Sean O'Leary's Science Fiction / Fantasy Reading Lists

The story took us across 2500 years of story, starting out with the arrival of the Dolphins at landing. We quickly jumped into the 9th pass. I think it is really interesting how Lessa and Aramina have very similar personalities and suffer from the same handicap. Which is that they do things that are questionable but feel are critical that they do and yet do not allow others the same privilege. Lessa is contently jumping down dragon riders throats about timing it, but she took PERNs only queen back 400 turns without a thought for the danger she was putting the planet in. Aramina up and disappeared to the Sothern continent to escape hearing dragons without telling anyone but won't accept that her son can talk with dolphins nor acknowledge his desire to be around and help them.

Further his father, a lord holder, yells at his son for helping the dolphins after a severe storm instead of helping people. But no one was helping the dolphins and lots of people were helping the people. The people were not keeping their promise to the dolphins. McCaffrey does an excellent job of showing us how narrow minded some people can be. I have always enjoyed how she captures human behaviors in a way that is very relatable.

What a wonderful story to end the 2500 turn journey with PERN. This has been a wonderful journey, an exploration of self and society. One of the themes that McCaffrey brought home again and again is how ignorant people, and greedy people, can damage society. This was true when we visited landing and it was true 2500 turns later. It is part of society to have people whos in ability to understand creates prejudices and harbors hatred, not based on fact but based on emotion.

I was concerned for a long time how their society seemed stuck in the medieval times, but having experience the entire series, I can see how they progressed and learned. It was the introduction of knowledge lost that really propelled the along during the 9th pass. I imagine them continuing to improve their condition and themselves as we leave their story.

This book hit me on two levels. There was the normal level you read a book at which has to do with the story. The second level had to do with the emotional trauma that Harry was going through from the loss of Murphy in the last book.

In addition to being just a spectacular story, I think Jim has allowed Harry to finally become the wizard he always wanted to be.

This was a great set of stories - 9 short stories for the 9th book! There was one that I had read before, but he added to the story a bit and it was fun to read. Each of the stories was told for the perspective of just one of the characters. I though the one by Perun was outrageous and absolutely spot on for his character. We got to hear a lot of the back stories that were alluded to in the main books which is a lot of fun. One of my favorites was when they get called to Tasmania to help the Tasmanian Devils with an illness.

I really enjoyed Oberon's Meaty Mysteries, the first of the three stories. The second was Ok and the third, I just don't get along with the authors writing style. Back to Atticus. They are in Australia working to heal the Tasmanian Devils. Atticus has been moping around by himself for months. This was a murder mystery that kind of pulled him out of the slump he was in. I am glad to see him gaining a bit of perspective. He really needs to have better friends in his life. We get to see the beginning of a romantic relationship between him and the local Constable. Oberon is, as always just the comic relief and a delight. I am a bit sorry to say I only have a few short stories that I missed along the way and the Iron Druid series is at an end. It was a lot of fun.

This book is the final battle, Ragnarök. It was an epic battle and very realistic. I was more interested in the acceptance of guilt and assignment of guilt to Atticus by everyone including himself. I want to contrast this with Jim Butchers series The Dresden Files where Harry does a similar thing but his friends call him out as being a bit arrogant to think that he was the cause for all the bad in the world. It really says a lot for having good friends around you. Both Harry and Attics teach us about human nature, responsibility and forgiveness for not being perfect. Excellent book and looking forward to reading the few remaining short stories left in the Iron Druid Chronicles.

Hearne started us with the exploits of one man and his dog. Then he added Granuaile his apprentice. And finally his archdruid Owen. The story seemed to be diverging. Each of the three main character was developed and it looked like they would go their own ways perhaps having their own books.

This book elaborated on that theme. Yes, they are their own main characters and they will have their own stories to tell, but they also ae shown to work together in this book toward a common purpose, that of survival and ending the war with the vampires. It is clear that they will not just go their own way but will work together but as separate druids and full characters in their own rights.

