Sacred Planet, by Austin Rogers

A review of Sacred Planet, by Austin Rogers, Book 1 of the Dominion Series. 4.5/5 ★s.

The word “Firefly” appears in a dozen Amazon reviews for Sacred Planet by Austin Rogers. That’s because from a debut science fiction author whose very book blurb reads, “Fans of Firefly will feel at home in the world of Dominion,” the comparison to Joss Whedon’s Western space romp is no accident; it’s the result of a Firefly fan capitalizing on the love of the series combined with knowing exactly how to channel Whedonesque characters without flaw. Hey, they say to write what you know.

Successive pulses rain down on Sierra Falco’s space yacht, each one a blow to the fragile balance of the galaxy itself. When the Carinian prime minister’s daughter’s ship is destroyed by a shadowy enemy, the political peace ties between superpowers are destabilized. Enter Captain Davin of the Fossa, a smuggler who’s about to cash in by selling the rescued Prima Figlia to the highest bidder — her father, right? Because Davin’s not a bad guy, but he has a thieving crew to feed. Off in Sagittarian space, a futuristic warrior accomplishes his greatest ambition, defeating all other competitors to become the emperor’s champion, only to make a sacrifice in exchange that he will never be able to live with. Kastor is my favorite character. Forced by his ambition to make a devastating choice, he grapples with the same problem over and over, failing to really recover and ever get what he wants when it conflicts with his orders. Poor guy.

The first scene of Sacred Planet reads like a script for an episode of Firefly, or to be more specific, the script to the second scene of the pilot, where Captain Mal Reynolds comes across some serious booty on an abandoned shuttle. Meet Captain Davin, who on page one gazed upon the beautiful sight of a massive heap of scrap metal prime for the picking. Sydney Strange is basically Zoe but a lesbian and the pilot, and Jai is basically Wash but not a pilot, and Jabron is basically Jane. Really. Everything from joking about the frozen bodies floating through their treasure trove to getting excited about the mysterious contents of a “preserve bag” from the wreckage is irreverent and edgy enough to be fan fiction, if not for the bigger picture — a huge worldbuilding scope and a larger cast well beyond the crew of the Serentity — I mean the Fossa.

The princess Davin rescues from the preserve bag, Sierra Falco, promises to be worth a whole lot more than her weight in gold, because she’s a pawn in the political justification of an interplanetary war, hence the attempt to assassinate her, destroying her space yacht. Davin’s devotion to cold hard cash struggles against his morality, and I gotta hand it to the author, that fight was not over easy and, sorry for the vague half spoiler, doesn’t really end well for anybody. It’s not the happiest of endings.

Much more interesting to me, however, was the unparalleled and incomparable Sagittarian warrior Kastor, who immediately after becoming the emperor’s champion becomes an unexpected victim of personal tragedy that I just couldn’t get over. So many tears.

Buzz: Engaging the Soul of a Small Business

A review of Buzz: Engaging the Soul of a Small Business by Lura Fischer. 5/5 ★s.

A striking story with a pulse swirls together with practical wisdom. Buzz is a surprise, a business book with a unique heart. Taki Fujimori brings passion to her small company, ThriveCo, and has to fight like hell for its survival against malicious entities. Harnessing the values of a small business and finding the right people to strive for those values is essential to thriving in the business world. Principles explaining exactly how to do that are related alongside Taki's struggle to make it. It's a story any small business leader can learn from and fall in love with.

Check out Lura Fischer's website for business wisdom and wellbeing resources.

Serial Killers in Space

A review of Star Watch Book 5: Space Chase by Mark Wayne McGinnis. 5/5 ★s.

A creepy psychological murder mystery wrapped in, you guessed it, a high speed race through outer space. While there's, of course, a greater plot to upset the balance of the universe, the main event is the serial killer hillbilly Orloff Picket, who's out for the blood of Nan Reynolds' nephew, Ryan Chase. A skilled hunter, Orloff's killer instincts kick in when Ryan accidently crashes into his multi-million dollar tanker conversion. From there it's all Ryan can do to survive long enough for help from Star Watch — and he's on his own in his Consignment Freight Delivery Van, with nothing but his wits and a smartalec AI to help him. A gripping read, and just when you think Jason, undercover as a mining broker, has it covered — watch out for the twist. Not your usual from the SW series, but lovers of horror and serial murderers will get their fix along with a dose of intergalactic action.

Mark's science fiction site here includes plans of Scrapyard Ship and Star Watch spacecraft and new 3D models of some of the ships.

We Three Kings by Don Callaway

"Frank, you were born, you grew up, you went to the Academy, you became a pilot, and you brought us in for a beautiful landing. You did all that, and you weren’t a god."

We Three Kings by Don Callaway

This is the kind of classic exploration sci-fi that has a special place in my heart. Captain Adam Pons has an unexpected, sort of crash landing on an uncharted planet with his small survey ship and a crew of only himself, his pilot Frank and his science officer Lonnie "Coop" Cooper. Each of the crew have varying levels of hope for rescue, and what they each want to do on this new planet comes into opposition. While it's an old-school first contact story, the characters are front and center and even as their relationships fray with each disagreement, Adam, Frank and Coop each compete for lovability. We Three Kings is a page turner you won't be able to put down until you find out how it all turns out for the crew of the Swallow.

Check out the debut science fiction novel by Don Callaway on Amazon.

Alchemy of the Afterlife by Linda Kinnamon

"It wouldn’t be heaven if we had to leave the people we love."

Alchemy of the Afterlife by Linda Kinnamon

Those we love never truly leave us. It's a truth we all accept, but it can be so easy to forget. Alchemy of the Afterlife is a reminder of that, and there's some healing magic between these pages. It's also a collection of stories about the end of life, the final moments that bring families together and heal old wounds, and about what brings peace to someone about to cross over. All it takes is knowing that the family they're leaving behind will be okay. It's also about the lengths hospice nurses, or as Linda puts it, "medically educated friends," go to to bring comfort and dignity to their patients. It's a tearjerker, and there are some parts that are hard to read. But peace can always be made with the past, especially when you have the love of someone rooting for you from the other side.

Here is the plot synopsis of Alchemy of the Afterlife:

"'As the body gets weaker, the spirit gets stronger,' Linda Kinnamon repeatedly tells her patients. Being a hospice nurse she spends her days caring for and visiting the terminally ill. But in the pre-dawn hours, as her patients near death, they occasionally pay her a visit instead. 
Whether it’s perfume drifting through a room or a touch on the shoulder, the strength of spirit displayed at the end of life is as unique as the individual. Alchemy of the Afterlife is a memoir of life AFTER death based on Linda’s childhood as an orphan combined with her adult experiences as a hospice nurse."

Check out the debut memoir from Linda Kinnamon on Amazon.