Firefly #5
Life Signs (Firefly Book 5) by James Lovegrove keeps alive the 'verse and the crew of Serenity, that old workhorse of a Firefly-class spaceship. This story fits in well with the feel of the overall series, kind of pleasant yet gritty, an absurd mission that can't possibly succeed but with wins pulled off by Mal and the crew in unexpected ways. «more»
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He Who Fights with Monsters #3
He Who Fights with Monsters 3, written by Travis Deverell, is a great addition to the HWFwM series, with boatloads of monster-fighting and loads of story arc payoff. But here's where the "but" comes in. The characters have ranked up a lot, and the magic system that gets explained... over and over gets tedious. While in book form, I'd skip over these parts, but it's a bit harder in audio. Time and again, we get to hear all about a skill, its casting requirements, its iron rank abilities, its bronze ranked upgrades abilities... and in the middle of a fight scene, this really bogs down the pace. «more»
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Everybody Loves Large Chests #2
Not for the easily offended, but Fizzlesprocket (Everybody Loves Large Chests book 2) by Neven Iliev certainly is a cracking tale of a murder hobo mimic and their psychopathic demonic familiars. Seriously, there is a lot of horrifically awful stuff going on in this one, but if you made it through book one, then this probably won't faze you. «more»
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Noobtown #1
I found The Mayor of Noobtown by Ryan Rimmel started rather slowly but built up the pace as it went along. Well, if you can ignore the frequent character sheet readouts, which, quite honestly, had me skipping ahead by about the third time. The main issue is that the character can multi-class into everything, so his sheet is absurdly long by the end. «more»
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Monk & Robot #1
The world built by Becky Chambers in A Psalm for the Wild-Built is one I'd visit in a heartbeat. This is probably best described as a Cozy Sci-Fi, where not a lot happens except lots of conversation that made me yearn for a place I can never visit. Set on a colonised moon some years after robots became self-aware and walked away from people. «more»
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Lying and Making a Living, written by William Dunlap, is a collection of somewhat surreal short stories that run from a couple of paragraphs to a handful of chapters. Some were a bit weird; some pushed the boundaries of morality at times. Others still had me chuckling at a happenstance or turn of phrase, while others had me questioning if I'd finish. A bit of a mixed bag really. «more»
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The Dungeon Shop, by Chris Ford, was a decent swing but ultimately, for me, a miss. The idea had a lot of promise, but the main character, and even most of the side characters, were inconsistent. Frequently from one sentence to the next, with their character spouting dialogue inconsistent with what we know so far. «more»
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Zeus Is Dead #1
I was a little disappointed with Zeus Is Dead by Michael G Munz, because the premise sounded so fun. It felt as though it was trying just a little too hard to be funny, with lots of nonsequiturs and winks to the reader. Many of these just fell flat and broke the pace of the story. More judicious editing could have shortened the runtime by a few hours by knocking out a good portion of these. Overall, the story isn't dreadful, but it's not one I think I'd listen to again. «more»
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He Who Fights with Monsters #2
After finishing the first, I jumped into He Who Fights with Monsters book 2, written by Shirtaloon - aka Travis Deverell. That alone should give you a clue of how much I enjoyed the first, and the second was no different. It continues from the first, where a lot of what was set up starts to pay off and become more evident in this one. «more»
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He Who Fights with Monsters #1
He Who Fights with Monsters, written by Shirtaloon - aka Travis Deverell - is one book I've been meaning to get to for some time, but the length kept putting me off a little. Not that I have anything against long stories, but I wasn't in the mood for sitting through such a long stretch of story. «more»
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Bound to End Badly, written by R. L. Tiochta, is a superb example of dark romantic comedy. Set in Derby (UK), and follows Peter and Maze as they stumble through the dating scene and ever so slowly towards each other. Tiochta gives us alternating glimpses into the lives of Peter and Maze, where something isn't quite right... and not just because there's a serial killer on the loose. «more»
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One Must Tell the Bees, by J. Lawrence Matthews, tells the story of a very young Sherlock Holmes before he was Sherlock. His brother Mycroft uses his influence to get young Holmes into a job in America. What follows is an exceptionally well-told tale weaved together with a history lesson around the end of the American civil war, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the capture of John Wilkes Booth. «more»
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Hard Luck Hank #6
This far into the Hard Luck Hank series, it's hard to review without feeling like I'm repeating myself. As always, time has moved on, and Belvaille has changed once again. The nobles are (mostly) gone, and the remaining inhabitants are scratching out a living in any way they can. Life in the Post Colmarian Confederation Colmarian Confederation (yes, that's the title of confederation now) is hard. New laws are being enacted every day, and with it, complete inefficiency of government. «more»
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