Category Archives: Sci-Fi

May 1, 2013 · 10:57 pm

Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde

image

 

 

Good morning, book lovers! So it’s time for my review of the fourth Thursday Next book. I’m not quite sure my brain it up to the task, but I’ll try.

 

BUT REMEMBER THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE FIRST THREE BOOKS, MMMKAY? KAY.

Somehow, it’s been over a year since I read the third book, The Well of Lost Plots! Honestly, don’t know how I went that long in between books. So let’s just say that I remembered that Thursday was still in Bookworld, and her hubby Landen was still non-existent because he had been eradicated, and she was chasing some book characters who apparently ended up escaping into the real world.

Something Rotten starts off with Thursday getting a bit frustrated with Bookworld and realizing that she needs to go home, try to un-eradicate her husband, and catch Yorrick Kaine - the escaped book characters that’s been making waves in the real world as a politician. So she takes a long leave-of-absence from Jurisfiction, grabs her two-year old son Friday, and heads back to reality.

There was a LOT to like about this book, and I read it pretty quickly. I liked seeing Thursday struggle with fictional character baddies, a husband that doesn’t exist, a hitwoman out to get her, Shakespeare clones, and more – and all while now being a mom. I like that being a mom doesn’t diminish Thursday’s awesomeness or adventures any - Friday is just one more thing she has to take care of in her hectic, weird life.

Once again, after finishing this book I had a weird dream – something about me being trapped with other people in a big store of some kind and black, shiny, hard-looking spiders and lizards that were WAY over-sized were crawling around trying to attack us, and none of my long-range weapons or machetes were around. It was weird, I didn’t sleep well that night.

Also, there were a few quotes I liked and wrote down, but I think this one (spoken by Hamlet himself who’s experiencing the real world for the first time) is my favorite:

“If the real world were a book, it would never find a publisher. Overlong, detailed to the point of distraction – and ultimately, without a major resolution.”

Which sounds pretty true, but I agree with Thursday’s response – that maybe we like it that way. I have the 5th Thursday Next book (although from what I understand, it’s the start of a separate Thursday Next series or storyline…?) on it’s way to me from Paperbackswap, and this time I’m not going to let a whole year go by before I read it.

Sarah Says: 4 stars

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April 18, 2013 · 6:00 am

Nexus by Ramez Naam

Nexus

This is one of those books where the more I think about it, the more I think I liked it.

Nexus is about a drug called – guess what? – Nexus. It’s an illegal nano-drug that exists in 2040, that humans can use to connect; mind-to-mind, brain-to-brain. A young scientist named Kade finds a way to improve Nexus – to make it’s effects permanent. When he’s caught by the government, he’s forced into an international fight between those to want to eradicate Nexus and those who want to unleash it.

My thoughts about this book are so MIXED, but ultimately positive. The book starts off kind of slow – the software lingo was hard to get in to, and I was thiiiiiissss close to DNF-ing it. But then around page 200 BAM! It picked up and I read the next 250 pages in one sitting. I’m glad I stuck with it.

Basically in this near-future, nano-drugs and biological enhancement are a thing. Some humans have gotten things done to them to make them faster, stronger, more durable, etc. Nexus is something considered dangerous by the government, because it gives people the ability to connect their minds – to see memories, read thoughts, communicate telepathically. There are official terms in this world such as “transhuman” and “posthuman”, distinguishing just how many changes a person can make to his or her self before they are no longer considered human, and therefore no longer protected by basic human rights.

The story wasn’t exactly the best. Like I said, it started off slow. I liked the characters Kade and Wats, but felt like we didn’t get to learn quite enough about them. Sam was the other main character, and I think I liked her but she was so messed up that her actions didn’t always make sense to me. But the action definitely picks up in the second half of the book, and I was biting my fingernails while reading because things were getting intense. And it gave me a lot of food for thought – Are we on our way to this kind of future, where bioengineering is so common? When and how will the lines between humans and software machines start to blur? Would I take Nexus if I was in this world?

It made for some really interesting discussions with my honeyman when I was done reading, and I am more curious about some of the nanotechnology presented in the book. I want to check out one of Naam’s other books, a non-fiction book called More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement. Oh yeah, Ramez Naam isn’t just some new sci-fi author! He apparently helped invent Internet Explorer and Outlook, and he was the CEO of a nanotechnology company, so he obviously knows his subject matter! I dig that.

