Recipe Review from 12/21/20

I realized that this will probably be my final new recipe review for 2020. Goodness! My "End of Year Review" of life in general will be posted on Jan 1. Meanwhile, four new recipes for your enjoyment - not much in the way of pics, sorry about that.

Headwaters of the Mississippi (my corner of the world)

Mouth of the Mississippi, New Orleans, LA

The Meal Plan:
Sat (L) leftover Spanish Stew (S) bear steaks and stuffing
Sun (L) leftover Spanish Stew (S) bear steaks and stuffing
Mon (yoga - leftover stuffing and cranberry sauce
Tues - gumbo
Wed - gumbo
Thurs - gumbo
Fri (L) leftovers (S) leftovers
Sat (L) leftovers (S) leftovers

Lunches - Bean and barley Soup


Slow Cooker Beef Bone Broth (Wholesomliscious blog)
I've never made beef broth and we bought some beef bones earlier this year that were now taking up awkward space in the freezer. It was time to make beef broth!

What I learned - I really don't like the smell of roasting beef bones. And this was super easy to make in the slow cooker. I'm not sure I had the "right" kind of bones for this, but when all was said and strained, I had beef broth. The advantage of waiting is I can freeze my containers out on the porch.

I got 10 cups out of this recipe (2 quarts and 2 cups)

3-4 lbs of mixed beef bones oxtail, knuckles, neck bones and/or short ribs
2 medium carrots chopped
3 celery stalks chopped
2 medium onions chopped
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2-3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 bay leaf
Water between 8-10 cups

Preheat oven to 400 F. Place bones in a single layer on a sheet or roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil to evenly coat.

Roast for 30 minutes, then, flip each bone over and roast for an additional 30 minutes.

Place chopped vegetables, roasted bones, bay leaf and cider vinegar and place in your slow cooker. Cover completely with water and set your slow cooker to low.

Simmer for 24 hours. Throughout simmering, add water as needed to keep all the ingredients submerged. Once the broth has reached a dark rich brown color, turn off slow cooker.

Discard the bones, vegetables and bay leaf and strain through a cheesecloth. Cool the broth to room temperature.
Pour into jars and let cool in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

When you are ready to serve, skim the condensed fat off the top of the broth and heat to the desired temperature. Sip in a cup or add to your favorite recipe.


Southwestern Three Bean and Barley Soup (Eating Well, Soups) vegetarian
I modified this one greatly to use canned beans rather than dried and the modifications are reflected below. Reason for this was I didn't want to putz with, nor did I have on hand 1/3 cup each of black beans, great northern beans and kidney beans. In addition, cooking dried beans with my calcium-rich water can have iffy results.

Another benefit - less cooking time. Going from 2 1/2 hours to maybe 30? Yup, win-win.

I prefer my soups on the creamier/thicker side and this hit the spot. I didn't find it spicy, maybe even a tich bland? But it hit the spot with temps sitting around 10*. Some lime corn chips added a nice counter point. A rather versatile recipe as you can easily tweak it to suit your tastes and needs.

This made about 6-8 servings.

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 large 1 large stalk celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
4 cups (32-ounce carton) reduced-sodium chicken broth, “no-chicken” broth or vegetable broth
½ cup pearl barley
1 can (14.5 oz) black beans
1 can (14.5 oz)great northern beans
1 can (14.5 oz) pinto beans
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¾ teaspoon salt
extra water as needed to thin out the soup to your preferred consistency

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add water, broth, barley, black beans, great northern beans, pinto beans, chili powder, cumin and oregano. Bring to a lively simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes (adding more water, ½ cup at a time, if necessary or desired). Season with salt.


Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo (modified from Kevin Belton's Big Flavors of New Orleans)
I did some modifications from the original recipe which are reflected below. I cut back on the oil/flour quantities and I used 1 8 oz bottle of clam juice in combination with the water. I would have used chicken stock but I didn't have any on hand and I forgot to buy extra. I really should have used 2 bottles of clam juice but I didn't fully read the recipe before grocery shopping.

