Review: Minder Rising by Carol Van Natta

A millennium into the future, all children are tested for minder talents, and the best are recruited for the Citizen Protection Service.

Agent Lièrén Sòng is recovering from a near-fatal crash. He should want nothing more than to get back to using his talents to interrogate criminals for his covert CPS field unit, but being sidelined gains new appeal when he makes friends with a woman and her son. Imara Sesay, road crew chief and part-time bartender, breaks her ironclad rule never to get close to customers when she asks Lièrén to teach her son how to control his growing minder talents.

Unexpected deaths in his field unit make Lièrén suspect he isn’t a lucky survivor, he’s a loose end. He should pull away from Imara and Derrit to keep them safe, but when the local CPS Testing Center is entirely too interested in Derrit’s talents, Lièrén must make an impossible choice. Can he stay alive long enough to save Imara and her prodigy son?

*****

I received a copy from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.

Minder Rising is the second in Van Natta's Central Galactic Concordance series. The third, Pico's Crush, is expected around the end of January and follows characters introduced in the first book, Overload Flux. Minder Rising can be read standalone, though I highly recommend reading Overload Flux as well.

As with Overload Flux, characters drive Minder Rising. Though we only learn a few general details about Lièrén's past, he smoothly adapts his skills to investigating the threat to his unit. As a bartender and road construction crew boss, Imara does not come off as classic heroine. She's tough, clever, honest and has my respect as a realistic female lead. Her son Derrit displays a good balance between his childhood and his fierce devotion to protect his mother following the loss of his father.

As I read, I became aware interactions between Lièrén and Imara lacked copious sidelong glances, urgent heartbeats and salacious inner voices oogling each other's physical appearance. As I came to know them, I understood having those sorts of inner dialogues would be out of character. Lièrén comes from a big, respectful family and Imara is cautious to avoid involvement with someone she considers a 'transient' out of concern for Derrit. While I appreciated their inner maturity, I wouldn't have minded seeing them enjoy more emotionally close moments together.

I'm very fond of the supporting characters in this book, particularly the flamboyant, charming and instantly likeable  Rayle. I don't think I'll ever tire of a well done character who fits the "social glue" role in a story. He's nosy, which he can't help since he's an empath, but he only uses it out of a desire to help others even if they're not ready for it.

*crosses fingers and wishes for more Rayle*

In addition to the great characters, I loved imagining the glass-like construction of the Spires and the layers of plot tied together throughout. I also liked learning about something one character has done through the eyes of another. It happened several times and I found it to be more suspenseful than if we saw the setup with one character and the discovery by another. Van Natta also build up the world of minders and the CPS in a way that grows on what I learned in Overload Flux while giving a complete and thorough world descriptions to someone starting the series with Minder Rising.

I definitely recommend this series.

And the short blurb for book 3, Pico's Crush (love it!)
"A paradise planed, a quiet University, renewed friendships, explosions, a hunt for a killer... Wait, what?"

Review: Overload Flux by Carol Van Natta

The Central Galactic Concordance has been stable for two centuries, but trouble is brewing. A pandemic is affecting hundreds of civilized planets, and someone is stealing the vaccine...

Brilliant investigator Luka Foxe's hidden mental talent is out of control, making him barely able to function in the aftermath of violence, and the body count is rising. The convoluted trail leads to a corrupt pharma industry and the possibility of an illegal, planet-sized laboratory. In the face of increasing threats, he must rely on an enigmatic, lethal woman he just met, but she has deep secrets of her own.

Mairwen Morganthur hides extraordinary skills under the guise of a dull night-shift guard. The last thing she wants is to provide personal security for a hot-shot investigator, or to be plunged into a murky case involving sabotage, treachery, and the military covert operations division that would love to discover she’s still alive.

Two more lives in a rising death count won’t bother their enemies one bit. Their only hope for survival lies in revealing their dark secrets and learning to trust one another.

*****

I loved the finesse with which Van Natta handles Mairwen and Luka's individual back-stories. Their motivations and challenges are there, clear and sufficient, without overwhelming. There's just enough to explain and engage with Mairwen and Luka without dumping too much emphasis on previous events. It's handled in such a quiet way that every time there's a little more the plot moves forward, not the other way.


