Tag Archives: science fiction books

Jan 16 2015
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Book Review: Reap the Wild Wind by Julie E. Czerneda

Reap the wild windTitle: Reap the Wild Wind

Author: Julie E. Czerneda

Series: Stratification #1

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 5/5 stars!

The Overview: In the first book of the Stratification series, set in an earlier time in Czerneda’s Trade Pact Universe, the Clan has not yet learned how to manipulate the M’hir to travel between worlds. Instead, they are a people divided into small tribes, scattered over a fraction of their world, and prevented from advancing by two other powerful races who control both technology and terrain.

Aliens begin exploring the Clan’s home planet, upsetting the delicate balance between the three intelligent races. It is a time, too, when one young woman is on the verge of mastering the forbidden power of the M’hir-a power that could prove to be the salvation or ruin of her entire species…

The Review:

This is easily one of the most unique books I’ve ever read, which is no surprise considering it’s by Julie E. Czerneda. The Stratification series was the only main sci-fi trilogy from her that I hadn’t read yet – I’d been kind of saving them for a rainy day because I knew they were going to be top-notch. And you know what? Reap the Wild Wind gave me everything I hoped for and more!

The setting for this one kind of reminded me of the wonders of Pandora in Avatar. Czerneda created a complete ecosystem with all sorts of interesting flora and fauna. The jungle was so vibrant that it almost became a character within itself. The amazing thing is that the jungle is just one aspect of the epic world building within this book. Her descriptions of the world were beautiful, but it was more how the main character interacted with it that really brought it to life. It takes unique skill-sets and strong characters to survive in such unforgiving climates, and I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed reading about the Om’ray quite as much had the setting not been such a big influence on their lifestyles.

The aliens introduced in Czerneda’s books are easily the most memorable things about them. To be honest, I find most of them absolutely delightful, and marvel at how believable and realistic each species is… and there are so many of them! It’s their differences, specifically how un-human they are, that makes them fascinating, hilarious, and sometimes even downright terrifying. Furthermore, the oddities of each species are incredibly well thought out, expanding to include biological influences and cultural histories and norms. It’s so well-conceived it blows my mind! What’s even better is that this is the second series I’ve read from Czerneda where the main protagonist isn’t even human. That’s a tricky thing to do well, but I found her no less relatable, and perhaps even a bit more. The cool part is that it gives readers a unique opportunity to examine our own species through the eyes of others, and really appreciate all wonderful things humanity has to offer. Czerneda manages to do all of that without sugar-coating the depth of depravity to which our species can also sink. It’s all a bit profound, if you ask me…

It just speaks to how good of a writer Czerneda is. All of the wonderful examples of craft aside, my favorite thing about her is her ability to find the humor in any situation. With every one of her books, I find myself laughing constantly even though her complex storylines and emotional conflicts are as far from comedies as you could possibly get. All of her books contain some sort of struggle for survival, and the lengths to which the characters go to to save themselves or their species are what makes these stories feel so epic… but they’re still always funny as shit. Part of it is her amazing way with words, but the other part is her ability to create and capitalize on some very bizarre situations. I love it.

There’s a reason Czerneda is my favorite science fiction author, and I have yet to find anything about her books I don’t love. For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out whether The Beholder’s Eye or Survival was my favorite book from her, but now Reap the Wild Wind is definitely in strong contention!

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Jan 6 2015
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Bout of Books Read-a-thon! (2)

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I participated in my very first Read-a-thon back in August and had so much fun I decided to do it again. I kind of doubt I’ll have a lot of time to read this week, but I sure will give it my best. Even though I’ll be busier, I am confident that I will beat last read-a-thon’s number of books completed (a whole whopping 1), and number of pages read (856) and that’s good enough for me.

Here’s a little more about the event:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 5th and runs through Sunday, January 11th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Niki’s Goals:

– Finish at least 3 books

– Read at least 1000 pages

Here’s a look at the books on my immediate radar:
(subject to change if I see something shiny)

The Czerneda books I’m rereading to prepare for her beta reader contest coming up on the fifteenth of January, and it is been an absolute delight so far (she is my favorite science fiction author). I seriously doubt I’ll make it through all the books listed, but at least I have a lot of great ones to choose from. I’ve also included a couple YA books because, let’s face it, they’re fast reads. 

