Review: Broken Worlds

Broken Worlds by Drew Avera
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: **

Slow Start and a Quick End …

This is a short “Enemy Mine” Space Adventure story. On the Dark side you have the evil Greshian Empire that brooks no defiance from inferior races on pain of completely destroying your home worlds (not actually the best strategy, but who can figure out the alien mind). While experiencing a twinge of conscience, a young Greshian officer is betrayed by an ambitious fellow officer and exiled on an abandoned planetoid after a ridiculous kangaroo court in from of his commanding officer. Soon thereafter, a Luthian transport breaks apart over that same place, introducing the enemy pilot as an obvious future love interest. The remainder of the story centers around the two of them trying to get off the rock without alerting the lurking Greshian patrol main plot point). Along the way they meet two more refugees of the Greshian genocidal policies whose only purpose in the story is to bring the ship to our intrepid heroes … so, while it IS a very short story that takes a long time to actually DO anything, it does actually resolve the plot; so technically not a cliffhanger, but nothing really major accomplished either.

The narration was subpar, though not horrible … the cadence and enunciation just didn’t feel natural to me; although I did get somewhat use to it by the end. Additionally the narrator struggled with voicing male characters making it hard for me to differentiate the speakers.

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: City of Bones: Updated and Revised Edition

City of Bones: Updated and Revised Edition by Martha Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Charisat is the City of Bones … built on the decaying bones of an Ancient civilization that fell when the Wastes rose up to consume the world … or perhaps it takes it name from the practice of burning human[oid] bones to some necromantic effect. Regardless, it is the most powerful Trade City in the authoritarian dystopian landscape that remains with a stratified power structure, giving raise to very believable biases and prejudice based on which “tier” of the city they have access to … patricians and elites with their warders at the top and destitute at the bottom 8th tier. The system is stacked against outsiders (non-citizens).

The main character is doubly an outsider, being denied any change of citizenship because of his heritage as a “krisman” or desert person; a genetically altered human designed to withstand the dangers and hazards of the Waste where most of the flora and fauna want to kill you. The obvious mystery here is what happened to destroy the world of the Ancients? The answer here becomes a central part of the overall plot … and doesn’t get much play until the action picks up in the second half of the story. Still, the fantastic and somewhat unique take on world-building and character introduction of Khat and his supporting cast in the first 25% kept me fully engaged … with the next quarter starting to drag somewhat.

The story opens with Khat, desperate to get out from under his debt to the merchant crime lord, agrees to take a group of elites out into the Wastes on a Relic hunt … which quickly the rails to bring the Khat into the dangerous realm of elite power games, where his somewhat hidden talents help figure out the various puzzles and mysteries (a la Indiana Jones). Along the way, we get a little more backstory, but not enough to completely dispel the shadows (and this helps give the world a feel of incredible depth). And the interplay between all of the characters allows for some interesting social elements without being overly preaching (letting the PoV speak for itself). Finally … the plot is fairly predictable, so the small twists you get along the way keep it interesting and entertaining.

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#CityOfBones #NetGalley

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Review: What Jesus Intended: Finding True Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion

What Jesus Intended: Finding True Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion by Todd D. Hunter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A re-examination of what Jesus meant when He commanded christians to love, and how dogma and tradition can sometimes get in the way of this. Each chapter covers a brief vignette to illustrate slight variations on the theme that can feel a bit repetitive by the end; although this could also be seen as baby steps toward an end goal where some readers are already further along their journey and don’t need as much hand holding or convincing (I am already well aligned how this concept was presented, so it did drag a bit for me). Each chapter title is a good summary of the topic contained there in, followed by a few verses of scripture, an introduction to the personal encounter before diving into a Jesus centric discussion on WWJD, because upon how the author interprets the ministry of Jesus found the the Gospels … and just as important, how such a response ultimate worked in the situation introduced at the start of the chapter. Finally, at the end of each chapter, there is a Practical Exercise (Reflection Questions) and a prayer that wraps it all up. Although not pitched as such, this book is probably more effective when taken slowly and one chapter at a time, allow time for meditation before moving on.

Introduction
1. Am I the Only One Who Thinks This? How the Church Failed Us
2. Can I Find Faith Again? A Fresh Proposal Regarding Jesus
3. I Am Failing to Connect to Faith and Church: Jesus’ Self-Identity Is Our Rescue
4. I’ve Lost the Religious Plot Line: Jesus Knew He Was Living in an Unfolding Story
5. I Feel Pain, Cynicism, and Despair - Where is Jesus? Jesus; Orientation to the Kingdom of God
6. What About All the Bad Things Done in God’s Name? Jesus Taught That Eternal Life Empowers Good Religion
7. Can I Trust the Church to Be an Instrument of Restoration? Jesus Was a Healer
8. How Can I Find Vibrant Faith? Jesus’ Teachings Point Us to a New Way of Life
9. Why is Consistent Spiritual Growth So Difficult? Jesus’ Emphasis on the Centrality of the Heart
10. Is There an Authentic Community of Faith? Jesus Intentionally Called and Sent a People
11. Do My Religious Reservations and Churchly Hesitations Disqualify Me? Jesus Walks with Us on a Journey of Doubt

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#WhatJesusIntended #NetGalley

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Review: Die Again, Mr. Holmes

Die Again, Mr. Holmes by Anna Elliott
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Performance: ****

Story: **

A Mixed bag and Missed Opportunity

Another solid performance from this narrating duo; and frankly that is was saves this story.  By now it is de riguour to present two mysteries that converge toward the end.  Lucy investigates a missing person while Holmes tries to unravel a similar case that appears to involve an opium smuggling scheme … which is the first misstep.  As noted several times in the story, selling opium was actually legal at the time, so such an operation must therefore take huge risks just to avoid the custom fees (which I am sure would be able to fund such a powerful cartel </sarcasm>).  Stir in a bit of moralizing and preaching about the evils of said legal product and it all seems quite out of place for the time period.  To make matters so much worse … the story appears to glorify torture and kidnapping (by the good guys) that is very nearly a bridge too far for me; I expected a lot more perception and deduction for a Holmes story (it is after all what lifts such stories above its peers).  To be clear … the story is not too bad, I was just expecting better so it was an overall disappointment.

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

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