Tag: dystopia

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#BookReview: Hera’s Lament by Shaun Griffin

Unforced Errors Leave Bitter Aftertaste In Otherwise Solid Conclusion. It seems like every book in this trilogy, Griffin seeks to explore almost an entirely separate genre of books… all while telling what is essentially a scifi vampire story.

Here, we get into a near-dystopia, where in the fallout from Book 2, Faith has been unleashing the vampire virus all across America in an attempt to lure Anastasia out.

And yet again, the story absolutely works. We get a lot of excellent vampire action, we get the expected human soldiers, we get human tech trying to give humans an edge on the vampires, truly all of the expected stuff one typically sees in a book like this, done particularly well within this story.

Along the way, we even get some strong character growth from both Faith and Anastasia, which is always awesome to see.

Indeed, as a conclusion to this trilogy, this book was *nearly* perfect. But there are a couple of elements in the last 10% or so that give a bitter aftertaste, and at least one of the two was absolutely unforced – preachy politics that had no real place anywhere in this story.

The other… to avoid spoilers, I have to be a bit circumspect in describing, so allow me to mention that I tell a particular story often, I think I may have mentioned it in a review here or there, that I once read another trilogy specifically because its last book was getting *DESTROYED* in the reviews over the ending. All I can say here is that my thoughts on the ending of that trilogy and this one… well, there are reasons I say this one leaves a bitter aftertaste. As an action sequence, it was actually rather badass. But did it work for that character as portrayed to that point? How about you, oh reader of my review, read this trilogy and tell us in your own review whether you think I’m off base here.

Still, truly, truly excellent work on this entire trilogy and even this book itself. Easily one of the best vampire trilogies I’ve ever read, right up there with David McAfee’s Bachiyr series and *well* above that fucking sparkling “vampire” one. Is it Stoker? No. But is it an awesome, gory thrill ride with some interesting twists on the overall lore? Absolutely.

Very much recommended.

This review of Hera’s Lament by Shaun Griffin was originally written on March 13, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Genesi Code by Tristen Willis

Solid Book Within Genre. This is one of those dystopian YA tales that shows clear influences from and, at least to my mind, similarities to some of the biggest YA dystopian franchises of the last 15 ish yrs or so – Hunger Games, Divergent, and Maze Runner in particular. Indeed, in many ways it is actually an improvement on many of them as we get a better explosive prologue and initial “normal life” / “world establishing” view up front – what many other reviewers decry as too slowly paced, but I found pretty spot on. When the action and intrigue picks up a bit, so does the pacing, and yet the more rapid pace works well even here, as by this point we’re halfway ish into the book and making good steam towards the end game here.

Filled with more political intrigue and over the horizon menace than actual action, this is going to be right up many fans’ expectations – ala Hunger Games in particular – but may leave those seeking more balls to the wall action of a Maze Runner or a Unity by Jeremy Robinson a bit wanting.

Still, for what it is and the genre it is in, this really is a solid book of its type, and fans of that particular genre or those open to it will find this book quite enjoyable indeed.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Genesi Code by Tristen Willis was originally written on December 31, 2024.

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#BookReview: Intruders by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders

Pulse Pounding Conclusion Evokes ALLEGIANT To A Degree. This is a solid continuation and conclusion of the EXILES story, and both combined are short enough that one almost wonders why the two books (each sub-300 pages) were not simply written as one complete story rather than one story in two halves? It seemed to make sense at the end of EXILES, when at least my own expectation was that this would be a second trilogy from the twin sisters that write twin characters. With this clearly being a short duology now… one begins to question a bit more. Ultimately, I’ll leave the 5* and not deduct one for blatant cash grab, but I’ll also be interested to see what other readers think on that point, and perhaps hear in some interview or social media post or some such why the decision was made to split the story as it was. That noted, particularly with its emphasis on fear and our heroes having vials that can evoke or conquer fear… yes, this book absolutely has a degree of a feel of ALLEGIANT to it. Which was an interesting connection, given just how reviled the ending to that particular tale was (though to be crystal clear and yet without actually giving anything away, this tale does *not* use the specific type of ending that got ALLEGIANT most of the scorn it has ultimately gotten – scorn that I have disagreed with since the moment I finished that book myself).

And yet, even with these issues this tale really was another pulse-pounding thrill ride, perhaps with fewer questions for the reader to ponder and more fights to marvel at. The sisters continue to show their evolving skills and natural-seeming storytelling talent, and it will be very interesting to see what they come up with next. Very much recommended.

This review of Intruders by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders was originally written on January 3, 2023.

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

Excellent Middle Chapter. In this middle entry into the dystopian YA trilogy at hand, we get a solid second chapter that does exactly what a middle chapter is supposed to – continue to build out the world while amping up both the action and the consequences. Here we even get a couple of interesting wrinkles thrown in. And of course the inevitable final clash… that turns out to not be quite so final. Which means it aces the final thing the middle book has to do – get you to come back for Book 3. And in this case, you’re absolutely going to want Book 3 to see just how this gets fully wrapped up. Solidly done in world while perhaps playing a bit to closely to the “rules” of the genre. Very much recommended.

This review of The Rule Of Many by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders was originally written on September 2, 2020.

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

Yet Another YA Dystopia With A Few Interesting Twists. As a YA Dystopia, this book fits pretty squarely within the mold. To the tune that it can easily become forgettable to an extent. But there are some interesting twists to the mold that make this stand out a bit – the focus on twins without any form of romantic subplot chief among them, but also some of the overall tech and concepts about when, how, where, and to a lesser extent why the dystopia could emerge. Ultimately this is interesting enough as a “pilot” to want to see the next episode before making a decision on whether to keep going or not, and sometimes that is good enough. 🙂 Recommended.

This review of The Rule of One by Ashley Saunders and Leslie Saunders was originally written on July 7, 2020.

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#BookReview: Torn Sky by Tracy Banghart

Satisfying Conclusion. In this final chapter of the REBEL WING trilogy, the stakes are raised higher than ever with the reveal of a spy inside Aris’ unit. After some of the most heart-stopping action and intrigue in the trilogy, we get a satisfying conclusion to all arcs. Very well done, and highly recommended – but read the first two books first!

This review of Torn Sky by Tracy Banghart was originally published on May 27, 2018.

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#BookReview: Storm Fall by Tracy Banghart

Solid Progression. This is NOT a standalone book, it is in fact written in trilogy form. So do NOT read this book without reading REBEL WING first. That said, if you’ve read REBEL WING, this story is a solid progression from that one. By the end of this book, some plot lines from REBEL WING are resolved, others are enhanced, and some new ones are introduced. It seems clear that we should get one hell of a conclusion in the next book, and I for one am looking forward to reading it.

This review of Storm Fall by Tracy Banghart was originally published on May 26, 2018.