I also cut the salt way back. There's salt in the Creole seasoning and I didn't want this tasting like a salt bomb.

With all of that - I LOVE gumbo and I loved this. It works "okay" for a weeknight if you start early/have the time - it does take about an hour and a half from start to table.

2/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup flour
2 cups onion, chopped (about 1 large softball sized onion)
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped celery
3 bay leaves
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp pepper
3 tbsp Creole seasoning
1 tsp cayenne pepper
6 cups basic shrimp stock (or chicken, or water)
1 1/2 lbs andoui8lle sausage, sliced in 1/2 inch slices
2 lbs (16-20) shrimp, peeled and de-veined

In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil. Gradually add the flour to form a roux, making sure to stir constantly to prevent burning. When it reaches the color of chocolate (I went with "milk chocolate"), add onion and cook until transparent, about five minutes. Add bell pepper and celery and cook until softened about 4 minutes. Stir in the seasonings.

Add the stock slowly wisking continuously. Add the andouille and stir. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes. Serve over rice.


Perfect Every Time Waffles (modified from Barefeet in the Kitchen blog)
I haven't been happy with the last couple batches of waffles I've made; one batch had severe problems with sticking, another batch they formed oddly in the waffle maker. So, I tried a new recipe and this one will be a keeper! Not only were the waffles really good, but I quite enjoyed the topping options she discussed. Mmm! Breakfast ideas!

My modifications are reflected below. I swapped one cup of AP flour for WW, and I added an extra teaspoon of almond extract. These were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Yummers! Recommended.

I got 5 1/2 Belgian style waffles out of this recipe.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 2/3 cups milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the waffle iron. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl. Add the milk and the eggs. Whisk to combine. Pour the melted butter and the vanilla into the batter and whisk until mostly smooth.

Pour onto the hot waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer’s directions. Serve warm or let cool completely.

photo from barefeetinthekitchen.com

The Last Emperox by John Scalzi (The Interdependency #3)

The Last Emperox by John Scalzi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Jacket Blurb: The collapse of The Flow, the interstellar pathway between the planets of the Interdependency, has accelerated. Entire star systems—and billions of people—are becoming cut off from the rest of human civilization. This collapse was foretold through scientific prediction… and yet, even as the evidence is obvious and insurmountable, many still try to rationalize, delay and profit from, these final days of one of the greatest empires humanity has ever known.

Emperox Grayland II has finally wrested control of her empire from those who oppose her and who deny the reality of this collapse. But “control” is a slippery thing, and even as Grayland strives to save as many of her people from impoverished isolation, the forces opposing her rule will make a final, desperate push to topple her from her throne and power, by any means necessary. Grayland and her thinning list of allies must use every tool at their disposal to save themselves, and all of humanity. And yet it may not be enough.
Will Grayland become the savior of her civilization… or the last emperox to wear the crown?


Read as an audio book for November 2020 book group.

Book three in the Interdependency Series - this can not be read as a stand alone.

This is a light space opera (series) that is meant to amuse and entertain. If you're looking for hard scifi, look elsewhere. And yes, I was amused and entertained. Heck, Will Wheaton is narrating. He could read off the back of a cereal box and make it sound great. And that was the strong point of The Last Emperox - Wheaton was narrating.

Because ultimately, the overall plot stumbled, the characters spent oh so much time in their heads re-hashing the previous book, the crisis ended up being political when the real problem was left unresolved (the fading flow streams), and somewhere in all of this, the science and data were just kinda lost in everything else. There was political grandstanding, conspiracy theories galore, noble causes, true love, righteous vengeance, and so many loose ends left dangling they could have formed their own flow stream.

But I was happily entertained during my daily commute. Though I did find myself zoning out and then having to backtrack to listen to what I missed. Which was never much. While not what I would consider Scalzi's best work, if you're a fan and you've read the first two, then you'll find some enjoyment from this.