I also really enjoyed the subtle humour I found ever present. As little as a few words or the smallest change in facial expression made the dialogue real and relatable and I found myself connecting more and more with Mairwen and Luka. Too many times I've read SFR with overdone violence or straight to the bedroom smut and the relationship between the H/h is lost to the flash and bang. Luka and Mairwen come across as very genuine and their relationship builds in solid layers.

Van Natta's tech is both simple (in that it's reasonable and makes sense) and powerful (in that it's reasonable and makes sense. Her names both for super gadgets and plain old household items tell us exactly what it is and what it does without losing me in any need for weighty description.

Finally, it was so refreshing to see a H/h pair somewhat close in age to my own. They had a respect and maturity we don't usually see in romances set around twenty-somethings. It was nice to see them being good together without unnecessary drama centered around eye-rolling juvenile behaviour. I'm glad they have a follow-up novella together as I will miss them. I must admit to a small amount of trepidation getting in to the sequel, Minder Rising, since I'm so fond of Mairwen and Luka but I'm also happily in to Van Natta's well built Galactic Concordance world and look forward to experiencing more.

FYI: New favourite space-ish curse word is "cluster bucket"

If you're new to SFR or a hopeless addict I think you'll find Overload Flux to be a good find. Definitely recommended.

Guest Interview with Donna Maree Hanson!

Today, I'm happy to share my interview with Australian spec-fiction author Donna Maree Hanson. I found Shatterwing when I was new to Netgalley. The book had the word "dragon" on the cover so I clicked. I was taken by this dark and original fantasy and have enjoyed her work ever since.

Recently I had the opportunity to ask her anything so I decided to challenge her on a broad range of topics!

History question: Tell me about Shatterwing. What can you share about where the ideas for the characters came from?

Shatterwing came about through an amalgam of ideas. I had the idea of Salinda and Brill for a short story that just kept going. I couldn’t make it finish where I wanted it to. Editor friends said to write the novel. Nils came about from a writing exercise in a workshop with Trudi Canavan and I really liked him.  Garan and the Skywatchers came from another exercise about a world with a lot of moons and Shatterwing. The idea then sort of developed about what life would be like when meteors fell all the time. Then somehow, a mystery to me, it all came together into one story. The characters all started existing on the same world. Danton and the Inspector came fairly early on in the piece too, but after the others. I guess the lesson for me is never throw anything out.

Dragon question: I love dragons, all kinds. What are your favourites?

That’s a hard one. I don’t usually read dragons so I can’t answer that. I’m more exposed to dragons through film, although I have my expectations that dragons are magical and friendly and good. But I think mine are more like the ones in that movie Reign of Fire. I grew up watching Godzilla and I guess that’s my biggest influence. Big monsters smashing things.

Biography question: Which other books do you have available? Can you offer us a glimpse of anything in the works?

Apart from Rayessa and the Space Pirates and the sequel, I write paranormal romance under the pen name Dani Kristoff. They are a bit sexier than my other fiction. I have two series going there. One featuring witches in Sydney, and it’s a bit of fun. Then the darker one called The Sorcerer’s Spell, which is dark and a lot hotter set in Canberra. I’ve got some books trying to find a publisher. One young adult steampunk type thing called Ruby Heart. I’ve got another YA series in the works (drafting/revision etc) and I’ve been working on an SF romance in November. It sounds like a lot but I’ve been very unproductive this year. I had a bad bout of RSI.

Science question: How is your writing den different in the summer than in the winter?

I live in Canberra so we have hot dry summers and chilly frosty Winters. This year I’ve been a bit of a vagabond, writing upstairs and downstairs, writing with friends and with my partner. I’ve only recently moved into my office which I had made into a craft room. Now I’m doing a PhD in 2016 I need to get organised and sort everything out. I have craft stuff and millinery stuff all over the house. I will have to learn discipline. This summer though we have a new deck and my office opens onto it. I’ll be able to stretch my legs and go gaze at the mountains.

Quick answer: Hogwarts letter or your first Pokemon?

Hogwarts!

Nature question: Where can you be spotted in the wild next year? Are you attending any bookish events?

I think I have two conventions planned next year. The National Science Fiction Convention (Contact) over Easter and Romance Writers of Australia in August. I am hoping to get to the World Science Fiction Convention in Finland in 2017. Now that I’ll be doing a PhD and giving up my lucrative salary, attending events will be harder. The hardest part of studying full time is the zero dollars.

