Scott - Book Invasion

This was a great example and exploration of the power of stories and the abrupt delivery of punchlines. I kept glued to the page, hopping from one clever take to another, never knowing what would be next. Of course i would love for these ideas to be presented in full novel form but these teasers and snippets filled my appetite for a clever hook.

As a judge in the Self-Published Scienfe Fiction Competition there were plenty of action-scifi reads, however, this one was a stand-out contender and moved onto the semi-finals. Broken Ascension is an excellent sci-fi action story about reconciliation, relationships, and empathy, wrapped up in a tense post-war setting.

This book tells the story of a post-conflict era where the Humans and Gra'al war has ended and the two races must learn to respect borders and live in peace. Though - lo and behold - there's a derelict ship out there and this salvage crew must investigate! Though at this point, the story doesn't take the typical path of killer alien encounters, however, and our protagonist Drake - an pacifist artist and son of an ex-military Human-Gra'al-war-hardened father - finds the most precious of things that was left behind on the ship.

The story is told through Drake (not a typical character in action-scifi) as he tries to find his place among the salvage ships crew, trying to prove himself to his father. While he likes to spend his time painting the visions he sees in his dreams, he's the more sensible of the crew, and his naivete and determination to stand for what's ‘right' just might be the thing to get this team through some sticky situations.

Walsh crafts some excellent action scenes and tension in a high-stakes world while jugging the yin and yang of the characters. The world and background of the Gra'al and their customs (seen from their soldiers to their outcasts) were very interesting and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

This was a total love letter to the D&D fanatics, the LARPers, the Ren Faire regulars, and the underdogs.
This is a story of a haphazard hero who gets the Men In Black treatment and recruited into a realm beyond his tabletop dreams. There is a realm beyond out own where strange happenings occur and sometimes blur into our ‘mundane' realm. You may think it's just a parade float of a Dragon, or it's just a storm rather than a Harpy, but the Knight Watch sees all and protects the silly humans from the evil forces that lie beyond.

Throughout the book it's questionable when out protagonist will actually get his courage and become the hero he's expected to be, but he continues to stumble his way though, lacking the confidence in himself, though surviving some pretty hefty battles. I was hoping for more of a transformation in the character or that he would fully embody his realized potential. The face off at the end shows him with some perseverance, though I was more intrigued to see the story from Chesa's perspective and dive into her becoming the ruler of her domain.

The story was fun with plenty of levity but also plenty of serious moments and high stakes action mixed in. It was an exciting introduction to Akers writing and while browsing his collection of miniatures on his instagram, you can kinda see where this story may get some of it's inspiration.

(Audiobook) A very enjoyable space adventure in the same lane of Hitchhikers Guide. The main character is a tech support nerd thrust into a dangerous mission with the smoth-talking, good-looking Fletcher Griffin - who is more than what he seems.

It was all very enjoyable and there are plenty of easy laughs here and there. I felt a little zoned out in the middle after we learned about Fletchers real mission and they head off to Galustay and the other characters they run into towards the end.

This book was very exciting and quite unpredictable. I felt like the writing and the path that these characters took was very intricate and developed, much more that I had expected from a debut novel. The range of places that the story went was quite vast. This was very well done.
For Fans Of: I, robot. Tao (Netflix)

This was such a great adventure. The world, the imagery and the fleshing out of all the little details really adds so much to the story and Ben Galley does a fantastic job. The book follows 2 main characters in different parts of the world along the same timeline. The convergence of these has yet to happen in book 1, however many pieces are afoot to make this trilogy ascend to an epic scale. I really enjoyed the characters and their characteristics.

The audiobook narration is fantastic as well!

I love the satisfying twists to these stories, you might have an inkling to where it might be going and then pow- it hits you with an abrupt end. I love those kind of stories. Great fireside tales of atrocities and unspeakable horror. I loved every second of it. There were humorous elements and heartbreaking elements and awful cringing horror elements. Although this is my first read by Lutzke, I feel this is what the author is known for and it's very well done.

The audio narration by Tim Gerard Reynolds really made this worthwhile for me. There was a lot of info-dumps of the military hierarchy saturating this whole story but i understand that's fairly necessary. The action was exciting and the battles were the gems of this story. I'll look forward to watching the anime for the comparison.

(audiobook review) What a hell of a ghost story! I felt as though I could see the house and the surrounding area i loved the environment of this story. This was not a book that you want to read alone at night. It settles in to your skin and pulls you in and the final act was really great! I'm not an avid horror reader but this sure set the bar high for future authors.