I really appreciated Hearne doing this because it gives the series more depth and variety. It makes it feel more real and expands our understanding of the world he is sharing with us.

I have absolutely fallen for this series. I was a bit reluctant starting book 1 but having completed the trilogy, I have hungry for more stories from this world. This story was written in such a way to bait the reader into thinking we knew what was going to happen next only to have that idea shattered and our heroes caught in an impossible situation and then have them get out of the problem.

They also went on a classic heroes journey hitting all the points needed from the reluctance to go, to going underground symbolizing their death, to searching for an impossible goal and facing one obstacle after another. It was pure gold. Loved the book and the series and look forward to jumping into other series in this world.

What a ride! This story was a rush of emotion. Imagine being a black woman in 1976 and being physically whisked back into the antebellum south where she meets her ancestors only to find that one of them is a white slave owner. Without explanation, she is repeatedly thrown into the past to save her ancestor, an presumably herself, from the time he almost drowns as a child through his mid-twenties. Dana struggles with the atrocities that she must live through and repeatedly forgives Rufus his discretions against her, but struggles to forgive his discretions against others. It is a fascinating adventure, heart wrenching at times. The story is well written, transporting the reader into the story as if we were there.

Excellent book. I am so glad that Kendi and Renolds worked on this so that we all could have the ability to talk about such an important topic. Race and racism are difficult topics to talk abut in America and are critical that we do talk about them. I have read Stamped by Renolds and very much enjoyed it. And while this book is called Stamped for Kids, it is not a childish book but a very well written and digestible work. It lays out what systemic racism is, how it started and what we need to do to break out of the pattern of a flawed society. Any adult who is unsure about whether racism exists today can read this book and gain a solid understanding of what is going on and why. I highly recommend everyone read this book and shar it with your kids. I listened to this on audio, but purchased a hardcover so I can read it to my grandson when his is older.

This book was an interesting experience. On the one hand it was the story of an ambassador and his political interactions with foreign governments. Of this I was terribly uninterested, but something about the book was like a magnet. I could not dismiss it. I was both fascinated and disinterested at the same time. In the end I think it was the social personal or interpersonal nature of the prose that kept drawing me back into the story. I felt the plot was very loose, because I don't think it was the point of the story. Envoy comes to invite planet of Gethen to join the Ekumen; a loose galactic alliance of planets. We hear of his interactions and failed attempts to accomplish this task.

It is only when he gives up that the story really begins to take shape. He travels from Karhide to Orgoreyn to try there and winds up in an internment camp. The ambassador is Genly Ai, our main character. Estraven is the prime minister who is the supporting character. It is the second half of the story where Estraven breaks Ai out of the camp and spends 80 days with him traveling across the Northen Gobrin Ice sheet in the dead of winter where we really learn about these two characters.

The Gethenians are androgynous, becoming either male or female once a month to mate. They have no say over the gender they become each month and flip back and forth. The line, "The King was pregnant," is often quoted. They find earth gender rolls abhorrent and Ai finds their gender rolls to be confusing but also shows his struggle to understand the gender rolls of his own planet.

For me this was a fascinating exploration of individuals, how they think and how they interact. How understanding and communication are shaped by the society that we are raised in. Some books you read and enjoy and would like to read again, not because you would necessarily learn something new on the next reading but because it is enjoyable. If I were to read this again, I imagine I would see things that I totally glossed over the first time. The writing is poetic and the meanings are subtle.

This was an excellent, albeit sad story. The characters were very realistic, as is the usual case for McCaffery's characters. I was pulled into the story and felt an emotional connections to the people in the book. Our main character is Kinden a novice in the Harper Hall. Throughout the book, Kinden demonstrates that he is an exceptional individual and goes way beyond what anyone else in the books is shown to do. He is always getting the short end of the stick, so so speak. I was a little disappointed at the end of the story where others get more accolades, for doing less, than Kinden. His actions, intelligence and stamina save many lives and do not seem to be adequately rewarded. Which also adds to the authenticity of the characters.

