Well, it finally arrived. It seems like its been a long time since I read the first book. I have to admit that I did not re-read the first two books, so I came in to this one having to play a bit of catch up. Let’s get to it.

I found that this book had a lot of information, but it seemed to drag a bit. There was a bit of establishment of where we are after the last book. We are several years removed from the events of The Twelve, so we’ve skipped over much of the early re-building of civilization. That was actually a plus.

I enjoyed Fanning’s story quite a bit, it just felt like a different book. We could’ve understood Fanning’s motivations later in the story, without going so deep into his background. It felt out of place, albeit well done.

And speaking of dragging, I did not like the dream state of Carter and Amy. Maybe I had a hard time getting the point of it ( I know it was a safe place for them to communicate- for them to be human again in a way) but I don’t think the amount of time we spent in this space was necessary. Maybe a more straightforward form of telepathic communication would have been better for me.

I did like the jump ahead to humanity going back to re-settle North America. It was an interesting take on the whole apocalyptic state of the world. But again, and this is clearly a trend, I felt that it went on too long. You knew that Logan would in some way be connected to one of the “founding families”, but I didn’t need to know so much about his immediate history. Particularly when you are at the end of the story and trying to wrap things up. The ending with Amy was great, but the lead up to it was just too long.

I guess that’s my overall impression- great story but too long. It wasn’t boring, but it was just long enough for me to get impatient, both with Fanning’s story and with Logan’s.

Lilypad Rating:  out of 5

I read this book probably back in 1997 or so, and I absolutely adored it. It was nice to see- I guess you could call it “paranormal” story with African Americans as the central characters. It was a revelation, so this particular story will always be special to me.

This is not a review, but I will give you an extremely short run down of the plot.

The story is about an immortal who has started a family with mortals in Florida. He has a wife and daughter, which is pretty much a no no. The rest of the story is about how David, the immortal, seeks to protect his family and to keep his secret. I know that’s not a lot to go on, but trust me, if I give you too much more, it will destroy the fun!

You can probably guess some of the twists and turns the plot takes, but back in 1997 when I first read it, it was like the first time I read A Song of Ice and Fire… every twist surprised me!

These are the books in the series:

The African Immortal Series by Tananarive Due

#1 My Soul to Keep
#2 The Living Blood
#3 Blood Colony
#4 My Soul to Take

Please check them out at amazon.com or www.tananarivedue.com.

I know this is a very short and not particularly detailed review, but I see this less as a review, and more as a way to call your attention to a fabulous series that you may not have discovered. With so much talk about diversity in television, movies, and books, here is one series that you can really sink your teeth into.

Lilypad Rating:  out of 5

I remembered seeing this book in the bookstore, and thinking it was interesting. I skimmed the first few pages, looked up some reviews on Amazon, and decided to skip it. It’s not a long book, may 25o pages or so, and I didn’t think the price was worth it. So I skipped it.

A few weeks ago, the kindle ebook version was on sale for 99 cents, so I thought I’d give it a try. For that amount, if I didn’t like it, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. So I downloaded it, and read it in one sitting. Like I said, its a short book, so it only took maybe 2 hours, at most. I’m not crazy thrilled with it, but its alright.

The story is a very adult take on the classic fairy tale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I’ll say it again, this is a very adult take on the story. It is not for children. At all.

The story starts of with the point of veiw of the Evil Queen, Lillith. Fitting name, huh? Anyway, we see very quickly that she hates Snow White (more like intense jeaolusy) and pretty soon she’s trying to get rid of her. We also get a point of view from the huntsman and the dwarves. We don’t meet all seven dwarves, but we kind of get to know a couple. That was my problem with the story, we only “kind of” get to know the characters.

Yes this is based on a fairy tale that’s a very short story, but I think this story would lend itself better to a longer form. Maybe I’m just used to epic fantasy and scifi where I get pages and pages of world building and character monologues, but I really missed that while reading. The author gives us just enough of each major character to move the story along. And of all the major characters, we never even get a point of view from the focal point of all these characters: Snow White. She is in the forefront, but we never know what she thinks. We are never inside her head. There is a scene early in the story where Snow plays a practical joke on the Evil Queen. We know, and Snow White knows, that the Evil Queen, is well, evil, so why on earth woud Snow White think that this joke of hers would make the Queen laugh? If we were inside her head, maybe we’d understand. In that moment, I felt bad for the Queen, not Snow White. I know that part of the purpose of the story is to turn classic fairy tale tropes on their heads, but I need to know why Snow White does some things she does at the end. I don’t know what she’s thinking, or how she comes to the decisions that she comes to. I want to know! The twist at the end would have had more impact if I had more background. Maybe the reader is supposed to be as shocked as the other character, but, it just left me bewildered.

