Bogormen

Title: Just One Damned Thing After Another (The Chronicles of St. Mary #1)
Author: Jodi Taylor
Genre: Sci-fi
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 334, Audiobook ~11hrs
Date read: March 2018, April 2022

Behind the seemingly innocuous façade of St Mary's, a different kind of historical research is taking place. They don't do 'time-travel' - they 'investigate major historical events in contemporary time'. Maintaining the appearance of harmless eccentrics is not always within their power - especially given their propensity for causing loud explosions when things get too quiet.

Meet the disaster-magnets of St Mary's Institute of Historical Research as they ricochet around History. Their aim is to observe and document - to try and find the answers to many of History's unanswered questions...and not to die in the process. But one wrong move and History will fight back - to the death. And, as they soon discover - it's not just History they're fighting.

Follow the catastrophe curve from 11th-century London to World War I, and from the Cretaceous Period to the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria. For wherever Historians go, chaos is sure to follow in their wake....

4.5 stars. It lost the last half star because of all of the INCESSANT foreshadowing. It's one of my biggest pet peeves in literature. Fortunately in this case the foreshadowing usually happened just a few pages ahead of the event, so I could cope with it, but it still made me roll my eyes HARD every time. It is such a cheap trick, and I wish authors would rise above it.

Ahrem... *cough*... aaaaaanyway...

That minor nitpick aside I absolutely LOVED this book. I had begged for recommendations of good books on FB and this was one of the suggestions. It sounded intriguing and came cheap on amazon (and free on GR... but I didn't discover that until afterwards :-P ) and it absolutely delivered. It had me hooked from the very first chapter and fortunately the rest totally lived up to the promising beginning. Time-travel done well is one of my favourite genres, and when it is combined with historical fiction (much in the same way as Connie Willis) I'm totally sold.

The book had great characters, twists and turns galore, lots of lovely snark and a visit to the Cretaceous Period to boot - what's not to like?

As a book to get me out of my reading slump it was a total success, and kept me up till far too late in order to finish. Awesome :-D

Title: Tempest
Author: Julie Cross
Genre: Sci-fi
Rating: 3/5
# pages: Audiobook ~10hrs
Date read: February, 2018

The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy... he's in college, has a girlfriend... and he can travel back through time. But it's not like the movies - nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there's no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors - it's just harmless fun.

That is... until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he's stuck in 2007 and can't get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it's not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these "Enemies of Time" will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler. Recruit... or kill him.


Usually I'm a fan of anything involving time-travel, so after reading the blurb, I was really eager to read this book. Unfortunately it couldn't quite live up to my expectations as the "rules" around the time-travel got really confusing with all the exceptions and variations and what not, and I didn't really warm up to the story until rather late in the book.

I did enjoy the half-jumps Jackson took back to his past once he figured out what he was doing though - especially those where he got to see his sister, and warmed up to 2009 Jackson as well, once things started clearing up and coming to a climax. So at the end, I did like the book, but found it nicely contained, so I have no need to read the rest of the series.

Title: Star Stories - Epilogues (The Fixers of KarmaCorp #7)
Author: Audrey Faye
Genre: Sci-fi, short stories
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 88 pages
Date read: August, 2017

A few of the stories in this collection began many books ago. Regalis and Tameka. Yesenia and a second trip to a certain Wanderer flea market. A couple of them are here purely because they made me giggle (Kish facing the impending doom of a crown on her head) or because I simply couldn’t resist (there was just no way for this to end without a quick trip to Quixal.) The rest volunteered themselves as I sat with my knitting needles and checked in with each of the characters who made this series what it is.


As with all short story collections some were awesome, and some didn't touch me much. I really wish Audrey Faye wrote Christian novels - she'd be brilliant at it! The way she describes fellowship and religion would make her even better than Neta Jackson.

But I digress. My favourite story by far was "To See or Not To See". I loved seeing Yesenia back at the flea market of Tezuli, and it bookended the similar story in the first Star Stories collection very nicely :-) I also enjoyed reading about Raven back on her native planet, and Kish finally figuring out how to be herself and a queen at the same time.

Excellent conclusion to the Fixers of KarmaCorp. I'm looking forward to seeing where Audrey Faye takes her writing next.