Anne has a deep understanding of the true nature of people. She portrays them in her characters in a very convincing way. Not only does she show the very best of humanity, but she shows the dark side of people as well; their greed, pettiness and insecurities. I really dislike bullies in real life. So much so that I have deep emotional feelings about characters written as bullies. In most of her books she portrays one or more characters as bullies and it makes me wait for them to get what they deserve. That would be too easy too predictable and too petty for Anne. She usually focuses on people overcoming a bully by being their best rather than by attacking the bully head on. There are several in this book and she allows the bullied but become the best they can be in order to usurp those who would use their power to put others down.

Spoilers!

I really liked the way Anne brings her characters to life and in a way that highlights either their good/empathetic nature or the darker side of human nature. One of two main characters is Kindan, a young man who looses his family in a mining accident and find himself alone. He is set upon a journey to become a harper, being tutored by the town harper after his families death. He does what he feels he must to help the people of the town, even when those actions are not what he really wants. The other main character is Nuella. Her father, ashamed that his daughter is blind hides her for fear that he will be rejected by the town if they find out. Nuella shines in this story, overcoming all obstacles before her and becomes the town hero in the end which allows Kindan to return to doing what he would rather do. It was a great story.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The books mantra? - You can't break time, but you can sometimes cheat it. This books was all about time traveling dragons. It was a lot of fun. In the end, she answered most of the questions that have been lingering throughout the last few books about Feona and Lorana. Again and again she talked about overcoming hardship. It had quite a few sad moments but just as many happy one. Great read, highly recommend it.

This is the third book in the Harper series. The first two centered around Menolly while this one is all about Pimar. The story takes place about 3 years after Menolly gets to the Harper Hall. In this story, Piemar, who has been a great friend to Menolly and is a great singer, goes through the change and his voice cracks. He is out of singging for a few months at least and Master Harper Robinton, puts him with the drummers to keep him safe. It turns out that is not such a safe place to be. Prank turn out to be very aggressive and Piemar gets a concussion. When he recovers, the Master Harper has a mission for him and Sebell. They are trying to find out why so many fire lizards are showing up at at one of the holds.

While on this mission, Piemar steals a queen fire lizard egg from the Lord Holder and while trying to escape get transported via dragon to the southern continent. This was a very fun story and I enjoyed it very much.

While this is the first book that people traditionally read, and my introduction to PERN years ago, I have chosen to read it as the 17th book in the series as I am reading them in chronological order. There are themes in these books that keep coming back. For example, the holders don't see the need for dragons or their rider and see them as a leach on the planet. That is until thread falls. The worst case of this is during the 9th pass. There is usually a 200 year gap between passes but sometimes it it longer if the red planet does not come close enough to drop thread. Such is the case here. After 400 years few people believe in the fall of thread and so there are not enough dragons to face the treat. Lessa, a badass dragon rider, an impulsive and impetuous woman does the unthinkable and tries to go back in time 400 years to find a way to save PERN.

It is a delightful story that pulled me in and made me feel a part of the story.

How impossibly annoying it can be when you are trying to get something done, to help yourself and those around you and there are people who want to be obstructionists. That is the situation that F'lar finds himself in. The old timers, as they have become know, don't like the changes they see in a PERN that is 400 years more advanced than they are. They cause problems and bully the holder and don't work toward a common good. It is up to F'lar to fix this problem. In addition he has the same problem with the holders. They don't believe things they are told even when they are shown evidence. If you see grubs eating thread an then claim not to believe they can eat thread, you are being willfully ignorant. Why not just go to the red star and destroy all the thread at the source. Is it possible to go there? Is it possible to destroy all the thread? I thoroughly enjoyed this story and think you will too.

