Book Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a fascinating and complex novel that explores the themes of war, trauma, morality, identity, and power. It gives us a deeper insight into the world of Panem and its history and the character of Coriolanus Snow.

The novel is divided into three parts: The Mentor, The Prize, and The Peacekeeper. Each part follows a different stage of Coriolanus’s life and shows how he changes over time. The book is written in a third-person limited point of view, which allows us to see Coriolanus’s thoughts and emotions but also keeps some distance from him—a sharp contrast from Katniss Everdeen’s first-person point of view in the original Hunger Games trilogy.

The story is more fast-paced and action-packed than The Hunger Games trilogy but still engaging and, at some points, suspenseful. It has many twists and turns that keep you guessing until the end. It also has some references and connections to the original trilogy that fans will appreciate.

The novel doesn’t follow a typical hero’s journey or a redemption story. It is more of a tragedy or a cautionary tale that shows how a person can become corrupted by their circumstances and choices. It does not justify or excuse Coriolanus’s actions or behavior but explains them.

It challenges us to think about our society and how we treat each other. It asks us to consider what makes us human or inhuman, what drives us to violence or compassion, and what shapes our identity or destiny.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a compelling and thought-provoking novel that will appeal to fans and newcomers to The Hunger Games series. It is a worthy addition to Suzanne Collins’s dystopian saga that will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about Panem and its people.

The book is available for purchase here: https://amzn.to/40eoLwe

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Book Review: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Murderbot is back! We are gifted with another episode in the series, and coming off the previous longer novel-length book, this installment is back to the novella format. Fugitive Telemetry follows the same basic formula of the earlier Murderbot Diaries, with Murderbot watching his video feed, learning about human behavior and life as he deals with the people, bots, and conflicts he encounters in this universe. However, this time, Murderbot plays the role of a detective to solve a mystery. His previous human characters are mentioned in the story, but the main focus is on a new cast of characters who are introduced throughout this book and are part of the mystery that needs to be solved. Without spoiling anything, the mystery gets resolved by this book’s end.

Unfortunately, it’s not that complex of a mystery. The author doesn’t drop clues to help the reader solve the mystery along the way, and this story doesn’t extend or contribute to a larger storyline. This book doesn’t deliver on the hopes of continuing some larger or overarching Murderbot plot and story. These books are primarily character-based and not plot-based. While some good world-building exists, it doesn’t connect the dots with the plot and setting to some more significant story. The dystopian GrayCris corporation aspect is still present, and we understand how evil they are. Murderbot’s rogue nature of disabling his governor module and his return to Dr. Mensah and his original humans is present. However, the story doesn’t move much further to setup up some meaningful end or new beginning. Still, I had hoped for a more significant overarching story, but we don’t get that, and I don’t think we ever will for this series. So instead, we get more of an episodic type of adventure, with mostly self-contained stories from book to book. You could start or stop reading each one and still get a sense of what’s going on.

In summary, Fugitive Telemetry delivers another episode of the antics of Murderbot, a likable character I can relate to. In this book, he is as sarcastic and awkward as ever and involved in a murder mystery. The book is quick and fun to read, and enjoyable. The episodic nature of the stories is starting to feel repetitive, and some of the magic that captured my attention in the first few books is beginning to fade. However, if you like Murderbot and love the novella format, and want to spend a few hours escaping back to Murderbot’s world, then I still recommend this book. I give this one three stars. I liked it, but it’s more of the same. Not bad, Not spectacular, but simply it’s a good read!

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Book Review: Network Effect by Martha Wells

Network Effect by Martha Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Murderbot story continues in Network Effect, and much to my delight, it’s a full-length novel rather than a novella as the previous installments of this series. Murderbot has grown significantly, yet he still has that petulant child-like distaste for everyone else, primarily humans, and has awkward relationships with other robots. In addition, Murderbot suffers from anxiety and depression and a longing to be free, so he disabled the governor module in his SecBot technology. However, Murderbot’s usual MO in the past books is different in this book, and it’s terrific. Again, we have friendly and hostile humans and friendly and hostile bots. We also get an old friend who’s altered and makes Murderbot grow up a little and expand himself in ways we may not have expected, but that is fantastic. Still socially awkward. He’s developing and maturing a bit if you can believe that.
This story breaks out of the mold of the previous books and does so in a delightful way. While Murderbot still prefers to watch his video feed than do anything else, avoids humans as much as possible, and still has a depressive, snarky attitude, his story is much different in this book. There are ties to characters from the previous books, both AI and Human. There are, for the first time, some different perspectives in the storytelling in ways that might have been confusing but did not detriment the plot or the action in any way. Unfortunately, there were a few moments of slag in the middle. Fortunately, the slow pace was only sustained for a short time and eventually picked up very quickly in the book’s third act, cumulating into a wild ride and a remarkably satisfying finale with a hook that makes me want to read the next book.
I was glad to read this installment of the series. I have been enjoying the adventures of Murderbot. While reading the last book, I wanted to know if something different would happen soon or if there was a setup of something more to come. This book answered those questions and more and delivered the action, tension, suspense, comedy, and some of the meaning of [bot] life! I recommend this book to anyone interested in Sci-Fi Opera, who has already read the previous Murderbot Books and liked them, or even those who read the last book or two in the series and started to get turned off. If that describes you, you will get sucked back into this series after reading this book.

