Category: Science Fiction

Starter Villain – John Scalzi – Another Winner for Scalzi

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Starter Villain - John Scalzi

 

So on Friday January 12 I finished reading my second book for 2024, John Scalzi’s Starter Villain. It is the ninth book by Scalzi on my Goodreads shelves. I began reading Scalzi’s books in 2008. The first book I read was Old Man’s War.  that book among the others in the Old Man’s War series may still be my favorites written by Scalzi.

The hero of the book, well maybe not a hero, let’s just say main character of the book is Charlie Fister. Charlie is  a divorced ex-newspaper  journalist. Who is now a substitute teacher living with his cat. A house his siblings want to sell.  All Charlie wants is to buy and run  a pub downtown. But the cost is astronomical  and his only collateral for a bank loan is the house he lives in, which his estranged siblings want to sell!

Then his estranged Uncle Jake dies and leaves Charlie his business. Charlie realizes he may be in trouble, when he’s asked to represent the family at his uncle’s memorial service. At the service, first it was the message sent on a vase of flowers. The message See You in Hell” During the visitation, one guest checks Jake’s pulse another tries to stab him! It seems his uncle was not too popular. “

When Charlie is whisked away to his uncle’s island (I won’t  tell you why) he learns Uncle is a “villain”. Additionally, the people who were out to get Jake are out to get his heir, i.e. Charlie. Can Charlie survive??

Thoughts on Starter Villain

Starter Villain is the ninth book written by John Scalzi I have read. While I enjoy his hard science a little more I also enjoy his other books.I thought The Kaiju Preservation Society was a great read.  The book was nominated for a Goodreads Award as Best Science Fiction book of the year so others liked it, too. It finished as the 8th most popular book.

Starter Villain reminds me a lot of The Kaiju Preservation, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps until she becomes involved with the Society.  Cuarlie on the other hand is an ex-journalist stuck working as a substitute teacher. Both are characters that you can root for as they both face formidable opponents.

John Scalzi’s sense of humor always comes out in his characters and it certainly does in Charlie Fister. It certainly is one of the aspects of Scalzi’s books I love.

Even though I keep waiting for something big to happen in Starter Villain, overall i was satisfied with the surprising final twist at the end. Actually, the more I think about the book the more I realize that I really liked the book.

In 2023 Starter Villain was also nominated for the best science fiction book at Goodreads. This time Scalzi’s book finished fourth in the voting. So check it out.

Links for the Further Exploration of the Books of John Scalzi

Author’s Website:
Whatever::John Sclazi’s Blog
Goodreads
Amazon
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The Last Odyssey Takes Me to Greenland the Mediterranean and More!

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Tje Last Odyssey - James Rollins

The Last Odyssey (Sigma Force # 15) James Rollins

So this is the second of James Rollins’s Sigma Force thrillers I’ve read in 2020, While I was waiting for The Last Odyssey to become available from my library, I read The Bone Labyrinth, which had been on my TBR shelves for a long time. I’m actually glad I read The Bone Labyrinth recently because a character from that book makes a repeat appearance in The Last Odyssey. So  everything that she was Involved in was still fresh in my memory!

The Last Odyssey First Stop Greenland

Anyway in The Last Odyssey I was taken first to Greenland. In Greenland in an unground caverns below a glacier where an ancient ship is discovered by a group of scientists.

….. The ship’s hold contains a collection of even older artifacts—tools of war—dating back to the Bronze Age. Inside the captain’s cabin is a magnificent treasure that is as priceless as it is miraculous: a clockwork gold map imbedded with an intricate silver astrolabe. The mechanism was crafted by a group of Muslim inventors—the Banū Mūsā brothers—considered by many to be the Da Vincis of the Arab world—brilliant scientists who inspired Leonardo’s own work.

Once activated, the moving map traces the path of Odysseus’s famous ship as it sailed away from Troy. But the route detours as the map opens to reveal a fiery river leading to a hidden realm underneath the Mediterranean Sea. It is the subterranean world of Tartarus, the Greek name for Hell. Read More at Goodreads

A US senators daughter is sent to evaluate the find. However, someone else wants the artifact and soon the scientists are attacked and the artifact stolen. The attackers also kidnap the Senator’s daughter.

The Sigma Force members are sent to rescue the  senators daughter and to beat the thieves to the gates of Tartarus! Where ever that may be!