I fell in love with PERN decades ago and read some of them to my son when he was a teenager. Now and adult, he and I both enjoy talking about the wonderful world that McCaffrey created. I was surprised in this one to see that after several hundred years they had not adapted their teaching to match the challenges that they faced but were still teaching history and skills from the old world (earth). As I thought about it, I realized that they had been slowly running out of the technology the original settlers brought with them. Then it made sense that it would take such a long time to make the transition.

The main bulk of the books was getting ready of the next Pass. It was eerie how they had people in their time who denied thread, even though they had lots of evidence. I guess they exist everywhere. Seeing them deal with the politics and the preparations was very exciting.

We are once again at the Harper Hall with Menolly. This book takes place shortly after Dragonsong and in this book we see her first few weeks at the Hall. We must remember she is about 15 years old. Some people are very happy to see her, some are jealous and others are just grumpy. She goes through a great deal of doubt about whether she really belongs at the hall. She performs for various masters and begins lessons. She is told to do what she was once forbidden to do when she was at the sea hold.

While she struggles in this book, she also shines. We see her strength and resolve and her love for music. She stands up for herself in the face of some very powerful people who do not like her and who are willing to lie to hurt her.

This was a very endearing story to read and I hope you will read it and enjoy it as much as I have.

This was such a wonderful story I wish I could give it 6 stars. The time frame is the same as the previous book, but told as a side story. A young girl, Menolly, who is very talented in music lives at a hold called half circle. Her father is in charge of the hold and is a rigid and narrow minded individual. She is berated by her family for playing music when their harper dies. They call it tuning. She teaches the youngsters until a new harper can be sent. But her father beats her for playing music. She cuts her had while cleaning fish and is told by her mother that she will never be able to play music again. She becomes distraught with her life and runs away from the hold. While away she impresses, accidentally, nine fire dragons. She spends the rest of the story playing cat and mouse with the master harper of PERN who is looking for the former harpers apprentice who wrote the amazing music that he sent to Robinton before he died.

The narrator, Sally Darling, is amazing. She has a slow reading cadence that brought a peaceful feeling to the whole story. And her speech patterns reminded me of Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. It fit so perfectly for Menolly. She is a shy and naive young girl and Sally did a wonderful job portraying her.

Wonderful story! Moreta is a fantastic individual. I really enjoyed this story. The McCaffrey's have and interesting way of portraying their hero's. They seem to like the tragic hero most of all and this book is no exception. Moreta is on top of it and helps out with the horses and the Dragons and anywhere she is needed. She is also criticized by those around her which is true of every here they have presented.

One of the other things they highlight are bullies. They have them in every book. Those who abuse and harass those who cannot easily defend themselves. This book was a little different in that it brought in a whole class of individuals as bullies', the aristocracy. They refer to those not in their group as drudges. I was taught to treat the janitor the same way I treat the CEO. This usually pisses off the CEO's, which has never bothered me. How you treat people and any of your actions tells the world exactly who you are. If you want to be respected you need to earn it.

Anyway, awesome book. Very enjoyable.

What a crazy idea to have these giant dragons living in trees. I loved it!

One of the things that stood out to me about this book was the idea that we should not lean into our own biases. There were many times where someone was asked to do something that they did not believe because of how they perceived the world. This lesson happened so many times, it was apparent that the authors were trying to tell us something. I don't think they wanted us to believe without evidence, what they seemed to want is that we should listen to people and consider their words without just dismissing them because of our personal bias.

This was a fun story and I enjoyed it very much. I am going to miss pass 3.

This was a great story. Very short but lots of fun. A repeating theme in her books is misogyny and also bullying. We see in this story how afraid the family is and how they expect everyone to be mad at them. This story throws us back in time to the early books in this turn. It recalls a time when Fax had taken many holds and was hurting many of the holders. This family fled and was on their own, trying to survive. The main character is a young girl named Aramina who can not only hear dragons but they can hear her as well. It was a nice story and showed the kinder side of people on PERN.