I will say, the one part that I did really enjoy were the tie-ins to other fairy tale characters. I actually think if this was a more fleshed out longer novel, it would have made for a more engaging story. I won’t say what those tie-ins were, but they had the potential to make the story fuller.

I will read the next book in the series, Charm, but only because its 99 cents, too, in kindle ebook format.

If you are looing for a quick read, and not wantting to get too invested in a story, I would suggest this book.

Goodreads Link: Poison by Sarah Pinborough

Lilypad Rating:1/2 out of 5

When I first heard that SyFy was adapting this series of books, I figured I might as well go ahead and read them. I would see them mentioned on Goodreads forums often, but I don’t read a lot of science fiction (I prefer epic fantasy), so I just kept them in the back of my mind to read in case I wanted to read something different. I can watch science fiction on tv or in movies, but reading it was always difficult for me. I could never really get engaged. So far, the first 3 books I have read so far have kept my interest, and I like them.

This will be a very brief review because, well, I actually don’t have much to say other than they’re good.

Here are the current books in the series, in order:

1. Leviathan Wakes
2. Caliban’s War
3. Abaddon’s Gate
4. Cibola Burn
5. Nemesis Games
6. Babylon’s Ashes (June 2016?)

There are a few novellas as well:

1. The Butcher of Anderson Station
2. Gods of Risk
3. Beloved of Broken Things
4. The Churn
5. The Vital Abyss

The story is about the “rag tag” crew of the Rocinante, and their adventures in a future where humans have colonized most of the galaxy. Of course, the crew gets caught in the middle of inter galactic intrigue and politics. Oh, and of course there’s  a bigger enemy threatening the galaxy, and the humans need to get their act together before this bigger threat destroys them. This is the story at it’s simplest, but things get way more complicated. Of course.

Lilypad Rating: out of 5

I can’t say that I have read very many novellas, but I have wanted to read Nnedi Okorafor’s novel, Who Fears Death, for quite a while now, so I thought that I would read this novella as an introduction to her style. I am so glad that I did.

Binti is a 16 year old girl of the Himba people, who is not only leaving home for the first time, but is going into outer space. Of course, interstellar travel is common place in this futuristic Earth, but still. That’s pretty crazy! And on top of the interstellar travel, she’s sneaking out to do it! Binti is already showing us a lot about her character (strength, stubbornness, strong-willed, brave) just in these first few paragraphs. The story kicked into high gear once she gets on the ship that will take her to study at the Oomza University. Binti is, in very simple terms, a mathematical genius, and she is one of the extremely few (if only) of her people to be accepted to the University. Binti’s people rarely leave their homeland. The most interesting aspect of Binti is her culture. The Himba people cover themselves in a substance called “otjize”. Its made from oils and red clay that is native to their land. Of course, the Himba people are ostracized and ridiculed for their appearance and culture. This adds more dimension to Binti’s journey- she’s not only a young girl traveling on her own without her parents permission, but she stands out physically and culturally from everyone else around her. She is truly alone on the journey. The Himba culture plays a significant role in the rest of the story and adds another layer to the horrors that follow. Because you know there are horrors to follow.

I always appreciate a story with a person of color at its center. I also appreciate how Ms. Okorafor uses an African culture as a basis for the main character’s culture. Its a wonderful change of pace that I thoroughly enjoyed. The writing style is very clean and straight forward. There’s not a lot of description, but just enough to allow the reader to use their own imagination to fill in the blanks. Part of that has to do with this being a novella, but I get the impression that this is indicative of her overall writing style as well.

The story itself is definitely a page turner. The story takes, what is to me at least, a somewhat surprising turn towards the end. To me, this novella is an intriguing introduction to a new world. There is definitely a lot more story here, and I hope that Ms. Okorafor takes us on another adventure with Binti.

Lilypad Rating:  out of 5