challenge unlike any other...

Tomorrow is doomed...

Time is coming apart. Countless alternate and parallel realities are under attack, weakening and collapsing from relentless onslaught. If left unchecked, the universe faces an unstoppable descent toward entropy.

Wanderer, Oracle, Ally...

Scarred and broken after decades spent tracking the escalating temporal disaster, while battling the nameless enemy responsible for it, an old friend seeks assistance from Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise. The apocalypse may originate from their future, but might the cause lie in the past?

Everything that will be...

Identifying their adversary is but the first step toward defeating them, but early triumphs come with dreadful costs. What will the price be to achieve final victory, and how will that success be measured in the futures as yet undefined?

What is most impressive about Moments is how Dayton dovetails the past books and episodes from Trek into this one opening tale in the continuing adventures of the Enterprise. All the characters we have come to know over the years are in play here along with those we have also come to know through the literary continuation in the expanded universe.

Lives and situations have changed over the years, but the characters have grown through their experiences. With introducing multiple timelines in this book, we get an array of varied living situations that is satisfyingly familiar to those of use who have taken the time to read the many books in the expanded Trek universe.

This alone is a strong point in Moments, but there is so much more.

My favorite point of plot for this amazing story is the opening of the book. We return to a place from the past where a character is trying to get answers, but the answers are all couched in unspecific riddles that only breed more questions. "By all that was. By all that will be," is all the questioner will get. The rest of the story shows the meaning of this cryptic statement.

In the pages that follow this opening, there are more twists and turns that San Francisco's Lombard Street and would be nearly as difficult to navigate without the brilliant writing by the author. It is Dayton's depth of knowledge in the Trek universe that drives this story forward. It is a complicated story made clear. Let's face it, stories set in multiple timelines can be difficult to understand, but that is not the case here.

My takeaway from Moments Asunder is that the past is prologue. Whatever has come before will come again. This tale most assuredly illustrates that quote from Shakespeare's play, The Tempest.

Moments Asunder is loaded with great character driven story, familiar characters (it's almost like getting a visit from old friends), and plot twists galore all wrapped in a package that moves at breakneck speed. Once you pick this one up, it will be nearly impossible to set aside. Yeah, it's that good.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Dayton, me, and Kevin
Planet Comicon 2022

"Dayton Ward understands and forgives readers who skip over the "About the Author" pages. It's easy to gloss right past them. Besides, a lot of them can be kind of pretentious, with the author listing everything they've ever written, along with the names of every cat they've rescued from a tree. Dayton hates being that guy, even though he really digs cats.

"What Dayton can tell you is that his first Star Trek "expanded universe" story was written in the early 1980s, and you'll be thrilled to know it remains unpublished. Indeed, the story itself doesn't even exist anymore. All copies have been burned, and all witnesses have been silenced. You're welcome.

"If you've made it this far, let Dayton know by visiting him on the web at DaytonWard.com, where you can read about all the stuff he's written and thank him for sparing you the pain of yet another long, drawn-out "About the Author" page."

That was from the end of Moments Asunder. In reality, Dayton Ward is the New York Times bestselling author or coauthor of nearly forty novels and novellas, often working with his best friend, Kevin Dilmore. His short fiction has appeared in more than twenty anthologies, and he’s written for magazines such as NCO Journal, Kansas City Voices, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Star Trek, and Star Trek Communicator, as well as the websites Tor.com, StarTrek.com, and Syfy.com. A native of Tampa, Florida, he currently lives in Kansas City, Missouri with his wife and two daughters. Visit him on the web at DaytonWard.com. 

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Out of Time by Mikhail Gladkikh - Breathtaking Hard Sci-Fi

Out of Time by Mikhail Gladkikh

I received an advance review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

When Dr. Mikhail Gladkikh contacted me via email asking if I would read his new book, and sent the blurb along, I did not know what to expect. I just finished reading Out of Time and I will admit, it left me breathless. It is an amazing roller coaster ride of scientific discovery, political intrigue, and mayhem perpetrated by those who are power hungry megalomaniacs. There are a plethora of characters, both good and bad, who embark on a journey to save, or destroy, the very universe we live in.

This story is based on concepts constantly under the scrutiny of real astrophysics every day. Chiefly, some concepts explore the nature of spacetime, dark matter/energy, and the effects of gravitational waves. When I read or listen to podcasts dealing with much of this subject matter, I come away only partially understanding what I've taken in. This story discusses these concepts as well, but the author does a great job making it easier to understand for the common person.

The tale itself is well paced, moving from chapter to chapter, following the exploits of the characters in their various roles.

In short, if you only read one hard sci-fi novel this year, this should be it.

Set in the year 2057, humanity seems to have gotten itself together enough to move off planet and explore the solar system. The people of Earth have changed little in the future, and there are those who have massive amounts of wealth and power, but enough is never enough. It's politics as usual. Things go awry when something strange happens in the outer solar system.