This is one of my favorite books in the PERN series. I absolutely love the story of Robinton. He is such a dynamic character, kind, brilliant, tenacious, determined, fair, and so many more character that make him such a likable character. We see his life from birth through his middle age. He has such a sad and hard life as a youngster having to deal with a disconnected and cold father. And having a child who he longs for who, because of an accident at birth, will never be the child that he hopes for but whom loves him and he will love. Fighting for justice when a ruthless and authoritarian individual begins taking over holds across the continent. Yes, because of the way the story is told, we feel we have grown up with Robinton and feel a strong connection with him. He is easily my favorite character in the entire series.

I thought this was an inventive way of telling stories, or rather an inventive way of tying a bunch of small stories together. One of the things that she did in this book was to retell stories or scenes from other books from a different point of view. For example we saw the meeting of Piemur and Sharra from Piemur point of view in The Girl who Heard Dragon (I think). In this book we relive the same scene from Sharras point of view. This happened three or four times in the book and I found it very interesting.

I really developed a deep dislike for Thella. She was mean, blood thirsty, cruel and not just a little insane. We get to see how her story ends.

I also like to see the end of the story (or at least the next part of ) Aramina, the girl who heard dragons. It was a bit disorienting that she was called Aramina, Ara and Mina by different people. Although that is probably a realistic thing to happen in a persons life.

Most of the PERN books take place during the 9th pass. So there are lots of interactions between characters we know. This story centers around Jacksom, the future Lord Holder of Ruatha Hold. His father was the Holder whoo broke with tradition and tried to take over many holds. He was killed by one of the dragon riders and Lytol was put in change as a regent until Jacksom came of age. As Jacksom grew up he impressed/saved a dragon which very much complicated things for PERN. In this story we see him go from an impetuous teenager to a Lord Holder. We see his fist love wane and him find his true love and future bride.

We also see many changes in PERN. Master Robinton has a heart attack and must retire. His apprentice becomes the Master of Harper and they discover the site of first landing. It was a very exciting story and was told in a riveting way.

Mr. Washington is an excellent writer. His story, told in his own words, was inspirational, riveting and captivating. One of the things that stood out for me was his iron determination to reach his goals. He knew what he wanted to do and you can feel his determination to reach them rather then get derailed by the world. His writing was so comfortable and easy to read that I felt he was sitting across from me and telling me his story. That is the power of an amazing writer, the ability to talk to someone across years or centuries and make their story come alive and be relevant long after they have passed. Not only did he lead an amazing life, but he made a difference in thousands of lives of the students who attended Tuskegee University, and those the student affected.

This was an exciting book. he brought many of the threads we have been holding onto these past 5 books to a close. So much so that I assumed, for a short time, that he was done with the Stormlight Archive. In his comments at the end of the book he says he is working on books 6-10. I was delighted and excited.

There were definitely some surprises that caught me completely off guard, good surprises. I was quite i0pressed how he writes stories with multiple main characters.

He wrestles with a lot of great topics. For example, Kaladin has had self esteem issues since book one and while I have read people who are frustrated with that part of his personality, I found it to be very realistic. Some people are depressed and watching him deal with it has been very insightful.

I think most of his characters are broken in some way or another which makes them very real and more three dimensional. He even tackles what is means to be a god and what would happen if people became a god. Could they solve the problems on Roshar? I would love to sit down and talk about his view of life as an author may hold one view on life for themselves but portray another in their novels.

I was very disappointed in this book. The main reason was the background sound. It was so loud and ever present that it drowned out the voices. And they modulated the demons voices which made it all but unintelligible. I also did not like that they had a god/demigod mixed in with the justice league. How do you have gods and supermen in the same scenario. It would be like having NBA players mixed in with JHS kids. And the stories, because they were not chapters, seemed connected somehow but could not figure out the connecting thread. It come across very disjointed.

