Hurricane | Brainfluff

This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books and blogs they have written.

It’s been another whirlwind week. I’ve been rushing around like a blue-bottomed fly getting presents wrapped, writing and sending off cards and organising the food for Christmas, which isn’t quite as straightforward as it sounds, given that my son is vegan and we are vegetarian.

On Monday, I travelled to my daughter’s house to deliver the Christmas cards and pressies as I wouldn’t be seeing them over the Christmas break. I had great fun playing with baby Eliza, who is growing at a rate of knots. She fell asleep in my arms and once more I was swept with that painful wave of love which stops the breath in my lungs and makes each heartbeat hurt – a now-familiar sensation since the birth of my first grandchild. They’ll say something, or tilt their head in a particular way – and I’m suffused with that fierce feeling all over again. We went out for lunch together and then I made my way back home when Rebecca had to leave for the school run.

My son arrived on Wednesday and will be staying until after Christmas, which is a great treat, given that I don’t get a chance to see him all that often. Yesterday, I attended a lovely party where we sang seasonal songs around the piano and today, after we did the final supermarket run, we Skyped my mother-in-law, who is celebrating her birthday today. Other than food, I now have all the other Christmas chores completed – yippee!

Last week I read:
A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe – Book 1 of The Salvagers series by Alex White
Boots Elsworth was a famous treasure hunter in another life, but now she’s washed up. She makes her meager living faking salvage legends and selling them to the highest bidder, but this time she might have stumbled on something real–the story of the Harrow, a famous warship, capable of untold destruction. Nilah Brio is the top driver in the Pan Galactic Racing Federation and the darling of the racing world–until she witnesses the murder of a fellow racer. Framed for the murder and on the hunt to clear her name, Nilah only has one lead: the killer also hunts a woman named Boots.
I really enjoyed this magical, futuristic adventure set in a post-apocalyptic world, recovering after a brutal pan-galactic war. There is plenty of action-packed mayhem, which didn’t prevent me from steadily bonding with the main protagonists.

Hurricane – Book 3 of the Hive Mind series by Janet Edwards
Eighteen-year-old Amber is the youngest of the five telepaths who protect the hundred million citizens of one of the great hive cities of twenty-sixth century Earth. Her job is hunting down criminals before they commit their crimes, but this time a simple case leads on to something far bigger. This is a case where Amber’s team have to face the unknown and break all the rules they usually follow, while Amber has extra burdens she can’t share with anyone. She has a personal mystery to solve, and questions she wants answered, but curiosity is a dangerous trait in a telepath.
I’ve enjoyed this series from Edwards – but this is the best book so far. It answers questions about this world that have been niggling since the first one of the series, while the crime investigation provides plenty of tension and action. Review to follow.

There Will Be Hell to Pay by Benjamin Gilad
They say those who get deep into the Kabbalah’s mystical text of the celestial spheres can lose their minds. But one man discovers the celestial spheres are far from saintly. The man, Jack Merriman, is a Seer sucked into the celestial realm against his better judgment. He finds out Satan is a beautiful female with a keen sense of justice. Archangel Michael sounds just like James Earl Jones and the Cherubs fill the Celestial spheres with heavenly elevator music. But underneath, the Celestial Spheres are as political and incompetent as a big government agency.
This quirky paranormal investigative story has an interesting premise. I shall be reviewing it in due course.

My posts last week:

Review of Academic Curveball – Book 1 of the Braxton Campus mysteries by James J. Cudney

Teaser Tuesday featuring Hurricane – Book 3 of the Hive Mind series by Janet Edwards

Christmas-Holiday Gifts – Science Fiction and Fantasy for Everyone

Review of The Death Chamber – Book 6 of The Detective’s Daughter series by Lesley Thomson

Friday Face-Off featuring Hogfather – Book 20 of The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

Review of How To Steal a Dragon’s Sword – Book 9 of the How To Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell

Interesting/outstanding blogs and articles that have caught my attention during the last week, in no particular order:

Friday Face-Off: Seasonal “Ho, Ho, Ho.” https://perfectlytolerable.com/2018/12/21/friday-face-off-seasonal/ This is my favourite meme and Brittany nails it this week by featuring
How The Grinch Stole Christmas – which is your favourite cover?

Echo of Love https://thelonelyauthorblog.com/2018/12/21/echo-of-love/ This time of year is particularly tough on those grieving or lonely – and this beautiful, thoughtful poem reminds us of this…

How The Left Hand of Darkness Changed Everything by Becky Chambers https://lithub.com/how-the-left-hand-of-darkness-changed-everything/ The Lit Hub featured this wonderful article by one of our most talented science fiction authors…

Indian Tea/ Chai Walla(भारतीय चाय, चाई वाल्ला) https://historyofkingpanwars.wordpress.com/2018/12/19/indian-tea-chai-walla This fascinating and detailed article includes videos and a history of growing and drinking tea on the Indian continent.

Things We Say Today Which We Owe to Shakespeare https://blogging807.wordpress.com/2018/12/17/things-we-say-today-which-we-owe-to-shakespeare/ My blogging pal, Rae Longest reblogged this post. It’s a response to all those who claim Shakespeare is no longer relevant to modern life.

In the meantime, many thanks for taking the time to comment, like and visit my blog – have a wonderful holiday, whatever your beliefs and wherever you are…

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This is my choice of the day:
Hurricane – Book 3 in the Hive Mind series by Janet Edwards

42% I pulled back into my own head, and opened my eyes to look out of the window. No, this was no hallucination, but shocking reality. The beach had some similarities to one of the Hive beaches, but the sight of the sea devastated me.

This sea was nothing like the ones on Hive beaches. This sea was a powerful, menacing grey, with giant waves that threw themselves at the beach in anger, and the far cliffs…

There were no far cliffs. There were no supporting pillars either. The sea stretched on unbroken into the distance, as if it reached to the end of eternity.

BLURB: Eighteen-year-old Amber is the youngest of the five telepaths who protect the hundred million citizens of one of the great hive cities of twenty-sixth century Earth. Her job is hunting down criminals before they commit their crimes, but this time a simple case leads on to something far bigger.

This is a case where Amber’s team have to face the unknown and break all the rules they usually follow, while Amber has extra burdens she can’t share with anyone. She has a personal mystery to solve, and questions she wants answered, but curiosity is a dangerous trait in a telepath.

I really enjoy Janet Edwards’ writing – see my review of the first book in the series Telepath. This near-future world has most of the population living in close quarters underground and once again, I’m enjoying the adventures of this likeable protagonist. She is growing up fast with the huge responsibility resting on her shoulders – and circumstances are stacking up to crisis that only she can solve – with catastrophic consequences if she doesn’t… I’m finding it hard to put this one down!