Golden Son: Book 2 of the Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown

Golden Son: Book 2 of the Red Rising Trilogy.  Pierce Brown.  Random House Publishing House.  January 2015. 4 pp. hardback and e-book. ISBN #: 9780804177603.

In this second novel of the Red Rising trilogy, Darrow has become a member of the ruling Gold people.  His goal is based on the loss of his wife, Eo, who sacrificed her life that her song of freedom might be sung across the planet of Mars by the Reds yearning for freedom and other color segments of this society all serving the Golds.  Unfortunately, Darrow who was so successful in becoming a Gold in the former novel, Red Rising, has now failed his masters.  He has lost an important battle and is considered a failure and therefore is condemned to be an outcast.  As a result of the fact that he killed the brother of one of his former Gold friends, that family now wants nothing less than Darrow’s death!

In his escape Darrow is again thrown into association with the Reds.  While Darrow had been carrying out his previous schooling and battles with the Golds, the Reds were not sitting idle but decide to begin their revolution by specific killings. This in turn has focused attention on their rebels and it has been decided that all Reds must be eliminated.  Augustus, Darrow’s former master, has been manipulated by another foe who deliberately spread rumors and master-minded Darrow’s demise.  Now Darrow has no idea who is friend or foe!

The battles that now rage are literally fought for the future of who will rule Mars fairly or fiercely! Part of the Golds are based on former Roman rulers, even emulating their lost culture into reality on Mars.  Their prowess in battle is no less real and the reader will be flipping the pages as Darrow seeks to stay close to the Son of Ares and use him to free the Reds and destroy the Golds.  He is without old friends and he spends an inordinate amount of time reflecting (or whining, take your pick) about why he is now where he is.  Instead he now has new friends and even a new love! But then chaos, destruction and death by attack loom large in every corner and there’s no time to do anything but do more than survive, be victorious!

Golden Son is even more exciting than its predecessor and is recommended highly for all lovers of great science fiction! 

Gooseberry Island: A Novel by Steven Manchester

Gooseberry Island: A Novel. Steven Manchester. The Story Plant. January 2015. 300 pp.  ISBN#: 9781611881806.

In the perfect story, a man and women fall in love and live happily ever after! But life, in reality, throws its curve ball into every mix and couples need to surmount one or more challenges, to say the least.  David McClain and Lindsey meet on the night before David returns to his Ranger duties in the terribly threatening land of Afghanistan.  Previously, David has survived warfare as he’s very, very good at what he does.  David’s psyche, however, has changed since he fell in love.  In some ways, his relationship with Lindsey is the only hope he experiences in the nightmarish daily activities where fellow soldiers are kill or are killed or wounded.  Somehow now his sensitivity is enhanced and this tour is grossly different!

One of David’s buddies was constantly talking about how he needed to get back to his little daughter and wife who meant the world to him, proven by how often he pulled out their picture before and after a successful mission. But one day the work is interrupted and the buddy loses both his legs from an IED (improvised explosive device) and has a shattered body and psyche.  David’s job is to support his men and so he does on this occasion, only the mind and heart are the last to catch up with the easy platitudes offered to the wounded warrior. 

Eventually David will suffer his own physical trauma, but that is the least of his problems as once he returns to the United States worse follows!  This then is the story Steven Manchester, who actually served in the War in Afghanistan, has always wanted to tell.  For although American citizens have heard the term PTSD frequently, most really don’t have a clue about the horror it is to live with the memories, physical and mental reactions that accompany years of battle. The constant state of alertness required to avoid being killed by a sniper or awaiting IED is not left when one is homeward bound to the good ol’ USA.  Steven would have you read this novel to truly understand what the bang of a muffler or screeching brakes, etc. does to a wounded warrior. It’s a brutal recovery and one in which soldiers like David need constant support and retraining. It’s the test of love to see whether Lindsey will stay away as David commands or find a way to be there for her love in the ongoing nightmare of his life. Gooseberry Island is the perfect idyllic setting for healing to begin!

Steven Manchester tells David’s story realistically but without any extra drama as his story has enough horror in it for a lifetime.  This is the world being experienced by thousands of American soldiers, as well as the story of those Afghans trying to bring freedom and lack of fear to their daily lives.  Stunning read that needs to be read by Americans, no matter what political beliefs are held regarding whether or not we should have been or are serving in this non-stop war raging since 911. A MUST read!

Red Rising: Book 1 of the Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown

Red Rising: Book 1 of the Red Rising Trilogy.  Pierce Brown. Delray Press.  July 2014. 416 pp. hardback, paperback and e-book. ISBN #: 9780345539809.

On the planet of Mars, there are different colors or classes of people living, each with a very specific purpose.  Darrow, the protagonist, is a Red, one of the miners whose job is to work and obtain as many minerals as possible which eventually make the planet livable outside of the enclosed environments conducive to living and breathing in a foreign environment.  His wife is a quiet woman who dares to sing a song in public that will condemn her and Darrow is forced to watch and even participate in her execution.  Her song which symbolizes the Reds’ hope for freedom from their very harsh living conditions will be sung all over the planet despite the efforts of the ruling class to forbid it to be heard ever again.

