Confessions Of A Bookaholic
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.
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.
Amazing adventure. Starts slow and then boils to a somewhat standard ending for its type, but done in a way that will have you begging for a sequel. Which fortunately, released just before I read this book. 🙂
All you really need to know though is its basic premise: What if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were inspired to write The Lost World by an ill-fated yet *real* journey?
This review of Primordia by Greig Beck was originally published on May 18, 2018.
I Finished It. Going into this book, I was thinking it would be something dramatically different based on what I had heard of the Amazon show. Instead, I got a fairly bleak look at a world where Nazi Germany won WWII, with the Big Reveal literally in the last few pages of the book. Knowing Dick is one of the legends of science fiction, I expected some actual science fiction here and all I got was alternate history. It was a good book for what it was, just wasn’t what I was expecting.
This review of The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick was originally published on May 2, 2018.
Read After Mine. Absolutely read this book after you read MINE by Brett Battles. This one tells the story of how the Reclaimer came to Earth and how it wound up at the facility in Colorado. Short (roughly 1/3 the length of MINE) and told in a couple of different ways, it sheds light on the initial attempts to understand the Reclaimer. Very enjoyable read that adds depth to MINE.
This review of Mine: The Arrival by Brett Battles was originally published on May 1, 2018.
David in the Dystopia. In one of Robinson’s more subtle – and yet also more obvious – allegories, we find a future where humanity has been reduced to the Stone Age and is clinging to survival by a thread. When one woman is summoned for a quest to stop her only son before he brings humanity to its final end, she is forced to question everything she believes. Yet again, Robinson creates a tale such that only he can, and does it superbly. This one will keep you guessing until the end, and give you one hell of a ride in the process.
This review of The Divide by Jeremy Robinson was originally published on March 5, 2018.
What. A. Rush! In this epic conclusion to the Infinity Trilogy, we get most of the answers to the questions we’ve been asking all along, though little closure to anything. (The “epilogue”, such as it exists, is barely 1 page long.) And yes, there are bits and pieces of seeming inconsistency – without giving too much away, at one point there is a Kinetic Kill Vehicle mentioned (ie, a space=based solid metal pole, which is how it is described in the book). Except that when it is finally used, it goes off like a nuclear detonation – which KKVs do *not* do.
The most important thing to remember about this Trilogy is that it was never really about the events that finally get answered and resolved in the final third of this third book of the trilogy – literally the last 1/9th of the saga. This Trilogy is about Finn/Infinity and the struggle for her to learn who and what she is. And in that particular arena, this book and this Trilogy truly shines – and gives us the most answers and resolution.
This review of Infinity Reborn by S. Harrison was originally published on March 5, 2018.
Great Tale Weirdly Constructed. Can’t really say too much about this tale without giving away things from the first book (Infinity Lost), so I’ll just say that the tale flashes forward some period of time (no more than hours) and picks up with the group from the end of Lost on the run. Around 1/3 to 1/2 in, we finally go back to finding out what caused them to be on the run, and this perspective stays through the rest of the book. Except we never quite meet up with the beginning of the book, and there are details at the end that seem to be not in sync with similar details at the beginning. Overall a great story, just very weirdly constructed.
This review of Infinity Rises by S. Harrison was originally published on March 2, 2018.
Slow Burn with Intrigue. This book starts with a 17yo girl, Finn, dreaming. For the first time in her life. As we get more into the story, we see her dreams becoming more and more disturbing – including the scene when she is 6yo that has gotten this book several 1 star reviews. But progressing from there, the book picks up and turns slightly in an action direction, after a bit of fantastical science fiction. And then the conclusion… well, it ends a bit abruptly, clearly designed to pick up from there in the next book. We get few answers in this book, and the answers we get mostly serve to whet the appetite for what is to (hopefully) come – with the ultimate question never answered here. Overall a great, immersive tale. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
This review of Infinity Lost by S. Harrison was originally published on February 28, 2018.
Great lunar adventure, with some interesting creature twists (abilities I’ve never seen before). sci-fi/ horror, with a minor twist on even that genre. very entertaining, fairly quick read.
This review of Luna by Rick Chesler was originally published on January 19, 2018.