On Oberon, the outermost moon of Uranus, an anomaly seems to increase the gravitational pull of this body. When a team is sent to investigate, a probe is destroyed, revealing few answers. Not long after, the same type of anomaly grips the Earth's moon and sends the satellite on a collision course with the planet.

A crack team of scientists is gathered to address the problem. As they work on this, a college student, Jim Steel, begins having visions of the future and helps police solve a crime.

There are several threads to this story that weave together into a complete tapestry of deeper scientific understanding of the workings of our universe, and the dangers presented by those who would manipulate the laws of nature to their own advantage.

My favorite point of the plot in Out of Time was how the science was written. At one point, a character proposes what she conjectures to be the mechanics of how the universe continues to expand and what is causing the anomalous problems that exist in the story. What I most enjoyed about this is how Galdkikh made the prose so clear even I could understand the explanation, while still making it sound more like science than science fiction. There are two hypotheses put forth that seem so plausible that they must be something under study in the real world.

At another point, there is some discussion of how the universe will end. This takes place within the mind of the character Jim Steel, a college student who has glimpses of the future and helps solve some problems presented in the story. The idea deals with the theory that since the universe was created in a massive explosion, it would end in just the opposite way, with a Big Crunch.

In the first idea, it is the addition of (dark) matter/energy that inflates the universe, and in the second, the universe will in a kind of overcrowding of matter and energy, which will lead to a Big Bang; the creation of a new universe in a new epoch.

Whatever the truth is, we may never know, but it is fun to think about and come up with new ideas and argue about the old ones. In any case, my point is that the science in this book is written so anyone can understand what is being discussed. The handling of science in this story made it more accessible to me and easier to visualize, which I appreciate.

My takeaway from Out of Time is how science can be corrupted by introducing politics into problem solving. We see this today when we look at the problem of global climate change and how this debate is developing. I will not offer my personal views here, but I will say that it disturbs me how everything science, which is supposed to be the search for the truth, is spun to fit whatever one tends to believe.

This story is a perfect example of how scientists are charged with finding truths and solving problems and when politics become involved, how the issues become clouded to where the common person doesn't know what to think. 

This tale is engaging and entertaining and at no point was I bored with this book. There is a lot in this book to keep track of, but it is so well written and organized that there are no problems with understanding the action taking place. I love the way the threads of the story, which in many cases seem unrelated, come together at the end. I give Out of Time my highest recommendations for a high-quality hard sci-fi story.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mikhail Gladkikh is an author and a thought leader, driven by the quest for knowledge, learning, and advancement of humanity.

Mikhail Gladkikh, Ph.D. Applied Mathematics, is a new fiction author. His sci-fi short stories are published in multiple online journals. Mikhail’s short story “Sea-born” has been selected as the story of the month for November 2021 and nominated for the Pushcart Award by “The Big Purple Wall” magazine. His professional career provides him with a unique perspective on the technologies of the future. He spent sixteen years at Baker Hughes, an Energy Technology Company, where he is working at the forefront of the 4th Industrial Revolution, advancing 3D Printing, Industrial Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Supply Chain. 

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Alien Isolation (Audiobook) by Keith R.A. Decandido - A Complete Package Of Great Story, Characters, And Narration!

Alien Isolation (Audiobook) by Keith R.A. Decandido

In preparation for a day trip to Kansas City, Missouri, to attend Planet Comicon, I downloaded Alien: Isolation to accompany me on the drive. I found this a great choice for an audiobook for both content and narration. Keith is one of my favorite authors, mostly for his work in the Star Trek sandbox, and particularly for his portrayal of Klingons in his work. Knowing the quality of his work in the Trek universe, I was not surprised to find the same level of quality in this story from the Alien franchise. Overall, I found Alien: Isolation a refreshing diversion from the monotony of cross-country driving.

This story is based on the video game of the same title as the book. (I've never played the video game, nor did I know anything about it before I looked it up.) This is the tale of Amanda Ripley, daughter of Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley of the ill-fated cargo ship, Nostromo. Apparently, Ripley revealed she had a daughter back on Earth during the Aliens film in a scene that was cut from the original movie. This story fleshes out Amanda's plight using flashback scenes to give us some insight into the principal character, and the main story of Amanda's struggle to learn Ellen's fate and her struggle to survive encounters with the xenomorphs.

Keith's story is fast-paced and was well balanced between the flashbacks and the principal story. The descriptions of the settings were easy to visualize, and the characters were excellently developed and read as believable living people. The narration by Sarah Mollo-Christensen was also outstanding and further brought the action and characters to life.

Ellen Ripley departed on the Nostromo after promising her young daughter, Amanda, she would return in time for her eleventh birthday. As Amanda awaited her mother's return, she only finds deep disappointment when she is informed Ellen will not return because the Nostromo was mysteriously destroyed en route returning to Earth, and that her mother's fate is not known.

