J.L. Dobias (Author of Cripple-Mode)

J.L. Dobias made a comment on Amazon Pilfered My Book Cover

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J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Molly Fyde and the Blood of Billions by Hugh Howey

Molly Fyde and the Blood of Billions (The Bern Saga, #3)
by Hugh Howey (Goodreads Author)

recommended for: Political and Military Sci-Fi lovers

read in May, 2013

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Molly Fyde and the Blood of Billions(The Bern Saga Book 3) by Hugh Howey

When I choose a book I don't choose by cover- although the covers sometimes are pretty to the eye. I rarely choose by the blurb or any small amount torn out for advertisement pur...more

J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Molly Fyde and the Land of Light by Hugh Howey

Molly Fyde and the Land of Light (The Bern Saga, #2)
by Hugh Howey (Goodreads Author)

recommended for: Lovers of SF Military-political Fantasy fiction

read in May, 2013

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Molly Fyde and the Land of Light(The Bern Saga Book 2) by Hugh Howey

I can't say enough about how good this book is. Each world is richly drawn out it such a fashion that it helps explain the motivations of many of the important characters- from withi...more Molly Fyde and the Land of Light(The Bern Saga Book 2) by Hugh Howey

I can't say enough about how good this book is. Each world is richly drawn out it such a fashion that it helps explain the motivations of many of the important characters- from within the context of their cultures. The cultures are often derived around the worlds themselves and sometimes out of misconceptions or at least faulty conclusions as regards how the races perceive their world and their place in the universe.

Molly Fyde comes from a universe that has taken several steps back for some unexplained reason as regards the attitude towards women. Many of her action seem to be driven by this and it become easy to see how she finds herself so enamored to Cole who so desperately wants to protect her from everything. He first has to figure out a way to protect her from herself and with Molly that's just not going to happen. It's enough to process that she still trusts him after he killed her uncle, but then her uncle was trying to kill her.

Walter also would like to protect Molly and that makes him dangerous.

In these books I notice a lot of similarities in the worlds and characters and themes to what I've seen in recent years among the popular Science Fiction and Sci-fi. For instance, there are ceremonies in here that kept bringing to mind the Mimbari of Babylon 5. There are features of the visit to Dakura that reminded me of Vanilla Sky. These are not bad things- they are handled well and move the story. This story has a lot to tell and it can almost become confusingly overwhelming.

As usual there are few if any places our heroes might go where they will be safe from the fate that is creeping up on them. It is threatening to suck them in like the black-holes around them.

Molly's goal is to find her father, but the path is never quite clear. Her mother, who seems now to reside in the ships computer is cryptic at best with her help. Molly is not even sure how much she can trust this person inside her ship. They have have to detour first and take Anlyn to Drenard. Getting out of there alive will be murder. Even then they will leave some of the crew behind.

The next stop is Dakura where Molly finds that she is expected to destroy her mother's body so that someone named Byrne can't access her memories. There are so many things about Molly that seem to piece together like a fractured jigsaw puzzle that make the reader wonder what she is. Byrne thinks that she is important enough to try to snatch her. If I piece together her ability to do very fast calculations that most people rely on ship computers to do, and that she seems to always do the right thing even when she's not putting a lot of thought behind what she's doing, it makes me wonder.

When she discovers that a race know as Bern are trying to open a gateway to our space in order to lay waste to humanity will she be able to stop them with her innate skill and luck? The stakes are getting higher and the threat is getting real.

This is a great read for anyone who likes Sci-Fi or Science Fiction and fantasy and adventure and all the military political stuff of SF Military novels.

J.L. Dobias(less)

J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Red Planet Run (Star Svensdotter, #3)
by Dana Stabenow (Goodreads Author)

recommended for: Sci-Fi Science lovers and readers of Robert Heinlein

read in May, 2013

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Red Planet Run (A Star Svensdotter Adventure)

I loved this story much more than the two previous. I felt the two previous were doing quite well at paying homage to Robert Heinlein. There is nothing wrong with that but for some reason I felt I was seei...more

J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue by Hugh Howey

Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue (The Bern Saga #1)
by Hugh Howey (Goodreads Author)

recommended for: Sci-Fi military and fantasy fans

read in May, 2013

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Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue (The Bern Saga Book 1)by Hugh Howey