Title: Shaman's Curse
Author: Audrey Faye
Genre: Sci-fi
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 178
Date read: July, 2017

Raven grew up tribal, and she's never forgotten it. She was sent by the grandmothers to serve those who have no tribe. To walk with the darkness. To use her Shaman Talent to balance those who walk in the light.

Which has never felt more important - because this time, the darkness comes for her friends. And for a certain golden-eyed teenager and the mother who isn't supposed to love her.

Raven has been waiting for this assignment. Expecting it. But even she wasn't expecting this.


For some reason it took me ages to get past the first five chapters, but once I did, I gobbled the rest up in two days flat! So I think it had more to do with having to be in the right mood, than with the book itself.

Because once Raven reached Elleni I was hooked. I loved reading more about how the tribes work and the instant feeling of welcome offered to Raven. I could appreciate the spiritual side of things, even when not subscribing to the "religion" thus described. The emotions were still something I could relate to.

Not the best Fixer novel, but certainly not the worst either. I really like Raven and her fiercely protective personality.

Title: Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1)
Author: Sylvain Neuvel
Genre: Sci-fi, epistolary
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 322 pages
Date read: May 2017, May 2018, April 2025

A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.

Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved—its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected.

But some can never stop searching for answers.


One of those amazing reads where even though I own it as an e-book, I immediately went out and purchased it as a physical book - I want it in my library! But no wonder - it hits all of my insta-loves. An epistolary sci-fi novel with a semi-unreliable narrator (mostly because you KNOW he's not telling you everything) and a totally fascinating concept.

I spent most of the book in a constant state of "What on earth is going on? And what on earth is going to happen next?" Those questions were only half-way answered, which for once didn't frustrate me, as it fit perfectly with the atmosphere of the book. I couldn't put it down and can't wait to read the sequel.

Title: The Book of Strange New Things
Author: Michel Faber
Genre: Sci-fi
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 512
Date read: December, 2016

It begins with Peter, a devoted man of faith, as he is called to the mission of a lifetime, one that takes him galaxies away from his wife, Bea. Peter becomes immersed in the mysteries of an astonishing new environment, overseen by an enigmatic corporation known only as USIC. His work introduces him to a seemingly friendly native population struggling with a dangerous illness and hungry for Peter’s teachings—his Bible is their “book of strange new things.” But Peter is rattled when Bea’s letters from home become increasingly desperate: typhoons and earthquakes are devastating whole countries, and governments are crumbling. Bea’s faith, once the guiding light of their lives, begins to falter.

Suddenly, a separation measured by an otherworldly distance, and defined both by one newly discovered world and another in a state of collapse, is threatened by an ever-widening gulf that is much less quantifiable. While Peter is reconciling the needs of his congregation with the desires of his strange employer, Bea is struggling for survival. Their trials lay bare a profound meditation on faith, love tested beyond endurance, and our responsibility to those closest to us.


I really can't figure this book out... it was fascinating and boring at the same time, and I'm not even sure how that works! Also, I have no idea what story the author was trying to tell! (But then I had much the same thoughts after reading "The Crimson Petal and the White", so perhaps that's just his writing-style). I was intrigued by Peter's experiences on Oasis and liked his time at C-2 much better than when he was back at base. I loved the natives and wish we'd seen more of their lives.

But at the same time, I felt there were SO many questions that weren't answered! Mostly about what was happening back on Earth while Peter was away. And worst of all, the book had no real resolution or conclusion... it just ended, as if Michel Faber had written himself into a corner and couldn't figure out where to go from there.

At the end of the day, I think I liked it. And I did appreciate that it didn't poke fun at Christianity or missionaries. But apart from that, it had too many problems for me to really be able to recommend it to anybody else... unless you happen to love vague books with ambiguous endings.

Title: Fortune's Dance (The Fixers #3)
Author: Audrey Faye
Genre: Sci-fi
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 152
Date read: September, 2016

Imogene Glass isn't a Fixer who makes waves - she leaves that part to her friends. They fight. She Dances the universe into harmony. Until she gets called onto the carpet for choosing the easy road instead of the right one.

Her next assignment is an observation-only mission, one where she's supposed to keep her eyes open and her Talent off. Which only sounds mildly frustrating - until she gets there.