Recommended with some small reservations.

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Bloodshot by Cherie Priest (Cheshire Red Reports #1)

RBloodshot by Cherie Priest
My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Jacket Blurb: Raylene Pendle (AKA Cheshire Red), a vampire and world-renowned thief, doesn’t usually hang with her own kind. She’s too busy stealing priceless art and rare jewels. But when the infuriatingly charming Ian Stott asks for help, Raylene finds him impossible to resist—even though Ian doesn’t want precious artifacts. He wants her to retrieve missing government files—documents that deal with the secret biological experiments that left Ian blind. What Raylene doesn’t bargain for is a case that takes her from the wilds of Minneapolis to the mean streets of Atlanta. And with a psychotic, power-hungry scientist on her trail, a kick-ass drag queen on her side, and Men in Black popping up at the most inconvenient moments, the case proves to be one hell of a ride.
Read for October 2020 book group. Read as an audio book.

Premise of the book is interesting enough: Raylene is a century old vampire who keeps herself employed by stealing things for other people, or sometimes, herself. Usually very expensive and priceless things. She has been approached by another vampire who wants his records retrieved from when he was held captive under a secret government experiment. When Raylene accepts, this triggers a cascade of events that have her on the run across the States as she works to uncover the truth.

See? Interesting.

The main character? Not so much. She grated on my nerves, switching whiplash like between a strong, independent, kick-ass vampire-ess, to a panicky, indecisive, uncertain vampire in the space of a few breaths or sentences. The use of snark as a self-defense mechanism and humor to offset the indifference didn't quite work. I will add here, my dislike could be a response to the narrator of the book. The performer did a most excellent reading, maybe too well, and that much added vocalized emotion might have contributed to my annoyance.

The sub-characters I quite liked. Ian and Cal were intriguing, I wanted to know more about Antonio, and even Pepper and Domino were interesting.

The antagonists were, well, typical government subversive antagonists right down to wearing black and sneering. Nothing new there.

There was one small plot surprise toward the end of the book that had me nodding in appreciation, but while the book does not end on a cliff hanger, it does firmly set up the next book in the series. I'm really on the fence if I want to read book two. My opinion: recommended with reservations.


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All Systems Red by Martha Wells (Murderbot #1)

All Systems Red by Martha Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jacket Blurb: In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn't a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied 'droid—a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as "Murderbot." Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

Read for September 2020 book group.

General consensus from the book group was this was an enjoyable, quick, and interesting read. For myself, this was just the length I needed at this moment in time. And being a short story, this is going to be a short review.

I've said this in the past, a good short story can be difficult to write as you need to engage the reader within the first couple of pages and keep their attention with a minimum of background "fluff". I thought the author did that - this is a character driven story and there is just enough background to provide the setting. A couple folks did note in book group that they would have liked more background information, and a couple of us thought it was good the way it was.

I haven't read any reviews on this selection, and I'm sure this has been discussed at length, but the notable lack of gender reference was quite interesting. For those in the group who "read" this as an audio book, they assigned a male gender because the narrator was male. I read on my e-reader and I thought the character came across as female. When really, the character is gender-less. Fascinating. This lead to discussions on Ann Leckie's books and similar.

Overall, a good read and I plan on picking up the next few books in the series. Recommended.

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Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (The Clockwork Century #1)

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Jacket Blurb: In the early days of the Civil War, rumors of gold in the frozen Klondike brought hordes of newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. Anxious to compete, Russian prospectors commissioned inventor Leviticus Blue to create a great machine that could mine through Alaska’s ice. Thus was Dr. Blue’s Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine born.

But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.

Read for August 2020 book group. Read as an audio book.

Premise of the book is young Zeke has lived his life beyond the wall that contains the Blight, a horrific anomaly that was caused by his deceased father. Zeke wants to try and find information that will redeem his father and grandfather, but his Mother has always been firmly against such actions, preferring to let the past stay in the past. Zeke has other plans and embarks on a quest to get into the Blight Zone, leaving his Mother no choice but to follow.

