Meet Me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey

* * * 3/4

Two people. Infinite lifetimes. One impossible choice.

Thora and Santi are strangers in a foreign city when a chance encounter intertwines their fates. At once, they recognize in each other a kindred spirit—someone who shares their insatiable curiosity, who is longing for more in life than the cards they’ve been dealt. Only days later, though, a tragic accident cuts their story short.

But this is only one of the many connections they share. Like satellites trapped in orbit around each other, Thora and Santi are destined to meet again: as a teacher and prodigy student; a caretaker and dying patient; a cynic and a believer. In numerous lives they become friends, colleagues, lovers, and enemies. But as blurred memories and strange patterns compound, Thora and Santi come to a shocking revelation—they must discover the truth of their mysterious attachment before their many lives come to one, final end.

Source: NetGalley; ARC generously provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

I have so many feelings about this book. It's a unique concept and once things make sense you realize it's a race to the finish.

Thora and Santi meet at college for the first time and their brief encounter leaves a lasting impression. When Thora decides she wants to see him again she finds out it's too late. He's dead and she can only guess how it happened. And this is how the rest of Part I goes - a series of what feels like short stories where Thora and Santi meet over and over again at various stages of their lives. Each encounter is a different experience with different outcomes. Part I requires some patience because there's no explanation, just these moments that either give us a new side of these characters or reinforce their personality traits. Part II is where things start coming together and they try to find meaning in what's happening. Sometimes they get close, others they're simply not capable of getting their acts together. We're not told how or when precisely they figured out they're reliving multiple lives (I would've like to have been clued in on that) but by Part III it gets intense and they finally discover what exactly is going on. It was at this point that I thought the author was genius because she did hide clues in plain sight in Part I. The clues and patterns make sense now.

Here's the thing: when I requested Meet Me in Another Life it came after I saw someone recommend it and I thought it sounded like something totally up my alley. The problem is that certain plot points which wouldn't have bothered me in the past became so after I made my request.  As well done as it was, some of it was just too emotionally raw for me. I've never been one who absolutely needed content/trigger warnings, and I've always respected other readers that do, therefore I have tried to include anything I see as potentially disturbing to a fellow reader in my reviews. This marks the first time ever I wished that I had the benefit of knowing those in advance. I would like to stress that this isn't the author's fault; it's just bad timing and I had a hard time with parts of the story. 

Would I recommend this book? Yes. If you like fantasy, sci-fi, endless do-over opportunities, mysteries and riddles, endless talk about stars, space and existentialism, a literal life or death situation that needs to be resolved ...they're all in this. Like I said earlier, it's pretty genius. I'd just caution you that the sad elements happen repeatedly - even if they're reliving their lives a little differently, those elements almost always make an appearance, and I've included them at the end of my review.

~ Bel

Content Warning/Triggers:

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Cancer, brain tumor, deaths, accidents, 

A Call to Duty by David Weber and Timothy Zahn

* * *
Growing up, Travis Uriah Long yearned for order and discipline in his life . . . the two things his neglectful mother couldn't or wouldn't provide. So when Travis enlisted in the Royal Manticoran Navy, he thought he'd finally found the structure he'd always wanted so desperately.

But life in the RMN isn't exactly what he expected. Boot camp is rough and frustrating; his first ship assignment lax and disorderly; and with the Star Kingdom of Manticore still recovering from a devastating plague, the Navy is possibly on the edge of extinction.

The Star Kingdom is a minor nation among the worlds of the Diaspora, its closest neighbors weeks or months away, with little in the way of resources. With only modest interstellar trade, no foreign contacts to speak of, a plague-ravaged economy to rebuild, and no enemies looming at the hyper limit, there are factions in Parliament who want nothing more than to scrap the Navy and shift its resources and manpower elsewhere.

But those factions are mistaken. The universe is not a safe place.

Travis Long is about to find that out.



