Book Review: Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1) by James S.A. Corey

Rating: 4 Stars

Published June 2nd 2011 by Orbit
Summary: Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to the Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations - and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.
(from Goodreads)

 

Review: When I started this book I could NOT stop listening. The prologue opens with a hook and I HAD to find out whatever happened to Julie. I appreciated that the story bounced back and forth from following Detective Miller for a space of time and then switching to following Holden and his crew. You got to see into their heads and their different points of view coming from very different backgrounds, which was cool. It was also interesting to see the different pieces of the puzzle fitting together, and exciting once their separate storylines finally converge.

While starting out with a bang, for some reason about 3/4 of the way through I just got tired of this book. And then I'm looking at how many books are left in the series (5 more already published, and 3 more slated to be published in the next couple of years, not counting the 1.5 type inbetweener novellas) and I was left going "Eghhhhh... Do I HAVE to finish this?" I'm glad I plugged through, because the last hour or so picked back up again. I don't feel any need to read the rest of the series, though, and feel like this first book of the series can stand alone with the way it ends and not FORCE you to read the rest of the series - specifically, no cliff-hanger ending but instead wrapped up nicely enough that it can be left alone with enough open-endedness to segway into the rest of the series should you so choose.

I listened to the Audible version narrated by Jefferson Mays, who did a great job narrating. I could tell which character was talking, and he managed to do a credible female sounding/feeling voice for the female characters that wasn't high/squeaky/awful like I've found a lot of men do.

Book Review: Into the Drowning Deep (Rolling in the Deep #1) by Mira Grant

Book Review: Into the Drowning Deep (Rolling in the Deep #1) by Mira Grant

Rating: 5 Stars

 

Published November 14th 2017 by Orbit

Summary: Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.

Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves.

But the secrets of the deep come with a price.
(from Goodreads)

Review:

"It was beautiful, in its own terrible way. So many monsters are."

Yeah sure, mermaids are all well and good until they come and EAT YOUR DING-DANG FACE OFF. OK, I completely loved this book. I love all things mermaids (or sirens, as the case may be) and so many mermaid-ish things I read are teenage girls discovering they're a mermaid princess, or teenage mermaids just wanting to be part of your world, and blah-dee-freakin'-blah. These are not those type of mermaids. These mermaids want to EAT your world.

"The Atargatis hadn’t found the mermaids through a free and open exchange of ideas. The Atargatis had found the mermaids because the people on the ship were made of meat, and the mermaids had empty stomachs that they wanted to fill. That was how you found things, in the sea. Be delicious. That was all you ever had to do."

I did not read the prequel novella, Rolling in the Deep, before reading Into the Drowning Deep, and I can assure you that you can read this for full effect without reading the prequel. There are a lot of characters in what is essentially an ensemble piece, and they all had their own unique little quirks and foibles for there being so many of them. A lot of times upon finishing a book I couldn't tell you the names of the hero and heroine, let alone all the supporting cast. But let me give you the run down.

Dr. Jillian Toth is a total badass and by far and away my favorite character. Actually she reminds me of someone…

"Do I think they found mermaids? Yes. Of course I do. And I think the mermaids ate them all."

-Dr. Jillian Toth

Her (estranged) husband, Theo, is a suit for Imagine who is also badass in his own, quieter and more bespectacled way. He reminds me of Kyoya Ootori from Ouran High School Host Club in some ways.

Michi and Jacques are (badass) big game hunters, Michi being a hot Aussie of Japanese descent and Jacques being a somewhat deranged French-Canadian. Olivia is a hot blonde reporter for Imagine that's a cosplay queen that always dresses in Emma Frost closet cosplay, and is followed around by her burly cameraman/bodyguard Ray. Tory is a hot bi scientist who lost her sister on the first mermaid mission (the Atargatis) and is accompanied by her too much money friend Luis who is essentially a cryptozoologist that plays with sonar. Hallie is the hot hearing older sister scientist to hot twin redheads Holly (another scientist, biology maybe?) and Heather (who drives something called a Minnow that's like a super fancy diving bell submersible thing) - all three of whom are hot, did I mention that? Daniel the hot tattooed cetologist (I may have misspelled that, but it's some sort of scientist that involves dolphins. I dunno, don't ask me). Daryl and Gregory are two quasi-bumbling engineers who remind me a little bit of some cartoon character duo or other that I can't quite place.

So essentially, you have a whole bunch of hot scientist ladies, and some guys who may or may not be hot. That's about the only thing that bugged me about the entire book, that all these nerds in one place and either somehow we just happen to randomly focus on the ones that are hot, or they're ALL hot science nerds (at least the ladies, anyway). I don't know about you, but my experience science nerds tend to not be so hot. I'm not saying they're NOT hot, but there shouldn't be a 100% hit rate on attractive ladies in a pool of, like, half a dozen women. Oh, but there's lots of diversity because Michi is Japanese/Australian, and Heather and Holly are deaf, and Tory and Olivia are bi/lesbian (Tolivia 4eva, btw), and Jillian is older. …Anyway, I digress.

There is mighty gore, and coming together and a coming apart of peoples, crazy stuff and plot twists about mermaids and their biology and their motives. There are plenty of other things I want to say, but almost all of them would be spoilers of some sort, so I'll just settle on HOLY CRAP, this book is amazing.

If you can survive long enough (translation: if I mermaid doesn’t split its face in half to chomp you with the billions of needle teeth jutting out of its gaping maw…) you might just get to stick around for Book #2 (which I assume is coming, since this one is titled as being Rolling in the Deep #1).

Book Review: Warcross by Marie Lu

Book Review: Warcross (Warcross #1) by Marie Lu

Rating: 5 Stars

 

Published September 12th 2017 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Summary: For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.

Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.
(from Goodreads)


Review: This book is so fun! It's like Sword Art Online meets Quidditch meets Hunger Games. Emika is a great character with a past and motivation that make sense, and a fair amount of personal growth throughout the story. I found myself cheering for her and thinking fiercely at this book "GO EMIKA, GO!!" There are a lot of supporting characters, but Lu does a good job of giving them each a distinct, unique presence so I didn't get them all jumbled up in my head. I loved the Warcross games competition, the spectacle of it all reminded me of Hunger Games, while the game itself reminded me more of Quidditch from the Potterverse. The digital technology of the neurolink reminds me of Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale. It's almost speculative fiction more than sci-fi because it's like it could be the next step for Google Glass, or something Apple will come out with soon.

There was a point in the book where I felt extreme anxiety, fluttery lovey/lust excitement, and then extreme frustration in the span of about half an hour. You know it's a great book when it takes you on an emotional roller coaster and makes you grumpy at anyone who interrupts you because you just HAVE TO know what happens next!

Also - HOLY PLOT TWIST, BATMAN! I thought about 3/4 of the way through I had the ending figured out, and then BAM. Think you're so smart, do you? Nope. You know nothing, Jon Snow.

I listened to an audiobook version of this book as narrated by Nancy Wu. Let me tell you something - Nancy Wu is an amazing narrator. There are characters who are from all over the world and she gives them each their unique voice, making a good attempt at mimicking various different accents. She reads with great feeling and inflection that really made the characters feel real.