Killshot, by Felix R. Savage

When the Spirit of Destiny crashed on the moon, Earth’s last hope of escaping alien conquest was lost. Pilot Jack Kildare and the battle-hardened crew of the SoD survived, but they are trapped in Earth’s ramshackle little moon colony, exposed to the constant threat of alien attack. On Earth, the alien behemoth Lightbringer lies in the African jungle, grounded but no less deadly. Its crew spread destruction across a planet racked by conflict. Former astronaut Hannah Ginsburg inherits a dangerous role as go-between for the aliens and humankind. As much as she struggles to rein in the spreading chaos, her complicity in the alien conquest grows, pushing her nearer to the breaking point. Meanwhile, on the moon, Jack is desperate to get back to Earth and rejoin the fight. But the moon colonists side with the aliens, forcing him to lie and steal just to survive. His chance for redemption comes unexpectedly, when shipmate Skyler Taft detects a horrific new threat to our solar system. Humanity and aliens, locked in a bitter war for our planet, will all perish together … unless Jack can achieve the impossible, and work together with his worst enemy to save Earth.

Killshot is an excellent conclusion to the “Earth’s Last Gambit” series. With any story by Felix R. Savage, I didn’t know what to expect – only that it would be good. I’m glad that the over-sexualized encounters between Hannah and her alien master were toned down in this book.

A few highlights in Killshot: The theme of alien invaders affecting global religion was present through out the series, but Killshot really drove it home. I don’t know if the author intended it, but it reminded me of the extremist religions through out the world. The theme of subservience and slavery was also front and center in Killshot. With slavery and human trafficking so prevalent today, it’s nice to see it tackled in a modern novel.

All in all, Killshot ramps up the tension between the various survivors of the first three books, and introduce a new threat. The book returns to the pace and action from books 1 & 2. The ending is satisfying, and leaves the possibility of another quartet or trilogy in the future. I would eagerly read another series in this universe.

Killshot is a five-star read. Be sure to read the entire series.

You might say Felix R. Savage has a long history associated with rebellion. He was born in the 1970s, a decade of American youth rebelling against the safe culture of their parents. He is married to a wonderful woman and they have a beautiful daughter. Together the three of them live in Tokyo serving their cat overlord and benevolent protector. Felix writes Science Fiction and Fantasy while not translating, delighting in his family, or catering to the whims of the family’s cat. He never stops watching out for any sign the lizard people have found him.

Amazon
Goodreads
http://felixrsavage.com/
Twitter

Sovereign, by April Daniels

Only nine months after her debut as the fourth superhero to fight under the name Dreadnought, Danny Tozer is already a scarred veteran. Protecting a city the size of New Port is a team-sized job and she’s doing it alone. Between her newfound celebrity and her demanding cape duties, Dreadnought is stretched thin, and it’s only going to get worse. When she crosses a newly discovered supervillain, Dreadnought comes under attack from all quarters. From her troubled family life to her disintegrating friendship with Calamity, there’s no trick too dirty and no lever too cruel for this villain to use against her. She might be hard to kill, but there’s more than one way to destroy a hero. Before the war is over, Dreadnought will be forced to confront parts of herself she never wanted to acknowledge. And behind it all, an old enemy waits in the wings to unleash a plot that will scar the world forever.

It’s hard to talk about a great book like Sovereign, by April Daniels without spoiling it. The cover art is compelling, just like Dreadnought. We see the continuing adventures of Danny Tozer. The way that society reacts to her and her power continues from book one. While I feel that Sovereign is not quite as powerful as Dreadnought, they are superhero books above all others as far as I’m concerned. From a literary standpoint, Sovereign cranks up the tension and the stakes, not just with Danny Tozer, but also with the world as a whole. Danny has more to lose and more to cherish in book two, and I cannot wait for book three. Like its predecessor, Sovereign, by April Daniels is a five-star superhero read.

April Daniels graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in literature, and then promptly lost her job during the 2008 stock crash and recession. After she recovered from homelessness, she completed her first manuscript by scribbling a few sentences at a time between calls while working in the customer support department for a well-known video game console. She has a number of hobbies, most of which are boring and predictable. As nostalgia for the 1990s comes into its full bloom, she has become ever more convinced that she was born two or three years too late and missed all the good stuff the first time around. Early in her writing practice, April set her narrative defaults to “lots of lesbians” and never looked back.

Amazon
Goodreads
http://www.aprildaniels.com
Twitter

Escape Velocity, by Jason M. Hough

Out of the frying pan and into the fire, Captains Skyler Luiken and Gloria Tsandi (and their respective crews) have smashed through the deadly Swarm Blockade, but now find themselves scattered around the planet Carthage and the space stations that she holds in her orbit. Their mission is now twofold: destroy the military compounds of the nefarious alien overlords and find a way back home to Earth.
Standing in their way are a race of horrifying aliens aided by incredible weapons and technology. Low on supplies and with intermittent communication, the surviving humans must rely on all of their cunning, strength, and plain old good luck to turn the tables and overcome their foes. 