Survival question: Imagine we’ve made it through zombies, virulent flu and meteors. With the new year coming, what new skill would you resolve to learn in order to barter with others and rebuild? (Personally, I’d learn cheese making but then I’d have to find cows).

I think carpentry and design. I’m useless at both but recently with the help of YouTube I’m learning some design drawing. I’m good with a hammer so I figure I might make a good carpenter when there are no more critics alive to poke fun at my efforts.

Dragon Wine Book 1: Shatterwing by Donna Maree Hanson.

Dragon wine could save them. Or bring about their destruction.

Since the moon shattered, the once peaceful and plentiful world has become a desolate wasteland. Factions fight for ownership of the remaining resources as pieces of the broken moon rain down, bringing chaos, destruction and death.

The most precious of these resources is dragon wine – a life-giving drink made from the essence of dragons. But the making of the wine is perilous and so is undertaken by prisoners. Perhaps even more dangerous than the wine production is the Inspector, the sadistic ruler of the prison vineyard who plans to use the precious drink to rule the world.

There are only two people that stand in his way. Brill, a young royal rebel who seeks to bring about revolution, and Salinda, the prison’s best vintner and possessor of a powerful and ancient gift that she is only beginning to understand. To stop the Inspector, Salinda must learn to harness her power so that she and Brill can escape, and stop the dragon wine from falling into the wrong hands.

Dragon Wine Book 2 :Skywatcher, the follow on book is also available in ebook and print.

Momentum | Amazon.com.au | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | iTunes | Kobo | Angus Robertson

Donna Maree Hanson is a Canberra-based writer of fantasy, science fiction and horror. She also writes paranormal romance under a pseudonym. She has had about twenty speculative fiction short stories published in various small press and ezines since 2001. In January 2013, her first longer work, Rayessa & the Space Pirates, a young-adult, science fiction adventure romance, was published with Harlequin’s digital imprint, Escape. In 2006, she won a Varuna Long Lines Fellowship for her novel in progress, Dragon Wine, which is now to be published by Pan Macmillan’s Momentum imprint as Shatterwingand Skywatcher. Donna is also active in the science fiction fan community, having run two National Science Fiction conventions in Canberra.

Review: The Scarlet Plague by Jack London

'An old man, James Howard Smith, walks along deserted railway tracks, long since unused and overgrown; beside him a young, feral boy helps him along. It has been 60 years since the great Red Death wiped out mankind, and the handful of survivors from all walks of life have established their own civilization and their own hierarchy in a savage world. Art, science, and all learning has been lost, and the young descendants of the healthy know nothing of the world that was—nothing but myths and make-believe. The old man is the only one who can convey the wonders of that bygone age, and the horrors of the plague that brought about its end. What future lies in store for the remnants of mankind can only be surmised—their ignorance, barbarity, and ruthlessness the only hopes they have?'

*****

This is my first Jack London story though I did read an alien invasion short story which declared to be written in his style. The Scarlet Plague was first published over a hundred years ago and though set in 2073, describes our "current times".

For a tale a century old London describes the quick degradation of our society in a dark and straightforward manner. There have been enough post apocalyptic novels written in the meantime that the general themes and actions of people falling upon each other in times of trouble still stands.

 I also found it interesting how a story set a hundred years ago pictures the technology of today and gave the old man's past a steampunk feel. His descriptions of "talking through the air", simplified for his audience of "savage" grandsons could easily be tech today or in a spec/fic steampunk world something else entirely.

The story is short but definitely fits as post-apocalyptic and is a nice addition to Dover's Doomsday Classics collection.

If you expect anything post-apocalyptic or dystopian to have a spunky, tough teenage girl at its centre or if you rail against misogyny in all forms and can't see past it even in a work created in a time when it was far more prevalent than it is now then this might not be for you. If you like the genre, definitely take this one on. As a reader, I feel it's important to go back and experience classics in my favourite genres. Not just to see how they were different, but to see how the genre has grown and which things about them continue to make the genre strong and popular.

I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Bloody Quarrel Episode One by Duncan Lay

The prince is dead.

Fooled by the treacherous King Aidan, Fallon has shot down the one man he trusted to save his beloved nation of Gaelland. And yet, when the King could grind Fallon underfoot, he draws the simple farmer and fighter closer, making a hero of him.

