Steve Gibson
I am very impressed. This is my first Hyzy novel. I was expecting a light read, but I was surprised. This story became gritty and somewhat hard-boiled. Our heroine is dedicated to getting her story and she also wants to do the right thing and help people. Her job and personal lives are complicated and not going well. She is tough, but not a special forces commando in disguise (like too many fictional heroines, these days). She pursues her case to the bitter end, no matter how difficult it becomes.
Check out this book if you are interested in reading a hard-boiled investigation book with a smart capable woman in charge. Be careful if you are a fan of the Catholic Church, it does not come off well in this story.
I enjoyed this sword and sorcery tale that reads somewhat like a western cowboy story. The heroes and heroine are fun to identify with and I like that they are not super people. Good read. Suitable for all ages.
This is story number 3 in the series about Maliha Anderson. She lives and solves crime in the alternate steampunk past British empire in India and Celyon.
Maliha is like a female Sherlock Holmes and the police and the government depend upon her skills. The ebook is about 136 pages and can be read in one day.
Fiction stories are art, so our enjoyment of them is more dependent on how they make us feel, than whether we agree with every concept in them. This story, like all art, does not depend on my liking every element in the story. Instead, the story works because it engages a reader like myself and moves my emotion. This story did those things for me.
Maliha is a complex character with deep character flaws. Her amazing ability to solve crimes is matched with her inability to live comfortably with her fellow humans. She is much more at ease with the lower caste members of society, than she is with her social equals. Many aspects of Maliha' past are revealed slowly in the stories, so we have some understanding of why her character flaws exist.
Most readers will probably enjoy this story more after exposure to one or both of the previous stories. As I mentioned, there are slow reveals of her past, so I came to this story with more of a background feel for the characters. A few of the other characters have been carried over from previous books also. The plot is not a continuation from previous books, so someone could probably get away with reading this one, if they have no access to the previous ones. I am looking forward to the next story in the series.
Superior to book one in the series. Space war and aliens. Lots of storylines and characters. Some deep thinking about why humans are the way we are.
A very unusual book with some interesting aspects in it. This is a mystery set in a future post-apocalyptic world. A team of archaeologists are exploring a buried city. It is almost 1000 years after the big apocalypse that ended our world. It is a very tightly controlled world with police watching everyone all the time.
The story follows the team and the lives of some young people who are somehow related in a prophecy that will change the world they live in. I liked that Esperanto is the official language of this future world. I liked that the most important political goal for the future government is to prevent war.
Now for the difficulties with this book for me. I had a hard time reading each character's story, one after another. I did not know the reason for each character until the end of the book, so I was not interested in reading each person's story. I did a great deal of skipping ahead to get to the end. Finally at the end it is mostly clear what is happening. But, it was a problem for me that characters are introduced with no explanation of why I should care about them.
I say it is a very interesting book. It ends on a cliff hanger. We need to get the sequel to find out what happens with the characters.
Light fun mystery. Interesting heroine reporter investigator. Remember paper newspapers?
Good premise. Too much exposition getting from one point to anther in the story. You might want to read the book to see 2nd person POV used. You don't see that very often. This story has elements similar to a movie from 2008 called Eagle Eye, were people are ordered to obey orders from some unknown puppet-master. The story has an interesting start and premise but was not able to hold my attention for the 159 pages. Perhaps the author will do better in the future.
Fun story. Like CSI with magic. I enjoyed the world, that is like ours, but there are magical explanations for everything. The story is told in 3rd person limited in past tense.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
We continue to follow the story of Jonah and the 11th percenters. I enjoyed this follow-up story. Again Jonah is living in the world where some people know about the supernatural realities and most people don't know.
This mystery story contained many clues and misdirections. We gather the clues as the characters in the story come across them. We can speculate on the identity of the villains as the story moves forward.
