The Crimson Skew by S.E. Grove

The Crimson Skew by S.E. Grove - 432 pages

"At the end of The Golden Specific, Sophia was on her way home to Boston, anticipating her reunion with Theo. But he has been conscripted to fight in the Western War—Prime Minister Broadgirdle’s twisted vision of Manifest Destiny. Shadrack is in his thrall as War Cartologer and cannot help his niece.

Sophia leaves right away to track down her best friend and solve the mystery of her parents once and for all. Then Shadrack hears of a horrifying weapon. It is a red fog called the Crimson Skew, and if you inhale it, you become a murderer. Sophia and her companions—and Theo’s army company—are directly in its path. There is a fate worse than death, and it is about to ruin their lives… "

Series was wrapped up nicely, though there were a few miscellaneous questions that I found annoying that weren't answered. There also seems to be an opening for another book in this series, though it's branded as a trilogy. All in all, a great series that I was thoroughly engrossed in and consumed in a matter of days. 

The Golden Specific by S.E. Grove

The Golden Specific by S.E. Grove - 505 pages

"It is the summer of 1892, one year since Sophia Tims and her friend Theo embarked upon the dangerous adventure that rewrote the map of the world. Since their return home to Boston, she has continued searching for clues to her parents’ disappearance, combing archives and libraries, grasping at even the most slender leads. Theo has apprenticed himself to an explorer in order to follow those leads across the country—but one after another proves to be a dead end.

Then Sophia discovers that a crucial piece of the puzzle exists in a foreign Age. At the same time, Theo discovers that his old life outside the law threatens to destroy the new one he has built with Sophia and her uncle Shadrack. What he and Sophia do not know is that their separate discoveries are intertwined, and that one remarkable person is part of both.There is a city that holds all of the answers—but it cannot be found on any map. Surrounded by plague, it can only be reached by a journey through darkness and chaos, which is at the same time the plague’s cure: The Golden Specific."

A stellar second book in this trio. New characters, plus more about established characters, and continued fantastic world building. 

The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove

The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove - 493 pages

"Boston, 1891. Sophia Tims comes from a family of explorers and cartologers who, for generations, have been traveling and mapping the New World—a world changed by the Great Disruption of 1799, when all the continents were flung into different time periods.  Eight years ago, her parents left her with her uncle Shadrack, the foremost cartologer in Boston, and went on an urgent mission, but have never returned.

Then Shadrack is kidnapped. And Sophia, who has rarely been outside of Boston, is the only one who can search for him. Together with Theo, a refugee from the West, she travels over rough terrain and uncharted ocean, encounters pirates and traders, and relies on a combination of Shadrack’s maps, common sense, and her own slantwise powers of observation. But even as Sophia and Theo try to save Shadrack’s life, they are in danger of losing their own."

This was a wholly original story line the the world-building was very unique. Kept me incredibly intrigued and wanting more. Great story for all ages. 

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland

Neal Stephenson and Nicole Gallard

The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.: A Novel by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Gallard --- 752 pages including Cast of Characters and Glossary

Magic used to be real. Possibly, it could be again. And so the top secret Department of Diachronic Operations is created to build an Ontic Decoherence Cavity and recruit KCWs to perform DEDEs that will send DOers on DTAPs.

This book could serve as a doorstop for an ODEC. It's the perfect summer read, pages upon pages of quasi-historical, quasi-scientific Quixotic Quest with a capital Q. But make sure you have a pillow on your lap to prop the book on or it will sprain your wrists as surely as the contents will sprain your brain.

When a best selling master of speculative fiction and an inventive writer of historical fiction decide to collaborate, what ensues is a romp through time that combines swords, sorcery, quantum physics, a hero obsessed with the job, a heroine (obsessed with the hero) trapped in 1851 London, government bureaucracy on steroids, and mercenary warriors from Fourth Century Constantinople running amok in near future Massachusetts, and the dreadful fate of the Elizabethan poet, Christopher Marlowe.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from Starburst Magazine.

Click HERE to listen to a June 16, 2017 interview with both authors from Youtube.

Click HERE to read a review from The Guardian (UK).

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle
211 pages









I listened to the audio of this book read by the author and enjoyed it very much.

Meg Murray, her little brother Charles Wallace and their mother are having a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger appears at their door. He claims to have been blown off course and goes on the tell them that there is such a thing as a "tesseract," which, if you didn't know, is a wrinkle in time.
Meg's father had been experimenting with time-travel when he suddenly disappeared. Will Meg, Charles Wallace and their friend Calvin outwit the forces of evil as they search through space for their father?

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Station Eleven: A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel --- 333 pages

In her book Station Eleven author Emily St. John Mandel reimagines the dystopian novel as a narrative of the slow rebirth of civilzation on a world scoured clean of past glories and past mistakes.

The novel begins with a once celebrated actor now on the slow downslide of his career, playing the title role in Shakespeare's King Lear in a small theater in Toronto, Canada in the cold of winter. In the middle of the play, Arthur Leander suffers a massive heart attack and dies on stage before a stunned audience, cast and crew.

But what might have rated a last flurry of headlines in news reports and comments on social media passes unnoticed a few hours later when a virulent new strain of influenza --- the Georgia Flu --- erupts around the globe, killing billions in days and triggering a complete collapse of the modern, technological world. In short order, all that remains are a few isolated pockets of survivors struggling to rebuild with what they can scavenge from the wreckage.

Mandel follows the paths of several characters whose initial connection is that each one was involved with Arthur Leander at some point in their lives.  Station Eleven is that rare bird, a literary novel of speculative fiction set in a post-Apocalypse world. It was a finalist for the National Book Award and the winner of the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award for 2015.

Click HERE for an interview with Emily St. John Mandel on National Public Radio.

Click HERE for a review of Station Eleven in the Huffington Post.

Click HERE for a review on sfgate.com