OH, and there’s a sequel to Nexus coming out in August! It’s called Crux, and I’m looking forward to reading it.

Sarah Says: 4 stars

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April 10, 2013 · 6:00 am

Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines

Peter Clines

 

I bought Ex-Heroes mainly because the blurbs by other authors on the cover were so impressive:

“The Avengers meets The Walking Dead with a large order of epic served on the side… I loved it!” – Ernest Cline, author of Ready Player One

“Zombies? Check. Superheroes? Check. Awesome? Check. Ex-Heroes has it all. You’re in for a treat!” – Mira Grant, author of Feed

Those are two authors I really like, so I took their word for it. They didn’t let me down!

So basically there are some superheroes around – Stealth, Gorgon, Regenerator, Zzzap, and more. They’re kind of going around and helping out here and there, and then the zombie apocalypse hits and they get together to try to save as many people as they can. They set up a base in Los Angeles and try to protect the people there – from zombies, and from the local gang the Seventeens, who have been causing more trouble lately.

Good premise, right? Ex-Heroes wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but it was a really good, quick read. There are a few chapters sprinkled throughout the book where you get a glimpse on the superheroes’ lives before they got powers, and what they were up to before the zombies popped up. I really liked seeing each of the different heroes and seeing what kind of cool powers they had, and I liked that they all had kind of an inner-struggle thing going on. Instead of a similarity to The Avengers like Ernest Cline says above, I’d actually say it reminded me more of the Watchmen. It felt gritty, which I liked. The heroes are all normal people underneath, who are equally as distraught about the zombie apocalypse as everyone else but who feel obligated to try to save humanity – even when some of humanity includes an annoying gang trying to take over now that there’s no society.

Some big epic things were revealed near the end, so I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel Ex-Patriots, which comes out on April 23rd.

Sarah Says: 3.5 stars

 

 

 

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March 25, 2013 · 6:00 am

The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding (Tales of the Ketty Jay #3)

Chris Wooding

 

You see how it says “Absolutely marvellous.” on the cover? TRUTH.

This is the third book in the super awesome Tales of the Ketty Jay series by Chris Wooding. Here are my reviews for the first and second books – you should probably go read those books first, cause you know, spoilers and whatnot. And because your life will just be better once you’ve read these books.

 

So where did we last leave our intrepid heroes?

Well, after the events of The Black Lung Captain, Darian Frey and his crew are doing pretty damn good. They’re famous for saving a whole town (Sakkan) by taking on the Manes, and they’re enjoying the perks. Darian’s also pleased because him and Trinica Dracken seem to be on more even ground now – though the past still hurts, he’s trying to get the old Trinica to come out more and more. She has a job for them though – lift an ancient Samarlan artifact off a train, don’t open it the case it’s in, and bring it back to her to sell to someone who wants it. Easy peasy, right? Except nothing is ever that simple, and it starts Frey on race against the clock to save his own life.

This series knows how to bring the action – rooftop chases, daemons, golems, gunfights, Mane frenzies, speeding trains… love it! Never a dull moment. And SO many parts make me laugh too.

So the plot I didn’t love quite as much as the previous two books, even though it was different and original and still action-packed. But you know what makes up for it? Silo! We FINALLY get to learn more about Silo’s backstory and he becomes a more prominent character, instead of just him hanging out in the engine room all the time. Everyone’s story is expanded a little bit, and everyone has their moment of glory all while working as a crew. Am I getting sappy? I don’t even care. For a sci-fi adventure series, these books make me FEEL stuff.

Also, some major stuff was set up in this one that I have a feeling is going to be the focus of the next/last book, The Ace of Skulls. (Seriously, on the exact day it comes out in the U.K., I’m totally going to The Book Depository and ordering my copy. I cannot wait for September 19th!)

Ummm yeah. That’s as much as I’m going to gush about this book right now. Please read these books. I just want someone I know, any person, to read them so I can have someone to talk to about them! Until then, I’m eagerly awaiting The Ace of Skulls.