The steampunk was truly steampunk, mixing historical fiction with fantasy and some speculative (for 1800's) science fiction.

This was an "okay" read. I was entertained, but not engaged enough to want to read further into the series. I was disappointed with the zombies (just not a fan of the zombie genre), there were a few too many redundant questions being asked by the main characters (a peeve of mine), and an excessive amount of running. It was almost as if the author kept the characters moving to show as much of the Blight City and its strangeness as possible. While the ending had one small but quite enjoyable surprise, the full resolution was somewhat underwhelming.

This selection definitely straddles the line between Young Adult and Adult. I think any mother reading this will be able to relate to Briar's struggles in raising Zeke. I think most pre-teens will be able to relate to Zeke's character and his quest to find the truth and subsequent adventures.

Recommended with reservations - an enjoyment of steampunk, zombies, and young adult genre is a must for this book.

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Dark Deeds by Mike Brooks (Keiko #3)

Dark Deeds by Mike Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jacket Blurb: In the third book of the “entertaining” (Kirkus Reveiws) Keiko series, Captain Ichabod Drift and his crew find themselves in another mess as a ship-wide vacation leads to their second-in-command taken hostage by the planet’s criminal mastermind.

After the riotous civil war in Dark Sky, the crew of the Keiko decides to go on vacation at an illegal gambling port for a little fun. What they don’t realize is that the casinos are run by an ex-client who didn’t get his shipment due to the war. The mob boss decides to take Tamara Rouke, the Keiko’s second-in-command, and hold her hostage until the crew raises enough money to pay him back for the lost shipment. If they don’t pay up in time, Rouke will be killed.

Captain Ichabod Drift and his crew agree. But as they find a way to get the funds, one will betray everyone and one will die…

Read for June book group - except for me because I got June and July books mixed up.

Book three in the Keiko series, where the crew of the Keiko find themselves back at the mercy of the gangster? Mob boss? Orlov, that they inadvertently pissed off in a previous book. Orlov takes Tamara Rourke hostage and demands Drift comes up with the money Orlov lost in their previous dealings. Drift hatches a crazy plan and everything goes wrong.

Folks compare this to just about any other popular series with a ruggedly good-looking captain and a ethnically diverse crew, but where this deviates from other popular series is this was darker and a tich more violent than the previous two books. It lacked the light-heartedness typically found in this particular sub-genre. Dark Deeds had it's moments of quirky replies and off the cuff remarks, but when taken as a whole, it was on the darker side of things.

Was it still entertaining? Absolutely. Was the ending what I expected? Not remotely. And that's what I enjoyed about this one. I like to be surprised.

Recommended if you like space opera. Definitely start with book number one - Dark Run.

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Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi

Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jacket Blurb: The space-faring Yherajk have come to Earth to meet us and to begin humanity's first interstellar friendship. There's just one problem: They're hideously ugly and they smell like rotting fish. So getting humanity's trust is a challenge. The Yherajk need someone who can help them close the deal. Enter Thomas Stein, who knows something about closing deals. He's one of Hollywood's hottest young agents. But although Stein may have just concluded the biggest deal of his career, it's quite another thing to negotiate for an entire alien race. To earn his percentage this time, he's going to need all the smarts, skills, and wits he can muster. Read as an audio book. July's book group selection. I read out June and July out of order.

If you enjoy John Scalzi's books, you'll probably enjoy this one. It's a light read, engaging, entertaining, a bit silly, yet manages to ask some interesting questions about human perceptions and life. I did read this as an audio book simply because Will Wheaton is a fabulous narrator and I will read almost anything he narrates.

It's not a perfect book, there are flaws - and those will be dependent upon the reader viewpoint - but it's entertaining and I quite like to be entertained when reading. This would be a good selection if traveling, hanging out at the beach, a hot summer day in a hammock, or similar situation. It's easy to put down and pick up if commuting.