There were a few of the stories that I liked, but the overall impression was very negative. This is hard to say because I have read many of Neil Gagman's works and I really like his writing and storytelling. I guess we just can't like everything we read/listen to.

This story finished with a solid bang! I felt he story started a bit slow but I soon got into the grove of the story and enjoyed it thoroughly. The ending was so solid, so impactful, that I had to smile. Butcher is developing his characters and his world in such an amazing way. I look forward to all his book in this series and in any others he engages in, with great anticipation.

I feel the ending is so impactful, because he has his characters show you what they are made of, what they value and who they are at their cores. This is not a causal demonstration but one that leaves you knowing who they are and what you can expect from them in difficult situations.

I never expected to get another novel in the series. I thought the last book ended the series. I am delighted with this one. It is by far the darkest story of the series. Gus makes a moral decision and gets into an argument with Uncle Jack, which is to say himself. What do you do with people so bad, so evil who do such vial things that there is no hope of changing them, especially when they are a threat to all living people? You can impression them, exile them or kill them. If you kill them, do you risk becoming the very thing you despise? These are the moral questions Gus must grapple with, when someone or something is not actively trying to kill him.

Do we get a happily ever after ending. The ending took me by surprise. You will love it

This was the first of Oberon's meaty mysteries and I must admit I am a fan. It is not as serious as the main Iron Druid books, but it is definitely not for young adults. Oberon tells the story of a bunch of prized dogs who are being stolen and have disappeared. Then the story shifts as one of the owners is found dead and we have a murder mystery on our hands and it is delicious. They make friends (?) with a female detective and I could not help but think about Butchers Dresden novels. I look forward to more from this perspective.

Another meaty mystery. This time Atticus and the three dogs are in Portland when a squirrel runs off and starts a chase that ends when they run into that same detective standing over a dead body that looks a lot like Atticus. They get involved in helping the police solve the murder and Atticus stumbles across an old acquaintance that may lead to a new business deal. There are also sausages.

This is a three part anthology. I liked the way the three authors tied their stories together. I have never heard of using chees in divination, but it was an interesting take on it. The Iron Druid portion was called A Prelude to War. It showed us how Atticus ended up in the events of the books we have read so far by going back 50 years to a character, Mekera, who helped him find Oberon originally and set a lot of the things we have read about in motion.

The other two stories were a bit odd. Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys by Delilah Dawson is about a Blud world filled with vampires. It takes place in a traveling carnival and while it was interesting, I did not know about the world and found it to be very violent and gory.

Story three was Interlude: Swallow by Chuck Wendig and despite it being written by a man, it seemed to be very anti-men. It came across as being written by an angry feminist. It was also needlessly sexual and vulgar. It don't mind either except when their inclusion in the story is out of place as it felt here.

All the Weyrs of Pern Anne McCaffrey

This was a very exciting story. Finally, after 2500 years, there is a chance for things to improve on PERN. They have been stuck in medieval times forever and now they have an AI that can tell them about their past and teach them about knowledge that has been lost to them. This is to be a kind of renaissance for the planet. Except for the detractors. There are always detractors. Those who want to destroy that which they do not understand, even while they enjoy the benefits of having that technology.

I was delighted to see them work together as a planet to try and destroy thread. It took all the Weyrs, all the holds and all the craftsman to enact the plan of the AI. It reminded me of the space race when I was a child when we worked together as a country to actually put a man on the moon. I hope we get back to working together.

It pains me to give this book only 3 stars. I found it very hard to read. It was a bit disjointed and lacked character development. There was just too much knowledge that was assumed rather than developed. It seems like a radical departure from the previous four books in the series. I spent most of the book trying to understand what the plot was and what was going on. They did explain things in the last few pages of the book but by then I had really checked out.

