Review: Sunbringer

Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The second book in the the Fallen Gods series
Previous Review of Godkiller

Sunbringer picks up right after the end of Godkiller with our three (3) MC more or less on separate tracks, which was an immediate disappointment as the dynamic between them was so great in the first book that I missed it. However, where the first book was more or less about Kissen the God killer, this book seemed to put Inara (and her sidekick god Skedi) front and center and it was nice to see the character growth there. And while the big reveal here was more or less predicable, it developed naturally enough to still be entertaining and allowed the reader to explore a bit more about the relationship between Ina and her tiny god (and some background) that begins to explain what is going on there. Ina’s interaction with the lesser gods of Lesscia provided most of the world building here. Unfortunately, Kissen was nearly MIA here, with her own journey that was mildly entertaining as she interacts with some of the old god heavy hitters to provide the reader with some important datapoint needed to carry the plot … such as the redemption Arc of the King after such a brutal betrayal in the previous encounter (and frankly a not very convincing plotline). Elo is still Elo … crashing around like a bull in a china shop leading up to another rather confusing and not quite as satisfying ending (maybe he will get more play in the next installment … and perhaps some redemption for himself as well).

While there was not as much world building in this book, it did extend it with Kissen’s adventures (although this was still pretty shallow IMO) and the storyline centered around Lesscia with Ina, Elo and the dissidents (including Kissen’s family) that did the heavy lifting. However, it was a really slow start and it seemed more like pieces were moving primarily to setup the next book and not toward any satisfactory plot conflict resolution … perhaps this was a factor of the middle book syndrome … or perhaps it was because I so enjoyed the first book, but this was seed to be just a little less … still great, but not quite as awesome as I expected.

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

#Sunbringer #FallenGods #NetGalley

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Review: Praying the Psalms in the Voice of Christ: A Christological Reading of the Psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours

Praying the Psalms in the Voice of Christ: A Christological Reading of the Psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours by Frank J. Matera
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is designed to be a companion to the Divine Office; also known as the Liturgy of the Hours because of how it is divided across the hours of the day (with five current times for Morning, Day, Evening, Night and “Office of Readings). Each “hour” presents a collection of psalms, communal antiphons/responses, readings, canticles/hymns, intercessions and other prayers as the continuous prayer of the Holy [Catholic] Church. The focus of this work is on the Psalms found within each "hour.” The author’s premise is that instead of interpreting these psalms through the context of history, there is a much deeper spiritual meaning that can be discovered when take a more christological approach to understanding.

“The Liturgy of the Hours [LOH] provides several aids for reading the psalms: (1) a general title for each psalm, (2) a brief text from Scripture or an early church writer for each psalm, (3) an antiphon for each psalm, and (4) a psalm prayer after many of psalms.” (Intro). Further, the psalms are divided across a cycle of four (4) during ordinary time, so each chapter deals with one of those weeks (with Night Prayer given its own chapter as it doesn’t follow the four week cycle). This organization makes it ideal to use as preparation for praying the Divine Office (as opposed to reading it straight through). Chapter One also includes the Invitatory that begins each day of prayer. For each day there is a synopsis of the psalms for that day before diving into a short discussion on how to see the voice of Christ for each psalm (as they appear) within each “hour.” I found the discussion helpful both for understanding what the psalm was saying (and why) as well as providing an understanding of how Christ is revealed within it. All together, this helps to develop a greater interest and love for this specific devotion and should be a welcome addition beside your copy of the Liturgy of the Hours.

The chapters and sections in this work are:

Introduction: Praying the Psalms in the Voice of Christ
Chapter One: Commentary on Week One
Chapter Two: Commentary on Week Two
Chapter Three: Commentary on Week Three
Chapter Four: Commentary on Week Four
Chapter Five: The Psalms of Night Prayer
Conclusion: Lessons Learned

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

#PrayingThePsalms #Edelweiss

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Review: Science Fiction Classics Collection: Frankenstein, The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Science Fiction Classics Collection: Frankenstein, The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book: ****
Performance: ***

Four SciFi Classics in a Bargain Bundle

The four(4) stories are classics and most readers are probably already familiar with them. When compared to contemporary fiction at the time they were written, they are at the top of the genre; when compared to modern sci-fi they may show their age a bit (most of them use sparse dialog in favor of a 1st person PoV narrator … which makes it fairly easy to turn them into audiobooks, but also means they come across fairly dry like a diary or news report). Still, there are elements in each that helped to define the genre to this day and are well worth the read. The narration was decent, but with the limited dialog, there was little need to display any range for multiple character voices … so I can’t really justify rating it above average, but I thought it fit each story style fairly well.

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

#ScienceFictionClassicsCollection #FreeAudiobookCodes

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Review: Ghost Station

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was a SciFi thriller along the lines of Event Horizon or perhaps Alien … in that it was a very slow build up and more creepy and psychological than scary (so not really a good fit into the horror genre even with some of those elements). The premise has been done before … abandoned planetary station with some mystery about why it was abandoned and a small survey crew that has its own ghosts to deal with. In this case, the known boogieman is a psychological syndrome known as ERS that drives some spacers to violence/suicide (trigger warning here). The crew consists of an outsider psych doc who is responsible for helping the rest of the crew avoid any problems with ERS after losing a member on a prior mission. The “Doc” has her own issues to deal with and quite frankly it took me some time to not dislike the character because of this … and her introduction appears to be the source of crew friction that primarily serve to provide cover to everybody being jerks the whole time. As we discover more about each of the crew, this becomes more understandable, but doesn’t make the book any more enjoyable (but is the reason I will cut the characters some slack despite not really connecting to any of them). While the bulk of the story rests upon the interactions of the crew, there is a backdrop of Homefront politics (competing corporations in an apparent space race) and a mysterious alien race that has suddenly disappeared long ago … both of which drive some of the mystery and thriller tension (why did one of the corps abandon the planet and what happened to the alien civilization on this ice ball of a planet). So … while not particularly unique in any way, it was a short, easy read suitable for some quick entertainment.

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

#GhostStation #NetGalley

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