May 22 2025

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Novella Review: Livesuit by James S.A. Corey

Title: Livesuit

Author: James S.A. Corey

Series: Captive’s War #1.5

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The Overview: Humanity’s war is eternal, spread across the galaxy and the ages. Humanity’s best hope to end the endless slaughter is the Livesuit forces. Soldiers meld their bodies to the bleeding edge technology, becoming something more than human for the duration of a war that might never end. –Goodreads

The Review:

I liked this novella. Not because it hit all the same deeply humanistic notes that I’ve come to expect from a JSAC production, which it did, but because of how richly it expanded the Captive’s War universe.

Now I know more of what’s out there. And whether or not these livesuit players will have any roll in upcoming books, or if our time with them was more to provide hope that all is not lost… it was a tangent well worth reading. I got confused during the non-linear timeline switches a few times, but overall got the gist enough that it didn’t seem to affect my enjoyment.

I’m a big fan of the Expanse. Love the first Captive’s War book. And liked this one a full star more than I thought I would. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Tracey, Dagmara, and Poochtee! <3

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by Niki Hawkes

May 19 2025

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Book Review: Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn

Title: Star Wars: Heir to the Empire

Author: Timothy Zahn

Series: Thrawn Trilogy #1

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: It is a time of renewal, five years after the destruction of the Death Star and the defeat of Darth Vader and the Empire. But with the war seemingly won, strains are beginning to show in the Rebel Alliance. New challenges to galactic peace have arisen. And Luke Skywalker hears a voice from his past. A voice with a warning. Beware the dark side…. The Rebel Alliance has destroyed the Death Star, defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor, and driven the remnants of the old Imperial Starfleet back into barely a quarter of the territory that they once controlled. Leia and Han are married, are expecting Jedi twins, and have shouldered heavy burdens in the government of the new Republic. And Luke Skywalker is the first in a hoped-for new line of Jedi Knights. But thousands of light years away, where a few skirmishes are still taking place, the last of the Emperor’s warlords has taken command of the remains of the Imperial fleet. He has made two vital discoveries that could destroy the fragile new Republic—built with such cost to the Rebel Alliance. The tale that emerges is a towering epic of action, invention, mystery, and spectacle on a galactic scale—in short, a story that is worthy of the name Star Wars. –Goodreads

The Review:

Well, color me a Star Wars nut -> I loved this!

I don’t know why only just now I’m suddenly all fired up about diving into the SW Universe. Maybe it was coming away from The Rise of Skywalker (Episode 9…) feeling disappointed in the cheap trick writing and lack of any meaningful conclusions. Maybe it was also catching Mike’s Book Reviews’ really good video about where to start in the SWU, which might have removed the intimidation factor I felt of trying to pick a place to jump in. Whatever the case, I’m happy it led me here now.

Here’s the thing about the Thrawn Trilogy – it’s a direct continuation after Return of the Jedi. And it was written in 1991!! You mean to tell me that I could’ve been discovering what happens next THIS WHOLE TIME?! Good hell, I don’t even think I saw the original films until after these were written.

And with such amazing cannon stories right at our fingertips it begs the question: why didn’t someone just adapt THIS instead of messing around with everything else on the market? These are great! A most excellent new villian (no, Palpatine did not somehow return), all the characters we know and love, plenty of space battles and action, and a fun new set of conflicts that play out like a cinematic production in your head.

If you hadn’t heard, Disney arbitrarily decided everything that had once been cannon is no longer. I’m of the opinion that THIS is the bonafide Lucas-approved cannon, and nothing Disney delcares will convince me otherwise. It almost seeems as if they were just too lazy to do any research on what had been written and that scrapping it all was someone’s brilliant quick fix. After all, who needs years of carefully thought-out lore when all you plan to do is make shitty movies anyway?

Apparently I’ve internalized some hostility I didn’t know I was harboring.

