Book Reviews by Ehlen Administration

Ripped Apart: Quantum Twins - Adventures On Two Worlds by Geoffrey Arnold My rating: 4 of 5 stars Tullia and Qwelby are twins, but not just any old twins. They are quantum twins, meaning they are genetically identical twins but are a boy/girl pair. This has only ever happened once before on Vertazia, and it didn’t end well. When they interfere with an experiment they are hurled through space/time to Earth, which severs their telepathic connection. Will they be able to reconnect and find their way home? And why are their people fighting their return? Do you like to nitpick science fiction? If so this is the read for you. I was totally fascinated by the science involved, as I’ve been interested in the concept of the multiverse and higher dimensions ever since I saw the TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” as a child. Although a little lengthy, I thought the storyline was interesting and it didn’t delve too sciency for those who don’t want the nitty gritty. I’m hoping the next book...

Chains of Mist by T.C. Metivier My rating: 4 of 5 stars Ortega is determined to fulfill his mission - kill Rokan Sellas. He made the mistake of thinking he was dead once before, but this time would be sure. Even though he has to track him to one of the most dangerous planets trailing only two of his best men, he will put a sword through Rokan Sellas. What he has not stopped to consider is whether or not that can actually kill him. Chains of Mist is the second in the Chalas Peruvas series, and it does not disappoint. There are familiar characters and new faces but the journey continues with lots of twists and turns. This is turning out to be a solid series full of intergalactic travel, magic, prophecy, camaraderie and family. The writing is on point and the characters are well developed without resorting to extreme plot devices or blocky narration. I’m really enjoying the story and looking forward to the revelations to come. View all my reviews Please note, while there may ...

Home: Interstellar by Ray Strong My rating: 4 of 5 stars Meriel is haunted by the secret from her past, that she and only a few other children survived a raid on their ship, the Princess. Can she keep the promise she made to her mother and both protect and reunite the children? Or will that uncover too much, both in interstellar government security, and in her own mind? Home: Interstellar is a fascinating and quick sci-fi read. The characters are deep and engaging, and the pace moves pretty quickly and keeps you guessing. I read this book in just a couple of days, as I was engrossed by the story. I’m hoping this turns into a series, and we find out the fate of Meriel and the other survivors. I think it would be really interesting to have each book told from a different survivor perspective, particularly. If you are looking for good sci-fi read don’t hesitate to pick this one up. View all my reviews Please note, while there may be affiliate links or payment for reviews, all...

The Legend of Things Past by Phillip William Sheppard My rating: 4 of 5 stars Donovan Knight is no stranger to top secret assignments, and he is good at what he does. He assumes this one is the like the others, but is stunned to go back in time to pull off saving the planet. Consequences abound, whether he is successful or not, not to mention the whole distorting the time-space continuum thing. But the survival of the future, and more importantly, his family, depends on his mission succeeding, and there is nothing more important than his family. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Survivor fan, and am happy to support contestants, hopefully without the obvious fangirl nerding out. Upon discovering that Mr. Sheppard wrote this book, I immediately had his voice in my head reading it to me, which made it all the more fun. The plot moves quickly, and while I question some of the timey-wimey parameters, it’s a great read with a few twists and turns along the way. Mr. Knight’...

Legend of the Stone: Chapter I by Lucas R. Ballard My rating: 1 of 5 stars Lucas is a project. Tortured by scientists and soldiers since his discovery at age 8, he has managed to survive everything they have thrown at him. He is an asset, but a resentful one. When the opportunity to escape arises he takes it, and takes out many of the torturers while doing so. He finds a rare friend who saves his life, and together they discover the power of the stone he found during his escape. Will he and Juan survive their attempt to hijack a freighter and leave the moon, or will their stone-enhanced powers be too little, too late? I really wanted to like this book. The premise of Merlin’s magic returning to humans after he casts it out intrigued me, as did the prospect of it coming to a man mottled by experimentation. But the writing was just.so.bad. There were run-ons and fragments, tenses jumping in and out all over the place, strange redundancies, and obvious wrong words, like “cloths” in...

Solaris Seethes by Janet McNulty My rating: 3 of 5 stars Rynah has barely escaped with her life, as her planet’s magnetic force spins out of alignment. Her estranged grandfather’s ship, Solaris, is her only chance to escape. As it turns out her crazy grandfather was right about the prophecies and those old stones, and she must decipher the cryptic legends about them to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Fortunately, Solaris is far more helpful there than she ever imagined. Solaris Seethes is the first book in a series that follows Rynah and her band of misfits across the galaxy in a ship with a personality all her own as she seeks to right wrongs and avenge her people. Not the most original sci-fi storyline, but still a good one. The plot and the characters are interesting, and the depth of the characters is well thought out, but the writing/editing really needs some work. There are really random parenthetical phrases throughout where it should be just basic descrip...