It takes a fairly riveting book to keep me up past bedtime. That Molly Fyde did so is not that hard to understand when looking at the whole. Everyone loves those stories where the...more

J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars

A Handful Of Stars (Star Svensdotter, # 2)
by Dana Stabenow (Goodreads Author)

recommended for: Sci-fi fantasy and adventure

read in May, 2013

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A Handful of Stars(Star Svensdotter #2)by Dana Stabenow

Entering the world of Star Svendotter is like entering the Worlds of Heinlein. There are so many elements of Dana Stabenow's world building that remind me of what I've seen in Heinlein's worlds....more A Handful of Stars(Star Svensdotter #2)by Dana Stabenow

Entering the world of Star Svendotter is like entering the Worlds of Heinlein. There are so many elements of Dana Stabenow's world building that remind me of what I've seen in Heinlein's worlds. There is definitely an emphasis on Scientific Detail.

I love both elements here and then the fact that the gutsy hero is a woman who would do Hazel Stone proud. Hazel stone of The Rolling Stones by Robert A. Heinlein is also known as Hazel Meade and later as Gwen Novak (in Multiverse novels). Both are cantankerous and have a fierce passion for protecting their family. In Star's case her family seem to include everyone who works around her in her various habitats.

Star seems to have a slight detachment along with this that serves to help her dispense justice-most of the time. I'm not so sure how I felt about that after she had children, but there is at least one time where we get to see her pushed to the point that she truly loses it and for good reasons. I like that she stays consistent but felt she lacked some normal emotions sometimes.

There are a couple of issues that come up that are interesting that would have been nice things to address further in this novel. We can hope there might be more about them in the next. The first is that at the moment she goes into labor she is confronted with the realization that she has a child she didn't know about. What? You heard it. This is a favorite joke around here- about how a woman can't have a child she's unaware of. In this context there are reasonable explanations. Star seems to have a reaction about this that we see her teetering on the edge of the thought that there might be some prejudice in her towards test tube babies. This is later brought to the fore again when they discover a ship full of fools who have apparently been cloning themselves into a thin and weak genetic community. She and her new son Leif keep skirting this issue and never have a really good discussion. I understand that in a way it is part of Star's nature to avoid this particular conflict. The bottom line was that we have the impression Star has some prejudice but no actual admission of such from her.

All of this happens as Star and her husband Caleb O'Hara arrive at the asteroid belt. Their mission to mine the belt, set forth in Second Star, has come to fruition and Star immediately is forced to take the bull by the horns when she discovers there is a crisis and a plague in the mining community that she's expected to solve.

The next event of note is major and yet somehow after Star's main blowup- just seems to sort of slide behind her mask judicial fortitude. She really doesn't get a chance to deal with it and it didn't seem fair for her to me. Somehow I'm not sure why she wouldn't and didn't seem to complain that much.

Science wise Star embarks on world creating of her own when they decide they can hollow out asteroids and create livable space. This leads to a discovery that could change the whole landscape of things and then leads to the tragedy. From there things almost become mundane until the climatic end.

The universe that Dana builds here is quite believable and almost sometimes painfully so. It would have been nice to hear something from and of her niece who ran off with the Galactic Librarians, but perhaps that's slated for some future story.

At this point I'd be hard pressed to say if this is shaping up to be a long series of books or a trilogy. I only know that as long as the pace keeps up I'll be interested in following Star , Leif, Paddy and Sean wherever they go.

If you are a fan of Heinlein and love Science Fiction and other such science these stories should be just what the doctor ordered.

J.L. Dobias(less)

J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Of Ants and Dinosaurs
by Cixin Liu (Goodreads Author)

recommended for: Sci-fi and fantasy fans and maybe even Poli-sci fans

read in May, 2013

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Of Ants and Dinosaurs by Cixin Liu

I'm beginning to thoroughly enjoy the spin that Cixin Liu puts in his stories.

Of Ants and Dinosaurs is a sort of blend of analog and fable and cautionary tale. Maybe we could call it Fable -istic Fiction.

The story be...more

J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Hindsight (Mira Chambers #2)
by A.A. Bell (Goodreads Author)

recommended for: People who enjoy Mystery Suspense Thrillers and Sci-fi and Para-normal Romances

read in May, 2013

Rate this book

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Hindsight by A.A. Bell

I read Diamond Eyes- the first of the trilogy of this story and fell in love with Mira and all her quirky ways. So naturally its inevitable that I read Hindsight.

