As of last week, the Sci-Fi Summer readathon(sponsored by Michelle Miller of Seasons of Reading) came to an end and as usual, I managed to finish three out of the four books that I set aside for this fun challenge.
First to be read and completed was Mike Chen's We Could Be Heroes, which which has an unlikely duo pairing up to solve more than one mystery about their lives.
Jamie,aka The Mind Robber, uses his mental superpowers to rob banks as nonviolently as possible with his ultimate goal being to escape to a distant island accompanied by his cat named Normal.
Zoe,whose superheroine name is Throwing Star, works as a food delivery person by day and hunts down criminals at night, hoping to somehow find a way to regain her memories. Two years ago, she woke up alone in a fully paid for apartment with only a name tag and a note explaining her extraordinary abilities. Since then, she's tried to figure who and what she is, not to mention meant to do with her life.
Jamie also has a similar memory loss situation and after an encounter in their alter ego personae, they run into each other at a support group for those suffering from memory problems. Instead of attacking each other, they compare notes and decide to team up to find some answers.
To say more would spoil the fun but I do have to say that it's not surprising that author Mike Chen happens to be a fan of DC's Legends of Tomorrow as these two would definitely fit right in to any season of the show. Don't get me wrong; Chen has plenty of original takes on the genre here with a good amount of comic book inspired creativity.
What his writing does share in common with LOT is the offbeat moments of humor that expand and lighten the mood at times, the growing friendship that compels both of the main characters and pushes them beyond their superhero/villain roles,along with making a world with such powerful beings seem very relatable.
While the overall mystery is engaging, it's the smartly written character development that makes this story soar:
Next up was Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson, a YA novel that is intended to be part one of a duology.
Seventeen year old Andra Watts was nervous enough as it is when her family planned to leave Earth to a settlement on the planet Holymyth, requiring her to enter a pod for a cryogenic sleep that would last a hundred years.
When she does finally awakens, it's a thousand years later and everyone that Andra knows and loves is long gone. Instead, an exiled prince named Zhade informs her that she's seen as the "Third Goddess", who is supposed to save the planet and in particular, the central city of Eerensed.
Hoping to find a way back to Earth, Andra reluctantly agrees to work with Zhade, who has a few scores to settle in Eerensed, and present herself to the current ruler Maret, who is Zhade's half brother and in need of a way to fix the protective dome that keeps the city residents safe from the ravages of the outer desert surroundings.
Andra does her best but things are always not what they seem, especially when it comes to Zhade and his secret plans. Can she save the day or is the universe fully aligned against her?
Since this is a first half of a bigger story(part two, Devil in the Device, is set to be out in August), I have to say that so far, I am intrigued. The characters are engaging and with the new forms of language that Andra and the reader learn to decipher keeps your mind alert as you go along. I look forward to finding out what is in store for Andra and company as it should be a sight to see:
To round things out, my last read for this Sci-Fi Summer was Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie, another part one but in what is called The Bloodright Trilogy.
Ettian is a student pilot at the Umber Academy, having enrolled years after his Archon home world was conquered by the Umber empire, leaving him an orphan with tragic memories of his past.
Nevertheless, he is determined to put that all behind him and become a useful member of this galaxy's dominant society. That plan is upended when his best friend/roommate Gal is revealed to be the heir to the Umber empire, which places a huge target on his back.
Believing that Gal will be a better and more peaceful ruler than his parents, Ettian risks everything to protect him from those looking to take Gal down and/or use him as a political bargaining chip. As the two of them find refuge on a distant planet, new allies are made and different plots to get Gal to a safer place are created and rewritten. One thing that is for certain are the emotional bonds that they share which go beyond friendship yet could make them, Ettian in particular, more vulnerable to their enemies.
This story falls into the YA/New Adult realm but it's a page turning read regardless of the category. Skrutskie gives her characters the right amount of emotional complexity and nuance that gels her world building nicely. She also adds a couple of twists and turns that I didn't see coming until the end that makes me eager to get book two(Oaths of Loyalty, due in September) as soon as possible!
I also hope that since this story is narrated by Ettian and the second installment is probably going to be told from Gal's perspective, that the third installment has Wen, a scrappy street survivor with bloodright issues of her own, at the helm there. She's extremely compelling and smartly kickass, so I'm not the only one who wants her to have her own book, I'm sure:
Thanks again to Michelle at Seasons of Reading for making Sci-Fi Summer possible and I hope that everyone who joined in for the bookish fun had a great reading time. The next readathon on the SOR roster is High Summer in August and I do have a TBR pile under way for that. A couple of titles will take me to Larry McMurtry country, which will be both a renewal and a discovery all in one for me:
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