 Daily Updates:

 Monday:

Pages: 68 / Books Finished: 0

 Tuesday:

Pages: 154  / Books Finished: 0

 Wednesday:

Pages: 154  / Books Finished: 0

 Thursday:

Pages: 124 / Books Finished: 0

I’m starting to see a pattern here…

Friday:

Pages: 102 / Books Finished: 1

Saturday:

Pages: 72  / Books Finished: 0

 I am ridiculously close to not meeting my pathetic goals.

 Sunday:

Pages: 80  / Books Finished: 0

Total:

Pages: 754  Books Finished: 1

Well, that was ALMOST as good as last time (not). I really do think my biggest problem is that I’m trying to read too many books at once. For what it’s worth, I’m only about 50 pages away from finishing Reap the Wild Wind. Regardless, I really enjoyed this read-athon and look forward to the next one in May!

by Niki Hawkes

Dec 29 2014
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2014 Reading Recap!

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 The end of the year is finally here! And I’m celebrating by putting together the post I’ve been most looking forward to: the annual book review recap!

 I started a book blog for a couple reasons, but one of them was because it is a great way to keep track of all the fantastic books I’ve read (one that didn’t involve a journal and printouts of the covers – the method I was using before I discovered the wonders of blogging).

Sharing my love of books has become a passion all its own, and I have discovered some profound things in my own reading habits that I may not have otherwise. Most notably, I have come to truly appreciates the idea that life is too short to read boring books. This epiphany hit me in early 2013. It was eye-opening because I realized the books I was most looking forward to reading were getting left on the shelf in favor of books I felt like I was obligated to read (does anybody else have that problem?). Anyway, I made the decision to read the books I was most excited for first rather than last and, as this post will illustrate, it has made for one of the best years of reading I have ever had!

So without further ado, here’s a look at The Obsessive Bookseller’s year of book love:

1 Star: didn’t like it at all

1.5 Stars: didn’t like it, but it had some merit

2 Stars: it was okay

2.5 Stars: it was a little better than okay, but I’m not sure if I liked it or not

3 Stars: I liked it

3.5 Stars: I liked it, but not quite as much as a 4 star book

4 Stars: I really liked it!

4.5 Stars: I really, really liked it!

5 Stars: I LOVED it!!!!

I read 89 books this year (9 books more than last year) totaling 38095 pages (6948 pages more than last year). And I enjoyed every minute of it! I’d like to note that next year will probably show fewer books but more pages. I am finally a little worn out on YA novels and have already started to shift my focus towards Fantasy and Science Fiction. Bring it on!

As you can see, 2014 was definitely filled with more good reads than bad ones. I still can’t believe how many five-star books came out of this year – I could fangirl over them for hours.

I’d like to note that most of the books in my 2 star category were ARCs, which is why I also had a goal to stop requesting so many. It took about three months of effort to stop asking for every title I thought I might want to read. Incidentally, that has also helped me enjoy reading this year – less obligations!

What did your year of reading look like?

by Niki Hawkes

Nov 26 2014
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Top Ten Books on My Winter TBR!

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Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

These TBR lists are easily my favorite lists we do throughout the year – mostly because I love the process of picking out which books to read next. Sometime last year I realized I was spending a lot of time on books I wasn’t enjoying and avoiding the ones I knew I would love because I was “saving them” for a rainy day. Since then, I’ve been actively working on my goal to only read the best books first – life is just too dang short to do anything else. With that in mind, I look at these lists as a helpful aid in figuring out which books I’m currently most excited for, and consider it a badge of pride if I pick up at least half of them before the next TBR list.

Top Ten Books on My Winter TBR!

Not a bad list, eh? If you can’t tell, I am in a very strong high fantasy mood, in part because they are awesome, but mostly because I have finally reached my limit on YA novels (at least for now). There are so many good ones on this list I couldn’t even tell you which one I’m going to pick up first. Right now, I’m leaning towards The Merchants Emperor, but that could easily change by this afternoon!