Sarah Says: 4.5 stars

 

 

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March 18, 2013 · 3:00 am

A Sci-Fi Book Meme

I saw this at SF Signal and thought it looked fun. Hopefully they don’t mind me borrowing it, as it was posted all the way back in 2005 :-)

Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror?

Science Fiction and Fantasy. Horror ain’t really my jam.

Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?

ALL OF THEM. But preferably paperbacks, unless it’s a favorite and I want a hardcover copy to keep forever and ever.

Heinlein or Asimov?

I’ve only read Asimov (I, Robot) and that was good, so I’ll go with him. I want to try Heinlein though, I have Stranger in a Strange Land at home.

Amazon or Brick and Mortar?

Brick and mortar whenever possible.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

Borders! This isn’t really a relevant question anymore, but I miss Borders so much.

Hitchhiker or Discworld?

I’ve only read the first Hitchhiker book, so that.

Bookmark or Dogear?

Bookmark. Or just try to remember the page number.

Magazine: Asimov’s Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction?

No clue.

Alphabetize by author, alphabetize by title, or random?

Alphabetize by author’s last name. Duh. Although I don’t alphabetize my books at all because I don’t have the room for that, but it’s not random. I have a system.

Keep, Throw Away or Sell?

Keep, or donate / giveaway.

Year’s Best Science Fiction series (edited by Gardner Dozois) or Years Best SF series (edited by David G. Hartwell)?

No idea!

Keep dustjacket or toss it?

Keep.

Read with dustjacket or remove it?

Remove it.

Short story or novel?

NOVELS. It’s hard to do short stories well, and unless they’re all interconnected somehow I really lose interest fast.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?

I haven’t read Lemony Snicket yet, so Harry Potter! Although I’m sure I’ll love Lemony Snicket, but in a different way than how I love HP.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

Chapter breaks. Unless I fall asleep while reading, which is always a possibility…

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?

“Once upon a time.”

Buy or Borrow?

Buy. Because I’m ridiculous like that.

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?

ALL OF THEM! I find out about books all of those ways.

Lewis or Tolkien?

Haven’t read enough of either to really have an opinion yet…

Hard SF or Space Opera?

Ummmmm no idea.

Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)?

Collection I suppose.

Hugo or Nebula?

No clue, I don’t really pay attention.

Golden Age SF or New Wave SF?

No idea.

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?

Tidy ending! Unless it’s a series, and the cliffhanger is really well done.

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?

ALL THE TIME. But I think I read best in the morning or at night. When I try to read in the afternoon I tend to end up taking a nap.

Standalone or Series?

Both have their merits, but sometimes I get really sick of everything being a series or trilogy.

Urban fantasy or high fantasy?

Both.

New or used?

Both.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding, which is book 1 of the Ketty Jay series, WHICH IS AWESOME AND YOU SHOULD READ IT.

Top X favorite genre books read last year? (Where X is 5 or less)

(I’m guessing my “genre books” this means sci-fi, fantasy, and/or horror… right? Sure, that.)

  1. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
  2. Feed by Mira Grant
  3. Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer
  4. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
  5. Something From the Nightside by Simon R. Green

Top X favorite genre books of all time? (Where X is 5 or less)

  1. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
  2. The Postmortal by Drew Magary
  3. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
  4. Eragon by Christopher Paolini (shut up it was a good series)
  5. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

X favorite genre series? (Where X is 5 or less)

  1. The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
  2. Tales of the Ketty Jay by Chris Wooding
  3. Nightside series by Simon R. Green
  4. Newsflesh trilogy by Mira Grant
  5. Tales of the 500 Kingdoms by Mercedes Lackey

Top X favorite genre short stories? (Where X is 5 or less)

  1. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
  2. any Diana Gabaldon short stories (and yeah I’m counting them, they usually have a time travel type of aspect to them).
  3. …

 

So that was interesting! And a little confusing here and there. And I really want to know how to classify stuff into certain categories… like zombies for instance. They could be considered sci-fi, paranormal, fantasy, or horror. I really just prefer lumping all of those categories together, as we can see here… it just makes things a bit easier, because so many books could fall into more than one sub-genre.