The only expectation I had for Escape Velocity was that it was the conclusion to the Dire Earth Duology, and that it had a badass captain on the cover. If you read my review on Tuesday, you already know that I seriously liked Zero World, so I had high expectations for the Dire Earth Duology.

I think that book two is the better of the two books. The floundering that I had felt in book one was gone, replaced by familiarity. Some of the clunky surreal sequences I was left scratching my head in the first book reached fruition in book two.

The dangling plot from Injection Burn is wrapped up in Escape Velocity, and if Jason Hough decided to write more in the same universe, I’d be an eager reader. I’m probably going to read the Dire Earth Cycle, and I look forward to meeting Jason at the 2017 Phoenix Comicon this weekend. I’m giving Escape Velocity four and a half stars over Injection Burn’s four.

Jason M. Hough (pronounced ‘Huff’) is the New York Times bestselling author of The Dire Earth Cycle and the near-future spy thriller Zero World. In a former life he was a 3D artist, animator, and game designer (Metal Fatigue, Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction, and many others). He has also worked in the fields of high-performance cluster computing and machine learning.

Amazon
Goodreads
http://www.jasonhough.com/
Twitter

Injection Burn, by Jason M. Hough

Skyler Luiken and his ragtag crew of scavengers, scientists, and brawlers have a new mission: a long journey to a distant planet where a race of benevolent aliens are held captive behind a cloud of destructive ships known as the Swarm Blockade. No human ships have ever made it past this impenetrable wall, and Skyler knows not what to anticipate when they reach their destination. Safe to say that the last thing he expects to find there is a second human ship led by the tough-as-nails Captain Gloria Tsandi. These two crews and their respective captains initially clash, but they will have to learn to work together when their mutual foe closes in around them and begins the outright destruction of their vessels along with any hope of a return to Earth.”

I had no expectation when I saw Injection Burn on Netgalley, other than I knew I’d liked Zero World. I wasn’t aware that the Dire Earth duology was a companion series to the Dire Earth Cycle, but at no time reading Injection Burn did I feel like I was missing something.

The para-military vibe from the characters makes this a standard space opera. I kept waiting for the two distinct stories to merge, and I was not disappointed in the payout. There is a surreal plot in book one that I felt out of my element reading, but it pays off in book two.

I’ll give Injection burn four stars.

Jason M. Hough (pronounced ‘Huff’) is the New York Times bestselling author of The Dire Earth Cycle and the near-future spy thriller Zero World. In a former life he was a 3D artist, animator, and game designer (Metal Fatigue, Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction, and many others). He has also worked in the fields of high-performance cluster computing and machine learning.

Amazon
Goodreads
http://www.jasonhough.com/
Twitter

The Rebellion’s Last Traitor, by Nik Korpon

In a dystopian world ravaged by war and environmental collapse, one man fights history to discover the truth about his wife and child. After decades of war, the brutal Tathadann Party restored order toshattered Eitan City by outlawing the past and rewriting history. Memory is a commodity – bought and sold, and experienced like a drug. Henraek works as a Tathadann memory thief, draining citizens’ memories. Everything changes when Henraek harvests a memory of his own wife’s death, in the hidden rebellion that once tore apart their city. Now he will do whatever it takes to learn the truth – even ifit means burning Eitan City to the ground.

I saw Nik Korpon’s The Rebellion’s Last Traitor on Netgalley, and since I groove scifi, and Angry Robot in general, I decided to give it a whirl.

The Good: Intricate world building. The backstory of the word envisioned by the author displayed a lot of thought and a love of the fictional world created. The gritty dark noir feel of the city and its inhabitants really drove home the totalitarian oppression committed against the citizens.

The Bad: The rebellion that ended so long ago that put so many characters on the varying sides was to more interesting that the main storyline. But these little snippets were almost an afterthought. In fiction like Firefly, the loss of the rebels was so important that it was integrated into each episode. Also, the alternating narrative is nice, but the style of both characters and their POVs were pretty much the same. More than once I had to flip back to the first page of the chapter to verify what POV I was in.

The Disappointing: The story was super confusing. There was a complex socio-political thing going on, but there just wasn’t enough information to really click. I had no investment in the characters. The Rebellion’s Last Traitor has so much potential, but the execution was left muddy and confusing.

The Final Word: I’m probably the wrong person to ask if I’d recommend this story. I like all sci-fi, even bad sci-fi. Reading this book felt like I had accidentally picked up the second book in a series, and I spent most of the read lost. I’m going to give this on three stars.