This was definitely a book I read despite the cover rather than because of it. I'm sorry - it is UGLY! Fortunately, since it's an ebook, I've only really had to look at it on Goodreads.

That out of the way, I enjoyed this KarmaCorp novel just as much as the previous two :) I enjoyed getting to know Iggy, and her mission at Thess rang very true to me. It was certainly very different from the more active missions of the two first books, but though I hadn't expected it at first (which is why it took me awhile to get properly started on this), it worked for me.

I do recommend reading "Star Stories" before reading this one though, or there are some references that you won't get.

Title: Tidsfangen (The Prisoner of Time)
Author: Gry Pil Lund Ranfelt
Genre: Sci-fi
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 415
Date read: June, 2016

Louise's dad dies when she's 11, and Louise herself never manages to get accepted to the design school she's dreamed about for as long as she can remember. But when Louise is 22, she's suddenly returned to her 11-year-old body. She feels that she's been given a chance to make everything right; to save her father and realize her ambitions. But what if it happens again? And again? And again?


I can't quite decide what I thought of this book. It kept me fully captivated while reading it, and I finished it over a weekend, but as so often happens in novels with some level of time-travel involved, the end fell slightly short. I thought there were a number of questions left unanswered, and the ones that were didn't always make complete sense if you stopped to look at the details.

The premise of the book reminded me a lot of "The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August" by Claire North , but I think I liked this one a tiny bit better. I got really frustrated with Louise at times (but then, she did lead a frustrating life), and never thought Lett's behaviour in loop 4 was fully justified or explained. I loved Maria though, and was glad to see her shine in loop 5.

All in all, a really interesting premise, but one that could have been handled better.

Title: Grower's Omen (The Fixers #2)
Author: Audrey Faye
Genre: Sci-Fi
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 162
Date read: May, 2016

Sometimes the right choice feels like anything but. Tyra Lightbody lives steeped in family, community, and promises made long before she was born.

Her next mission will try to take all that away.

She's being sent to an experimental-species biome to see why the locals are having bad dreams and throwing beakers at each other. What she discovers will test her loyalties, her courage, and her ability to make the very hardest of decisions in the very darkest of nights.


A bit slower to take off than the first book in the series, but once it did, I enjoyed it just as much. Especially the ethical dilemma Tyra faced, and her absolute dedication to staying on the right side of the equations, even if she did have to cross certain lines along the way.

After reading the first one, I was glad to see that there didn't seem to be any romantic interest for Tyra in this one. While I loved the story of Kish and Devan, I still appreciate that the focus is on the Fixers' jobs, rather than on getting them all paired up ;)

Title: Caszandra (Touchstone #3)
Author: Andrea K. Höst
Genre: Sci-fi
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 357
Date read: March 2016, March 2017, March 2019, March 2021, September 2023

Cassandra Devlin doesn't know what she's for. But she knows she's running out of time.

Since Cass was rescued from the abandoned world of Muina, the Aussie teen has proven more than useful to the people of Tare. Expeditions to their home world no longer end in slaughter. The teaching city of Kalasa has been unlocked. After years of searching for answers, they are starting to make progress.

But space is tearing itself apart. Ionoth attack in ever-greater numbers. And "the useful stray" has been injured so many times that the Tarens hesitate to use her for fear of losing her.

With one particular Taren now her most important person, Cass is determined to contribute everything she can - and hopes to find some answers of her own. What is the link between Muina and Earth? Why are the reclusive Nurans so interested in 'rescuing' her? And what role in the crisis do the inhuman Cruzatch play?


Very satisfying ending to the trilogy (although I am glad there is a "Gratuitous Epilogue" as well!). I did think the whole Powerstone issue was solved surprisingly fast, and there are a lot of unanswered questions about those and the Cruzatch still, but I'm hoping some of those answers will be given in the epilogue. I also want to know more about Cass' family.

I loved the addition of Sen, Ys and Rye and how Sen 'adopted' Cass, without her really having much say in the matter. I liked that there was a lot of character development in this book - not just for Cass, but also for those around her. I felt like I got to know the other Sentari a lot better.

Really brilliant book I couldn't put down and finished over a weekend... quite a change from book 2 which took me 4 months!

(I did get annoyed with Andrea Höst using 'smex' for 'sex' though. I mean, really?! )