Book 11 Exit Strategy

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells fulfills the “Book with a with a robot, cyborg, or AI character” category of the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. It is the fourth novella in the Murderbot series. The fifth will be published this May. The new one is a full novel rather than the novella format of the first four books. I’m so excited. I can’t even tell you. I want to preorder it on audio, but it’s not an option yet.

I digress.

In this installment of the Murderbot Diaries, our hero, the reluctant, awkward killing machine, I mean, cyborg plans to end his quest to take down GrayCris for their crimes in the first novella. First, he sends the incriminating material from Book 3, Rogue Protocol, to Dr. Mensah and then, second, he gets out of Dodge. Of course, he can’t resist checking on those original charges from Book 1, All Systems Red. He cares about them but doesn’t understand why. Dr. Mensah is missing! Murderbot must find and save her. Because he loves her like a mom. He doesn’t comprehend love…yet.

Why do I love the Murderbot diaries so much? Welp, the reader for the audio is amazing. So amazing in fact, I bought the third book from Audible even though I already read it. I might listen-through again before May. He brings the cyborg to life. (See what I did there?)

Second, the story is engaging, interesting, and fun. The main character, our own Murderbot (but don’t say his name around because it’s a secret.) is one of the best sci-fi characters I have come across. Ms. Wells created a cyborg designed for the sole purpose of being a commercial bodyguard/soldier and gave him depth and breadth. He has disconnected his governor module, you know, the one that makes him a complicit robot with no will of his own and hacked it to watch videos. He didn’t free himself to murder indiscriminately, or take down the human race, or even run off to an independent, new life. Nope, he wanted to watch soap operas in peace.

Third, in the fourth book, the author used Murderbot’s lack-of-humanity to cause trouble. He’s a good guy, tries to save his clients, do the right thing, all the while seeming selfish and indifferent. But he doesn’t understand many human complexities—emotions, intentions, manipulations. He thinks going to the Milu terraforming facility will help the cause. Instead, because he’s technically Dr. Mensah’s property, it appears as if she sent him to spy. Trouble ensues. He learns, and spoiler, he saves the day.

If you are a fan of funny sci-fi, Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Trilogy (that has six books), Harry Harrison’s Bill the Galactic Hero stories, or John Scalzi’s Red Shirts, this series is for you. I recommend it outright, but if you can get the audio…

I give Exit Strategy by Martha Wells Five Space Operas.

Book 10 X by Sue Grafton

X by Sue Grafton fulfills the category “Book with only Words on the Cover” for the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. It’s number twenty-four in her Kinsey Millhone series. Yes, I have read all the others and plan to finish Y is for Yesterday by the end of 2020. Plus, doing X for my tenth blog is just kismet.

A dozen years ago, my stepmother introduced me to Sue Grafton. Knowing I was an avid reader and enjoyed mysteries, she recommended Sue Grafton and Patricia Cornwell, both authors I had never read. (If you can believe it.) I’d been reading fantasy series like Xanth, Dragon Lance, and loving every Mary Higgins Clark too. The length (short) and the direct style of the narrator appealed to me.

Since X is the twenty-fourth novel in the series, I won’t rehash the entire storyline. Ms. Grafton does that for you as she introduces Kinsey in every book, describes her business and her morning run.

In every single book.

Not looking for Pulitzer work, I enjoyed the book and the series. In X, Ms. Grafton impressed me when Kinsey said she wasn’t going to describe her morning run for the third time in the book as it was boring.

I laughed so hard. Maybe she finally got the hint. Unfortunately, there is only one more in the series and Ms. Graft passed in December of 2017.

In the story, our detective gets drawn into a mystery she’s not hired to solve. It seems she wants to put a cap on the last story where another private detective died. She picks up one of his old cases, helps his widow, and solves the whole thing.

