Category Archives: Science Fiction

February 16, 2023 · 7:20 pm

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

For the most part Cinder is a very enjoyable book. It’s a very unique take on the Cinderella story. It’s sci-fi but not super technical so it’s appealing even to people that aren’t really into sci-fi. There are two problems with the book, though. First, it is extremely predictable. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I spent 2/3 of the book just waiting for what I already knew would happen to happen. It was just really obvious that was the way it was going. Second, it ends very abruptly. The story continues in the next book, but I much prefer books in series to each have a satisfactory ending. When this one ended I was left feeling kind of cheated out of a chapter or two to wrap things up a bit (it didn’t help that because there is so much back matter, the Kindle book was only at 80% when the book ended). I recommend this book to people who enjoy young adult dystopian books but only if you are planning to go all in and read the entire series.

3 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 23
Pages Read in 2023: 7367

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Filed under Dystopian, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Book Club, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Science Fiction, Young Adult

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February 11, 2023 · 4:03 pm

A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga

A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga

Telling the story from the viewpoint of an anthropomorphized Mars rover, A Rover’s Story combines facts about the rovers and their missions with things that haven’t happened (like finding a really neat rock formation) or we can’t do yet (like bringing the rovers back to Earth). The story is really cute and includes several letters to the rover written by the daughter of one of the rover’s coders in order to give information the rover itself wouldn’t know. I recommend this book to any kid interested in space exploration. It would make an excellent family read aloud.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 20
Pages Read in 2023: 6569

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Filed under Middle Grades, Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: Grim Readers, Reason: Owlcrate, Science Fiction

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January 12, 2023 · 9:52 am

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

The Midnight Library is very thought provoking. While I figured out rather early on what Nora’s ideal life would be, it was still an enjoyable read getting there. The story draws you in and with the very short chapters I found myself saying “just one more chapter” over and over. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever had a single regret and thought “what if.”

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 4
Pages Read in 2023: 1351

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Filed under Reason: B&N Book Challenge, Reason: Flourish & Blotts Reading Challenge, Reason: Grim Readers, Science Fiction

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December 4, 2022 · 8:02 am

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton had a way with writing that made me actually enjoy sci-fi. He was able to explain scientific sounding things in a way that made them easy to understand. The Andromeda Strain progresses at a steady pace making you feel like you are in the lab with the scientists. Often it’ll say things like “he wouldn’t realize his mistake for two days” letting the reader know that something was missed or done wrong and there will be repercussions that you are just waiting to watch unfold. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sci-fi thrillers or is a fan of Michael Crichton’s writing.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2022: 106
Pages Read in 2022: 37,190
Graphic Novels: 3

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Filed under Reason: I Like the Author, Reason: LitHub Bingo, Science Fiction, Thriller

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July 16, 2022 · 7:30 pm

From a Distant Star by Karen McQuestion

From a Distant Star by Karen McQuestion

From a Distant Star is an incredibly sweet book. I was sucked totally into the story and completely invested in what happened to the characters. I couldn’t put it down telling myself “just one more chapter” repeatedly. The ending is absolutely perfect. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys light scifi.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2022: 70
Pages Read in 2022: 25,511
Graphic Novels: 1

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Filed under Reason: I Like the Author, Reason: LitHub Bingo, Reason: We Be Book'N, Science Fiction, Young Adult

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May 9, 2022 · 7:50 pm

Cut Off by Adrianne Finlay

Cut Off by Adrianne Finlay

The beginning of Cut Off seemed pretty straightforward. A survival reality show with a bunch of kids competing for the top prize. And then it all went insane and went every which way. It was sort of sci-fi and sort of horror (though not terribly scary horror). There are parallel dimensions and creating a timeline out of your mind and being able to choose the one where you end up. My 13 and 15 year old sons (who both liked the book more than I did) thought it explained the multiverse much better than anything else they have encountered. The best chapter in the entire book jumps between snapshots of what’s happening in various parallel universes as they are trying to find the right one. I recommend this book to teens and up, particularly those who like sci-fi and especially parallel dimensions.

3 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2022: 48
Pages Read in 2022: 17,554
Graphic Novels: 1

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Filed under Reason: Bedtime Story for the Boys, Reason: Literati, Science Fiction, Young Adult

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February 14, 2022 · 8:24 pm

Night Without End by DP Fitzsimons

Night Without End by DP Fitzsimons

I read the first book in this series a few years ago so it was a bit hard to get up to speed reading this second one. The author didn’t really go over what happened previously much at all (mostly just hints through dialogue) so until about a quarter or so through I was struggling to remember and a little bit lost. The fact the “trick” happened basically the same way twice to both ships was kind of annoying, but then I guess if it worked once they figured it would work again. There was a bit too much graphic violence for my tastes. Overall, though, I enjoyed the book (even if the cover really freaks me out). I cared deeply about the characters and wanted to keep reading to find out whether they get infected or eaten or not and whether any of them would survive to get to New Earth (I guess since there are more books in the series I assumed some would but I wanted to know which ones it would be). I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult sci-fi or dystopian.

4 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2022: 16
Pages Read in 2022: 6090

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Filed under Dystopian, Reason: LitHub Bingo, Reason: We Be Book'N, Science Fiction, Young Adult

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January 24, 2022 · 8:42 am

The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin

The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin

The Obelisk Gate is the second book in the Broken Earth series and, like the first book, I spent the majority of this one completely confused about what was going on. It would seem that that would make the book not very enjoyable, but it’s actually pretty great. Hoa is continuing to tell the story to “you” (the book is written to Essun, the main character, which is a very interesting and effective writing style choice). In this book you get to know Essun’s daughter Nassun better and it turns out she’s pretty awesome (and powerful) and it is quite interesting watching her come into and start to understand what she can do. I hope I am less confused by the third book, but even if I’m not I am sure it will be a good book, too. I recommend The Obelisk Gate to people who enjoyed the first book in the series.

4 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2022: 8
Pages Read in 2022: 2784

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Filed under Dystopian, Reason: LitHub Bingo, Reason: Mind Voyages, Reason: We Be Book'N, Science Fiction

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December 27, 2021 · 4:47 pm

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie

This is not your average love story. There’s love, sure, but mostly there’s revenge and anger because of that love. Like Poe, I never knew who to trust and of course the one person I barely suspected at all was the very one I should’ve suspected the whole time. The writing is fabulous. The cadence and sentence structure really appeals to me. The story unfolds at a good rate. It’s a standalone novel, but there is some connection to the Matched trilogy (absolutely no need to read the trilogy first). I truly enjoyed reading this book. I recommend it to everyone who enjoys books about totally awesome girls.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2021: 91
Pages Read in 2021: 29,437

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Filed under Dystopian, Reason: LitHub Bingo, Reason: We Be Book'N, Science Fiction

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November 18, 2021 · 7:53 pm

Timebound by Rysa Walker

Timebound by Rysa Walker

Timebound made my brain hurt. There’s time travel involved and different timelines that may or may not all continue to exist and the need to go back in time to prevent people from having changed the world. Even though it made my brain hurt, it all still made sense (as much sense as time travel makes). The action is very steady and questions are answered at a good pace. The main storyline is wrapped up at the end of the book, but many other things remain open for subsequent books in the series. I recommend this book to people who enjoy sci-fi and historical fiction.

5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2021: 74
Pages Read in 2021: 23,971

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Filed under Historical Fiction, Reason: LitHub Bingo, Reason: We Be Book'N, Science Fiction, Young Adult

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