Recommended if you like Scalzi. Recommended if you want to try Scalzi.



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Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Read as an audio book.

This was interesting and engaging. A "meaning of life" story though the eyes of robots/artificial intelligence's; a story of survival, friendship, mortality and having a soul.

I'll start with the narrator - well done performance. Each character had its own "voice", and while I didn't agree with all the accents, it worked for the purposes of the story and nothing grated on my nerves.

The story is about Brittle, a former care-giver robot who is now scavenging parts from The Sea of Rust - an area roughly in former Ohio that has become a desiccated, deserted desert. The world has been decimated by the robots in their quest to eradicate humans - which they did, along with all biological life on the planet. Now robots try and eke out an existence while avoiding the battle between the One World Intelligence's who are systematically uploading robots to their mainframes (or some such) creating basically a hive mind. Brittle, fighting for her own survival and facing imminent parts failure is caught up in a quest for a third World Mind who wants to ensure the survival of AI's.

Things I quite enjoyed - it's all robots. All sorts of different robots struggling for survival in various means and ways. The plot just rolls along and the reader rolls along with it. It made for a very enjoyable commute - no shouting in the car, no pounding of fists on the steering wheel, just an engaging story.

A handful of things seemed incongruous and didn't quite work for me: the frequency Brittle swore using "fuck" and "shit". In a future world, I would have expected a robot to use it's own terminology. There were all these little enclaves of robots, yet no robot was manufacturing parts for other robots?

It was emphasized that robots really couldn't overwrite - so to speak - their base programming. Yet Brittle seemed to have no problem not giving a crap about anyone but herself. That seemed a bit incongruous with her programming.

The last think I'll talk about is the robots refering to themselves as "people" or "persons" - human terminology. Early in the story Brittle used the term "citizen", which seemed more apropos for AI's living in an AI world. There were other instances similar to that and combined, threw me out of the flow of the story.

Overall, an easy to listen to story that kept me engaged, held interesting concepts, and had a good performance by the narrator. Recommended.

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Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (Peter Grant #2)

Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jacket Blurb:  The song. That’s what London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant first notices when he examines the corpse of Cyrus Wilkins, part-time jazz drummer and full-time accountant, who dropped dead of a heart attack while playing a gig at Soho’s 606 Club. The notes of the old jazz standard are rising from the body—a sure sign that something about the man’s death was not at all natural but instead supernatural.

Body and soul. They’re also what Peter will risk as he investigates a pattern of similar deaths in and around Soho. With the help of his superior officer, Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, and the assistance of beautiful jazz aficionado Simone Fitzwilliam, Peter will uncover a deadly magical menace—one that leads right to his own doorstep and to the squandered promise of a young jazz musician: a talented trumpet player named Richard “Lord” Grant—otherwise known as Peter’s dear old dad.

Read as an audio book. Will be June 2020's scifi book group selection. I jumped the gun a little bit...

I enjoyed this selection quite a bit - I mean, who wouldn't? There were Jazz Vampires. A very cool concept executed in a delightful way.

This does pick up where Midnight Riot left off: Leslie is sequestered with her family and on leave while the doctors try and fix her face and throat, Nightengale is slowly recovering from being shot in the shoulder, and we learn more about the enigmatic Molly and Peter's father, "Lord Grant". Some new characters make an appearance - the lovely Simone and, ah the police detective whose name I completely forgot. I hope we'll see the good detective in future books.

I was engaged with the plot and sub-plots from the moment I hit "play" to the very end. This just rolled right along and took me with. There are several quite enjoyable plot twists, I loved the humor, and the history aspect in this one really fleshed out the world building.

My one teeny complaint with the book was the ending(s). The first big plot reveal hit rather abruptly, a bit out of left field (was pretty awesome), but was kinda like...okay..., then the rest got a bit garbled from there. Still quite enjoyable, but parts felt disconnected from the overall story.

