Throwback Thursday: Drums of Autumn

Drums of Autumn
By: Diana Gabaldon
Website: http://www.dianagabaldon.com/
Release Date: December 30th, 1996
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Series: Outlander Series
Award: All About Romance (AAR) Annual Reader Poll for Favorite "Other" Romance & Honorable Mention for Favorite Couple (1998)
Rating:


We are at book four in this series and now I find myself starting to, sadly, wane in my love for the series. This book, to date, is as far as I’ve read and I need a bit of a break after this one as I’m slightly disappointed in this book and, truthfully, I need to find time to read the books that follow this one. Spoiler alerts ahead, once again.

Review – Mostly Void, Partially Stars by Joseph Fink & Jeffery Cranor

Mostly Void, Partially Stars
By: Joseph Fink; Jeffery Cranor
Website: http://www.welcometonightvale.com/
Release Date: September 6, 2016
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Series: Welcome to Night Vale Episodes #1
Rating:


Mostly Void, Partially Stars, written by Joseph Fink and Jeffery Cranor, is the first volume in a series of a books featuring episodes of the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. Two volumes have been released thus far, the second being titled The Great Glowing Coils of the Universe. A must-have for fans of the podcast, this book contains the complete transcripts of the first 25 episodes of the Welcome to Night Vale along with one of the live shows, Apartments, a particularly excellent episode and one which I wish I’d known about earlier. Before each chapter is a small section by one of the creators or a member of the cast talking about that specific episode or the show in general, and some wonderful illustrations by Jessica Hayworth.

Throwback Thursday: Voyager

Throwback Thursday: Voyager
By: Diana Gabaldon
Website: http://www.dianagabaldon.com/
Release Date: December 1st, 1993
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Series: Outlander Series
Rating:


Will life every be easy for Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser? The obvious answer is no, of course not. In this book we once again pick up where we left off and we once again see Jamie trying to recover from injuries while Claire struggles to find her answers in the modern world and make a decision that will effect her and her daughter’s lives. Spoiler alerts ahead, once again.

Review – Pirate Utopia by Bruce Sterling

Pirate Utopia
By: Bruce Sterling
Release Date: November 15, 2016
Publisher: Tachyon Publications
Rating:


Pirate Utopia is an alternate history novel by Bruce Sterling, an author and editor who helped define the cyberpunk genre. I was very excited to see this title. Despite my love of cyberpunk, it was the term pirate that had me hooked. Add in the alternate history and cool cover I was sold.[/drocap]

Review: Dragonfly in Amber

Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2)
By: Diana Gabaldon
Website: http://www.dianagabaldon.com/
Release Date: July 1st, 1992
Publisher: Bantam
Series: Outlander Series
Rating:


 The obsession continues for me in this sequel to Outlander. A well written sequel that picks up right where we left off I have to say that I nearly missed my train stop a few times when reading this book. 

Diana Gabladon continues to run with the story here, giving us more and more reasons to cheer for her characters, worry about them and turn page after page. Did I mention I almost missed my stop? Gabladon’s characters are on a precarious journey to literally change history but, the question is, do they succeed? Some spoilers/ spoiler hints ahead, you have been warned! 

 

Review – Doctor Who: The American Adventures

Doctor Who: The American Adventures
By: Justin Richards
Release Date: October 25, 2016
Publisher: Penguin Books, Limited (UK)
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


It’s been quite some time since Doctor Who has aired. The Christmas Special is still several weeks off. I’ve been completely Doctor Who starved these last months. But never fear! There’s something to tide us over until Christmas. Doctor Who: The American Adventures released on October 25, 2016.

Review – Remnants of Trust by Elizabeth Bonesteel

Remnants of Trust
By: Elizabeth Bonesteel
Website: https://elizabethbonesteel.wordpress.com/
Release Date: November 8, 2016
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Series: Central Corps #2
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


This week marked the release of Remnants of Trust, the second novel in the Central Corps series by Elizabeth Bonesteel. This is a fast paced military science fiction novel that has a lot going for it. The story begins with Captain Greg Foster and Commander Elena Shaw, freshly returned from a court martial and assigned to the relatively empty Third Sector. But things aren’t quite as quiet as they assumed as the Exeter, another ship from Central Gov, is attacked by raiders. Even after the Orunmila, a PSI ship, comes to the rescue the ship is destroyed, half the crew is dead, and the captain maimed. To top it off, a traitorous saboteur is on the loose.

Review: Outlander (Outlander #1)

Outlander
By: Diana Gabaldon
Website: http://www.dianagabaldon.com/
Release Date: June 1, 1991
Publisher: Dell Publishing Company
Series: Outlander Series
Award: RITA Award by Romance Writers of America for Best Romance of 1991 (1992), Puddly Award for Romance (2001)
Rating:


 Not only is this book series originally published before I could pronounce the word Outlander it was published at perhaps the perfect time to receive the acclaim that it did. Now, with the books adapted to Starz as a regular series the popularity of the books has again been brought back to the forefront which is how I happened upon them. 

Diana Gabladon took a concept and literally ran with it throughout this series and I can safely say that I will be reading all of them. In the first installment we are asked to believe quite a bit but as a fantasy/sci-fi reader at heart I readily believed that the events in this book could happen and were indeed worth reading about. The question to everyone who is considering reading this series is can you believe in Gabladon’s story? 

#ThrowbackThursday Review – The Big Trip Up Yonder by Kurt Vonnegut

The Big Trip Up Yonder
By: Kurt Vonnegut
Release Date: January, 1954
Publisher: Original Publisher: Galaxy Science Magazine
Rating:


Happy Throwback Thursday! This week we read The Big Trip Up Yonder. This is a short story by Kurt Vonnegut which was originally published Galaxy Science Magazine. These days it can be found in a myriad of books and eBooks, sometimes coupled with other Vonnegut short stories.

Review – Arena by Holly Jennings

Arena
By: Holly Jennings
Release Date: April 5, 2016
Publisher: Ace
Series: Arena Book 1
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


Arena by Holly Jennings is the first book in a new science fiction series set in a near future where e-sports are now dominated by fully immersive virtual reality games. The story is told from Kali’s point of view – a twenty year old half American half Chinese woman who is making history as the first female team captain in the tournament bracket. Then her world starts to fall apart – her teammate dies of an overdose, she’s fighting an addiction herself, and corporate sponsors along with their team owner wants to sweep Nathan’s death under the rug.