The intensity of this novel just blew me away. Granted I'm not one...more

J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
by Susannah Cahalan (Goodreads Author)

recommended for: everyone should read this

read in May, 2013

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Brain on Fire:My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

This book scared the daylights out of me.

There are so many parts of the breakdown here that read like regular parts of life.

I quickly come to a realization that this is the reason to surround ourse...more

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J.L. Dobias made a comment on Amazon Pilfered My Book Cover "I'm no lawyer but that; all Submitted Materials in any media formats solely in connection with the Services and the marketing, promotion and distributi...more "
May 22, 2013 04:43pm · see blog post
J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars Molly Fyde and the Blood of Billions (The Bern Saga, #3) by Hugh Howey (Goodreads Author) recommended for: Political and Military Sci-Fi lovers read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Molly Fyde and the Blood of Billions(The Bern Saga Book 3) by Hugh Howey When I choose a book I don't choose by cover- although the covers sometimes are pretty to the eye. I rarely choose by the blurb or any small amount torn out for advertisement pur...more
May 22, 2013 12:29pm · see review
J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars Molly Fyde and the Land of Light (The Bern Saga, #2) by Hugh Howey (Goodreads Author) recommended for: Lovers of SF Military-political Fantasy fiction read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Molly Fyde and the Land of Light(The Bern Saga Book 2) by Hugh Howey I can't say enough about how good this book is. Each world is richly drawn out it such a fashion that it helps explain the motivations of many of the important characters- from withi...more
May 21, 2013 01:09pm · see review
J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars Red Planet Run (Star Svensdotter, #3) by Dana Stabenow (Goodreads Author) recommended for: Sci-Fi Science lovers and readers of Robert Heinlein read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Red Planet Run (A Star Svensdotter Adventure) I loved this story much more than the two previous. I felt the two previous were doing quite well at paying homage to Robert Heinlein. There is nothing wrong with that but for some reason I felt I was seei...more
May 21, 2013 12:09pm · see review
J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue (The Bern Saga #1) by Hugh Howey (Goodreads Author) recommended for: Sci-Fi military and fantasy fans read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue (The Bern Saga Book 1)by Hugh Howey It takes a fairly riveting book to keep me up past bedtime. That Molly Fyde did so is not that hard to understand when looking at the whole. Everyone loves those stories where the...more
May 20, 2013 07:39am · see review
J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars A Handful Of Stars (Star Svensdotter, # 2) by Dana Stabenow (Goodreads Author) recommended for: Sci-fi fantasy and adventure read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A Handful of Stars(Star Svensdotter #2)by Dana Stabenow Entering the world of Star Svendotter is like entering the Worlds of Heinlein. There are so many elements of Dana Stabenow's world building that remind me of what I've seen in Heinlein's worlds....more
May 18, 2013 09:09am · see review
J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars Of Ants and Dinosaurs by Cixin Liu (Goodreads Author) recommended for: Sci-fi and fantasy fans and maybe even Poli-sci fans read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Of Ants and Dinosaurs by Cixin Liu I'm beginning to thoroughly enjoy the spin that Cixin Liu puts in his stories. Of Ants and Dinosaurs is a sort of blend of analog and fable and cautionary tale. Maybe we could call it Fable -istic Fiction. The story be...more
May 15, 2013 09:35am · see review
J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars Hindsight (Mira Chambers #2) by A.A. Bell (Goodreads Author) recommended for: People who enjoy Mystery Suspense Thrillers and Sci-fi and Para-normal Romances read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Hindsight by A.A. Bell I read Diamond Eyes- the first of the trilogy of this story and fell in love with Mira and all her quirky ways. So naturally its inevitable that I read Hindsight. The intensity of this novel just blew me away. Granted I'm not one...more
May 15, 2013 06:12am · see review
J.L. Dobias rated a book 5 of 5 stars Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan (Goodreads Author) recommended for: everyone should read this read in May, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Brain on Fire:My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan This book scared the daylights out of me. There are so many parts of the breakdown here that read like regular parts of life. I quickly come to a realization that this is the reason to surround ourse...more
May 06, 2013 02:02pm · see review

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