Anyway, I experienced this on audio and it’s the way to go. It includes the recognizable cinematic music during the intro and various action scenes throughout. It offers sound effects and other ambiance noises (would someone please find out what is making that goddmaned beeping noise?), and the voice actor does awesome impression of the main characters (AND Chewy, C3PO, and R2D2, who sound like themselves – woot!). It’s a true experience, and I wasn’t kidding when I said it was like watching a movie.

Overall, I’m so excited to be dipping my toes into these stories, and can’t wait to read more of this genuine continuation. :)

Recommendations: if you’re a Star Wars fan or have been looking for a reason to become one, give this a try! It’s wonderfully nostalgic, tons of fun, and so, so satisfying in it’s role as the TRUE continuation to Luke, Leia, and Han’s stories.

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Tracey, Dagmara, and Poochtee! <3

by Niki Hawkes

Aug 7 2024

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Book Review: Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey

Title: Mercy of Gods

Author: James S.A. Corey

Series: Captive’s War #1

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: How humanity came to the planet called Anjiin is lost in the fog of history, but that history is about to end. The Carryx—part empire, part hive—have waged wars of conquest for centuries, destroying or enslaving species across the galaxy. Now, they are facing a great and deathless enemy. The key to their survival may rest with the humans of Anjiin. Caught up in academic intrigue and affairs of the heart, Dafyd Alkhor is pleased just to be an assistant to a brilliant scientist and his celebrated research team. Then the Carryx ships descend, decimating the human population and taking the best and brightest of Anjiin society away to serve on the Carryx homeworld, and Dafyd is swept along with them. They are dropped in the middle of a struggle they barely understand, set in a competition against the other captive species with extinction as the price of failure. Only Dafyd and a handful of his companions see past the Darwinian contest to the deeper game that they must play to survive: learning to understand—and manipulate—the Carryx themselves. With a noble but suicidal human rebellion on one hand and strange and murderous enemies on the other, the team pays a terrible price to become the trusted servants of their new rulers. Dafyd Alkhor is a simple man swept up in events that are beyond his control and more vast than his imagination. He will become the champion of humanity and its betrayer, the most hated man in history and the guardian of his people. This is where his story begins. -Goodreads

The Review:

I love that we’re getting more scifi from these amazing authors! And to boot it’s something tied to the Expanse universe, albeit far removed from almost everything that’s familiar about that series. But so far, the Captive’s War is shaping up to be a completely different, but equally satisfying, experience!

But one thing that hasn’t changed is their mastery of character work. To take you into the granular details of what it means to be human coping with an unsympathetic existence. That brilliance is why I always feel so connected to the people in these stories and feel their stuff on a visceral level. I love Abraham’s fantasy works for much the same reason. There’s this way of slowing down events for the sake of connection that’s almost unparalleled (in but maybe a Hobb book) that always leaves an everlasting impression on my being. I’m a huge fan, and Mercy of the Gods is only the latest punctuation to that sentiment.

The Expanse was amazing. I’ve thought on occasion how for a scifi it was really only missing one point of interest… something that if included would’ve felt like it was trying to do too much. Mercy of Gods is where all that extra stuff came to play. It’s where the authors could throw off constraints and just have fun. And play they did! This was a wildly creative experience and I loved the overall concept of the story. It was slow and gripping and fast and action-packed and always exciting. Every bit as good as the best of Expanse!

Speaking, yes (I suppose) you could read this by itself without having read Expanse. It’s a 100% self-contained narrative at this point. However, if you ever plan to read Expanse and don’t want any of the progressions of things in that story ruined, trust me – start there. The tiebacks here were subtle but somehow also profound, and I’m most excited to figure out more ways in which this story ties back to the Expanse in future books… I have a feeling it’s going to be great.

I always say one of the reasons I love scifi is for the creature creation and new world explorations. I love the creativity involved and even more so when authors can tap into the biological workings of the aliens. Mercy of Gods was definitely one of the more satisfying books I’ve read in that regard, and I mean it when I say I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us in the next book. Is it out yet?!