Embroiled in plots beyond his comprehension and weighted with the guilt of the prince's murder, Fallon must tread carefully if he is to accomplish the task that first brought him to the cursed capital: rescue his wife, Bridgit, and the rest of his village from Kottermani slavery. If he and his hopelessly ensnared men can survive, they may yet find redemption.

Meanwhile, across the ocean, Bridgit is rallying those around her to spring an escape. But who can be trusted? The ever-present danger of traitors and liars among the slaves, and even among her fellow Gaelish, is poison to her plans. 

With an ocean between them and fouler nightmares looming, Fallon and Bridgit will be driven to their very limits to escape their prisons, find each other, and bring justice to Gaelland.

Perfect for fans of Robin Hobb and Joe Abercrombie.

*****

Episode One starts up right where The Last Quarrel leaves off, with the death of Prince Cavan. Fallon and his men assume the worst, they'll pay for the murder, but instead find themselves in the King's debt; following orders with the promise of freedom for Bridgit and the other kidnapped families.

I really like the growth in Bridgit. Through the use of her strengths, being a mother, running a house and as wife of the village lawman, she becomes a cautious and clever leader. She gets tough when she needs to be though we see enough of the old Bridgit, occasionally weak and hopeless, to appreciate how much strength she has to draw on to look after herself and the others in Kottermani slavery.

When it comes to Fallon, several times I dearly wanted to shout some sense into him. We start to see "the Bridgit" in him as much as we see "the Fallon" in Bridgit. I very much want to see them together again.

The action rifles through this episode from beginning to end and continues to be well done. Even with the wait from the first book, I didn't feel I'd forgotten anything nor did I notice any parts of the first book had been overly rehashed.

My kindle read this to me on my commute which is appropriate I think since it was written on a commute. The movement seemed to enhance the urgency of the story. I definitely recommend taking this series up.

Review: 2016 Young Explorer's Adventure Guide

The 2016 Young Explorer's Adventure Guide is the second collection of science fiction short stories aimed at middle grade readers. The first, of course, is the 2015 Young Explorer's Adventure Guide.

I highly recommend this collection. I love the variety of "young voices" it contains as well. From kids making first contact to piloting starships the range of adventure is fantastic. I treated myself to one or two a day and am definitely going to read the 2015 edition.

The only thing I didn't like is the collection contains almost exclusively (if not completely) female lead characters. I would have preferred a balance. In spite of this, it's still a first class read.

Oh, and it has Nancy Kress!

I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: Earthman Jack vs the Ghost Planet by Matthew Kadish

Jack Finnegan only has to worry about dealing with school bullies, suffering through detention with his homeroom teacher, and getting noticed by the girl of his dreams... at least until an army of evil aliens invade Earth. Suddenly, this teenage slacker finds himself at the center of a galaxy-spanning conflict - where the lives of everyone on the planet are in jeopardy, soldiers use Quantum Physics to become superheroes, and the enemy uses some mysterious form of magic to make themselves practically unstoppable. The secret to ending the conflict and saving the universe may lie in a powerful ancient spaceship, which it seems can only be flown by Earthmen. Now, Jack and a rag-tag group of allies must overcome impossible odds, defeat an unkillable enemy, rescue the princess of the galaxy, and save the universe from a threat more terrifying than any it has ever faced. Can this underachiever rise to the occasion and become the hero Earth needs? The fate of all life in the galaxy may rest in his hands.

*****

I really liked this fun sci-fi. It had planet busting alien ships, bullies, evil robots, heroes and a princess.

I must admit I started this book with a groan. The introduction was a rather wordy 'historical' look back from the future and I wondered what I'd gotten myself into. Kids my daughter's age would be a great audience for this book but I know from experience she would have lost interest reading the introduction and put it down.

But then the story started and my initial opinion was completely and humbly forgotten.

Earthman Jack got ambitious and didn't let up.

With each new challenge, Jack grew up a little more. Who would have thought mastering video games would one day save your life? Honestly, I don't think that anyone other than a fifteen year old Gamerbox master could have pulled this off. Surrounded by great sidekicks and bad guys who get plain worse every time you turn around, Jack faces every plot twist with more guts and humour than I thought possible.

Earthman Jack vs the Ghost Planet is a fun and exciting for everyone galactic adventure. Like the car chase that doesn't let up, this one takes over and drives you along. I truly look forward to finding out what Kadish does with this amazing world (err, eight star systems) he's created.

I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.