Ms. Grafton did a great job of interweaving subplots with this book, though I thought the ending was rushed. She has the naughty neighbor subplot, another to help Pete Wolinsky’s widow, and the main dealing with an art scam. Kinsey navigates all three stories, some getting more time than others. The main plot of the stolen painting seemed to be pushed back, while the one about Pete took the spotlight. It was odd, especially since it wrapped without catching the bad guy.

And the neighbor plot. Oh dear, Ms. Grafton showed in highly digitized, painted pictures of how much research she did about water conservation. I don’t know if they were trying to reach a certain word count or if the author refused to remove some of the lengthy discussions with her landlord.

It seemed a long way around to get to the point that the elderly couple next door were stealing Henry’s water. A very long way around. But I listened to the novel on CD, and Judy Kay is a nice reader (though her old people sound like women).

Again, it’s Book Twenty-Four. I can’t ask for more.

It was a light read, great for the crummy February weather.

I give X by Sue Grafton Four Low Flush Toilet.

Book 9 A Princess in Theory

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole fulfills the “Book by a Woman of Color” category for the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. The novel seemed like a fantastic choice to end Black History Month, for everything Ms. Cole has done for Romance Writers of America over the years and especially the past two months. I won’t get into all the details. See Ms. Cole’s Twitter account to witness her brave posts that called out RWA for its racist and political nonsense. And it matches nicely with Kathryn R. Biel’s Queen of Hearts.

Ever get one of those emails about a prince in a foreign country looking for your help? Alyssa Cole takes this spammy idea and turns it into a wonderful, exciting, scientific romance. In A Princess in Theory, Ledi gets several emails from a small African nation requesting personal information to verify her identity. She assumes it some scam to get her data and blows them off. Little does she know, the assistant to his royal highness, Prince Thabiso of Thesolo, an African country in the mountains sent the letters. The prince is desperate to find her as she is his betrothed from their childhood. Ledi knows nothing about the marriage agreement because her parents fled to America when she was a child and died in a car crash soon after.

OMG, all the stuff! The novel has all the best romance tropes: Prince in Disguise, Arranged Marriage, Princess in Disguise. Add on to that a Woman in STEM, a Reluctant Prince, Mysterious Diseases, and so much more. This book had it all. Both main characters were full, breathing people. I could feel for both of them in the plights of their lives. Both had much to deal with and I was relieved when they discovered they could lean on each other for help. (And spoiler, the tale ended with a “Happy for Now” ending, which I found very satisfying. I think both, but Ledi, had more to overcome before that HEA could happen.)

The book also tied together with my choice for a Valentine’s Day post Kathryn R. Biel’s Queen of Hearts. Both stories dealt with royalty and the reality of living that life. No Disney endings here. These royals had to deal with actually ruling the country: the social, the economic, the political, etc. It’s a good time to read such books to understand the situation in England and Prince Harry. We all love our Disney Princesses, but I’m glad I found two romances that didn’t water down the royal experience.

And in an ugly self-centered brag (which you can all chastise me for my arrogance), I want to mention that the first half of the story sounded much like my book, The Bar Scene. I’m not saying I write as well as Alyssa Cole, or that I should be put in her league or anything like that. But the tale starts off with our “prince” lying to his beloved to get her to like him. He wines and dines her until she’s in love. It sounded so familiar. Also to everyone who complains about plot premises that “a simple conversation” could fix, it’s not so easy to say those truths. Ms. Cole made me feel validated about my plot choices. Okay, I’ve said too much…

Originally, I had A Princess in Theory listed for the “Women in STEM” category for PopSugar 2020. I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for that category, but A Princess, in Theory, kept calling to me. Ledi is a grad student working in epidemiology, a woman of color become a scientist to save the world from disease. Even her screen name on the forums was HeLAhoop (as in HeLa=Henrietta Lacks). Ledi is a great protagonist, hardworking, smart, down to earth, and she takes no shit. Who wouldn’t want to read her story?

     I give A Princess in Theory Five Perfect Grad School Practicums.