Bookcover Spotlight #4

Star Born by Andre Norton is an older science fiction novel, with a very nice cover by Dean Ellis. Something about the rocket, at night, with tiny people illuminated in the various openings, a crane loading or unloading something, the rugged otherwordly landscape- even a moon off to the left hand side- just very evocative. This pretty much sums up old school science fiction for me, the golden age of science fiction when anything seemed possible, and we dreamed that we might someday make it to other worlds.

I love staring at this one and just drinking in all the details. What planet are they on, and what are they doing?

Time Salvager

Time Salvager is the story of a man, James Griffin- Mars, who goes back in time to recover resources from prior eras. He lives in the twenty- sixth century and is a chronman, or time operative. The Earth is a wasteland, the oceans are sludge and anyone who can afford to lives offworld. ChronoCom is the time travel agency that regulates the chronmen, and handles all the time jumps. Resources are brought to the present as technology has atrophied to the point where civilization can barely function. James has been doing this for a long time, and is burnt out- the jumps take a toll on mind and body, and he just wants out, When he is offered a job that will get him out, he takes it, even though it seems to good to be true.

James goes back to retrieve items from an ocean platform in the twenty- first century, but something about the job is off. When it all falls apart, he barely escapes- but commits the crime of bringing someone back with him. Elise, a scientist from the platform is about to die, and he brings her back- setting in motion a chain of events that will rock the world. They become fugitives and have to find a way to survive in the wastelands of Earth, as the time agency- and a powerful megacorporation pulling their strings- hunt them down. Bringing back someone from the past is a serious crime- but now the corporation wants Elise. She has something they want...

This was a good book, with a lot of interesting ideas. I wasn't really into it until about a quarter of the way through- it wasn't bad, just didn't wow me. The action picks up though once James hits the platform and saves Elise- once they return to the present the story takes off. James and Elise have an interesting bond- they are both attracted but their situation doesn't lend to romance. Nevertheless they do grow closer together as time goes on- he has been scarred by past actions and regrets, and has a lot of remose over people that were lost in the past. She, for her part, deals with the transition to living in the era she finds herself in, where everything is different- and she is hunted. Together they begin to build a new life- and perhaps can rebuild a shattered Earth.

Characterization is good, especially for James. He starts out an antihero, and I didn't care for him that much to be honest in the beginning- he's obviously willing to kill to further his objectives, but as time goes on we learn why he is the way and how his grief and remorse have consumed him. Elise is a breath of fresh air, with her optimisitc viewpoint standing out in field of jaded, ruthless characters- she's not quite as well drawn but quickly becomes the heart of the story. There are themes of loyalty and regret here, and second chances- I became fully immersed in this by the halfway point and couldn't wait to see what happened.

I loved the end of this one. Just felt right given we learn about the characters. Well done.

Teaser Tuesday #41

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm. To participate you grab your current read, open to a random page and share (2) teaser sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INLUDE SPOILERS (Make sure what you share doesn't give too much away. You don't want to ruin the book for others). Share the title and author. 

"So you're Blackbird," she says. She's older than you thought- nearly fifty, with deep lines around her mouth and eyes. "And I get to do the honors..." 



Deadfall is the followup to Blackbird, about a girl who wakes up on a subway track with no memory. She soon finds that she's the target of hunters who prey on other people- and in this one she flees from LA to New York, trying to find other targets and fight back. This quote is from when she's cornered...

Sunday Post #98 Happy 4th of July!

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

This was a good week. I got a bit of reading in, and am gearing up for the 4th of July weekend.
This week is also the COYER Red, White and Blue RAT. I'm not participating in it since it looks like a busy week- but I'll be cheering on the participants as much as I can. Remember to hit #COYER to see progress.

I still haven't seen Jurassic World yet- maybe this weekend?

Happy 4th of July to all those in the US!



Join Megan at Reading Away The Days as she does a virtual road trip of the US, all through July.

Bookcover Spotlight #3

The Chessmen of Mars is the fifth book in the John Carter series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Cover art by Michael Whelan. I love this cover for the background. The chess arena with its black and orange squares and domes and towers in the far background. Whelan painted several distinctive Mars covers, but this one grabbed my imagination as a kid. I still love it today.

Imagine a great game of living chess, fought to the death, in a fabulous city on a decadent world. A world with two moons and city states- some savage, some refined- a world of daring swordsmen and beautiful women. That's the Mars books in a nutshell. These were some of my favorites growing up. I re- read some of these recently, and to be honest some hold up better than others. Nevertheless, no one quite captures the feel of ERB's Mars like this artist- and these images still fire my imagination.