Feel free to join in, and check out the original post on SF Signal. And if you feel like answering some or any of the questions, you can answer them in the comments or do your own post :-)

Happy Monday everyone! Hope it’s not sucking.

~Sarah

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February 25, 2013 · 9:53 am

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

martian chronicles book cover

Yay, another book read from my Classics Club list!

The Martian Chronicles is a book of short stories by Ray Bradbury about humans coming to Mars, starting with the first expedition and going chronologically from there. He wrote these stories in the 1950′s, but they’re set from 1999 to 2026.

It’s always hard to review a book of short stories, even if they do form one overall story. Plus I don’t want to give much away, because if you haven’t read it yet I think you should. Bradbury paints a bleak picture, but it’s one that I think it important. The main theme seems to be that humans tend to do whatever they want without concern for others (like Martians) or for future consequences. I hope hoping that this book would be more about humans and Martians interacting, but it didn’t turn out that way. It was definitely more about humans and how we tend to pollute and destroy pretty much everything.

My favorite stories were And the Moon Be Still As Bright, Way In the Middle of the Air, and Usher II. These were some of the longer and most sad stories, but they were also the strongest and made me feel stuff. And the Moon Be Still As Bright was kind of intense – it was about one of the first crews to land on Mars, and how one of the men realized that humans were going to come and ruin everything that remained of Martian culture. Way in the Middle of the Air was about racial tensions. Usher II was interesting because it’s a story about anti-censorship, and it’s obviously something Bradbury felt very passionately about.

If you’re looking for an interesting sci-fi read about space, this probably isn’t what you’re looking for. But if you’re looking for a book that explores humanity and how Bradbury thought of the world in the 1950′s, this is perfect.

Sarah Says: 4 stars

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February 20, 2013 · 7:00 am

The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding (Tales of the Ketty Jay #2)

Ketty Jay series, Chris Wooding

 

I literally hugged this book when I finished.
 
Just as a reminder, this is the 2nd book in the Tales of the Ketty Jay series, and you should head on over to my review of the first book, Retribution Falls, to check that out. And then you should start reading this series IMMEDIATELY, because I love it and I want to talk to people about it! Mmmkay?

So where did we last leave our intrepid heroes?

Well at the start, the crew of the Ketty Jay ain’t doin so hot. Captain Darian Frey is feeling a bit listless, wondering what he really wants. Jez is fighting her Mane side more and more, but feels it’s a losing battle. Crake is trying to drink his guilt and sorrow away. And the rest of the crew is restless; sick of everyone’s melancholy and sick of taking small, pathetic jobs. When they get an offer to go to the deep, dark heart of Kurg for a treasure that only Crake can unlock, it seems like things are starting to look up. But that treasure isn’t what anyone thought it would be, and now they’re fighting to get it back before unspeakable damage occurs.

For those of you who have read the first book (and are hence my very best friend), there’s a lot to look forward to in this book. Crake faces his past, Jez learns more about what it means to be half-Mane, and Darian comes face-to-face with Trinica Dracken again.

THERE IS SO MUCH AWESOME IN THIS SERIES. Too much for me to put in one measly review. I think that part of what I love is that all the characters really are important (even the cat), and Wooding does a great job at distributing the focus among them all. So many of them are searching for something, and I love learning more about them all. Everyone has their shining moment. Once again there’s an interesting, well-fleshed out plot with a ton of action. There’s funny quips and fun epic battles, and even little tender moments. AND this book was at least as good as the first, which is awesome. No second-book syndrome!
 
I just love it all. I CANNOT WAIT to read The Iron Jackal. For some reason it’s not really in print in the U.S. right now, but I’m going to order it from The Book Depository as soon as I possibly can. And after I read that I’ll be biting my nails waiting for the fourth book to come out, hopefully at the end of this year!
 
Sarah Says: 5 stars

 

 

 

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February 5, 2013 · 10:38 am

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding (Tales of the Ketty Jay #1)

Chris Wooding

Retribution Falls gave me book hangover. Right now I am so disinterested in reading any other book but the sequel (The Black Lung Captain), but I can’t read that until I get paid and can go buy it this weekend.