So begins this very violent, strife-ridden science fiction novel in which Darrow himself escapes, is caught and condemned to die. He, however, will be rescued after his escape from death and transformed through an agonizing process into a superman belonging to another class, the Golds.  The description of his transformation is uncanny and the reader will hold his or her breath at the challenges inherent in each step of this phenomenal process!  One also learns about the functions of the other “colors” of people living in different carefully sectioned areas of Mars.

Now comes a greater challenge!  For Darrow has set his own personal mission, to destroy the Golds and earn freedom for his people in the Red Zone.  For that, Darrow will take on a new name and attend a Gold school where he is taught to be a killer and a master manipulator of whatever strengths and weaknesses appear in his presence.  Only the strong will survive this Darwinian gauntlet and appearances are deceiving in this battle. For the strong are really the pampered and the weak have powers and strategies indicating unusually sharp intelligence, all of which will be needed to emerge victorious from this phase.

Darrow fully engages in the complexities of this phase of his learning and the reader again is flipping the pages to see what happens next.  Each new battle phase is unexpected and therefore more riveting than the previous one.

Red Rising… is superb science fiction that would even make a great movie!  Highly recommended reading for all, especially science fiction fans!

Lyda: A Quest to Find Her Anunnaki Ancestors by Robert E. Bonson

Lyda: A Quest to Find Her Anunnaki Ancestors.  Robert E. Bonson. XLibris.  October 2014. 268 pp. paperback and e-book. ASIN #: B00P0LMYK8.

Lyda is a young, 30 year-old woman whose haunting dreams have led her to believe that she is the descendant of the ancient Anunnaki people, a group of extraterrestrial beings who came to Earth with a well-defined mission.  They would experiment with DNA and actually be responsible for creating men and women, servants who would be able to provide the mine materials the Anunnaki needed on their home planet.  But things go awry in this process and the Anunnaki historically create a flood that destroys most of Earth’s inhabitants at the time. Now Lyda is seeking to discover her background which involves a secret Amulet with supernatural powers from the Anunnaki.

She engages the help of an investigative author, Russell, and his fiancé Carol; a man, Fenton Stonefeather, who has the power to visualize places and objects from far away just by sitting near an envelope with minimal details about the condition in question; a clairvoyant, Clarene Davis; a former detective, Jim Menard; and the couple Alden and Jocelyn, who host this large group who will each contribute something to Lyda’s quest.

Now begins the battle, for there are warring divisions within the Anunnaki.  Two in particular want to find the Amulet and keep it from Lyda; these two have different reasons having to do with the Earth’s over-population and depletion of resources.  One will bring hope but the other unmitigated disaster!

Lyda… is a detailed read that also includes geography and history of the Mesopotamian area of the Middle East as well as the famous Epic of Gilgamesh.  To a large extent it’s based on Sumerian clay tablets that reveal secrets of the Anunnaki.  The essence of the story raises the question of whether or not this super-race of beings from another planet left behind a segment of humans specifically created to carry out Anunnaki plans for the planet and what may be the consequences if these plans fail.

Lyda is fascinating reading, especially for those who enjoy paranormal stories! Nicely done, R. Bonson!

A Year with Geno by Annette Drake

A Year With Geno.  Annette Drake. Baskethound Books.  June 2014. 415 pp. E-Book. ASIN #: B00L5XKU92.

Caroline Taylor has enough troubles with her unreliable ex-husband coming and going when he pleases, constantly disappointing her sons who sense he really doesn’t want to be with them.  His girlfriend makes things even worse.  Now Caroline finds out she’s going to be evicted because her landlord wants to move back into the house.  During her many dead-end attempts to find a decent place to visit she meets Air Force Sgt. Geno who seems to always show up just when she desperately needs help!  Eventually she agrees to rent his basement, with very clear rules so that neither encroaches upon the other’s space. That’s when the subtle passion rings and misunderstandings as well!

Geno’s ex-wife is living with a beer-slugging, crude boar.  While she has glimmers of his true personality, she seems blind or perhaps it’s the old story that she has nowhere else to go and no one else to take care of her. Her treatment of the children she had with Geno is also severely lacking.

No spoilers here.  Suffice to say that Caroline’s bully ex-husband is about to pose a serious challenge to her custody of their boys and Geno’s ex-wife gets dumped by her loser boyfriend only to reappear as a challenge to Caroline’s presence in Geno’s home.  Caroline will survive the bumps in her quest for a peaceful, loving home for her boys in the middle of this Eagle River, Alaskan community.

This is a simple story with a romantic edge constantly being thwarted by misunderstandings and ex-spouses whose sensitivity skills seem primitive, to say the least.

It’s worthy of note to see how the author writes in the voice of a male so well.  Geno is masculine but with an edgy sensitivity that entrances and frustrates Caroline. It takes a fine balance to achieve that mix which adds to the intrigue of this slowly sparking friendship and more.

