#BookReview: Summers At The Saint by Mary Kay Andrews

Not A Casual “Beach Read”. With the cover and even a common understanding of the description, one might think going into this tale that it is a breezy easy beach read. Well, I’m of the belief that any book you read at a beach is a beach read, but this book takes some effort. If you’re looking for a simple tale… this aint that.

What this *is* though is a solid tale of survival on so many different levels. Yes, you have the tale of the struggle to save the resort that the description points out. But there is also *so much more* here, and the problems at the resort go *so much deeper* than is initially believed.

At first, this seems to be a tale of the resort manager building her team, Nick Fury building the Avengers style. As this slow burn story continues though, we see that not everything is as it seems, and Nick may have found Loki posing as Thor rather than the actual Thor…

Ultimately, all of the separate characters and threads do come together in a wonderful tapestry, but it takes a while to see the full picture of all that is happening and why, but for those that demand books that wrap up everything… this *is* one of those tales, at least.

Very much recommended.

This review of Summers At The Saint by Mary Kay Andrews was originally written on May 8, 2024.

#BookReview: Khaos by Jeremy Robinson

The New God Of Science Fiction Strikes With His Best Yet. Robinson, the New God of Science Fiction, squarely takes on an element of scifi/ fantasy that he has been circling a bit tangentially for a few books now via Mind Bullet and Tribe in particular, and in this particular book takes the characters from both of those former books + The Dark and combines them into an “Avengers” crossover event… to travel through Khaos and encounter many creatures from the Greek myths. In classic Robinson style, we get a lot of heart, a lot of action, a lot of banter… and in the end… well… you’re going to want to have SINGULARITY, the final book in the Infinite Timelines “MCU approach to storytelling” event, in your hands the moment you finish this book. Yet again, Robinson proves himself capable of using any element of science fiction and spinning his own unique brand of chaotic action into it, masterfully telling his stories his way incorporating any form of prior science fiction, from the ancient to the bleeding edge. Truly masterful, and very much recommended.

This review of Khaos by Jeremy Robinson was originally written on October 8, 2022.

#BookReview: Infinite2 by Jeremy Robinson

The Master Outdoes Himself. Jeremy Robinson, the Modern Day Master of Science Fiction, truly outdoes himself here. While the first Infinite was one hell of a trippy, mind bending ride, this one still has elements of that – but also goes back to Robinson’s more “bread and butter” approach of balls to the wall action. Almost a love song to long time fans while still being completely new and approachable to even people who have never read any of his books – even Infinite – this book seemingly has more callbacks and cameos from previous Robinsonverse books than any other, *including* his actual execution of his Avengers Level Event (ALE) in PROJECT LEGION. And without going into any detail – though those who have known me for a decade now will get this reference, but most of those have already read the book in question anyway as well – let’s just say that there is ONE BOOK that I ALWAYS reference whenever anyone asks me for the most terrifying book I’ve ever read, and it happens to be one of Robinson’s. AND HE INCLUDES THAT WORLD IN THE MANY CALLBACKS IN THIS BOOK! Honestly, when I first noticed that we were back in that world, my entire body broke out in sweat and I nearly blacked out. That is how terrifying that world is – it *literally* gave me nightmares for *years* just thinking about it. And this sadistic author has the balls to go back there, *knowing* one of his most ardent fans has that level of reaction to that tale. CURSE YOU, JEREMY ROBINSON!!!! ( 😀 ) Still, absolutely one of the Master’s best books to date, and one that even ALE 2 will have a hard time topping… IF it ever actually happens. Very much recommended.

This review of Infinite2 by Jeremy Robinson was originally written on March 15, 2021.

#BookReview: The Rule Of All by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders

Epic Conclusion – Ripped From The Headlines. I’ve had this book for almost exactly 6 months before publication. (Yes, that means it was an Advanced Reader Copy, with all that that entails.) Finally read it (hello, 180+ books this year, all ARCs), and y’all… dayum. This book was written no later than 2019 ish, *well* before the Summer of 2020 that saw massive riots all across the US, many of which seemed to be sparked by outside agitators. And guess what plays into the plot here? Overall the Saunders Sisters do an excellent job of focusing on four key perspectives – the Traitorous Twins, The Hacker, and The Dictator’s Grandson – and yet managing to make the battles *feel* far larger than just those four people. (Much as many films – including Lord of the Rings and the Avengers movies – do with similar character sets.) Fans of the series will enjoy many callbacks to the previous two books, and newbies to the series should absolutely start with Book 1 – The Rule Of One – as each book very much builds on the previous. A truly satisfying conclusion, and yet also one that allows them to come back to this world, should they so choose. Very much recommended.

This review of The Rule Of All by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders was originally written on October 11, 2020.

#BookReview: Project Legion by Jeremy Robinson

The moment we have been waiting for years to arrive… does.

Robinson has been teasing his fans with the idea of setting up an Avengers level event for several years, and the anticipation has been growing with every book since he first mentioned the idea. With PROJECT LEGION, he *finally* gives it to us, and the result is simply stunning.

This book is somewhat similar in structure to the actual first Avengers movie the MCU did. It introduces the various team members in such a way that even if you’ve never read any of the preceding books, you know enough about them to enjoy this book. But reading the preceding books allows you to have many more “cool!” moments. It even follows the Avengers type in introducing its most powerful team member… and then having this person away until the final “camera circling the team as the theme plays” Avengers moment.

Long time fans of Robinson will LOVE this book, as several characters from various worlds from literally the beginning of Robinson’s fiction writing career through some of his most recent books finally merge into one amazing story. To get easily one of the best stories I’ve read in 2016, read this book. To get the various nuances and “cool!” moments, read at least 5 of Robinson’s previous works first – ones that detail the various team members, including the CHESS TEAM book THRESHOLD, DIDYMUS CONTINGENCY, UPRISING (also called XOM-B), MIRRORWORLD, THE LAST HUNTER, and at least the previous two PROJECT series books. All of those books are great in their own right. When Robinson manages to bring all of these together…

Let’s just say that the Avengers movie made over a billion dollars at the box office… and this book is better.

This review of Project Legion by Jeremy Robinson was originally published on November 2, 2016.