Lonely Heroes by Eddie Upnick My rating: 3 of 5 stars Lonely Heroes, a spinoff to the Time Will Tell series, is set present day, so between Time Will Tell and Future Tense. The book follows Roger, a CIA agent who fashions himself as the American Bond. He proves his worth in an Iranian nuclear bunker, and is plucked from the planet by Defender to complete a special mission to prevent an alien race from destroying Earth. Aided by a couple super genius friends, including the lovely Zera, he is able to move up in mission status to help some off-world negotiations that don’t directly affect Earth….yet. While I was intrigued by the plot of Lonely Heroes, I found the writing to be dry and unemotional, almost as if someone was describing a movie they had seen rather than immersing yourself in a good novel. It was mostly rote narration, even description of dialogue and actions rather than main character POV. I also thought that it was a bit unfocused, as the first part is almost all E...

GLORY DOGS Forged Through Glory by DeZré Storm My rating: 3 of 5 stars After years of successfully flying under the radar, Yoland “Kitten” Sleek is not happy about being discovered. Her deal is being honored, but she was not expecting the surge of pheremones from a Helion like Dog. As it turns out, most of Dog Team Four has a secret agenda, but will her secret be the key or the undoing? I love sci-fi, and the actual sci-fi plot was interesting and unraveled well. Storm’s descriptive imagery is artfully written, and really helps the reader engage with the story. I also found the concept of modified humans well executed and would love to see more of that back story. I expected the sexual tension, but I felt like the amount ended up detracting from the rest of the story; or perhaps I’m just an unusually fulfilled sci-fi nerd and didn’t need that fantasy aspect. Perhaps it’s needed to set the stage for the rest of the series and it won’t be as big a plot point in th series as a whol...

Spartanica by Powers Molinar My rating: 4 of 5 stars A young adult novel full of fantasy, Spartanica is the first in a series that follows brothers Ty and Marcus as they find themselves transported from their average suburban Chicago home to another dimension. While there they discover a decimated world that may offer clues to some parts of their past and help rescue a group of children attempting to escape captors, with the help of some of the local creatures. Spartanica is a great read, even for adults, and I think it provides an intriguing series to hook readers during middle school. There is a lot of fantasy, including super powers, an arrival to an apocalyptic landscape to navigate, anthropomorphic creatures, a hostile takeover and fantastic technology. Tweens will easily be able to put themselves in the position of Ty or Marcus, and I think that they will clamor for more in the series. Author Powers Molinar provides clear, concise writing that is quite engaging without fal...

Emerge by C.D. Verhoff My rating: 4 of 5 stars What happens when the Earth is simultaneously hit by a plague and attacked by aliens? Well obviously you mutate and go underground. But what happens then when you have no choice but to ascend to the surface once again? Emerge is a futuristic tale of a group of people who assumed they would live out their lives in an underground bunker only to be catapulted to the surface, and led out to find their new home Exodus style. I loved the Biblical imagery and the sci-fi/fantasy plot. I think it will make a great series, as this is the introductory book. I was a little annoyed by the organization of the story as it was not linear but the flash backs weren’t very well defined either, although by the end of it I had a pretty good grasp of the history of the culture as well as the current state. I was also a little annoyed by the introduction to each character’s voice with the use of the parenthetical (insert character name here) because it...

Future Prometheus: Emergence & Evolution by J M Erickson My rating: 4 of 5 stars What happens when a disease wipes out most adult males’ higher level emotional function? Future Prometheus, by J.M. Erickson, explores one of the few men left capable of meaningful social interaction, ironically due to his position on the autistic spectrum. While men are driven out and women take over civilization, he is continues his experiments with stasis, eventually achieving success with some longer term. He is assisted by robots who are becoming increasingly sentient, and thus he is able to streamline his interactions while still trying to salvage some vestige of humanity. This sci-fi combines several classic elements, a disease that targets a sector of the population and runs rampant, robotics/cyborgs taking steps toward sapience, and an unlikely hero thrust in a position of savior because of an otherwise weakness. I like that autism is shown in a positive light given that the current rate...