Void by Veronica Roth (Review)

Void by Veronica Roth

Blurb

An intergalactic luxury cruise to a distant port is a world unto itself in this piercing short mystery by #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth. Traveling faster than light, the transport ship Redundancy is cut off from communication as effectively as an ancient ocean liner. The isolation suits crew member Ace Vance just fine—she’s got nowhere else to be. But when a wealthy passenger turns up dead during a routine voyage, Ace will have to connect with the passengers and crew to uncover the truth. Tragedy will strike again—it’s only a matter of time. Veronica Roth’s Void is part of The Far Reaches, a collection of science-fiction stories that stretch the imagination and open the heart. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.

Review

Wow, Veronica Roth can write a short story! 

This is the second book in the Far Reaches series and a far better story than the first in my opinion. I really struggle with short stories because quite often an excellent writer struggles with producing a good short story but this was not the case with Roth. This was an amazing murder mystery set in space. Instead of a locked room mystery it is a ship in space with no communication with anyone else. 

A lot of the workers on the Redundancy are there to forget something and because of how time works eventually the people they knew on their home planet are long dead whilst they are still young. This is just fine for Ace Vance and she likes her life working and living on board. However, when a murder happens on board there is nobody there to investigate so Ace takes it upon herself to solve the murder. 

I was really impressed by the characters within this book. Usually in short stories you don’t get a sense of the characters but in this story you get a real idea of each character’s personae and how they work together as friends and colleagues. The other element I loved was the science included and how this linked in with the story so the ending all made sense. 

I read this short story in one sitting and absolutely loved it. I will be definitely reading more Roth in the future as I now know she can write brilliant books and short stories. I give this story 5 out of 5 Dragons. 

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About the author

Veronica Roth is the New York Times best-selling author of Arch-Conspirator, Poster Girl, Chosen Ones, the short story collection The End and Other Beginnings, the Carve the Mark duology, and the Divergent series. She lives in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and dog. 

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How It Unfolds by James S. A. Corey (Review)

How It Unfolds by James S. A. Corey

Blurb

Roy Court and his crew are taking the trip of a lifetime—several lifetimes in fact—duplicated and dispatched across the galaxies searching for Earthlike planets. Many possibilities for the future. Yet for Roy, no matter how many of him there are, there’s still just one painful, unchangeable past. In what world can a broken relationship be reborn? The universe is so vast, there’s always room for hope.

Review

I love James S. A. Corey books so I was really excited to read a short story and so I downloaded the full Far Reaches collection onto my Kindle. 

I struggled with this short story and found it hard to get into. In fact I did abandon it for a few months so when I picked it back up I read it from the beginning again. I enjoyed the concept of the story and really thought more could have been done with the story but I felt that too much was being crammed into a short space and this led to it feeling rather confused at times. I would have also liked more things explained which I think would have also helped me with the storyline. 

I couldn’t help but root for Roy and really hoped that at least one version of him found happiness in love. However, I would have loved to have learnt more about his fellow crew mates. 

This short story had so much potential but I just felt like it missed the mark for me and it didn’t feel like a typical James S. A. Corey story. I really wanted more from the story but just felt disappointed. I give this short story 3 out of 5 Dragons. 

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About the author

James S. A. Corey is the pen name of fantasy author Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, George R. R. Martin’s assistant. They both live Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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March 2025 Wrap Up

Hello!

March was an absolutely brilliant reading month for me and I really hope it continues into April as my TBR is really starting to shrink.

Statistics

Books

Pages: 145

Format Read: Paperback

Review

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Old Book

Pages: 352

Format Read: Hardback

Review

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲

New Book

Pages: 320

Format Read: 🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲

New Book

Pages: 288

Format Read: Paperback

Review to follow

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Old Book

Pages: 38

Format Read: Kindle

Review to follow

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲

Old Book

Pages: 431

Format Read: Paperback

Review to follow

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲

Old Book

Pages: 208

Format Read: Hardback

Review to follow

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲

Old Book

Pages: 50

Format Read: Kindle

Review to follow

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

New Book

Goodreads Challenge: 17/50

Old Books: 5

New Books: 3

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Stacking the Shelves: 29/03/2025

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It is all about sharing the books that you have recently added to your bookshelves. These books can be physical books, ebooks and of course audiobooks.

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far. I had a voucher for a Kindle book and I am stocking up my Kindle ready for some holiday reading.

I have got book 6 and 7 left to read and I am hoping to read them this year and finish this fantastic series.

I am really enjoying these short stories and finished the second one this week so I bought the third one to start next week.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Stacking the Shelves: 25/1/2025

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It is all about sharing the books that you have recently added to your bookshelves. These books can be physical books, ebooks and of course audiobooks.

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far. This week I realised I had a cash back voucher for a Kindle purchase so obviously that led to me buying a Kindle book and I also had a very important book preordered that arrived on Tuesday.

Kindle Book

I used to be a member of Pottermore and I really enjoyed finding out extra details about the world of Harry Potter so I’m looking forward to having all the facts from Pottermore in one book.

Waterstones Book

I have just finished reading Iron Flame so I really looking forward to reading this next.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Stacking the Shelves: 1/6/2024

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It is all about sharing the books that you have recently added to your bookshelves. These books can be physical books, ebooks and of course audiobooks.