This week is a two for Friday- I have the Spotlight planned out for several months and couldn't figure out where to slot this one, so here it is!



Cash Crash Jubilee  is an interesting name for a book, but what caught my eye about this one is that cover. The story is set in a futuristic Tokyo and I like the neon and the rain coming down. All we need now is a huge billboard advertising the off world colonies! I'm a sucker for futuristic cityscapes and the cyberpunk- ish look here appeals to me. Does this one look good to you?

A cyber-dystopian thriller unlike any other.

In a near future Tokyo, every action—from blinking to sexual intercourse—is intellectual property owned by corporations that charge licensing fees. A BodyBank computer system implanted in each citizen records their movements from moment to moment, and connects them to the audio-visual overlay of the ImmaNet, so that every inch of this cyber-dystopian metropolis crawls with information and shifting cinematic promotainment.

Amon Kenzaki works as a Liquidator for the Global Action Transaction Authority. His job is to capture bankrupt citizens, remove their BodyBank, and banish them to BankDeath Camps where they are forever cut off from the action-transaction economy. Amon always plays by the rules and is steadily climbing the Liquidation Ministry ladder.

With his savings accumulating and another promotion coming, everything seems to be going well, until he is asked to cash crash a charismatic politician and model citizen, and soon after is charged for an incredibly expensive action called “jubilee” that he is sure he never performed. To restore balance to his account, Amon must unravel the secret of jubilee, but quickly finds himself asking dangerous questions about the system to which he’s devoted his life, and the costly investigation only drags him closer and closer to the pit of bankruptcy.

In book one of the Jubilee Cycle, Cash Crash Jubilee, debut novelist Eli K. P. William wields the incisive power of speculative fiction to show how, in a world of corporate finance run amok, one man will do everything for the sake of truth and justice. (less)

Hardcover, 392 pages

Published May 5th 2015 by Talos

Deadfall

Deadfall by Anna Carey picks up right where the first book Blackbird left off with Sunny taking a train to escape the people hunting her. She's a pawn in a game where people hunt other people for sport- and she only has a few vague memories of her time before she woke up. In Blackbird she eventually met a boy named Ben who helped her- but she discovered that he was part of the game. Fleeing from a hunter who almost killed her, she went to the train station- and found Rafe, a boy she vaguely remembered.

This one starts off with Lena (her real name) and Rafe on the train heading for New York. Rafe knows there are other targets out there, on the run, and hopes to meet up so they can help each other. But when things don't go according to plan, they find themselves on the run again. Meanwhile, the group behind the hunt sends Ben to New York after her- and Ben has to decide where his loyalties lie.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," she calls. Her tone is playful, singsong. It gives you chills. 

This is a fun, quick read. The story is told from Lena's POV, although we get some other POV's as well, helping to understand crucial parts of the backstory. It flows well, with lots of action, and it's nice to see other targets. This is a fast paced thrill ride, with New York City as the backdrop, and a pretty twisted set of antagonists. Being a duology, it might feel a little rushed the way everything is wrapped up, but then again there's no second book syndrome- everything is moving. The characters aren't super deep, but there's enough there to satisfy. This is a fun actioner and a nice follow up.

Waiting On Wednesday

This week I'm waiting on Butter Off Dead. This looks like fun and I love old time movie theaters.

From Goodreads:

As the national bestselling Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries continue, the merchants of Jewel Bay, Montana, try to heat up chilly winter business with a new film festival. But their plans are sent reeling when a dangerous killer dims the lights on a local vendor...

In an attempt to woo tourists to Jewel Bay and cheer up the townies, Erin Murphy, manager of the specialty local foods market known as the Merc, is organizing the First Annual Food Lovers’ Film Festival, filled with classic foodie flicks and local twists on favorite movie treats. But when her partner in planning, painter Christine Vandeberg, is found dead only days before the curtain rises, Erin suspects someone is attempting to stop the films from rolling.

To make matters worse, Nick—Erin’s brother and Christine’s beau—has top billing on the suspect list. Convinced her brother is innocent and determined that the show must go on, Erin has to find who’s really to blame before Nick gets arrested or the festival gets shut down. But the closer she gets to the killer, the more likely it becomes that she’ll be the next person cut from the program...

INCLUDES DELICIOUS RECIPES! (less)

Paperback, 304 pages

Expected publication: July 7th 2015 by Berkley