A Year With Geno is a nice romantic read that will satisfy those who love a good old-fashioned passionately growing fire spiced with some credible family drama!

The Flight of the Silvers by Daniel Price

The Flight of the Silvers.  Daniel Price. Blue Rider Press.  February 2014. 608 pp. paperback and e-book. ISBN #: 9780399164989.

A cataclysm beyond imagination is about to occur in America and other places around the globe.  Before it happens, six young people will have different experiences in which they are surrounded by a bubble-like, clear globe that protectively encases them.  Those who are dying around them are unable to penetrate that formidable wall and those inside will have to watch a horrific scene of mayhem and destruction.  They are known as the Silvers and are transported to a small community setting in San Diego in what is known as Altamerica.  Over the next few weeks, they discover they have super-powers with mysterious and frustratingly purposeless repetition. 

One character can run at a speed ten times faster than her former human self.  One receives notes from herself and others about the past, present and future.  One learns to transport himself back to experiences that happened hours past or hours in the future.  Another can create a white structure capable of destroying something in her path but which only operates when she’s angry. On and on it goes.  It takes time for the leaders, or captors, of this community to reveal what they are experiencing and the physicist experiments they are invited to participate in to enhance scientific understanding of the rare phenomenon each is undergoing.  But all isn’t simple and there appears to be people outside of their community who suspect something more devious is being planned.

Add to the mix that history seems to have split down the middle since the middle of the twentieth century so that there are two stories of American history now known.

A grand, brutal, violent, bloody and death-dealing escape happens and the remainder of the story of the Silvers follows their journey across Altamerica as their captors pursue them, now planning destruction rather than scientific experimentation.

The characters Amanda and her sister Hannah, Zach, David, and Mia dominate the tale with other characters, all fueling the constant conflicts threatening to destroy their unified decision to seek the New York community that may help them prevent the future apocalypse that as been predicted.  This dynamic, intense, nerve-wracking and page-turning science fiction novel is the first of a planned trilogy and one which will make true science fiction lovers want to relish over and over, as well as hungrily anticipate the next part of the series.  There’s enough underpinning of quantum physics to make this novel about time and its mysterious elements highly credible and intriguing.

Very nicely crafted, Daniel Price and a winner about credible, fascinating science fiction!

Top Dog: The Story of Marine Hero Lucca by Maria Goodavage

Top Dog: The Story of Marine Hero Lucca.  Maria Goodavage. Penguin Group USA.  October 2014. 320 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9780525954361.

A follow-up book about canine warrior dogs serving in Afghanistan, Top Dog… continues the story with a detailed account of the service of dog handler Sgt. Chris Wilingham and his canine partner, Lucca.  Willingham is a Marine about to  add another phase to his military deployment by working with a German Shepherd-Malinois dog named Lucca.  Before their service, the author describes the intense training Willingham and other dog-handlers underwent in Israel, apparently the place where the wartime human-dog interaction has been mastered when training them to seek, find, defuse or implode IEDs, otherwise known as improvised explosive devices.  A beautiful, fragile and noble chapter describes how each dog handler bonds with the animal they will be working with in such intensely dangerous conditions.  It’s a bond for life, not just one created for a job.  We see how dogs liked Lucca were brilliantly successful, learning to love, trust and implicitly obey their handler’s orders.  We also see how the failures of other dogs would mean the death of dog, handler or both in the volatile conditions they were being trained to encounter and handle.

Lucca and Willingham travel for what will be two tours of Iraq.  The account describes the conditions of each mission, ranging from finding IEDs, finding those who are stealing and hiding weapons for battle, finding those insurgents who are attacking the military bases with mortars at all hours of day and night, and keeping a constant alertness to the presence of traitors and snipers in the most expected and unexpected moments.  The reader experiences the handlers’ pride in their pooches’ loyalty and faithful adherence to the task as hand, as well as the phenomenally intense anxiety-ridden moments constantly looming over every mission and even their “rest” periods when not out on the job. 

The story of Cory Wiens and his dog Cooper is told with sensitivity and nobility; it’s a story every reader will never forget.  The story of the trauma mentally and physically endured by the dog handlers will also remain a powerful memory for the reader.  “War is hell” almost becomes a trite phrase hardly underscoring the strains of those who serve and served in Iraq, as well as the strife experienced by their families back home in America, in this case Willingham’s wife, who assume full care of family life while constantly fearing for the safety of their husbands who serve multiple deployments out of love of country and fellow soldiers. The thoughts and feelings on all sides are ever-present and all too often ever-consuming.

Top Dog: The Story of Marine hero Lucca is an unforgettable read that this reviewer highly, highly recommends.  It’s a story that’s lovely, funny, tragic and so much more.  Every American needs to not only read this book but find a way to honor those actual soldiers and canine warriors and their missions which so perfectly parallel their military service to our country! Wonderful job, Maria Goodavage, and service to our nation!