Amanda, who is being raised by her alcoholic stepfather, has a rough life. Her ambition is to attend school, learn all she can, and learn of her mother's fate. After following several false leads, she finally receives word that the Nostromo's flight recorder has been recovered and is on a deep-space station.

When arriving at the station, her ship and crew find themselves in a desperate fight for survival against the very creatures that ravaged the Nostromo's crew. Amanda must use all her knowledge and wits to escape death and find out if she will ever see her mother again.

Amanda Ripley is not Ellen Ripley, at least not right away. She is smart and learns fast. Her intention was to become a certified engineer. While she did become an engineer of sorts, the certification eluded her for many reasons. Chief among those was her stepfather who, while capable, had a lot of problems with alcohol, and by extension, holding a job. So instead of being able to pursue her ambition, she had to work to support herself and her often unemployed stepdad to survive and avoid being taken into the system.

Those of us who have followed Ellen's exploits through the Alien franchise admire her as a tough, yet compassionate, and heroic character. Amanda has these same traits as she goes about the business of seeking hope her mother somehow survived the Nostromo disaster. Aboard the space station, there are dangers everywhere. Yes, there is the monster, but at the same time there are numerous system failures she must keep repairing, and, she has to deal with the personnel issues as the crew also breaks down and enters an ‘everyone-for-themselves’ survival mode. In the end, Amanda is every bit the hero as her mother.

As always, there seems to be another enemy to fight who never shows its face. Readers/listeners probably will not be surprised at the reveal who the hidden enemy is.

My favorite point of plot for Isolation is how well Amanda's character is fleshed out to become someone a reader can care about. Without this aspect in the story, this tale wouldn't have been extraordinary. I felt so bad for this brilliant little girl and absolutely wanted her to be successful in achieving her goals. It was sad that at every turn; she was thwarted and forced to serve in a menial role so far below her intellect. It is my hope that Keith may tell more of this tale outside of the novelization of the video game. He just knows how to spin a great yarn, and I know his treatment would be a satisfying story. 

The obvious main theme of Isolation is a look at someone who survives against insurmountable odds. But my takeaway from this story goes a little deeper than Amanda versus the monster. It is more how Keith endows her with a strength of character that allows her to survive.

There is no quit in Amanda. She is going to persevere no matter what she is told or what obstacles are put in her way. It would have been so easy for her to just accept being told Ellen was dead and move on from there. She might have, but it was that tiny seed of doubt that drove her on to do whatever she had to do to uncover the truth. I admire her for this, and it is what kept me listening as I made my way home from Kansas City.

Alien: Isolation is a great audiobook and I highly recommend it to those who are fans of the franchise and are looking for more story. It moves at a great pace. There just isn't a dull moment or what one might think of as fluff. Everything is relevant to the story. The characters, along with Amanda, are great and help the listener/reader understand the principal character better. Even though the story is complete in itself, it still left me wanting more and it is my hope there will be more in the near future, especially if Keith DeCandido is tapped to be the author.

Novel Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Narration Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Keith R.A. DeCandido was born and raised in New York City to a family of librarians, which pretty much explains everything. He has written more than 50 novels, as well as short stories, nonfiction, eBooks, comic books, and blog entries, many of them in various media universes, among them Star Trek, Alien, Supernatural, World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Marvel Comics, Cars, Farscape, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Stargate, Serenity, Resident Evil, Kung Fu Panda, Doctor Who, Sleepy Hollow, Leverage, Orphan Black, and more. Among his many works of original fiction are the fantasy police procedural series of novels and short stories that started with Dragon Precinct, as well as a series of urban fantasy short stories set in Key West, Florida, many of which are in Ragnarok & Roll: Tales of Cassie Zukav, Weirdness Magnet, fiction about cops in a city filled with super heroes, and an urban fantasy series about a nice Jewish boy from the Bronx who hunts monsters, starting with the novel A Furnace Sealed. Keith is also an editor (having supervised several book lines and put together dozens of anthologies), musician (percussionist for the Don't Quit Your Day Job Players, the Boogie Knights, and others), pop culture commentator (he writes for both Tor.com and his own Patreon at patreon.com/krad) and a third-degree black belt in Kenshikai karate (he both trains and teaches). He still lives in New York City with various humans and animals.

Sarah Mollo-Christensen (Narrator): Sarah grew up riding horses outside Boston, and went to Dartmouth College, where she graduated magna cum laude with a BA in History. 

After a few years working in other industries, such as documentary production, book publishing, and law, she threw caution and financial responsibility to the winds, and decided to apprentice herself to a dog trainer and attend the Atlantic Acting School's two-year Conservatory. 

In the years since, Sarah has acted in New York and at wonderful regional theaters, including The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., where she spent a year in residence as an acting fellow.