Review:

XO checking in again.  I am really spoiled by Nat when it comes to books.  She sees all these great sites, all these upcoming books, and when she sees one that I might like, she gently, kindly, looks at me, and in a sweet, sultry voice says “READ THIS IN 4 DAYS AND THEN REVIEW IT OR I WILL KILL YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!”.  I apologize, that’s a slight exaggeration.  She gave me 7 days. 

David Weber is back, and this time, he partners with Timothy Zahn, to take his fans of the Honorverse back to a time before the technological and military superiority of Manticore and her allies.  A Call to Duty, Manticore Ascendant Book 1, takes us back to a time when the Plague is still a recent memory, and the entire Manticoran Navy consists of 8 ships.  Far, far away are the days of Manticoran Fleets protecting the shipping lanes of the Silesian Confederacy from pirates, from going toe to toe with Thomas Theisman and Shannon Foraker and the battle fleets of Haven, and from defending your home world and its allies from attacks from Mesa.  What’s here now is a shrinking Navy with disappearing parts and budgets, a confused, squabbling and self-important political machine (OK, sorry, that won’t change anytime in their future), and a King who is tired keeping his fledgling world together.  And Travis Long, a young kid who has to make a decision one fateful night to be the getaway driver for his ‘friends’ or join the Navy.  Time will only tell if he made the right decision, and right now, Travis is not sure.

At its heart, this is a space pirate tale, with the scrappy newcomers fighting against a trained, smart, and well-funded pirate organization.  The pirates aren’t trying to rob a ship, they’re trying to steal one.  Well, two if they can get away with it.  Travis might be great at thinking outside the box, but it’s going to take everyone to get them out of this one, and if they’re all very VERY lucky, they’ll even be alive to see if it worked.    At the same time, there’s intrigue and struggles near the throne, and the King is tired, and Prince Edward has a feeling that he’s about to get handed the keys to the Kingdom.  The only question is will the Kingdom survive until he can get the Navy back in shape, and ready to face future threats.  And in the fine tradition of the House of Winton, the Prince will be trying to figure everything out while serving in that same Navy he’s trying to save. 

Sometimes Book 1 of a series can be a little dry, setting up the people, the places, the tech, and the society.  The story is fast paced, then slows, then speeds up again.  It is a bit of a roller coaster, but you know quickly who to love and who to hate (HA HA, no, it’s not going to be that easy, sorry, I was just seeing if you’d fall for it), and the political intrigue is present, as always in the Honorverse.  Weber and Zahn are a Sci-Fi geeks marriage made in heaven, and the book has both their fingerprints all over it.  I’ve missed Zahn since I first read his Star Wars trilogy, and I’ve been so hooked on Weber, I am almost always reading one, and rarely for the first time.  I look forward to seeing where the series goes, and hopefully this will not be the last collaboration between these two science fiction icons.   A good read, and more importantly, a set-up to a hopefully GREAT series.

Smooches,

the XO

Islands of Rage and Hope by John Ringo

BOOK 3 IN THE BLACK TIDE RISING SERIES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR. Sequel to To Sail a Darkling Sea and Under a Graveyard Sky. A hardened group of survivors fights back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.

With the world consumed by a devastating plague that drives humans violently insane, what was once a band of desperate survivors bobbing on a dark Atlantic ocean has now become Wolf Squadron, the only hope for the salvation of the human race. Banding together with what remains of the U.S. Navy, Wolf Squadron, and its leader Steve Smith, not only plans to survive—he plans to retake the mainland from the infected, starting with North America. 

The next step: produce a vaccine. But for do that, Wolf Squadron forces led by Smith’s terrifyingly precocious daughters Sophia and Faith must venture into a sea of the infected to obtain and secure the needed materials. And if some of the rescued survivors turn out to be more than they seem, Smith just might be able to pull off his plan. 

Once more, exhausted and redlining Wolf Squadron forces must throw themselves into battle, scouring the islands of the Atlantic for civilization's last hope.