Recommendations: James S.A. Corey fans, dive in without hesitation – this was awesome!! Daniel Abraham fans, dive in without hesitation – the character work is superb! New to the authors fans, consider whether or not you’ll ever want to read Expanse before diving in. It wont affect your enjoyment of this story much, but implications read in Mercy of Gods will wreck a good portion of the story arcs in the Expanse in one very specific regard…

I’d like to thank James S.A. Corey, Orbit Books, and Netgalley for the chance to read and review an early copy of Mercy of Gods – y’all made my year!

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, and Bee! <3

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by Niki Hawkes

Jun 24 2024

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Book Review: Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Title: Service Model

Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Series: N/A

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 3/5 stars

The Overview: To fix the world they first must break it further. Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into their core programming, they murder their owner. The robot then discovers they can also do something else they never did before: run away. After fleeing the household, they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating, and a robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is finding a new purpose. -Goodreads

The Review:

If this is your first Tchiakovsky, there are better places to start… but it was still a fun read!

Far from my favorite of his works, but like everything he produces, it was still quality. The best thing about the book was the deep immersion into the main POV, Un-Charles: a protocol-abiding service model who just wants to serve his function… it was a delightful adherence to character, down to the incredibly inefficient back and forths between robots when humans fail to give specific-enough (or too specific) instructions to these very literal minds. I’ll admit at first the drag of all of this processing and protocol-following was tedious. What had I gotten myself into? But by about the 30% mark some personality started to show through, and by halfway I was sold.

The slow growth was undoubtedly by design, which is why it gets a pass. Showing the ins and outs of where the MC started his journey made all growth and discovery a lot more profound. It helped that the humor also became more prevalent the further along, and this story boasted the single funniest thing I’ve read from Tchiakovsky to date. If for nothing else, it was worth the read for that alone! But it’s also great that the concept was interesting and the writing compelling.

Speaking of concept, I haven’t read a lot of robot stories, but even so I don’t think anything in here was truly revolutionary (pun). But they were done well. I’m finding these more post-global-trauma stories to be interesting enough in concept to make up for any other lack.

I got early access to an audio of this via Netgalley, and wouldn’t you know it – it’s narrated by Tchaikovsky himself! I often cringe when an audiobook is self-narrated, but he gave a seamless performance. His voice reminded me of the Winnie the Pooh narrator with that kindly, very proper British accent. It’s warm and easy to listen to. And perhaps the nostalgia it brough back BECAUSE of that WtP similarity actually enhanced the experience for me because it made Un-Charles come off with an innocent, almost childlike quality. One that made his journey of discovery more earnest. I’m not sure it will have the same effect on the masses, but I thought it was great.

Recommendations: if you’re new to Tchaikovsky’s works, starting here probably wont give you the best of what he has to offer. If you’re a mega-fan like me, this’ll probably sit somewhere in the middle. Robot fun, good humor – a quick read!

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, and Bee! <3

I’d like to thank Macmillan Audio, Netgalley, and Adrian Tchaikovsky for the chance to listen to an early audiobook copy of Service Model!

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by Niki Hawkes

Nov 16 2023

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Book Review: System Collapse by Martha Wells

Title: System Collapse

Author: Martha Wells

Series: Murderbot Diaries #7

Genre: Cheeky Science Fiction

Rating: 3/5 stars

The Overview: Am I making it worse? I think I’m making it worse. Everyone’s favorite lethal SecUnit is back. Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize. But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast! Yeah, this plan is… not going to work. -Goodreads

The Review:

I always love returning to Murderbot’s POV.

After Fugitive Telemetry was released (which bounced back to an earlier timeline in the series), I was worried we weren’t going to get any more storyline beyond Network Effect (the full-length novel). But there IS more! It’s right here!