 Next Stops Italy , Turkey, the Mediterranean and Morocco

Soon I was taken to the Pope’s summer residence outside of Rome, and an underground city in Turkey. Finally,  I was traveling along with the Sigma Force members across the Mediterranean heading for the Gates of Hell

Final Thoughts

Once again James Rollins creates a pulse-pounding adventure that blends some historical reality with Rollins’s own created reality. And at the story’s  end he explains to the read what’s true (which is sometimes several things of which you shake your head and say “ that’s true?) and what’s fiction, over several pages

The characters in Rollins’ books are always well-developed and engaging. Plus there’s always a lot of mayhem created. Finally, when all is said and done and I  can relax and catch my breath, I always find that I’ve learned something new!

While The Last Odyssey can be read as a stand-alone book, I would suggest reading The Bone Labyrinth first.  So check both out!!

Author’s Website

Amazon
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Goodreads;

James Rollins

About James Rollins

Born: 1960 (age 64 years), Casino, Australia

Notable awards: The CWA Gold Dagger, 2015, 2020

Notable works: Life or Death

Book 1 of 2020 Barry J Hutchinson’s The Search for Splurt

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So every once in a while I need to take a break from all the murder and mayhem that I read about. Sometimes that break is taken even while staying in the genre and I’ll read a book that’s part of a mystery series like a Stephanie Plum book from Janet Evanovich or one featuring Parnell Hall’s Stanley Hastings or Cora Fenton the Puzzle Lady

. But the fist book of 2020 was an outer space adventure from Bruce J Hutchinson Space Team:The Search for Splurt

The Search for Splurt

The Search for Splurt is the third book in Barry Hutchinson’s Space Team series. The series features Cal Carver a petty-criminal accidentally turned space adventurer. In this episode Cal leads his motley crew on the Shatner on a suicide mission to find his shape shifting  friend Splurt.

Splurt had been captured by the the elderly assassin, Lady Vajazzle, and the evil Zertex corporation. He was to be transported to Zertex’s home base, but the ship never arrived.

After arriving at the Zertex base , where Cal is a wanted criminal, he discovers coordinates where Splurt may be. Cal manages to escape from the Zertex President and leaves their base with Zertex fighters on the Shatner’s tail! Arriving at the coordinates Cal and his crew find nothing but a wormhole. So to escape the Zertexs, the Shatner enters the wormhole, Coming out of the wormhole they crash into a very inhospitable planet. Can Splurt be there? And can Cal and his crew survive long enough to find him?

The Bottom Line

While The Search for Splurt did not walk away with any major literary awards, it’s.a winner with me! Goodreads writes this about the series..

….the laugh-out-loud sci-fi adventure series from the author critics are calling ‘the new Douglas Adams.’ 

I must admit that several times I did laugh out loud!
I enjoy everything about this series. It has loads of humor and a great cast of characters.

I believe the book could be read as a stand-alone, However, since it’s only the third book in the series and the books are short, I would recommend reading the first two books before reading The Search for Splurt. So Check it Out!  As for me, I’m ready to move on to book four of the series Song of the Space Siren!

Links for Further Explorations of the Books of  Barry J Hutchinson

Author’s Website

Facebook

Instagram

Amazon

Book 2 – Other Worlds Reading Challenge – Way Station – Clifford D Simak

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The other day I finished Way Station by Clifford D. Simak. It is the second book in my June-July  “Other Worlds” while Reading Challenge.I didn’t visit any “other worlds” in the novel, but there are beings from other worlds in the book.

Way Station – Clifford D Simak

 

Way Station by Clifford D Simak is based on the premise that there are millions of sentient being throughout the universe These beings travel from world to world via transporter  like machines. In order to travel to far reaches of the galaxy it is necessary to make frequent stops at Way stations along the way.

On Earth there is one way station. It’s located in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin and has been manned by Civil War veteran Enoch Wallace for the last 100 years.

Throughout the years, Enoch has met a variety of alien species almost all of which are far more developed than residents of Earth. Some have passed through only once while others have stopped several times and even become friends with Enoch. Most have left gifts for Enoch.

But now after all these years someone is watching Enoch and the watcher may have discovered something in Enoch‘s Family graveyard that could put Enoch‘s Way Station in jeopardy.

