Books 13, 14, 15, & 16
May. 17th, 2018 11:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lavendersparkAfter I finished Sense of Evil, I got a couple of books I had put on hold at the library. I had bought a book at a sale and discovered it was book 3 of a trilogy. :/
So I read
Flex
FLEX: Distilled magic in crystal form. The most dangerous drug in the world. Snort it, and you can create incredible coincidences to live the life of your dreams.
FLUX: The backlash from snorting Flex. The universe hates magic and tries to rebalance the odds; maybe you survive the horrendous accidents the Flex inflicts, maybe you don’t.
PAUL TSABO: The obsessed bureaucromancer who’s turned paperwork into a magical Beast that can rewrite rental agreements, conjure rented cars from nowhere, track down anyone who’s ever filled out a form.
But when all of his formulaic magic can’t save his burned daughter, Paul must enter the dangerous world of Flex dealers to heal her. Except he’s never done this before – and the punishment for brewing Flex is army conscription and a total brain-wipe.,
The Flux
Love something enough, and your obsession will punch holes through the laws of physics. That devotion creates unique magics: videogamemancers. Origamimancers. Culinomancers.
But when ‘mancers battle, cities tremble…
ALIYAH TSABO-DAWSON: The world’s most dangerous eight-year-old girl. Burned by a terrorist’s magic, gifted strange powers beyond measure. She’s furious that she has to hide her abilities from her friends, her teachers, even her mother – and her temper tantrums can kill.
PAUL TSABO: Bureaucromancer. Magical drug-dealer. Desperate father. He’s gone toe-to-toe with the government’s conscription squads of brain-burned Unimancers, and he’ll lie to anyone to keep Aliyah out of their hands – whether Aliyah likes it or not.
THE KING OF NEW YORK: The mysterious power player hell-bent on capturing the two of them. A man packing a private army of illegal ‘mancers.
Paul’s family is the key to keep the King’s crumbling empire afloat. But offering them paradise is the catalyst that inflames Aliyah’s deadly rebellious streak…,
and Fix
America's long sent its best SMASH agents overseas to deal with the European crisis. As of today, they decided dismantling your operation was more important than containing the Bastogne Broach. Now you're dealing with the real professionals."
Paul Tsabo: Bureaucromancer. Political activist. Loving father. His efforts to decriminalize magic have made him the government's #1 enemy - and his fugitive existence has robbed his daughter of a normal life.
Aliyah Tsabo-Dawson: Videogamemancer. Gifted unearthly powers by a terrorist's magic. Raised by a family of magicians, she's the world's loneliest teenager - because her powers might kill anyone she befriends.
The Unimancers: Brain-burned zombies. Former 'mancers, tortured into becoming agents of the government's anti-'mancer squad. An unstoppable hive-mind.
When Paul accidentally opens up the first unsealed dimensional broach on American soil, the Unimancers lead his family in a cat-and-mouse pursuit all the way to the demon-haunted ruins of Europe - where Aliyah is slowly corrupted by the siren call of the Unimancers... by Ferrett Steinmetz.
It's an alternate universe series, WWII still happened, but it was a war between 'Mancers instead of Nazis. Europe is pretty much uninhabitable, but the main story takes place in America, so it's not really important other than it being used as a fear tactic. This had a very X-Men feel to it, only with magic instead of mutations.
Overall, it was an ok series, I feel like some parts were glossed over and could have been done better. The end felt a little disappointing, but I don't know if there are more books planned that will fix that or not. It's a relatively new series, the last book was released in 2016, so it's possible.
After I finished Fix, I decided to try and read The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport “tunnels” known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star . . . vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him.
Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship’s mission for its own ends.
Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy but dangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself.
Could it be that Johansson was right?. I haven't gotten very far yet. I'm a bit confused at the moment. Astronauts landed on Mars, weird things happen and then suddenly there's a time jump? I think? I don't know. Suddenly we're on another planet with different characters and nothing has been mentioned of the Mars landing. I'm hoping it comes together at some point.