This was an excellent end to a story arc. Mike and his stoner friend made their way North while the remains of the Talbot group returned thinking that Mike was dead. There were some excellent adventures with twists and turns that you just could not anticipate. They finally arrive in Maine behind Eliza for the showdown. It was spectacular.

Beyond the story was the Epilog. It really framed what the whole six book story was about. In a fever dream, Mike returns to the past and relives Eliza's life. He see how her father treated her, raped her. How everyone (except Thomas) abused her and used her. It was her society and the poor way, vicious, violent and inhumane way, that she was treated that created the monster we came to know as Eliza.

I thought this was an amazing commentary on humanity. Beyond the story, it was a lesson that explained that our actions, and how we treat others, has real world consequences. This is what I love so much about Sci-Fi and Fantasy, they show us the best and worst about ourselves.

There are some genres that just make you feel comfortable, like you have come home. I spent most of 2020 in hiding during the pandemic reading another zombie series. Most people thought I was crazy but I found it relaxing. When I picked up book 2 of Zombie Fallout, I was at home again. This is definitely not high literature. If you are looking for that, you will be disappointed. Just knowing there are references to Monty Python, should tell you all you need to know.

The light hearted banter keeps you from becoming overwhelmed with an apocalyptical tale of horror and suspense. I loved and hated that Tufo chose to put both traditional zombies (deaders) and fast zombies (runners) in his story. I always hated the fast zombies, too much like spiders. To add insult to injury, there are also vampires in this story. And she is pissed at the main character, Michael Talbot.

This was a fast paced story, not much time for in depth character development. Michael is an interesting character. He is self centered, sexists and a bigot. He is ex-military and has a very childish sense of humor. Outwardly he tries to do whatever he can to protect his family. Inwardly he is a bundle of nerves and psychosis unsure why others keep looking to him to lead the group.

I enjoyed this book so much, that I jumped right into book three. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

This was a great story but I felt that it was more a collection of short stories than a story with a strong over arching theme. That theme was to blacken the eye of Eliza. The part of the story that covered that was very short. What was more relevant was character development of Mikes best childhood friend Paul, his brother in law, BT, and the ever so wicked Mrs. Devorux. We also learn more about the back story of Tommy and Eliza. Some of our favorite characters don't survive, others are harmed in unsettling ways.

The end of the book has us at a cliffhanger to win all cliff hangers. I cannot wait for the next book to find out what happens next.

I really liked this story because it filled in a back story that we did not know about. Not only did it tell us how the zombie apocalypses start, but it took us back a hundred years to tell us how intertwined the story lines were. It was a very short story, a novella. Just perfect to set up the next book. I hope you enjoy it was much as I did.

The Talbot family just can't catch a break. Every time they get clobbered by another impossible scenario and miraculously escape, they find the odds stacked against them. Having gathered a group from their town in Colorado, they divide into two groups. One group heading toward family in the south, and the other, with the Talbots, heading toward Maine and Mikes family.

There are heartbreaking moments, terror induced situations, and adolescent humor smattered around for fun. Many have criticized this series, and specifically the main character, as being not politically correct, to which I must agree. Mike, uses adolescent humor to deflect and deal with overwhelming trauma. The biggest criticism is how self centered he is. The reader must remember the book is couched as readings from his personal journal. Tufo reminds us of this several times in the story. So, it is not surprising that the story revolves around Mike. I found his mix of people to be realistic. If nothing in the past decade we have learned how many of our family, friends and neighbors are not the perfect people we want them to be.

The story is quite straight forward. The Talbots are trying to get to Tracy's moms house to see if her aging mom has made it through. Then they decide they must continue on to Maine to check on Mike's family. Why must they do this? Well there is a vengeful vampire who want Tommy (the Walmart greeter) and wants to kill Mike. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants and that drives the family forward at every stop.

Although it is a completely different genre, I find the pacing and use of humor to talk about an otherwise horrific scenario, vaguely reminiscent of the way Kurt Vonnegut used a light heated story line to talk about death and the horrors of war. I really liked this book and look forward to more of the Talbots adventures in the future.