What books are on your list?

By Niki Hawkes

Oct 20 2014
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Top Ten Series I Want to Start!

top ten tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

 Hey, everyone! The Obsessive Bookseller has rejoined the world… Have you missed me? And it looks like I chose the right moment to make comeback because I love talking about the books I am most looking forward to reading.

Top Ten Series I Want to Start!

You may recognize couple of these titles from this month’s Escape Reality Book Club Nominations, and that’s no coincidence –  I nominated them because I am dying to read them! Especially The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong because I’ve since discovered it ties into her urban fantasy “Women of the Otherworld” series (which I am loving). I am also excited to start shifting my reading attentions away from YA and more towards fantasy and science fiction. I’ve found I’ve lost a little patience with angsty teen love stories (as much as I love them) and am craving slightly more robust epic adventures. Not to mention I’ve now read most of the teen books I was excited to get my hands on, with the exception of the five series listed above. Of all the books on the list, I am probably most excited to read Shaman’s Crossing by Robin Hobb. It’s the only series of hers I’ve yet to explore, and with the second Fool’s Assassin more than year away, I’m going to need something to keep me occupied! 

So, those are my top picks… What new series are you eager to discover? 

by Niki Hawkes

Sep 27 2014
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Stacking the Shelves – September 2014 Edition!

Stacking the shelves

Hosted by Tinga’s Reviews

I have to admit, of all of the memes my fellow bloggers participate in, Stacking the Shelves is my favorite. I love seeing the books other readers are bringing home and especially love getting peeks at all of the ARCs floating around out there (I don’t get physical copies often, so it’s nice to live vicariously through those that do). Because I’m doing a self-imposed Read 4, Buy 1 challenge, I only participate in STS once a month – let’s face it, no one needs a play-by-play of the single titles I’m getting every couple of weeks. This month, however, could of been a different story because I broke my rule (*sort of) and I broke it in style!

New Hardcopies:

 Considering I only purchased a couple “new” books this month, I can think of many other authors I’d be THIS excited to add to my collection! And two of them are SIGNED!!!! The Kim Harrison one will have to wait until I’m caught up in the series (I’ve been savoring them), but I am ready and eager to devour this short story collection by Patricia Briggs! And, of course, I’ve already read and loved the Rothfuss. :)

“Used” Hardcopies:

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 *You see, there is an addendum in my R4B1 challenge (which I added, of course) which states that I may break the rules and buy books if 1) I find them at a screaming deal or 2) they are among the half-dozen titles I’ve been searching for to complete certain series within my hardcover collection. Thank goodness for this amazing bookstore in Seattle, because I found almost ALL THE THINGS I have been looking for, and at a bargain to boot!! So, technically I cheated (from a financial standpoint), but technically all of these titles fall into that “addendum” category so I’m letting it slide…

It amazes me how us book-lovers can rationalize away potentially destructive behaviors… Books are definitely my drug of choice.

The Used Bookstore of All Things AWESOME:

And this is where I sold my soul. Seriously, this bookstore went on for miles! The photo on the right is ALL Science Fiction/ Fantasy, and there was even more behind me! I was in heaven. :-)

Library Books:

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Four books really isn’t that many to have checked out at a time, so why have I been so stressed? Oh, yeah! It’s because I went to request-crazy and put another 10+ books on hold (which will be trickling in within the next month). Reading new books before I buy them is a part of my strategy to cut back on book buying (and it’s working), but I still occasionally feel like library books fall into that deadly “obligation” category, regardless of how awesome they are. In any case, I’m stoked to read anything by Ann Aguirre, and Shaheen over at Speculating on SpecFic has me all pumped about The Falcon Throne (read her review and you’ll see why), so I’m still excited about this month’s haul.

ARCs:

 Seriously, what would I do without Netgalley and Edelweiss? While these books may not be at the top of my priority list, I’m definitely excited that I have the opportunity to read them!

 Well, that just about does it for my adventures in book buying this month – I hope you enjoyed going on that mini journey with me. I just have one more question: what books stacked YOUR shelves this month? :-)

by Niki Hawkes