Amazon
Goodreads
Twitter

The Factory, by Greg Dragon

In Brian Jackson’s eyes, he was being cheated out of a proper life. His boss paid him a salary comparable to the people that he managed, while he lived in a crappy apartment, and his only connection with women was limited to his weekly visits to his favorite strip club. Brian had done everything right by society, but the rewards were just not enough. This was until he met Jada, a beautiful stripper who grew attached to him. When Brian took their relationship outside of the club, he didn’t realize that it would be his first step into a life of murder, infidelity, and organized crime.

“In Brian Jackson’s eyes, he was being cheated out of a proper life.”

I’ve been a fan of Greg Dragon for a while now. I’ve devoured all his science fiction offerings, and it was time to read his crime series. With the sequel, Gun Moll coming out soon, I wanted to have sufficient time to allow The Factory to process before reading the sequel. I knew I’d like The Factory, because I’ve yet to find anything by Greg Dragon that I haven’t liked.

The Factory is a gritty, no-holds-barred look into the life and times of Brian Jackson – a man who has seen the world pass him by. Like Walter White in Breaking Bad, Brian Jackson starts out with what I’ll call “good intentions.” But what starts as a small-time hustle ends up being something more as Brian Jackson walks the path of murder, infidelity, and organized crime. Like Walter White, you can’t help but root for Brian Jackson, even as his actions get darker and darker. By the end, you question why you even like the character, but know that you’ll follow him anywhere.

Greg Dragon writes characters that are raw, violent, and human. The hyper-masculine Brian Jackson is a wish fulfillment of many young men in today’s society of political correctness, even if they’re reticent to admit it. The Factory doesn’t shy away from the “real” world either, and liberally uses swearing, racial slurs, sex, and realistic depictions of crime, including murder.

Five out of five stars for a story that speaks to the id and the ego. It’s a brief glimpse into the mind and actions of mad man who’s tired of the world dancing to someone else’s tune, and decides to tickle the ivories with a score that only he can settle.

Greg Dragon has been a creative writer for several years, and has authored on topics of relationship, finance, physical fitness and more through different sources of media. In particular, his online magazine has been a source of much pragmatic information, which has been helpful to many. As a result, his work continues to grow with a large and loyal fan base.

Amazon
Goodreads
http://gregdragon.com/
Twitter

Unknown Horizons, by CJ Birch

The moment Lieutenant Alison Ash steps aboard the Persephone, she knows her life will never be the same. She will never again watch the sun rise over the asteroid belt, never again see Earth from a handheld telescope, and never again see her family. In less than three weeks, the ship will dock at the Posterus and begin the most important journey humankind has ever undertaken. More important than discovering fire, creating language, or even abandoning Earth to live confined in biospheres among the asteroid belt over 100 years ago. What Ash doesn’t expect is that by keeping her recent memory loss a secret she is jeopardizing not only the Persephone’s mission but humankind’s launch of the first ever generational ship. Nor does she anticipate her attraction to Captain Jordan Kellow, but both will change her life forever.

When I saw Unknown Horizons on NetGalley, I figured I’d give it a go. When you start a book with the ending, it has to be epic to pull it off. Unknown Horizons didn’t manage to pull that off. It’s still a fun read, but the ending left me scratching my head. The protagonist wasn’t likeable at all, but I think that was done by the author intentionally. Upon further reflection, many of the characters were unlikable. But, it somehow seemed to work as a story. There’s plenty of conflict to move the story along, and the science fiction tropes are fun. Unknown Horizons is a fast read, and I’d like to check out the sequel. I saw that it’s on Wattpad, but I’m an e-reader kind of guy, so I’ll wait until it’s available in that format.

I waffled between 3.5 stars and 4 stars for Unknown Horizons. The narrative is definitely different, almost fractured. In the end, I’m rating it 3.5 stars. Perhaps after reading the second story, I’ll revise my star rating up. CJ Birch is a talented debut sci-fi author, and I’ll be checking out more of her stuff as it becomes available.

CJ Birch has a number of degrees, certificates, and diplomas from various establishments (some more reputable than others), all of which have nothing to do with what she does for a living. After spending a few years ruling out jobs, she finally settled into video editing for a company in Toronto, which is essentially an excuse to get paid for watching movies all day. Of all the jobs CJ Birch has had, the 45 minutes she spent bartending is probably the most memorable (for reasons that don’t include nominations for employee of the month). A lover of words, coffee (the really strong kind that seeps from your pores announcing, by smell alone, your obsession) and sarcasm. She doesn’t have any pets, but she does have a rather vicious Ficus that has a habit of shedding all over the hardwood, usually right before company comes.

Amazon
Goodreads
http://www.cjbirchwrites.com/
Twitter