Review: Relics of Tomorrow

Relics of Tomorrow by Brandon Cleland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: **

A Very Simple Trope filled Dystopian Story

It is a basic coming of age story in a dystopian world that is divided into levels according to net worth. A young, orphaned thief, dreams of making it to a level above the smog where he can ditch the O2 mask and see the sun. Of course … there is something special about the young hooligan … who eventually teams up it a shape changing alien who becomes something of a mentor for the “big league” of possession liberation. There is a little force humor between the pair as they have encounter a few mishaps in each caper/heist, but nothing too unbelievable (and or unexpected). The story does come across as something of a “paint-by-the-numbers” piece all the way to the end (which was a tad on the rabbit/hat or comic book style). Overall it was entertaining, but fairly forgettable.

The Narration was pretty basic. The reader struggled to differentiate character voices, especially for women, and there was something off that made the delivery feel awkward and unnatural to me. It was not so bad that I couldn’t tolerate it, but it did highlight the rather formulaic nature of the story to the point of amusement.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Homecoming

Homecoming by Jude Austin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: **
Performance: ****

The Cleanup from Book One

We get a little bit more world-building … which is basically just a SciFi veneer over today, with such weirdness as parking-lot asteroids and cryo-sleep for a three (3) day trip. Generally it is more of the same with Kata and Tau now on the run where they encounter more bad guys that want to take advantage of their unique abilities (mostly Kata). There is less violence, but impact of that experience lingers throughout the story here and gets a little long in the tooth towards the end (and less interesting as it devolves into a pseudo courtroom drama). The biggest issue was that it moved sooo slowly that it was hard to stay focused.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Project Tau

Project Tau by Jude Austin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: ****

An Interesting Clone Story

The world building in this story was interesting if a bit simplistic and anachronistic at times. The primary theme revolves around human cloning … called Projects … that are grown and used in place of humans in dangerous environments (mines) and experiments that have apparently greatly benefited humanity in general, but these clones are always property, treated more or less like animals. But they are hugely expensive and the labs that grow them operate on a very slim margin … so when the opportunity to pass off a human as a project lands in front of the lab executives, they just can’t pass that up … and Kalin becomes project Kata … with skills and abilities no Project has ever had before if only they can “break” his independent streak. And that is where the story turns very dark, especially for a YA genre.

When Project Kata is thrown in with Project Tau (an actual, advanced human clone), the interactions provide a backdrop to explore what is means to be human … and what it means for a human to be reduced to mere property (think chattel slavery). There is also a dimension of human psychology with respect to how these projects are trained (aka broken) that provides an opportunity to highlight the effects of abuse and violence, both physical and mental, that was designed to dehumanize the subjects (not human and clone) and how those in authority can justify their inhuman behavior. It all seemed plausible given my understanding of human history and psychology; although to be honest, I found the focus here a little difficult to take at times, but the protagonists were very sympathetic characters and I was pulling for them the entire time while anticipating a better situation at the end …

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: The God Protocol: Dragon

The God Protocol: Dragon by D.L. Wilburn Jr.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Book: **
Performance: **

A Simple, Tropey Alien Conspiracy Story

It was an interesting premise … a fringe podcaster seeking the truth behind all those alien/government conspiracies only to find out that some of them are actually true. Unfortunately … it was poorly executed. To begin with, there was absolutely no character development (or even differentiation) anywhere. Then the MC podcast dialog seemed to take up way too much of the story … the silliness would have been bearable if it didn’t take itself so seriously (either I didn’t get the humor or there just wasn’t any). Then there was the typical freshman pitfalls such as info-dumps and an incessant focus on trivial details that added absolutely nothing to the story. There is enough tech to call it SciFi … and the author gets most of it right, but it does go off the rails enough that I am pretty sure it is just a bunch of tropes stitched together without much understanding of the actual tech/science behind it. Must of this would have been fixed with a good editor … all of this was exacerbated by a narration that didn’t differential the voices well and delivered the excessive dialog just enough off to seem unnatural … taken all together, it was so boring that I almost DNF.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: McCabe's Luck: The Feud Goes On

McCabe's Luck: The Feud Goes On by Patrick Lindsay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book: ****
Performance: ****

A Classic Western Well Told

I am a fan of westerns, growing up with the classics from Zane Grey, Max Brand and Louis L’Amour. This story has all the hallmarks of such a classic with a likable MC and the typical power hungry antagonist (although not really a good comparison, it did remind me a little of the Sackett Saga). Throw in a light romance and some gun play with a reasonable plot and you have the basic all American feel good story the genre is famous for, and I enjoyed it a lot. The narration was solid and comfortable for the story and gave it a bit more of an authentic feel with the first person POV. Most of all … it was a clean story, which I appreciated so much given what I have found in more recent western stories. Finally … it is in Kindle Unlimited … so it is definitely work a read in you subscribe to that.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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