Review – Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffery Cranor

Welcome to Night Vale
By: Joseph Fink; Jeffery Cranor
Website: http://www.welcometonightvale.com/
Release Date: Oct 20, 2015
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Series: Welcome to Night Vale
Award: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Science Fiction (2015)
Rating:


Have you ever listened to the Welcome to Night Vale podcast? Heard of it? Well, this is Welcome to Night Vale the book, written by the podcast’s creators Joseph Fink and Jeffery Cranor. Those who’ve never listened to the podcast, don’t be afraid. The book doesn’t require any previous knowledge of the world or plot of the podcast, though I do feel as though fans will get just a little more from this book than others as it does wrap up the Man in the Tan Jacket subplot.

Review: Champion by Marie Lu

Champion
By: Marie Lu
Release Date: November 5, 2013
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Series: Legend, Book #3
Rating:


Again, this time I didn’t tear through Champion. I was anxious to read this book and finish the series so once I got past the second chapter I went through it fairly quickly.

We open with Day and June apart, Day working within the military and June as the Princeps-Elect. As the Republic struggles towards a peace treaty with the Colonies a biohazard plague starts ripping through the Colonies.

Review – Infomocracy by Malka Ann Older

Infomocracy
By: Malka Ann Older
Release Date: June 7, 2016
Publisher: Tor.com
Series: The Centenal Cycle
Rating:


Malka Older’s debut novel Infomocracy is a brilliantly written story of political intrigue set in the near future. Every ten years sees a world-wide election. Instead of individuals competing for leadership, it is political bodies with vastly differing ideologies. Whichever government will win the most votes will take the coveted position of Supermajority. Above all of this is Information, a global corporation providing information about everything and everything. But this governmental system is fairly new, the election filled with contention, and things quickly go from bad to worse.

Review – Beacon 23: The Complete Novel by Hugh Howey

Beacon 23: The Complete Novel
By: Hugh Howey
Website: http://www.hughhowey.com/
Release Date: August 12, 2015
Publisher: Self-Published
Series: Originally a series of short stories.
Award: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Science Fiction (2015
Rating:


So, I’ve had a Kindle for years. Somehow, I missed that you could check out a book from the Amazon store as a library book. Once I figured out that (a) this was a thing and (b) how to do it, I borrowed Beacon 23: The Complete Novel by Hugh Howey. Despite actually owning his first novel, Wool, this is the first of his books I’ve read. (I know, I know. I’m a serial tbr pile neglector.)

Review – The Flicker Men by Ted Kosmatka

The Flicker Men
By: Ted Kosmatka Twitter
Website: http://tedkosmatka.us/
Release Date: July 21, 2015
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Rating:


The Flicker Men by Ted Kosmatka is a fast paced science fiction thriller about a washed-up scientist with a serious drinking problem who suffers from depression and has a family history of suicide and mental instability. When an old friend presents Eric with a second chance and research position, he takes it. The job comes with a stipulation, though – produce some kind of results within three months – and Eric has no ambitions of trying to meet this. When the unthinkable happens and his easy, safe reproduction of the double-helix experiment produces new results not everyone is happy with him.

Review – Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Dark Matter
By: Blake Crouch
Website: http://www.blakecrouch.com/
Release Date: July 26, 2016
Publisher: Crown
Rating:


As a fan of books and anime that touch on multi-verse theory, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch quickly caught my eye. Though the author has a hefty list of books to his name – all fitting snuggly within the genres I read the most – this was the first of Crouch’s books I read. Dark Matter is a science fiction thriller with fast pacing and alternate worlds set in the modern day.

Review: Legend by Marie Lu

Legend
By: Marie Lu @marielubooks
Website: http://marielu.org/books.html
Release Date: November 29th, 2011
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Series: Legend, Book #1
Rating:


I freely admit that sometimes I try to avoid new series. Not because I don’t love series (let’s face it, I adore series) but sometimes you aren’t ready to commit to a new series just yet. Every time I’d gone into Barnes and Noble I’d look at Legend by Marie Lu. I’d read the book jacket, the quotes from the New York Times review and other authors and I’d read a few lines on the first page. I just couldn’t commit to the series yet.

The fact is, I’m mad I waited to read this series! I know I’m a bit behind in joining the Legend fandom and if you’re waiting to join in and read the series please don’t wait much longer.

Review – Made to Kill by Adam Christopher

Made to Kill
By: Adam Christopher
Website: http://www.adamchristopher.co.uk/
Release Date: November 3, 2015
Publisher: Tor Books
Series: The L.A. Trilogy, Book #1
Rating:


I can’t begin to describe how happy I was when I first found Made to Kill by Adam Christopher. I was in the library right after Fallout 4’s Far Harbor DLC was released, and really wanted to find a book somehow involving cyborgs, androids or the sort as main characters. (Because Nick Valentine is a great character, and I need more of that in my life.) And lo! Right there, directly at eye level was Made to Kill with a robot on the front cover just begging me to read it.

Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu

Prodigy
By: Marie Lu
Website: http://marielu.org/books.html
Release Date: January 29, 2013
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Series: Legend, Book #2
Rating:


I will admit, right away, that I didn’t tear through Prodigy as fast as I did Legend. I’m willing to bet it’s more due to the circumstances of when I was reading this than the quality of the book. (There was a family emergency, and the book was put aside so that I could focus on helping. But enough about my life.)

We return to the alternating points of view of Day and June and, this time, the book starts off with our hero and heroine together. However, they don’t stay together for long as they are pulled apart by circumstance, as you would expect from any good novel.