When she's not in a theater or an audio booth, Sarah can be found resolving the behavior issues of New York City's dogs (and their owners).

Entropy by Dana Hayward - Solid Characters And A Great Tale Of Scientific And Political Intrigue

Entropy by Dana Hayward

I received an advance review copy of Entropy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

It is always a great day when I open my email and find a note from an author asking if I would be interested in reading their new book. When author Dana Hayward, who appreciated my review of another person's work, offered to send an advance copy of his new work, Entropy, along with a synopsis, I was more than happy to oblige.

There is nothing about this book I didn't enjoy. It is a fast-moving piece set in a not-too-distant future where there has been a lot of scientific advancement. The characters are well developed and display growth as the story advances. Most are easy to relate to and might be people I would want to know. But, while the story is fast-paced, and I enjoyed reading it, it is also quite disturbing, as I am sure it is meant to be.

While set in the future, many of the ideas in Entropy could be headlines from today. There are many plot points that felt all too real as I read and make me realize how easily fiction can become reality. In that way, this was a frightening read because the author takes us to possible new realities even beyond what are in current headlines.

The name of the game in Entropy is survival in a seemingly unsurvivable situation. There won't be many winners in this game, and the losers will just be dead.

For some mysterious reason, the Earth has lost its ability to sustain itself as a viable system. Everything is breaking down as the planet seems to approach a dangerous equilibrium of nothingness. Life is disappearing at an alarming rate and the human population is experiencing shortages of everything, including breathable air, potable water, and food. Chaos is rapidly becoming the order of the day as a few people try to address the problem, or become predators, taking from those who have without regard for others.

Governments cannot help and determine it is time to look to alternate living arrangements such as moving out into the solar system, leaving the Earth behind.

U.S. President Myung Kim determines the only course is to give people hope by first establishing a permanent colony on the moon to be used as a jumping off point for permanent relocation to Mars. Much of the infrastructure for this is in place, but how will the people be fed?

John McCabe is charged with coming up with a solution to the food problem. He is to create a cultivar, a type of edible plant that will grow quickly under the harshest conditions.

As conditions continue to deteriorate, the country falls further into chaos because of famine, plague, and civil uprising. Also looming on the horizon is an inevitable confrontation with the Chinese government.

There is hope when a new republic form on the moon and decides to strike out for their inevitable destination to begin life anew on Mars.

There are several characters in Entropy one may consider being principal to the story, but I have to admit, President Myung Kim is my favorite.

Kim, a solid female character who is not affiliated with any political party, works to surround herself with the best possible people to address all the problems. She prioritizes well and addresses each problem that comes up as best she can. Even with everything happening, she remains calm and relies on her expert advisers to help with decisions, but she still has the vision to see what the future will bring. By recruiting the best people to handle the problems, she can stave off starvation and jumpstart a solution to solving problems with science as her central tool.

She is a truly refreshing character who faces a tragic end, but not before she can make things right amidst seeming impossible odds.

My favorite point of plot in Entropy is how science emerges as the best way to come up with answers to problems. In this time where there seems to be an attitude that science is some kind of sinister plot to control people, it is good to see there is hope that, one day, we may realize it is through science we get the answers to the really hard questions.

Growing up during the 60s and 70s, I was part of the movement to educate the public on the benefits of science. To my deep dismay, it is alarming to see the current trends of the 21st century denial of empirical evidence right in front of our eyes. It is encouraging to read a story where science is valued by political leaders.

My takeaway from Entropy is hope for the future. While recent historical events, such as the COVID pandemic, created, at least in me, a deep sense of hopelessness for the future, Hayward shows that no matter how bad things get, there is still the possibility of making a better world.

Beyond the message of this tale, Entropy is just a great read, and I recommend it for that alone. It is truly a novel that sustains suspense, and I hated putting it down when I had to and was aching to get back to it when I had the time. According to the author, this is just the opening to a saga, and if it is any indication of the quality, I am also eager to read the next book in the series.

The characters are well written, each with their own clear voice, the descriptions of the settings are vividly colorful, and the situations will have the reader experiencing a plethora of emotions. This is a novel of epic proportions and has the making of an amazing series of books I want to read. I give Entropy my highest recommendation as a Sci-Fi apocalyptic thriller that moves along like a chess match between characters and their environment.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

DANA HAYWARD aka Mark Muse

MARK MUSE has researched, written, edited and published original works in the area of clinical psychology, psychopharmacology, chronic pain, health psychology and psychosomatic medicine.

(https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Muse/e/B007P2ZKSS)

DANA HAYWARD is Mark’s alter ego, who writes fiction, science fiction; as in “ENTROPY”.

Please follow my blog at: https://danahayward@blogspot.com

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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.

Well, there it is...

Qapla!

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.

Well, there it is...

Qapla!