Additionally, the Inter-Galaxic Council, for which Enoch works is in turmoil. There is also a throughout the Galaxy.The reason is that the Talisman that connects beings to the universal spiritual force is missing.

Earth, as well, is on the verge of war. Ulysses the being who recruited Enoch to be the Station master gives Enoch a possible solution that will end all war. But the solution may be worse than war! Can Enoch speak for the whole world and accept the solution???

In addition to being under surveillance by the watcher, Enoch’s Way Station is also being threatened by a neighboring farmer. The neighbor is upset because Enoch has befriended the neighbor‘s deaf mute daughter. Enoch had previously saved the daughter from her violent father after he beat her and called her a witch.

Final Thoughts

 

Simak weaves all the various threads presented throughout Way Station into a satisfying ending for Way Station. It  left me wanting to know more about the aliens who visited the station and the Inter-Galactic council

Clifford Simak wrote Way Station in 1963 and I think it holds up really well. One aspect of Way Station  that stood out very early to me (uh, like in the first paragraph) was Simak‘s intricate and beautiful prose.

I also enjoyed the character of Enoch Wallace. Although I find it a little hard to fathom that somewhere in those 120 years he didn’t tell someone about the world out there! Even if it was only in a book! And what a book he could have written!!

Anyway Way Station is certainly a four star out of five book for me. I also know I will be reading more from this master of science fiction.

Way Station and My Reading Challenges

 

Way Station is book two in my mini- June July Other World’s Reading Challenge. Overall it is book 30 of 2018. The Book falls in overall in the Science Fiction Challenge.  The sub-Challenge it belongs is the Classic Science Fiction authors whose works I have not read Challenge. It is the first book in that category. The Challenge is to read five books in that category.

About Clifford D Simak

 

Clifford Donald Simak (/ˈsɪmək/;[1] August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award.[2][3] The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master,[4] and the Horror Writers Association made him one of three inaugural winners of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement  Read More

Dark Run – Mike Brooks (Keiko Book #1)

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Dark Run – Mike Brooks Leaves Me Ready for Book # 2 

Last week I checked out  Dark Run by Mike Brooks from my library. I was not looking for a science fiction book, when I spotted the book. But after reading a couple of the quotes on the back of the book, I was intrigued. This is the one that won me over…..

“Dark Run is a thrill ride of non-stop action, wisecrackery, and adventure in the vast vaults of outer space. I look forward to revisiting Ichabod Drift and the crew of the Keiko time and again” – Luke Scull author of the Grim Company

After finishing Dark Run this morning I think that the first part of this quote is a bit of an overstatement.But I do agree with Mr Scull in that I am look forward to meeting the Keiko crew again! I can do that in Dark Sky, the second book in the series.

The Story Line – Too Simple?

Overall, I thought that the story was a little simplistic. The Keiko, a ship of smugglers, soldiers of fortune, and con-artists. Each, crew member, including Captain Drift has a mysterious past. Soon Drift’s past catches up with him. He is blackmailed into delivering a mysterious load of cargo to Amsterdam on Old Earth. The cargo must arrive at a specific time and the Keiko must be unseen. It’s called a Dark Run!  But things don’t go too well and soon the Keiko is a hunted ship and crew. And they will need to use their wiles to get revenge on the man who set them up!

It often takes me some time to get acclimated to the new worlds and characters in a science fiction book. That was the case in Dark Run. I enjoyed the second half of the book a lot more than the first half. I enjoyed Dark Run a lot more once I got to know the crew members of the Keiko. The wise-cracking (which wasn’t as much as I thought it would be) also became more enjoyable,.

Bottom Line

Dark Run was a 3-star book for me. That means that I liked it, but not all that much. Like I said the story line was pretty straight forward, with not a lot of twists and turns. I liked the characters, including Captain Drift even though, like his crew, I didn’t like the secret that he had been hiding!

So I guess I will check out Dark Sky but I have about six other books, checked out of the library to read first! I tell you all about them in a little while or maybe tomorrow!

Links for the Further Explorations of the Works of Mike Brooks

Author’s Website
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon

 

Reading Challenges – Late September Update

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 Reading Challenges Three Books Finished in September – Thirty-Eight for 2015!

This afternoon I finished John Scalzi’s The Last Colony It is the third book that I have read in September and the 38th book finished in 2015. The other two books finished this month are Better Than Before from Gretchen Rubin and Robert Ludlum‘s The Matarese Circle.