Review:

XO again, and let me just say, Zombies, Zombies, Zombies.  Book three in the Black Tide Rising series does not disappoint.  The zombies still run amok on 99% of the land on planet Earth.  Wolf Squadron has cleared countless ships, and the former USMC base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  After all that, a few jerk reality show types should be easy, right?  Well, unfortunately for the Smith family, even a zombiepocalypse seems to break through the stupids.  Steve, Faith, and Sophia, and the rest of Wolf Squadron are still at it, finally setting their sights on land.  While the islands they clear might be small, the meaning is huge.  Mankind is taking back its planet, one sandy beach at a time.  Ringo’s world continues to spin on, and a few thousand survivors of the Zombiepocalypse are doing everything they can to return things to normal.  Well, as normal as it can be with a 13 year old Marine lieutenant, a 15 year old Navy ensign and their dad, former SAS paratrooper, now leading the US Navy Wolf Squadron, in charge of the return.  

The squadron needs access to medical supplies, and fast.  It’s been 9 months since the outbreak, and people trapped in cargo holds, cruise ship rooms, and other trapped, enclosed spaces will do almost anything *ahem, wink wink, nudge nudge* to pass the time.  There are also a few hundred US Navy submariners trapped in their subs, in deep (pun, yes) need of the vaccine.  Both of these things mean that Wolf Squadron needs medical supplies, and the re-taking of Gitmo was not the treasure trove they were hoping for.  Just for fun, the remaining US Government has a fun little surprise for Wolf Squadron.  The British government might just have survived.  Time to plan a rescue mission.

Ringo’s characters are likable, and he has a habit of even making you respect, if not like, the ones that you’d hate anywhere else.  And to keep in interesting, he’s adding new characters with each new group that are rescued.  The series appears to have no end in sight, and I look forward to bringing you the next, and the next, and the next.  

XO out...

To Sail a Darkling Sea by John Ringo

BOOK II IN THE BLACK TIDE RISING SERIES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR. Sequel to Under a Graveyard Sky. A family of survivors fights back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.

A World Cloaked in Darkness

With human civilization annihilated by a biological zombie plague, a rag-tag fleet of yachts and freighters known as Wolf Squadron scours the Atlantic, searching for survivors. Within every abandoned liner and carrier lurks a potential horde, safety can never be taken for granted, and death and turning into one of the enemy is only a moment away.

The Candle Flickers

Yet every ship and town holds the flickering hope of survivors. One and two from lifeboats, a dozen from a fishing village, a few hundred wrenched by fury and fire from a ship that once housed thousands...

Light a Flame

Now Wolf Squadron must take on another massive challenge: clear the assault carrier USS Iwo Jima of infected before the trapped Marines and sailors succumb to starvation. If Wolf Squadron can accomplish that task, an even tougher trial waits: an apocalyptic battle to win a new dawn for humanity. The war for civilization begins as the boats of the Wolf Squadron become a beacon of hope on a Darkling Sea.


Review:

XO, back again.  For those of you that read my brain-chompingly excited review of John Ringo’s Under the Graveyard Sky, I’m pleased as a Zombie with a water bottle to bring you the second in the series, To Sail a Darkling Sea (Read the first one, you’ll get that joke.  Doesn’t make it funny, though…).  Ringo continues to explore the world and its changes after a virus turns most of the planet into Zombies.  The Smith family is back, this time backed by the last remaining threads of the United States Government and Military, as Wolf Squadron.  A few survivors from this boat,  a few dozen from that ship, some very unhappy Marines from the USS Iwo Jima, and pretty soon we’ve for a floating zombie attack crew. 

With the legitimacy of being named a squadron of the US Navy (Reserve), and the rank to back it up, Commander Smith must lead his rag tag group of men and women, young and old, as they continue to sweep the waters for survivors.  With now Lt. Faith Smith, USMC (Still only 13 years old) leading the ‘clearance teams’ cleaning off infected in every ship they find, and her group of seasoned, hardened, professional Marines following her around with a serious case of idol worship, things are starting to look almost routine, maybe even easy.  Then dad gets around to telling everyone his plan.  It’s time to take back some real estate.  Not just any real estate, Steve wants to visit Cuba, and Guantanamo Bay.  There, he hopes to find more USN and USMC still alive and kicking, as well as ammo, guns, and the medical supplies they need to make a vaccine for the survivors, including those shadowing and supporting from the Silent Service of the US Navy fast attack submarine fleet, who are helping, but trapped in their subs from the fear of infection, since they were never exposed to the original virus. 

