Rating: Recommended
The Emporer’s Soul – Brandon Sanderson
by
Curtis McHale
In this peak at the Cosmere we follow a Forger (criminal) as they try to learn about the Emporer and recreate his soul after an attempted assassination that has left him with few wits. With a 100 day timeline for a 2 year project she learns about the Emporer, while avoiding the political attempts on…
Iredeemable Omnibus – Mark Waid
by
Curtis McHale
What if Superman learned that once you made one mistake you were iredeemable? What if his earth parents tossed him to the side when he made a mistake? What if all these events made him ride a knife’s edge trying to be good, only to finally show you how bad he could be once he…
Empire of Silence – Christopher Ruocchico
by
Curtis McHale
Empire of Silence is the notes of a world destroying warrior reflecting on what really happened to put him in the position to destroy a massive part of the universe. Hadrian doesn’t start out as a hero, he’s running from family obligations which takes him from the pinnacle of society to the streets to fighting…
Visitors – Orson Scott Card
by
Curtis McHale
Rigg and his group of friends continue to be manipulated by humanoid mice, Expendables (robots), Ram Odin, and many other people as they try to race to save the planet Garden from the “Visitors”. While they initially think that the Visitors are from Earth, who initially sent the colony out, they are mistaken and then…
Pathfinder – Orson Scott Card
by
Curtis McHale
Rigg thinks he’s a simple trapper and wondered why his father made him learn so much about finance and government, but this training has prepared him for the world he’s going to get thrust into. Join Rigg, Umbo, Loaf and Param on a time hopping journey. Purchase Pathfinder and support a local bookstore Purchase Pathfinder…
The Outrun – Amy Liptrot
by
Curtis McHale
The Outrun follows the author as she deals with recovery from alcoholism. Part of her journey is heading back to the quiet island she grew up on, Orkney, and then going to an even quieter island to live in a seasonal cabin that is vacant for the winter “off” season. I enjoyed Amy’s reflections on…
Kill it with Fire – Marianne Bellotti
by
Curtis McHale
Kill it with Fire is all about how to manage legacy software projects. How do you determine if you need to rewrite it? How do you keep a team motivated while working on a legacy project? How do you stop a current project from becoming legacy full of dead code ready to die? I found…
Defiant – Brandon Sanderson
by
Curtis McHale
Defiant brings us the final face off between The Superiority and the few races that have gathered with Humanity to say no to the enslavement of everyone. Our protagonist, Spensa, has to wrangle with her reality warping powers as a second being has melded with her soul and she now has to provide the control…
Elantris – Brandon Sanderson
by
Curtis McHale
This is the oldest book in Brandon Sanderson’s writing that I’ve read, being published first in 2005. As such I found a few parts of the writing clearly still in development. Unlike other more current books, I was easily able to guess where the author was going early in the book. This didn’t diminish my…
Translation State – Ann Leckie
by
Curtis McHale
Translation state takes a look at what it means to be human, and in this case, what it means to belong somewhere. We start meeting our 3 main characters, Enae, Reet and Qven and slowly are exposed to how they don’t belong in the place that they exist. For Qven specifically we see how they’ve…