So I read
Flex
FLEX: Distilled magic in crystal form. The most dangerous drug in the world. Snort it, and you can create incredible coincidences to live the life of your dreams.
FLUX: The backlash from snorting Flex. The universe hates magic and tries to rebalance the odds; maybe you survive the horrendous accidents the Flex inflicts, maybe you don’t.
PAUL TSABO: The obsessed bureaucromancer who’s turned paperwork into a magical Beast that can rewrite rental agreements, conjure rented cars from nowhere, track down anyone who’s ever filled out a form.
But when all of his formulaic magic can’t save his burned daughter, Paul must enter the dangerous world of Flex dealers to heal her. Except he’s never done this before – and the punishment for brewing Flex is army conscription and a total brain-wipe.,
The Flux
Love something enough, and your obsession will punch holes through the laws of physics. That devotion creates unique magics: videogamemancers. Origamimancers. Culinomancers.
But when ‘mancers battle, cities tremble…
ALIYAH TSABO-DAWSON: The world’s most dangerous eight-year-old girl. Burned by a terrorist’s magic, gifted strange powers beyond measure. She’s furious that she has to hide her abilities from her friends, her teachers, even her mother – and her temper tantrums can kill.
PAUL TSABO: Bureaucromancer. Magical drug-dealer. Desperate father. He’s gone toe-to-toe with the government’s conscription squads of brain-burned Unimancers, and he’ll lie to anyone to keep Aliyah out of their hands – whether Aliyah likes it or not.
THE KING OF NEW YORK: The mysterious power player hell-bent on capturing the two of them. A man packing a private army of illegal ‘mancers.
Paul’s family is the key to keep the King’s crumbling empire afloat. But offering them paradise is the catalyst that inflames Aliyah’s deadly rebellious streak…,
and Fix
America's long sent its best SMASH agents overseas to deal with the European crisis. As of today, they decided dismantling your operation was more important than containing the Bastogne Broach. Now you're dealing with the real professionals."
Paul Tsabo: Bureaucromancer. Political activist. Loving father. His efforts to decriminalize magic have made him the government's #1 enemy - and his fugitive existence has robbed his daughter of a normal life.
Aliyah Tsabo-Dawson: Videogamemancer. Gifted unearthly powers by a terrorist's magic. Raised by a family of magicians, she's the world's loneliest teenager - because her powers might kill anyone she befriends.
The Unimancers: Brain-burned zombies. Former 'mancers, tortured into becoming agents of the government's anti-'mancer squad. An unstoppable hive-mind.
When Paul accidentally opens up the first unsealed dimensional broach on American soil, the Unimancers lead his family in a cat-and-mouse pursuit all the way to the demon-haunted ruins of Europe - where Aliyah is slowly corrupted by the siren call of the Unimancers... by Ferrett Steinmetz.
It's an alternate universe series, WWII still happened, but it was a war between 'Mancers instead of Nazis. Europe is pretty much uninhabitable, but the main story takes place in America, so it's not really important other than it being used as a fear tactic. This had a very X-Men feel to it, only with magic instead of mutations.
Overall, it was an ok series, I feel like some parts were glossed over and could have been done better. The end felt a little disappointing, but I don't know if there are more books planned that will fix that or not. It's a relatively new series, the last book was released in 2016, so it's possible.
After I finished Fix, I decided to try and read The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport “tunnels” known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star . . . vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him.
Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship’s mission for its own ends.
Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy but dangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself.
Could it be that Johansson was right?. I haven't gotten very far yet. I'm a bit confused at the moment. Astronauts landed on Mars, weird things happen and then suddenly there's a time jump? I think? I don't know. Suddenly we're on another planet with different characters and nothing has been mentioned of the Mars landing. I'm hoping it comes together at some point.
no subject
on 2018-05-20 10:18 am (UTC)It does. It will. Hamilton always has at least four POV characters and the strands start separately (and I think in this case also in different timelines). They will connect and tangle and lead to a coherent whole in the end.
no subject
on 2018-05-21 01:39 am (UTC)