Now, for anyone else, any other group, taking a handful of mismatched ships, hundreds of random people with lots of seagoing experience, to people who could only find the top side of the cruise ship by following the arrows, getting from the Canary islands to GitMo would be impossible.  For Wolf Squadron, it’s just another walk in the park. 

XO out...

Under a Graveyard Sky by John Ringo

A family of survivors who fight back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.Zombies are real. And we made them. Are youprepared for the zombie apocalypse? The Smith family is, with the help of a few marines.

When an airborne “zombie” plague is released, bringing civilization to a grinding halt, the Smith family, Steven, Stacey, Sophia and Faith, take to the Atlantic to avoid the chaos. The plan is to find a safe haven from the anarchy of infected humanity. What they discover, instead, is a sea composed of the tears of survivors and a passion for bringing hope.

For it is up to the Smiths and a small band of Marines to somehow create the refuge that survivors seek in a world of darkness and terror. Now with every continent a holocaust and every ship an abattoir, life is lived beneath a graveyard sky.





Review:

As the XO, I am second in command of this ship Nat and I call our lives.  You’d think that this would mean that once, JUST ONE DAMN TIME, I could get the better half to watch a Zombie movie.  Or show.  Or commercial.  Of even a thinly veiled joke or witty anecdote.  But if it has Zombies, it’s a no go.  So, I have to take matters into my own hands.  No, not that way you perverts. 

To satisfy my urges (ZOMBIE urges, really people.  Really), I tend to devour (giggle) every Zombie movie I can get my hands on. Even the bad ones.  Even the TERRIBLY bad ones.  Oh my.  Here’s where I should provide a little back story.  I love Zombie stories.  I REALLY love Zombie stories.  From sitting on my dad’s couch in the mid 80’s, staying up too late to watch HBO, where I caught my first glimpse of Zombies.  (Should I keep capitalizing Zombies?  Yes, yes I should).  Return of the Living Dead was my first, and similar to my first kiss, it gave me nightmares for months.  However that did not stop me from watching it again, and again, and again, then adding more.  Zombie Master George Romero’s hits, the modern remakes, then my television got involved with The Walking Dead.  Through all of this, can I get someone in the chair next to me?  Under this lovely blanket made for two?  No, just a lonely XO, in the dark, watching his zombie movies. 

Then the birthday fairies got involved, or a family member, giving me a gift card, I don’t remember, really, and I suddenly had $50 to spend on books.  I log into the Interwebs, hole in my pocket and all, and I see a new series from one of my favorite authors, John Ringo.  Already a little giddy from the cover with the obligatory explosions and girls with assault rifles, I click on the link to read more.  “A family of survivors who fight back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.”

WHAT?!?!?! OH.MY.YES.PLEASE.

The action is fast, with the Smith family, semi-serious doomsday preppers with brains and guts as opposed to crackpot theories and tinfoil hats, setting their bug-out plan into motion within the first few pages of the book.  Ending up semi-stranded, in the middle of the ocean, not knowing if the boat they’re floating up to will have friendlies, zombies, or just bodies, is not a good way to raise a family.  Unless of course you’re Steve Smith.  And just wait until you meet his kids.  The characters are not warm and fuzzy.  They are no-nonsense, kick some zombie ass, do NOT mess with my family, heavily armed, sort of people, and right now, they are the only shining light on the planet Earth. First order of business is finding survivors, and to do that, they have to board ships, sometime as large as cruise liners, and do a door to door search.  And many of the original folks on that ship are no longer of the ‘non-zombie’ variety.  And there are 4 members of the Smith clan.  And the kids are 13 year old Faith, and 15 year old Sophia.  As they build their flotilla of salvaged ships and ragged survivors, they formulate a plan.  Today, survive and salvage, tomorrow, find people, next week, take back the planet.


XO out...