ThatBookIsOnFiyah

5/5 stars. Another fun Joe Pickett mystery from CJ Box. Animals are suddenly being mutilated in Joe Pickett’s district, then the same mutilations happen to two human murder victims. What is going on? How quickly can Joe figure it out to stop more murders or mutilations from happening? Box always includes wonderfully descriptive details about Joe Pickett’s Wyoming, and his character work is first rate, as we follow the growth and maturity of Joe’s family, in addition to watching him solve unusual crimes. These stories are enjoyable, mostly quick, reads that are perfect as palate cleansers between big fantasy chonkers. Furthermore, I particularly enjoy the Joe Pickett stories on audiobook. David Chandler does outstanding narration for this series, and I look forward to more quality listening experiences. Highly recommended series, especially if you enjoy good mystery writing and/or modern western stories.

5/5 stars. I am really enjoying this series about a monk and a nun who are tasked with a variety of very special operations that are appropriate to their skill sets. He is a master forger who is an atheist. She is a talented assassin who was saved from a terrible past by the religious order. Certainly, these two are not the typical monk and nun and it fascinating to be a witness to what happens to them on their missions. In this entry to the trilogy, they are assigned the task of infiltrating a heavily guarded library to steal an important book for the holy mother of their monastery, Tysapherna. In the middle of the job, they encounter an entity that claims to be a demon, also while dealing with both the Loyal Opposition and the Order of Intercession, all while Brother Desiderius, refuses to believe that any of it is real! This series is filled with wonderful banter, excellent characters, a detailed world, and the wonderful prose of KJ Parker. Parker is quickly moving up my list of ...

5/5 stars. Joe Berne has authored another excellent book about the life and times of Rohan, Wei Li, Wistful, the Drs. Stone, Void’s Shadow, and all the supporting cast. This story introduces us to a new alien species, the Il’Zkin, and we learn even more about the il’Sein and what they were trying to accomplish in the distant past. Rohan must face multiple situations, with the new race on their home planet Pilli 5; with the Ohnians, whose planet was destroyed because of the actions of the new Hyperion; and a rogue hybrid, WildEye, who has left the service of the Empire and is looking for her missing sister – someone Rohan remembers all too well. Berne excels at putting Rohan into difficult situations and giving him multiple options to work through to solve the problems. Eyes of Empire is such a great story, and the Hybrid Helix is such a great series overall. I am also looking forward to continuing with the audiobooks as they come out this year. Wayne Farrell is the perfect narrator f...

4.5/5 stars. I have read three debut novels so far this year, and Republic of Memory is far away the best of the three. Sayed’s writing is crisp and flows very nicely. There are multiple points of view, and I enjoyed reading all of them. There was never a moment where I was bored with one of the POVs and anxious to get back to another. I was invested in every part of this story about a revolution on a generation ship that has left a dying Earth, headed to a new planet 400 years from Earth. I like the way Sayed set up the story with a large group of individuals asleep in cryostasis and an even larger group of their family’s descendants making up the crew. It was interesting to see the interactions of the various groups, all defined by the language that they speak. The author also presents a realistic view of the jealousy among the crew members regarding the people in stasis. The belief among some of the crew that the ‘ancestors’ have gotten free travel while the crew has slaved and di...

3.5/5 stars. This novella length story is my first experience with the work of Mr. Saunders. This story centers around a dying man, the people who visit his bedside, and the ‘Angel of death’ who comes to watch over his passing into the afterlife. We get the perspective of the Watcher, Jill (Doll) Blaine, and her backstory, as we also learn that the dying man might not have been a good person in life. Slowly, we get more information about these two lives and the potential future to come. The prose in this story is superb. The characters, and the way we learn about them, are well done. However, the pace of the story felt off at times, and I lost my train of thought periodically while reading. The narrative was the weaker link for me and causes the points deduction in my rating. There is much to like in this tale of a death, but I was a little disappointed overall.