I had planned to read both The Last Colony and Better Than Before. The two other books that I had planned to read for my reading challenges were Mayhem a historical fiction read and The Lost Triumph a nonfiction read about the Battle of Gettysburg.  While I started both books, neither caught my attention strongly enough to keep reading either of the books. I have been reading two other books though. The Shining Girls from Lauren Beukes and Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol.  Both of these books have been really good and I hope that I can finish either one or both of them before the end of the month!

Tonight I checked on the two books I have requested from the library,  Alex Kava‘s Silent Creed and Broken Promise from Linwood Barclay, Silent Creed is ready for pickup and I am now third in the que for Broken Promise! So I will go and pick up the Kava book tomorrow and who knows how quickly I can read that one!!

Here is an update on my various reading challenges….

Reading Challenge From TBR Pile Buy/Library Total Goal %complete
2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge 0 5 5 11 45%
2015 Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge 7 15 22 23 96%
2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 1 2 3 5 60%
2015 Science Fiction/Fantasy Challenge 3 4 7 12 58%
No Reading Challenge 0 1 1 0 100%
Totals 11 38 51 75%

While I have read 38 books in 2015 only 37 of them count toward my reading challenges. As a result I need to read 14 more books to reach my goal of 51 books read. Six of those final books need to be nonfiction. one a cloak and dagger book, two historical fictions and five science fiction books. All of the books need to be from my TBR shelves to meet the TBR challenge total of 25 books!!

So for the remainder of the month I will continue to read The Shining Girls and Amazing Grace and start Silent Creed  In the meantime I will look over my TBR shelves for some nonfiction, historical fiction and sci-fi! Hum, The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War looks interesting!!!

Wish Me Luck!!

Dark Intelligence – Neal Asher

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Dark Intelligence – Transformation Book One – Neal Asher

Rating *****

Dark Intelligence - Neal Asher

 

Several weeks ago I picked up Neal Asher’s latest book Dark Intelligence in the library and read these quotes, first on the back cover.

“What has six arms, a large beak, looks lie a pyramid, has more eyes than you’d expect, and talks nonsense? If you don’t know then 1) you should 2) you haven’t been reading Neal Ashers (see point 1)” – Jon Courtenoy Grimwood, author of The Fallen Blade.

and from David Brin on the front cover

“Asher rocks with XXX adrenaline while delivering a vivid future….”

Well, I couldn’t answer the first question and I haven’t read Neal Asher, so I thought I maybe I should and now I’m glad I did. Dark Intelligence is set in Asher’s Polity Universe. Asher has written 14 books other books set in the same universe. So while the book is Transformation Book One, it could be labeled Polity #15.

The Story

Dark Intelligence begins one hundred years after the war between humans and pradors has ended. Theovold Spear died in that war, he was killed along with his fellow soldiers who had been awaiting rescued by the AI Penny Royal. But when Penny Royal arrived she has gone rogue and slaughtered the soldiers instead of saving them. One hundred years later, Theovold Spear has been resurrected and he wants revenge for that massacre! His plan is to commandeer Penny Royal’s abandoned destroyer and use it to destroy the dark intelligence that is Penny Royal.

Meanwhile, Isobel Santomi runs a successful crime syndicate. Like many she wants it all and to get it she goes to Penny Royal for help! She asked Penny for upgrades to her being, only Penny went far beyond what Isobel wanted and now she is slowly transforming into something the is very powerful, very non-human and well flat-out hideous! Something that only wants to rip and kill!!

When Theovold Spear uses Isobel’s hatred of Penny Royal to help him gain control of the destroyer, and then leaves Isobel and her crew stranded in space., well he really pisses off Isobel. Now out Isobel sets out to hunt down both Spear and Penny Royal!! So off they go Spear chasing Penny Royal, and the ever-transforming Isobel chasing Spear and Penny Royal!!! Can Spear  find and destroy Penny Royal before being caught and destroyed by Isobel!!

My Thoughts About – Dark Intelligence

I marvel at authors who can create different universes, populated by strange aliens and Neal Asher does that with the best of them!! This was the first book by Asher that I have read, and while it was confusing at times, mostly because I am unfamiliar with the Polity Universe, I was totally engrossed by the story. I found the transformation of Isobel to be most fascinating and beautifully described! I have already returned to the Polity Universe, as I started to read Prador Moon a few days ago and I already understand some things, like the augs better!!

