Out of the Shadows (Star Wars: The High Republic) by Justina Ireland

 Out of the Shadows (Star Wars: The High Republic) by Justina Ireland-423 pages

I really enjoyed reading this book set during the High Republic. It seems the Nihil are going to be the major threat throughout this time period and these books. Familiar characters appear in this book including Reath Silas and Master Cohmac. The story begins at Starlight Beacon but spans many familiar and new locales. Vernestra (Vern) Wroh and her Padawan Imri are called to Coruscant by her former Master, Stellan Gios. They are given a mission that seems inconsequential at first. However, the mission turns out to be much more than they bargained for. I enjoyed the characters and the story. I liked this book. 

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland, 455 p.

"Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems."

Great juxtaposition of zombies and the plight of the "colored folk." Many characters to love and many more to hate. Really looking forward to the next in the series. Listened to this on audio, and the narrator did a phenomenal job. 

Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland

Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland  371 pages

Zephyr Mourning has never been very good at being a Harpy. She'd rather watch reality TV than learn forty-seven ways to kill a man, and she pretty much sucks at wielding magic. Zephyr was ready for a future pretending to be a normal human instead of a half-god assassin. But all that changed when her sister was murdered - and Zephyr used a forbidden dark power to save herself from the same fate.
On the run from a punishment worse than death, an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend upends Zephyr's world - and not only because her old friend has grown surprisingly, extremely hot. It seems that Zephyr might just be the Nyx, a dark goddess that is prophesied to shift the power balance: for hundreds of years the half-gods have lived in fear, and Zephyr is supposed to change that.
But how is she supposed to save everyone else when she can barely take care of herself?