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Book Review: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This 3rd book in the Murderbot series started at a slower pace than the previous two books. However, it picks up the pace after chapter 3 to an eventually satisfying ending.

The new side character bot, Miki, is in stark contrast to Murderbot. They are practically the opposite of each other, and it meshes together epically.

I love how Murderbot was nothing to do with anyone, yet Miki wants to be friends with everyone, including Murderbot. There’s an engaging dialog between these two characters that is entertaining.

I felt this book is setting up a larger story ark for Murderbot and there is a much more intense story coming. I only discovered this series in January 2023, so I need to catch up on the rest of this series.

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Book Review: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Murderbot Diaries started awesomely, and the awesome sauce continues to flow. I enjoyed this book so much, and l love the interaction between the robots. The interaction between robots and humans is nice, but robots with some organic parts talking to other robots, fighting, commiserating, plotting, threatening, and essentially committing crimes together are off the charts!

It’s exhausting being a Murderbot! This is a concept I can relate to as a human!

ART is an awesome character, and the friendship developed with Murderbot is a rich element of this story. The books are short but just the right size in retrospect to make me keep wanting to read what comes next for the Murderbot!

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Book Review: Legacy (Stellar Heritage #1) by Bob Mauldin

Legacy by Bob Mauldin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a good space opera—nothing extraordinary, mind you, but a solid read. Earthlings find an alien spaceship, and all the aliens are dead except for one, who happens to transfer the ship’s “captain command” to one of our main characters, Simon and Kitty. The ship’s computer, recognizing a new captain and somehow understanding basic English already, begins to assist Kitty and Simon in “commandeering” the ship. They decided the best course of action is to take over the ship instead of turning it over to the US government. Then the drama starts. Kitty and Simon take over the ship and learn how to operate it. The ship’s main computer instructs them, sort of like the “Computer” on Star Trek (there are many similarities to Star Trek in this book), and the humans somehow fully understand everything the ship says and become spaceship pilots almost instantly (huh?)

The story turns into a fight between the newly formed Terran Alliance and the suspicious United States government. The Terran Alliance is formed by the trio, Simon, Kitty, and their friend Lucy, who took over the alien spacecraft and the 1000s of people they recruit over time. The US government is pissed off that these US citizens did not turn over the craft to the government. Fearing World War three would break out, Simon and Kitty tell the US they are keeping the ship and will share what they learn about the technology with all the governments, in effect all of the people of Earth, not just the US, so no one country gains a military advantage that another country would see as an apocalyptic threat. This becomes the main conflict in the story.

I won’t recount the rest of the story to avoid spoiling anything, but the action is mostly at the end. One thing I kept wondering the whole time is what alien race presumably loses contact with a fully functional colony-building spaceship and leaves it? One of the events at the story’s beginning hints at what may have happened to the ship’s original crew, but the story takes place over several years, and we are left wondering why no aliens have come to Earth to collect their spaceship!

The middle part dragged a bit (it was painful at some points with mundane actions) with the ongoing day-to-day of building colonization and military spacecraft, but the interactions between the characters kept me reading. Kitty, Simon, and Lucy were all well-developed characters, and their interaction with other characters is enjoyable to read.

The ending gives us a shocking and unexpected twist, at least for me. And I am not 100% certain that the setup for book two is a good enough hook, but I’ll find out if I decide to read on in the series.

One thing that was hard to get past was how fast the people on the ship, even with the ship’s computer, were so easily able to build more spaceships and adopt the technology. That part was a bit too “perfect,” I think it made the weight of the story a tad less believable for a Sci-Fi space opera.

Overall, I liked the story. The audiobook had a preview of the next book in the series, which was a bit more of a hook to read book two than the events at the end of the book. Most likely, I will continue with the series since the opening chapter of book two provided a few answers about the aliens who originally built the captured spaceship.

If you have some time and don’t want a book you will read through in a single day but want to enjoy a good space opera, I recommend giving this book a chance. Stick with it if you sort of drift in the middle, as near the end, it gets picked up again.



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Book Review: Big Damn Hero by James Lovegrove and Nancy Holder

Big Damn Hero by James Lovegrove
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I miss Firefly so much and finally, I stumbled upon this book series. I was so excited to get back into the verse and this book did not disappoint. The characters are written expertly and the author and narrator give you the same feeling that you get when you watch the TV show.

This book did not disappoint and I’ve made the entire series part of my “must-read” list. Any Firefly flan would love the book and look forward to the rest of the series!

I give this one five well-deserved stars!