Bottom Line: If you enjoy worlds were strange aliens like the crab-like Prador battle humans then you will like Dark Intelligence  and the Polity Universe found in  the works of Neal Asher!! One final quote about the work of Neal Asher…..

“Asher has lit up the sky of science fiction like a new sun” – Tanith Lee

I know that he has re-ignited a passion for science fiction in this old guy……so check him out!!…

Book 29 for 2015 – Book 4 of 12 in my Science Fiction Reading Challenge!

 

The Martian – Andy Weir

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The Martian – Andy Weir – Book 27 of 2015 No 4 of Science Fiction Reading Challenge

 

One of my resolutions for 2015 was to read more science fiction. It is a genre that I have read and loved in the past  I have read the classics by authors like Frank Herbert, Arthur C Clarke and Robert Heinlein along with authors like David Brin and Orson Scott Card, but  through the years that amount of SciFi that I read dwindles down to almost nothing. I say almost because I have read several boos by John Scalzi. Anyway, back at the beginning of the year I went looking for new science fiction to read and one book that kept appearing on several of the list of the Best Science Fiction was The Martian Andy Weir’s. The Martian became the 27th book I’ve read in 2015, and the fourth in the science fiction genre. Now I know what everyone has been raving about! The Martian is a terrific read!. It is by far my favorite SciFi read of the year and up there among my favorite overall reads!  My current SciFi read Dark Intelligence by Neal Asher is a close second!

For those of you who like me know little about The Martian, it is a Robinson Crusoe, Tom Hawks Cast Way type tale set on Mars. The Cast Away is Engineer Botanist Mark Watney  who is part of the third manned mission to Mars. After touchdown and setting up their base a violent sandstorm hits the base. The mission is canceled and the astronauts are ordered to leave the planet. As they are making their way to the shuttle craft, Mark is swept away by a 170 km/hr gust of wind and lost. The crew is unable to find him and he is assumed to be dead and buried. The crew reluctantly leave Mars. Only Mark IS alive and here’s what he thinks about his chances of surviving. From the opening paragraphs of The Martian.…..

chapter 1 - The Martian

When I started the book I didn’t;t think that Weir could make Watney’s tale of survival on Mars as compelling and interesting as he did. Watney would have to survive almost 4 years until the return of another manned Mars mission! He faced challenges like getting food to grow on a barren planet and making water without blowing himself up!  He battled everything the planet could trow at him with humor, ingenuity, duct tape, 70s disco music and TV shows!!

Some of my favorite lines from the book include……

“Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.”

“Actually, I was the very lowest ranked member of the crew. I would only be “in command” if I were the only remaining person.”
What do you know? I’m in command”

And as a Granddad I love this one…

“I can’t wait till I have grandchildren. When I was younger, I had to walk to the rim of a crater. Uphill! In an EVA suit! On Mars, ya little shit! Ya hear me? Mars!”

Bottom Line Rating ***** The Martian is everything that everyone says that it is, a compelling and suspenseful story of survival against incredible odds! One of the themes of the book is the question of whether it wise to save one person at an astronomical cost or to put more lives at risk for one man!

A movie based on the book is set for release in November with Matt Damon starring as Mark Watney, so hurry and go out and read the book. So that, when you see the movie you can say that the movie was good, but the book was better!! You can check out information about the movie here

Links for Further Exploration of The Martian and Andy Weir

Author”s Website
Goodreads: The Martian
Goodreads: Andy Weir

Revelation Space – Alastair Reynolds

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Alastair Reynolds  – Revelation Space (Book 7 of 2015)

Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds

 

So as I was coming to the end of Alastair Reynold’s Revelation Space when I thought to myself; which character am I rooting for?? I image that it’s supposed to be Dan Sylveste, who throughout the book has been obsessed with the Amarantin civilization. A civilization that was destroyed 900,000 years ago! Sylveste has spent a lifetime on Resurgam trying to uncover what happened to the Amarantin civilization. From what he has uncovered it appeared that The Event that destroyed their civilization occurred shortly after the civilization had achieved space flight!

I don’t think I should be rooting for  Ilia Volyova a member of the cyborg crew of the starship Nostalgia for Infinity, who along with her crew are headed for Resurgam to capture Sylveste and his father Calvin to force them to help restore the Captain of their ship who is a victim of the melding plague and  is now no more than an amorphous being!!  And then there’s Khouri, an assassin who was recruited by the Mademoiselle to kill Sylveste. Why?