Another element in the story is the uncertainty and potential for growth among the characters. As in the first book Jonah is not always sure and confident in his actions and ideas. He must learn to trust himself and rise to the challenges that he will face.
As in the first book, this story also presents a large cast of supporters and opponents. Jonah has a reliable team who have his back and attempt to support him. Jonah also has some detractors who work against him.
The story is told in 3rd person limited in past tense. We follow the one character's POV the entire story. The world is almost identical to our world, with the addition of a supernatural structure hidden from view, that is only visible to a select few.
I think the biggest fans of this new book will be mystery fans. We are led on a chase to unravel a deeply hidden danger. I would recommend reading the first book first. This second book directly follows that book in time and much background knowledge gained from reading that book will be very useful for this new book.
Please give this book some “time”, I think you will get sucked in.
Old fashioned space opera. The big ideas made the read more enjoyable to me. The idea of entities which can maneuver their space craft on the horizon of a black hole is intriguing. I would have liked to know more about those creatures whose story is so important to the book.
It was an interesting idea that most people live over 100, so people who are in their 20s are considered irresponsible kids. The only criticism I have for the book is the romances. All the romantic relationships seemed to mirror each other. Next time the author should write variety into his romances.
This book is suitable for anyone high school and older. Very hard science oriented, so beware.
This is a Spanish translation of A Dangerous Way. This is book 2 in the series with William Way in a future Southwest USA without technology.
Very fun read. Light hearted without being silly. Serious in the right places. Teenage girl who is a semi-mad scientist has wild adventures when sentenced to work for a top-secret government agency with other teen geniuses. What could possibly go wrong. Read and find out. You will enjoy the crazy ride!
Fun high-school story about a girl and her demon employer. Different feel from many supernatural stories. She is just an ordinary girl. He is just a hard working demon. And they get into difficult situations, sometimes.
Fun read. Old style military/space opera. Think Heinlein or Andre Norton. Had the most unusual final battle I have ever read. The story follows a bad luck company of space marines on what is supposed to be a cake walk of a mission. It, of course, turns into a memorable crazy fight in an unusual setting, with unusual weapons, tactics and allies.
The narrative is set in past tense with 3rd person limited, and mostly from the new company commander's perspective. I think any readers of military fiction from middle school on up would enjoy this. Be aware that the style of writing is old school, like the golden age of science fiction.
Fun light spy story with an unlikely spy. This middle age woman in Canada in great physical condition has the opportunity and danger of falling into a scientifically mysterious spy case. She and the team of government agents must fight battles to win. This book is suitable for high school and up.
Fun book. Should be suitable for children and middle grades. Probably acceptable for readers as young as 7 years old.
Quite a story! Not for the very young. I was tricked by the cover and the fact that the main character is a child to think it is for children. But the story starts out dark and gets darker. Very interesting premise and execution. Interesting way of exploring what people will do in extreme circumstances.
Fun, enjoyable light read. The cover says it all. Pulp fiction with time travel, Nazis and a good ole American GI soldier. Somewhat old school in style and feel. I wasn't offended by stereotypes as I often am with old school science fiction. The women were a little more respected and self reliant than in most old school fiction. The only excessive stereotypes are the Nazis and dinosaurs. Both are mindlessly and fatally evil. They both attack the good guys without any thinking until they die. If you are looking for a light, fast time-travel action adventure, give it a try.
This is a well written story about young Ascha and Michaeyala in the school of magickal studies.
This is has a fully developed world that is different than ours. It is complete with towns, laws, plants and crafts that people use. The level of technology seems about equivalent to our middle ages.
The world in the book is supported with several appendixes. There is one for pronunciation, a glossary, and a herbal notebook. For me the names seemed natural and quickly learned.
The life for the new students is challenging. Especially for Ascha. You will see what I mean.
I think this is an excellent fantasy book for all ages. I think it is appropriate for young people as young as maybe 10 years old. There are some themes that may be advanced for younger readers. I am looking forward for the other stories set in this world.