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Book Review: Zone War written by John Conroe

Zone War by John Conroe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not bad! Not totally awesome, but not bad. I this book because I love John Conroe’s Demon Accords series.. while this is a different universe, shares the author’s same style of writing. Some small distractions however are pervasive, some ideas reused from Demon Accords. Ricki for example and Ajaya’s IA – are very similar to characters in Demon Accords (draw parallels to Declan and Omega, the drone technology, the explicit descriptions of weapons & ammo…

Overall I enjoyed the story and it kept my interest, but I only give the book three stars. Nothing– actually compelled me to keep turning the pages, no suspense, no page-turning, hurry up and read foreshadowing, etc. It was kind of more cookie-cutter interesting. All in all, I’d recommend for a fun read will continue to follow and read John Conroe as I got really hooked with Demon Accords and think he will get better and better as the year’s progress in his other works.

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Book Review: Dragonflight by Anne McAffrey

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I just could not get into this book or stay interested beyond basic curiosity as I’ve heard so much about this series. Perhaps I need to give it another try sometime. I did listen to the audiobook narrated by Adrienne Barbeau and this recording is quite old and considered an abridged version, perhaps that had something to do with it. She spoke fast and it made everything seem fast-paced and I found it hard to follow at times. It did take a bit of time to get used to some of the Pern terminology which also made context in the setting challenging at first. Overall I can see the appeal of the mash-up of sci-fi (deep-space colonization, long-forgotten planets, etc.), fantasy (dragons, dragon riders, dragon-human mind psychic link) and romance (though if I understood right, some non-consensual romance took place among dragons and then among dragon riders, which was not something I expected to read.) Overall I would say this was an okay read, I may read it in text or ebook again in the future to see if my opinion changes but at this point, I have no desire to move on through the series or other books about Pern.

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Book Review: Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson

Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting tale on the Origins of Phasma. She came from a dying planet and basically betrays everyone she’s ever loved to get inducted as a Stormtrooper in the First Order. Her need to advance and rise above everyone else is portrayed as a Machiavellian concept, specifically “the end justifies the means” and we see exactly how ruthless Phasma is.

One thing that was a bit disappointing with the book is that it was mainly told as a flashback story in what I imagine is third person present tense verse and was a bit peculiar to read at first.

The story unfolds through the eyes of a Resistance member, Vi Moradi. After a brief conversation and new orders of a short mission from General Leia Organa, Vi speeds off in hyperspace to spy on some First Order ships.

Vi’s ship is quickly captured by a tractor beam from a First Order ship called the Absolution. Vi is removed from her ship and detained by the mysterious red armored Stormtrooper, Cardinal.

Cardinal brings Vi to the deepest recesses of the Absolution without orders or permission, goes rogue, interrogates and tortures Vi into giving him information that will reveal some weakness or incriminating evidence that Phasma is not all that she appears to be.

Cardinal has some personal beef with Phasma and feels she is replacing him and making him obsolete. Cardinal was recruited to the First Order by Brendol Hux (father of Armitage Hux) and rose through the ranks of the First Order. Starting out as just another Stormtrooper, Cardinal became a Captain and was given special red Stormtrooper armor to raise his status higher than all the rest of the Stormtroopers.

Cardinal also ran the Stormtrooper training program for all the young children the First Order “rescues” and recruits. When these Stormtroopers are old enough, they are transferred to Phasma’s training program to turn these soldiers into true killers, something Phasma excels at.

Most of the book covers Cardinal’s interrogation of Vi. Vi tells Cardinal the story of Phasma, starting some 10 years ago on Phasma’s home planet of Parnassos. This is the main setting of the book. It covers events that show us how Phasma as a child betrayed her parents and her tribe. In secret she made some pact with the Scyre people to defeat her tribe and kill her parents all so that she could join the ranks of the Scyre.

In doing this, she maimed her brother and shoved him off a precipice where he would be injured but not killed. Phasma must have perceived some value in Keldo because he is the only one she sacrificed when she betrayed her people. Phasma sides with the Scyre people and eventually her and Keldo rise to co-lead the Scyre.

Vi also tells Cardinal how the Scyre people, including Phasma witness a shooting star falling from the sky. This is Brendol Hux’s ship crash landing on Parnassos. This event leads to a split in leadership in the Scyre between Phasma and Keldo, where Phasma branches off with a small contingent of her people to pursue the ship.

These events lead up to Phasma meeting Brendol Hux and the plot then turns toward a race for the different Scyre and other factions on Parnassos to get to Brendol’s ship. Phasma’s goal is to get off world. The other factions see the ship as a way to get supplies and continue their fruitless existence on their dying planet.

After many more story elements, everything leads up to a battle at the crash site of Brendol’s ship. (Which, incidentally happens to be Palpatine’s old Naboo Cruiser). In the ensuing events, we learn how ultimately Phasma betrays the Scyre people too, murdering her brother Keldo and leaving the planet to start a new life in the First Order with Brendol Hux as her benefactor.

The events that shape Phasma into what she becomes in the First Order are somewhat long and drawn out in the story, but it does it in a way that makes you either love or hate Phasma in the end.

The story eventually comes back to the present where we see Cardinal confront Armitage Hux and eventually Phasma.

The story leaves some loose ends, so I’m curious to hear about the fate of certain characters, including Cardinal.

Overall this was a fine Star Wars story. If you are into origin stories and you really like the character Phasma, then this book is one you must read.

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