So after the first 300 or so pages, I felt like……

 

Wtf wasthat

 

But I continued on and I think that around page 500 plus…… I think I finally understood what was happening maybe and then again maybe not??

Yes there were times when I thought that things were just a tad too confusing, especially when things went back and forward in time over the first half of the book, but like Sylveste I plodded on because I wanted to find out what was happening. I

needed to know why the Sun Stealer wanted Sylveste to continue on and why Mademoiselle wanted him dead! Which side was the right side?

Should Slyveste  be stopped no matter what, what would happen if he did discover how the Amarantin civilization perished!

Bottom line: Revelation Space was a 3 out of 5 book for me. DId I like it, yes. Was the final resolution satisfying for the most part yes. Did it leave me thinking about the history of the universe. Yes?

Do I want to read more books in the series? yes.I think really the main aspect of the book that I didn’t like was that there really wasn’t any character that I cared about!

 Links for Further Exploration of the Works of Alastair Reynolds and Revelation Space

Website
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon

Fuzzy Nation – John Scalzi’s Reimagining of H. Beam Piper’s Little Fuzzy done well!

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Little did I know when I sat down to read Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi, that the story of Fuzzy’s story had been told before by H Fuzzy NationBeam Piper,in a very success trilogy starting with Little Fuzzy, and continuing in Fuzzy Sapiens and Fuzzies And Other People. (You can read more about H Beam Piper and his books at the H Beam Piper Memorial Website.). Even if I knew that the story was an update of these books, I don’t think that it would have hurt Scalzi’s marvelous re-imagining of their tale!

Fuzzy Nation is the tale of Jack Holloway and the Fuzzies. Jack is a contract surveyor for the ZaraCorp prospecting and surveying on Zara XIII and a general pain in the ass to most folks, including his employers, his ex-girlfriend and a former client he punched in the nose. The last action caused his disbarment and is the reason that he is a surveyor rather than a lawyer!  The story opens when Jack hits the virtual mother-load, a seam of rare sunstones, that will, when excavated make him rich beyond compare! On returning to his home, he finds it in disarray and that he has a fuzzy little visitor. A small cat-like creature that appears to be smarter and more human than your average cat or dog! Enter Isabel Wangai, ZaraCorp’s terrestrial biologist and Holloway’s ex-girlfriend, after naming a mountain on Zara XIII after Isabel, she had to sit by a watch ZaraCorp strip mine Mount Isabel in search of sunstones. The is only half of the reason that they broke up the other half is that Jack lied at a hearing, concerning Jack’s teaching his dog Carl to detonate explosives, , making Isabel look foolish! When Jack offers Isabel a sunstone she is not amused, Jack then intrigues her by telling her and asking her if see would like to study the fuzzies, to which she says certainly.

After studying the Fuzzies, Isabel concludes that they a people. Now the problems begin for Jack if  the Fuzzies are sentient beings then all work on the planet would stop and the resources of the planet would belong to the Fuzzies. That means that Jack would lose all his millions and ZaraCorp would lose billions. The remainder of the book deals with determining if the fuzzies are sentient and the ramifications thereof.  Soon the question becomes are the fuzzies people? What will Jack do will he try to stop the fuzzies from being declared people, what about Zara Corp???

This is a quick engaging,  enjoyable and very funny read. The characters including the fuzzies are well-drawn. Though he is a pain I liked Jack,and in turn Isabel and especially the fuzzies!! And like Scalzi’s other great books I have read Old Man’s War and Ghost Brigade Scalzi touches on themes concerning what it is to be human as well as corporate greed and responsibility without being overbearing!! All in all a great four star read!! Check it Out!!

P.S As I was preparing this post I went back and read the Author’s note at the beginning of the book which I just skipped over. I read the book on my iPhone, which is why I skipped the note. Anyway the note explains that the book is a reimagining of  Little Fuzzy rather than a sequel and that it is his hope that readers who have not read Little Fuzzy will be inspired to do so, since it is a wonderful book!  Since I have already scoured Amazon for Little Fuzzy I think he succeeded at least with this reader!!!

P.S.S. I would be interested to know the opinion of anyone who has read both books! Also this is book 21 of 2014! Now at three books per month!!!