Hello!

My week so far has been wonderful. I’ve been on loads of adventures but sadly this does also mean less reading. I have done some book buying on my adventures and I have also done some kindle book buying in readiness for my holidays.

Kindle Books

These were all on offer for 99p each and because I love all these authors I just knew I couldn’t resist.

Books

I bought these two books from the second hand bookshop at Coughton Court. I love the bookshop there and always find a gem or two when I visit.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Stacking the Shelves: 22/07/2023

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It is all about sharing the books that you have recently added to your bookshelves. These books can be physical books, ebooks and of course audiobooks.

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend so far. I am currently on holiday so this has meant me buying lots of books on my Kindle.

So here are the books I have bought this week.

  • Lessons by Ian McEwan – This is my first McEwan novel but I am really enjoying it so far.
  • The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse – I love Kate Mosse and I thought it was high time I read The Joubert Chronicles.
  • The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow – I have been wanting to read this book for quite a long time now so I decided to get it for this holiday.
  • The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods – Another one that I have been wanting to read for quite a long time.

Have you added any new books to your bookshelves recently?

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

WWW Wednesday: 12/07/2023

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you will read next?

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I have had rather a stressful day at school and to be honest I am very glad I now have the summer holidays. I have a workshop to do tomorrow morning and then it is no school and I can’t wait.

What I am Currently Reading

I started Babel this week and so far I am thoroughly enjoying it. Cicero is still being read but it I am still making steady progress.

What I have Recently Finished Reading

I managed to finish two books this week even if they are only small books I am happy with the fact that I managed to finish two.

What I Think I will Read Next

These are the books I currently have on my Kindle which I will be using whilst on holiday.

Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (Review)

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Blurb

It has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…

Review

Murderbot needs answers, it knows it has a dark past and wants to know why the horrors happened. More importantly Murderbot wants to know whether the deaths were its fault or because of another reason. To find the answers, Murderbot needs to get to the place where the massacre happened and this is why Murderbot is on a ship travelling through space. 

The spaceship transport that Murderbot is on, is an artificial intelligence that Murderbot nicknames ART, which is short for something far ruder. Murderbot does not trust ART straightaway and they definitely have a few issues when they first really meet but gradually you can see how their friendship develops and they start to trust each other. This leads to ART helping Murderbot to act and behave more human and less like a sec unit. 

Once they get to their destination ART suggests that Murderbot takes a job as a security consultant for a group of humans. This way Murderbot has the perfect excuse to investigate from his past which has been hidden from the public. But as we discovered in All Systems Red, when humans need help Murderbot can’t help but help. 

I really enjoyed following Murderbot’s investigation and found it rather sad at times. Murderbot clearly has feelings even though it tries to hide the fact and it is because of these feelings it wants to find out about its past. I also loved the interaction between Murderbot and ART. They don’t realise it and would both deny it if somebody pointed it out but they learn from each other and have a really good friendship. 

For such a short read this book really packs a punch and I read it in one sitting. I am absolutely loving this series so far and can’t wait to read the next book in the series. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons. 

Purchase Links

Book Depository

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About the author

Martha Wells has been an SF/F writer since her first fantasy novel was published in 1993, and her work includes The Books of the Raksura series, The Death of the Necromancer, the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, The Murderbot Diaries series, media tie-ins for Star Wars, Stargate: Atlantis, and Magic: the Gathering, as well as short fiction, YA novels, and non-fiction. She has won a Nebula Award, two Hugo Awards, two Locus Awards, and her work has appeared on the Philip K. Dick Award ballot, the BSFA Award ballot, the USA Today Bestseller List, and the New York Times Bestseller List. Her books have been published in eighteen languages.

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If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Holiday Reads

Hello!

This month I am hoping to go away on holiday for 4 nights. So it was time to dust off and charge up the Kindle. The poor Kindle has not been used for quite a while, as I much prefer physical books, but I always use it for holidays as physical books weigh too much and take up too much room. This has also meant that I needed to get some new books on the Kindle so I thought I would share my holiday reading list.

  • The Wildeacre trilogy by Philippa Gregory – I do like Gregory and this is one series of books that I haven’t read by her. I probably won’t read all three whilst on holiday but I bought them as a bundle.
  • All Systems Red by Martha Wells – I have read so many good reviews of this series that I can’t resist reading it for myself any longer. If I like the first book I can easily buy the next one whilst on holiday. My husband also has it lined up as a holiday read as well.
  • The Day of the Storm by Rosamunde Pilcher – Pilcher is one of my favourite authors so I thought I could read some of her books whilst on holiday.
  • The Empty House by Rosamunde Pilcher
  • The Woolworths Girls by Elaine Everest – I read the Christmas book from this series last Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed it so I have decided to read the rest of the series.
  • Cliff’s Descent by Dianne Duvall – I have read all of the books in this series so far and loved them so I am really looking forward to this.

So there are my holiday reads so far. I probably won’t read them all and I also have many other books on my Kindle so I could easily change my mind but I hope to read at least some of these books.

Please feel free to recommend any books that you think I might enjoy reading on my holiday.

Happy Reading

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