I forget where exactly I first saw a review for this book, but it described it as a little bit of Firefly, Pirates of the Caribbean, and steampunk mashed up into one book and that reviewer wasn’t far off. How can you not want to read a book that’s described like that??? I went to the library that day and checked it out. Anyways, so this book is about Captain Darian Frey and his airship the Ketty Jay. Frey has assembled a rag-tag crew who are all running from something – there’s the new navigator Jez who’s hiding a secret, Crake is a daemonist on the run with his armored golem, Malvery is a doctor trying to drink his guilt away, and there are a couple other crew members as well. When someone offers Frey a job that seems too good to be true, he takes it up – not telling his crew that it would make him much richer. But when the job goes wrong, Frey and his crew become Vardia’s new Most Wanted and they’re dodging  bounty hunters and the Century Knights. Frey realizes that he was set up, but it takes some investigating and the crew learning to work together to uncover the truth that will hopefully set them all free.

I loved this book.  I can’t think of a bad thing to say about it. The story starts off a bit slow, but that’s okay because (this being the first steampunk-ish novel I’ve ever read) it allowed me to get used to the world, setting, and characters. Getting to know each of the characters was fun and exciting, as they’re all complex and have secrets and mysteries in their past and I liked guessing what they were before they were eventually revealed. They all have faults, which makes them realistic. Even though they all start off very divided, the crew really does slowly come together over time and the book ended with such a feeling of camaraderie that I had a big smile on my face, and a desperate need to get to the sequel to see what happens to them next. I’m not even sure who my favorite character is – Frey, Jez, and Crake are all so awesome in different ways.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the plot and story, and this is probably why I like pirates and anti-heroes. There was plenty of action and things never got boring. There were gun fights and situations that seemed hopeless. There are cutlasses and lever-action shotguns and a huge kick-ass golem. And I love that the book didn’t shy away from the gritty details in the fight scenes. I really liked that pretty much all the women introduced were totally kick-ass. I liked the little bits of steampunk machinery, daemonism, and magic. This would make a FANTASTIC movie or TV show.

Aahhhh I could go on about this book all day! There were so many good bits, and the writing was really good. Like I said, I never got bored. There were several parts that were wonderfully snarky and great, and I can’t wait to get my own copy of this book to re-read and underline the parts I like best. And I really, really cannot wait to go get the sequel in a couple of days and read it. For some reason the library system in my area doesn’t have the sequel or I’d be reading it already, but in all honesty I’m perfectly happy to go buy my own copy.

So, someone please read this? If you love Firefly and pirates and stories of people of shady moral character, this is totally the book for you.

 Okay, done fan-girling now.

Sarah Says: 5 stars

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January 3, 2013 · 2:59 pm

Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw

Jam 2

The apocalypse comes in the form of strawberry-scented, carnivorous jam. I don’t care what anyone says, this is a genius premise for a novel.

Travis wakes up one day and ends up watching his flatmate Frank get devoured by red jam. Going back to his apartment upstairs, he can see that jam has flooded the city as far as the eye can see. A rag-tag group of survivors join together, as they try to navigate the jam in search of different objectives – a place to survive, a hard drive from work, the truth about the jam, etc.

The idea for this book is SO genius. Apocalyptic fiction has gotten crazily popular these days, so much so that it all starts to sound the same. When I spotted this book in the bookstore and read the description, I was super excited to find something unique. The obstacles and problems that come with man-eating jam are so much more different from the zombie scenario we’ve all become so used to imagining. It’s basically a game of “The Floor is Lava” except you really will die if you touch it.

Sadly, Jam could have been better. Travis, the main character, is kind of a whiny beta male who becomes weirdly attached to a giant tarantula and basically every person he comes in contact with. The other characters are kind of one-dimensional – they each have a specific personality trait and that’s it. “Hey I’m the guy that’s going to be angry all the time.” “Hey I’m the girl that’s going to swear this is all a conspiracy.” and so on. Also, there’s one really weird and confusing section of the book about hipsters who form some sort of ironic cult, and that part of the book kind of dragged. It was also confusing as to why all the people went crazy SO fast, even though the whole book only spans about 9 days.

I still read this book really quickly (75% of it in just a day), because I wanted to know about the jam – how it came about, and whatnot. By the time it was all revealed in the last 40 pages or so, it seemed a bit anti-climactic. I enjoyed this book for the interesting idea, and for the dark, wry humor but overall it wasn’t the best*. Great premise, but not greatly executed.