Bottom line - I will be reading the next one in the series.

Recommended if you like urban fantasy with a twist of jazz.



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The Departure by Neal Asher (Owner Triology #1)

The Departure by Neal Asher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Jacket Blurb: Visible in the night sky the Argus Station, its twin smelting plants like glowing eyes, looks down on nightmare Earth. From Argus the Committee keep an oppressive control. Soon they will have the power to edit human minds, but not yet - twelve billion human beings need to die before Earth can be stabilized.
 
Read for February book group.

I greatly enjoyed this installment from Neal Asher. While I've quite like all the books of his I've read to date, this one was probably at the top of my list.

And as with Asher's books, I'm not going to try and recap the plots.

What I liked: less technology, less strange creatures, less convoluted political maneuverings. Now, don't take this to mean there wasn't the future technology - there was. And don't take this to mean there wasn't a political agenda - there was. These items were set against a back drop of a future version of George Orwell's 1984 and mankind has turned into a "manswarm" that cannot be sustained and those in power will be eliminating.

Yes, it's a bit of a dark and unpleasant time on Earth.

I also quite enjoyed the dual plots bouncing between Earth and Mars. Despite the time difference of events on Earth playing out over years and the events on Mars happening in less than a week, it worked. And readers of Asher will make the connection between Earth and Mars in a matter of pages.

I could go on about what I enjoyed and didn't enjoy, but overall this was a most excellent start to a new trilogy and you're wasting time reading this instead of that. Off you go!



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Vanguard by Jack Campbell (Genesis Fleet #2)

Ascendant by Jack Campbell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Jacket Blurb:  A young fleet officer and a Marine stand together to defend their colony in the continuation of the powerful and action-packed Genesis Fleet saga from New York Times bestselling author Jack Campbell.

In the three years since former fleet officer Rob Geary and former Marine Mele Darcy led improvised forces to repel attacks on the world of Glenlyon, Old Earth and the Old Colonies have continued to shrink their military forces.

But open warfare erupts once again when Glenlyon tries to force open a trade route. Isolated and alone, Glenlyon places its hope in informal agreements with other worlds also facing attack. But fiercely independent worlds settled by people who wanted to escape higher authority don’t easily agree to such commitments. While politicians try to bring some kind of formal alliance into being, Geary and Darcy once again find themselves fighting desperately to defend their world, hoping they can hold out until help arrives.

If it comes at all.

Read for January 2020 scifi book group.

Book two in the Genesis Fleet Series.

Speaking for myself, I find Jack Campbell's books - specifically this series and his Lost Fleet series - to be a nearly ideal scifi read among a plethora of dystopian plots, overly long space operas, and unnecessarily verbose military science fiction.

Vanguard continues the story of Rob Geary, an unlikely hero who's up against impossible odds protecting two star systems with one small ship. It's also the story of the supporting cast of characters who all have a role to play either in space (fleeing conflict on a freighter), defending a space station, or protecting a planet from invaders. Actually, they are all up against impossible odds and each has their own battles to face.

In this installment, I found the supporting characters - Lochan, Carmen, and Mele - and their plot lines, to be more interesting than Rob's. Situational settings perhaps? Less time lag with communications? More emotional engagement? Perhaps a combination of all of those.

I will also note, and we discussed this in book group, I greatly appreciate the brevity of the logistics in having the space battles described. Trajectories are explained, executed, and our characters fly on. I applaud the realism in the waiting to fly in-system, distances before combat, and the length in communication times.

One comment of concern I do have, was how quickly the Captain of the fighter Piranha was, ah, eliminated. It was almost as if the author needed to cut that plot line off and just snipped that ship out of the picture. Very abrupt.

As I said above, I noted these are nearly idea, but not necessarily perfect. There are some quirks that gave me pause and question plausibility. Still, these are what *I* want to read when I need some solid space faring sci-fi. Recommended.



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