According to Brandon Sanderson himself Skyward is a combination of How to Train Your Dragon, Top Gun, and Ender's Game and I can see the influence of each. Spensa's people were forced to land on a deserted world that once belonged to an advanced civilization who left behind an extensive orbital defense system that protected them at the same time it prevented all communication with the rest of humanity. They are under near constant attack by aliens whose nature and motives remain a mystery centuries later. Once they managed to manufacture fighters they started to fight back but in the first critical battle Spensa's father he was labeled a coward and shot down by his own people. She has always dreamed of being a pilot like her father and proving everyone wrong.

Things have been building up for two books and now it is time to find out how it all plays out. Cassius' plan to destroy the religous zealots of the New Earth Tribunal is simple in concept - you can't worship the spirit of the Earth if there is no Earth, so he plans to do just that. It is also just as likely that his plans involve more than just revenge. Most of the rest of the characters are pawns in his game, but they have started to figure that out, and the word is spreading that the war was orchestrated by Cassius from the start. This fact is prompting others like Sage and Talon to pursue their own agendas, so the final confrontation of this war is going to be a wild ride. 

Originally published as a Hugo Award winning short story in 1958, and later published in a longer form as a Nebula Award winning book in 1966, Flowers for Algernon is considered classic Sci-Fi at this point. It is a story about Charly Gordon, who has an IQ of 70, and the impact of potentially life-altering surgery that hopes to increase his intelligence. Charly's life is limited, but happy, prior to the surgery, and this book explores the ethical and moral dilemmas that come along with changing someone's life for the "better." In this case intellect comes at the cost of happiness, and this book explores the impact of the change on Charly's relationships and his own mental well being.

Book one of The Circuit series, Executor Rising, did a good job of setting the stage for the rest of the story. The main characters are all established, their backgrounds and motivations are mostly clear, and the state of the solar system is such that the impending conflict will have dire consequences depending on how it all turns out. However, none of the factions can be classified as the good guys in this story so I do not find myself emotionally invested in any particular outcome, or character. Normally that is an issue for me, but in this case I found myself eager to know how it turns out anyway.

Neil Gaiman has made a name for himself as a contemporary fantasy author, but unfortunately for me that is a genre that rarely grabs my attention. It seems like it should be right up my alley but very few of my forays into this realm result in an engaging experience. Because this book is a stand alone novel, and also pretty short in length, it seemed like a decent way for me to dip my toe in the water and experience Neil Gaiman with little commitment. Was it worth it?

I remember when I first started reading The Expanse series and how I was surprised that I found it compelling even though human space travel was limited to our own solar system. No warp drives or hyperspace conduits seemed pretty boring at first, but I eventually came around because limiting the scope of the story to our own solar system made it that much more real. Although similarly limited to our solar system, Executor Rising puts aside realism and instead offers up something much farther out there in concept. The Earth is no longer a habitable planet and mankind instead has The Circuit, which is an interdependent ecosystem that uses Solar Arks to transport needed materials between human colonies that are spread across the solar system.

Don't open your eyes. Nobody knows what started it, or why it started, and nobody even knows what the threat actually is. That is because anyone who actually sees it does not survive long enough to tell anyone else. The only guaranteed way to survive outside in Josh Malerman's apocalyptic setting is to be sure that you can't see a single thing. Needless to say, that makes things a little difficult for everyone because you can't stay inside forever...

At 9 years old Jorg experiences a terrible trauma that shapes the rest of his life. As his mother and brother are killed, he is helplessly caught within the thorns of a nearby briar patch unable to help in any way. After the incident, his father (the king) is unwilling to risk war with Count Renar, who is the person behind the murders, and he basically agrees to put the matter aside in exchange for some economic concessions. Jorg can't accept this outcome and this series of events ultimately shapes him into a monster bent on revenge against both Count Renar and his own father. Jorg's mind becomes a very dark place and this book is experienced from inside that mind.

Earlier in the series Jonathan Maberry did an excellent job of coming up with unique threats for each book and finding a way to explain the existence of mythical creatures with "scientific" reasons. This allowed Joe Ledger to exist in a world grounded in modern science and yet battle all kinds of fictional creatures to keep us safe. However, the last book, Dogs of War, re-used a lot of threats from earlier in the series and when this book started with pretty much the exact scene from the start of a prior book I instantly knew I was in for more of the same.

The events of The Storm set this series up for a big finish and this book does not disappoint. The citizens of Estes Park are fighting for their lives and even if they manage to survive things will never go back to the way they were. The same is true for the entire world as Chinese troops are on US soil and Chinese fighter jets are flying overhead. While some welcome the foreign "aid" being offered others view it as a threat and mobilize to push back these unwanted invaders. It all adds up to put the country on the brink of collapsing as war is everywhere and the main characters can no longer prevent it from happening. Now the question is, can they survive it?