Sarah Says: 2.5 stars

~Sarah

 

* Even though this book was a bit disappointing, Yahtzee Croshaw has another book called Mogworld out that I really want to try.

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December 17, 2012 · 5:10 pm

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

So many pretty covers... except for the green slime one.

So many pretty covers… except for the green slime one.

 

REMEMBER, THIS IS THE 7TH BOOK! IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE FIRST 6 THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. YOU KNOW, YOU SHOULD REALLY GO READ THE REST OF THE SERIES AND THEN COME BACK HERE, KAY?

 

Alright, I’m finally done re-reading the Outlander series! Since I spread it out over the last 2 years, I feel like it was a nice and relaxing. Now all I have to do is wait for the 8th book to come out, hopefully sometime next fall!

I’ve only read An Echo in the Bone once before (I’ve read all of the others in the series like 3 or 4 times at least), so I was really excited to see if my opinion of it has changed. And it has! But in case you’re interested, here’s the link to the review from the last time I read it, about 3 years ago. I was actually kind of nice in that review, because I remember being pretty angry about it. I was actually tempted to THROW the book at one point – but I didn’t of course, because it was a big beautiful hardcover.

ANYWAYS. A Breath of Snow and Ashes ended with Jamie & Claire’s house on Fraser’s Ridge burning down, them planning on going to Scotland to get Jamie’s printing press, and Brianna, Roger, and their kids head back to the present. Lots of upheaval, and right on the brink of the Revolutionary War.

A whole lot of stuff happens in this book, because there are four storylines. This really irritated me back when I first read the book. I love these books because I love Jamie and Claire, and it sucked that there was so much time dedicated to Roger/Brianna, Young Ian, and William/Lord John. Having re-read it, and at a much more leisurely pace than last time, it didn’t bug me quite as much. I think maybe I could have done without so many William/Lord John chapters, but I have a better appreciation for them now and their role in the overall story.

So, stuff that happens… well, Young Ian is finally healing after the disaster of his marriage to Emily, and that made me happy. He’s SUCH an awesome character, I really wish that Diana Gabaldon would write a whole series just for him. Or at least a novella. Jamie and Claire go through hell trying to make it across the sea to Scotland, including two major Revolutionary War battles (Ticonderoga and Saratoga). William is getting his first taste of being a soldier, and Lord John is of course working on some kind of political mystery that involves Fergus.

I liked this book a lot better than last time. I took time to appreciate the writing and just enjoy being with the characters again. These are the only books in which I actually MISS the characters when I’m not reading the books. They’re just so real. I’m already looking forward to my next big re-read in another year or two.

That being said, I have two main issues with this book:

1. That it ends on SO many cliffhangers. Diana doesn’t usually do that - all of the other books end on a solid note, with you looking forward to the next book but things more or less wrapped up for the moment. This one literally ends in the middle of a ton of action, confusion, and a ton of stuff happening. It feels… sloppy.

2. This is a big spoiler, but it’s the thing I dislike most in this book. Highlight if you want to read it… Claire heads back to America from Scotland, and Jamie follows later. Except Claire hears that the ship he was on went down and there were no survivors, so she thinks he’s dead. Soooo… she marries Lord John to protect herself and Fergus and his family, which I can understand. But… then her and Lord John sleep together, out of grief or whatever. WHAT. THE. FUCK. This whole situation makes no sense – Claire’s not stupid, she knows that in this day and age plans change and that even though that the ship he was SUPPOSED to be on, it doesn’t mean that he actually was on it. I guess it just bothers me that she so blindly accepts that he died, and she doesn’t even attempt to find out for sure. And then to go and sleep with Lord John, one of his good friends… just what the hell. This was totally unnecessary. UGH.

 

So yeah. I still have some complaints, but overall this book wasn’t as bad as I remember it being. With the exception of how rushed the ending was and that other thing that happens, I really enjoyed it. I can’t wait for Written in My Own Heart’s Blood to come out! I’m sure it’ll be the highlight of 2013.

 

Sarah Says: 4 stars

 

 

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