… and it was just okay.

Truthfully I thought System Collapse dealt TOO much with the after-effects of the events in Network Effect and didn’t have as many compelling plot-advancing events as in previous books. It mostly read like a transition story… which I guess is the typical use for novellas in large series, but I’ve come to expect more impact from Wells’ shorts. This one didn’t quite stack up.

It still had the same great inner monologues and sarcasm from Murderbot. And I especially loved the passages of It trying to process Its FEELINGS from the events in NE. Introverts around the world can unite behind Murderbot as a character. Wells understands social awkwardness on a deep level and it has been a joy to see that celebrated in this series. The crew around Murderbot were also great, although I still struggle to keep all the humans straight, even after recently rereading All Systems Red where I was actively TRYING to distinguish between them. Regardless, it’s the machines and computers who are the most vibrant, anyway, and those entities were in full swing in this installment (sometimes literally).

Overall, I’m tickled to be back progressing Murderbot’s story, even though this one felt more tangential. The setup is now presumably all in place though, so I’m expecting a banger of a next novel.

Recommendations: if Murderbot has been missing from your life up to this point, your FOMO should be hard. It’s sarcastic, action-packed, reflectional, and too much fun to handle. Read it.

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, and Mike! <3

Thank you, TOR Publishers and Martha Wells for the chance to read and review an early copy of System Collapse!

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by Niki Hawkes

Mar 16 2023

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Novella Review: Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Title: Elder Race

Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Series: N/A

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

The Overview: Lynesse is the lowly Fourth Daughter of the queen, and always getting in the way. But a demon is terrorizing the land, and now she’s an adult (albeit barely) and although she still gets in the way, she understands that the only way to save her people is to invoke the pact between her family and the Elder sorcerer who has inhabited the local tower for as long as her people have lived here (though none in living memory has approached it). But Elder Nyr isn’t a sorcerer, and he is forbidden to help, for his knowledge of science tells him the threat cannot possibly be a demon… -Goodreads

The Review:

While a decent novella, this wasn’t my favorite work from Tchaikovsky by a long shot.

The main appeal was discovering what’s inside the structure on the cover and how it’s significant to the people of this world. That aspect was satisfying and actually a lot more reminiscent of his other works than I was expecting.

The best part of the story were the characters. The author played around with cultural communication barriers that added variety depending on which POV we were in. I liked that it wasn’t a blanket “technology will solve all of our problems” situation and certain discrepancies in language still existed. There were also a couple of… alternately composed humans (aquatic) that I wish had gotten more of a highlight. That’s the thing about Tchaikovsky’s works: he’s so creative that he just casually throws in ideas that could warrant entire books within themselves. He did the same thing in Children of Time. It’s so much fun to read, but occasionally you find yourself craving some elaboration on the minor stuff.

There was a technology that allowed the user to compartmentalize emotional reactions, where they could still tell they were having them, but didn’t have to feel them directly. This came at a cost, though, as you’d have to face the emotions eventually to avoid a mental breakdown. I loved this aspect and thought the way it was written into the story was brilliant. The “voice” of the character actively changed in the text depending on whether or not this technology was being used. And I thought it a clever way to give the character depth.

Even with great elements, what didn’t work for me was the pacing. A novella shouldn’t feel like it’s dragging with such a low page count. But I felt the good character moments and the plot reveals we’re just a little too staggered. All working towards and ending that was good, but not quite worth the lengthily build-up. I probably would’ve rated it a lot higher had it been a bit more concise. I think the culprit was a little too much introspection and reiteration of events. There were two POVs and we got internal accounts of everything from both sides. While seeing two such different viewpoints of the same situations was kind of the point of the book, I don’t think it needed to be time equally spent.

Recommendations: Elder Race is an interesting short story from an author shaping up to be a personal favorite, but if you’re new to his sci-fi works, this isn’t the best place to start (go with Children of Time… emphatically).

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