After 15 years as acting Earth diplomat on Union Station, a far-flung outpost maintained by the Stryx, the race that rescued humanity from space-faring obscurity, Kelly Frank is tired of her vague job description, inadequate pay and the ever-present fear of being locked out of her apartment due to ever-increasing debt. With every collect-call from her mother she questions her career decisions.

When Kelly is gifted a subscription to the station-run dating service, Eemas, it is a complete surprise that she consents to go through with it, given her luck.

But a girl’s luck is bound to change at some point…isn’t it?

Date Night on Union Station follows the trajectories of Kelly and Joe, two unwitting victims of the dating service A.I. who, in addition to their efforts to successfully navigate life far from home, are destined to have some very memorable (that is putting it kindly) blind dates.

Date Night on Union Station is a fun, sweet, romantic comedy set in a place that is both alien and yet strangely familiar. E.M. Foner has penned a clever, witty story that is a cozy introduction to the genre for those unfamiliar with science fiction, and a welcome shot of optimism for those who need a vacation from post-apocalyptic angst.

If this sounds appealing, follow along while I gush in a brief, non-spoiler fashion while also confronting my hard-to-kill Book Snobbery.

Continue reading Date Night on Union Station ~E.M. Foner →

Last week, armed with my Kindle, a lunch break and a desire to read short fiction, I settled on a couple of ebook shorter works from multiple award winning author Connie Willis.

In the novella All Seated on the Ground, aliens have landed in Denver, Colorado. Contrary to our long-held fears, they did not come to subjugate us, nor to steal our women; they don’t even seem particularly interested in being taken to our leader(s). What they do seem to be interested in, is nothing. A Commission is formed to attempt to communicate with the aliens, and after several months of failures, the membership is dwindling and those remaining are running out of ideas. With December 25th fast approaching, the Commission resorts to taking the aliens with them to experience the variety of an American Christmas. The results are quite surprising. My rating: 7.5/10

D.A. (which stands for something that matters in the story…thus no spoilers), is a novella that is reminiscent of the juvenile fiction of Robert A. Heinlein, particularly the story The Menace from Earth, in that it features a spirited teenage girl in a future where space travel is a reality. Theodora Baumgarten is an atypical teenager in that she is one of the few high school kids who has no desire to get into IASA’s space cadet program. When she is unexpectedly chosen, despite not applying, she will stop at nothing to determine how this cruel joke happened to her and what she can do to get her way. My rating: 8.5/10

Continue reading Two Short Fictions from Connie Willis →

Mark Watney was one of the first six people to set foot on the surface of Mars, and now six days later he may be the first person to ever die on the surface of Mars.

When a powerful dust storm cuts their mission short, the crew of the Ares 3 mission is forced to abort, and abort quickly, before the craft meant to launch them out of the grip of Mars and back to their ship is itself a casualty of the storm.

On the way to that craft, Mark Watney is hit by a piece of flying debris and is lost to the rest of his shipmates.

Mark Watney’s suit registers him as dead, circumstances dictate he must be left behind.

But Mark Watney is not dead…at least not yet…

Continue reading The Martian ~Andy Weir →

(In the interest of full disclosure, this is a belated review of a novel I finished in October 2014.)

Pilot-in-training Theo Waitley, whose young adult adventures were chronicled in the novel, Fledgling, continues to learn about her innate abilities and the complexities of being a pilot in this follow-up novel, Saltation.

After breaking free of the rigors of her strict homeworld, Delgado, Theo Waitley is accepted to the prestigious piloting academy, Anlingdin, where she will discover much about herself and the greater universe into which she has been thrust.

The majority of Saltation takes place in an academic setting, so it will not be surprising to readers familiar with that setting to find that, in addition to rigorous lessons, Theo Waitley will discover friends, and enemies, drawn into her orbit.

Fledgling introduced readers to an engaging, likeable character in Theo Waitley, while weaving in elements of the greater Liaden Universe revealed in the many previous novels and short stories written by the married writing team of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Once you meet Theo Waitley, you are going to want to continue to see how her adventures play out, and Saltation gives readers a chance to spend more time with this young lady while also ratcheting up the suspense of the greater universal events into which Theo is being drawn.

I experienced Saltation via unabridged audio, narrated by Eileen Stevens. While I had a few minor issues with the overall story, which I will discuss after the jump, I thoroughly enjoyed Eileen Stevens’ narration and the climactic events of the novel compelled me to immediately purchase and begin listening to the next novel featuring Theo Waitley,  Ghost Ship.

Continue reading Saltation: An Audio Book Review →