As much as I have been enjoying all of the pervious books, there is a danger in keeping characters static. They face the same or similar obstacles and the story becomes repetitive. In order to avoid that your character has to grow become larger than they are or have been. But to become larger comes at a cost. TANSTAAFL (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch). In this story, we see the culmination of many of the stories that have been told in the previous books. We see courage and emotion and despair as well as hope. We see the hero of the book, as flawed and broken as any human being, sacrifice himself for the greater good. He gives up or sells a part of himself in order to save those he cares about. The cost of doing so if great, many would say too great. From the point of view of the story, it opens up possibilities that would not be there if he had not made the decision that he did. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one.

This was a very short story. It goes back a few years to a books called Fugitive Telemetry. Since it has been a while since I read that it is hard to recall all the things that happened. This story is a bit of a debrief of those events. It would be best read right after reading that so things are fresh in your mind. The seem to all be grappling with Murderbots breaking his program and saving all their lives. They live in a super-corporate world where everything is owned by someone and people don't really count as much as assets.

Every once in a while we totally misunderstand a book. I had this book as a standalone book in my library, waiting to be read. I was very confused about who all these factions were and what they were and what was going on. It was not until after I had finished the book that I discovered I had just jumped into the middle of a series (Book 5 in fact) without any context.

Having experienced that, I almost stopped several times but continued until the end. I felt the story was told in a excellent and engaging way, but that I was lost only because I should not have been reading this book yet.

The world is well developed, the characters are clear and easy to identify with. I thought is was an interesting story, I just felt lost. None of this is the fault of the author or the book. I think I would have enjoyed it immensely if I had read the first four books. Live and learn.

This is the best book to read just before Halloween. It tells the story of 11 boys in a small town on Halloween night as they try to find their missing friend and learn the real meaning of the costumes they wear. They visit a spooky house and meet Mr. Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud. He takes them on a 4000 year adventure where they learn about Halloween tradions through time and around the world. Our family loves this story and we watch the animated movie each year and read the book. I think you will love it

This was a very realistic story. I felt very much like I was there watching the battles. He has interwoven several interesting tactical ideas into his battles that I really liked. Having so many people with different opinions in the book about how the world is makes it very realistic. It almost feels like the way our world is today with people seeing the same thing but interpreting it very differently.

There are two storylines in this book. The major one is of a captain who must take her ship to West 250,000,000. The other is a smaller group who go to the gap (a place where an earth should be but is missing) and travel to Mars. On Mars they discover that it too is a long planet and travel to other Mars looking for technology left by an advanced society.

One of the themes in the book is the search for sentient life, specifically advanced societies. They also introduce a human mutation that results in a super intelligent human, perhaps a new species. They military send the captain of the Twain, back from the outer worlds know as the high megas, to decide if she should destroy the home town of the new humans or let them live. One choice might be murder, the other might lead to the inhalation or enslavement of all mankind, or so they believe.

I like character with depth and also this kind of moral issue that they must explore. I think you will enjoy the book, especially if you liked books one and two.

I really enjoyed how our main character Fiona grew through the story. She was very young when she impressed and Then was thrown into a very difficult situation leading a group of young new riders and a bunch of injured seasoned riders in a time travel jump to the past. Not only was this story about personal growth but also dealing with a sickness that was affecting the dragons. Highly recommend.

**spoiler alert** This was a great story that centered around Fiona, the daughter of a Lord holder who becomes a dragon rider of a gold queen dragon. When Thread falls, riders and dragons are hurt. There is a dragon plague like the human plague from the last book. Fiona, the weirlings and the hurt are sent back in time to recover.

This really showed a great deal of growth for Fiona. She was the Weirwoman during the three years when they returned in time to recover. She was diligent, compassionate and resourceful. They were in a tough situation and you felt as though you were there or wanted to be there to help out.