Sci-Fi

Travelers (2016-?)

travelers

Travelers (2016-?)

Network:

Netflix

Starring:

Eric McCormack

MacKenzie Porter

Nesta Cooper

Plot:

Hundreds of years from now, surviving humans discover how to send consciousness back through time, into people of the 21st century. These travelers assume the lives of others, while attempting to save humanity from a terrible future.

Review:

Once again Netflix sprung something on me I hadn’t heard anything about. I think I might be hanging out in the wrong places on the Internet.

As soon as I saw this was about time travel I knew I had to give it a try. Sure it was set in present day so there would be no cool settings, but whatever, Continuum was pretty cool when I watched it.

After watching two episodes I had to bail. I just can’t handle the slow pace. The concept is fine, but there wasn’t any kind of reveal that made me want to stick around. None of the characters were super appealing either. I guess I was supposed to be drawn in by the fact that they were disarming a dark matter bomb, but I was never on the edge of my seat. I didn’t care. The stakes weren’t properly revealed to make me care, just little vague hints.

Oh well, one less show I have to watch.

2/5

Born of Ice (The League #3) By: Sherrilyn Kenyon

born-of-ice

Born of Ice (The League #3) By: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Plot:

In the Ichidian Universe where The League is law, most live in fear. We fight back. Welcome to a world where corrupt assassination politics dominate everyone. It’s kill or be killed. Welcome back to the future…and meet hell’s new breed of heroes. Devyn Kell spent his life in service to the League until he learned of the double dealing and backstabbing that was costing innocent people their lives. Refusing to play those politics, he became a Runner; someone who makes sure planets get the weapons, medicine and supplies they need to survive. May the gods have mercy on any who get in his way, because he definitely won’t. Alix Garran is a woman on the run from a past she can’t escape. Signing on to work for Devyn as a System’s Engineer, she finds a cause she can fight for—and a man she can respect. But as Alix’s past catches up to her, and Devyn’s old enemies turn lethal, they have to fight together…or fall alone, in Born of Ice, the third bestselling League novel from Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Review:

This book involves the children of the people from the first two books. It felt almost like Kenyon didn’t want anything too bad to happen to them, especially after how brutal she was in the first two books. On the one hand it was nice to have a character not be so damaged on the other hand that’s really the only thing she changed. The heroine still was hiding something from the hero, something big, and the man was still huge. This time at least the heroine wasn’t tiny and the hero didn’t take long to get over the lie. He understood why she did what she did, so that was nice.

I like the world, I do like the characters even though I complain about them, but I’m hoping that the plot of the next one is different. I’ve read it before but I can’t remember.

3.5/5

Born of Fire (The League #2) By: Sherrilyn Kenyon

born-of-fire

Born of Fire (The League #2) By: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Plot:

In a universe where assassins make the law, everyone lives in fear–except for Syn. Born of an illicit scandal that once rocked a dynasty, he always knew how to survive on the bloodthirsty streets. But that was then, and the future is now…

Syn was raised as a tech-thief until his livelihood uncovered a truth that could end his life. He tried to destroy the evidence, and has been on the run ever since. Now trained as an assassin, he allows no one to threaten him. Ever. He is the darkness that swallows his enemies whole.

Shahara Dagan is the best bounty hunter in the universe. When Syn comes back on the radar, she’s the only one who can bring him to justice. There’s only one problem: Syn is a close family friend who’s helped out the Dagans countless times. But if she saves him, both of their lives will be on the line. Is Syn’s protection worth the risk? The only hope Shahara has is to find the evidence he buried long ago. Now it’s kill or be killed–and they, the predators, have just become the hunted…

Review:

I was a bit disappointed with the heroine in this book. She was supposed to be this total badass that was at the top of her game. So good at her job that her name was known and yet she did stupid things several times. Things that she should know better than to do. The twist at the end didn’t explain those away either. Also, the hero was always able to best her when he tried. Annoying.

The timeline for this book and the previous don’t match up, but Kenyon explains why at the beginning of the book. They were apparently published by two different houses and she had to make sure they weren’t connected, then when she got the rights back she tried to mesh them as best she could. The reasoning is convoluted but doesn’t really affect your enjoyment of the books.

Story was pretty similar to the first, from the super tall hero who’s the absolute best at what he does and also terrifying to people except the heroine, to the heroine who is super skinny and shouldn’t be missing meals. There are several other similarities as well.

Honestly I remember liking this book more and I thought that the heroine had so much potential, but she rarely lived up to it.

3/5

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

rogue-one

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Director:

Gareth Edwards

Starring:

Felicity Jones

Diego Luna

Alan Tudyk

Donnie Yen

Plot:

The Rebel Alliance makes a risky move to steal the plans for the Death Star, setting up the epic saga to follow.

Review:

When I first left this movie I wasn’t sure what I felt about it. I liked it but unlike my husband I wasn’t prepared to use the word love in my opinion. Even now I’m not sure exactly where it lies in my Star Wars order, but I do know I really liked it. In fact the more I think about it the more I do.

This is not a normal Star Wars story and I knew that going in. I was able to avoid spoilers but based on my own Star Wars knowledge I had a good idea what was going to happen and I was right. Still I loved the fact that this movie showed a different side of the universe.

The story wasn’t about heroes given clear good versus bad choices. It was about the people in the trenches, the ones that have to make the difficult decisions. It forced you to think. I liked that and thought it was about time you saw the darker side of the war, but even though it was darker there was never a loss of hope.

Negative wise there were a few lines that I thought were super cheesy and couldn’t keep my eyes from rolling. There was also a Vader scene that was clearly them just checking a box that I could have done without. I also wish the speech that Jyn, Felicity Jones, gave was given by Mon Mothma, Genevieve O’Reilly. I understand why it wasn’t, the movie is about Jyn not Mon, but I thought it made more sense for her character to be giving it.

I really want to watch this again, and again, and again. I liked the story, but I didn’t like the characters that much, and I want to know if that ultimately matters.

4.5/5

Born of Night (The League #1) By: Sherrilyn Kenyon

born-of-night1

Born of Night (The League #1) By: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Plot:

In the Ichidian Universe, The League and their ruthless assassins rule all. Expertly trained and highly valued, the League Assassins are the backbone of the government. But not even the League is immune to corruption . . .

Command Assassin Nykyrian Quikiades once turned his back on the League—and has been hunted by them ever since. Though many have tried, none can kill him or stop him from completing his current mission: to protect Kiara Zamir, a woman whose father’s political alliance has made her a target.

As her world becomes even deadlier, Kiara must entrust her life to the same kind of beast who once killed her mother and left her for dead. Old enemies and new threaten them both and the only way they can survive is to overcome their suspicions and learn to trust in the very ones who threaten them the most: each other.

Review:

This was the first Sci-Fi Romance I ever read. That was years ago and I’ve read a few since then so I decided to go back to it and see if I still liked it.

Unlike a lot of the Sci-Fi Romance I’ve been reading there’s a lot more world building and character development. It’s not just fall into lust, bang, fall into love, overcome some meaningless obstacle. There’s a lot going on in this book and series.

I did notice this time around several plot holes and things that just didn’t make sense. She starts the book with an introduction saying that at one point the book was something different and that she went back and added stuff when she got the rights back so maybe that caused the issues. Not sure.

Overall I still really enjoyed the book, it’s fairly violent and crude for a romance but sometimes that’s what you need.

4/5