TV Shows - 3 Body Problem

Watched on Netflix
Season 1
Number of Episodes: 8
Length of Episode: 45-60 minutes each
IMBd: 7.7/10
RT Critic's Consensus: 78%
RT Audience Score: 80%
cag: 6

Premiered: 3/21/24 on Netflix

Characters: Five scientist/physicist friends, all brilliant, all very close.  The Chinese/English cop/bodyguard, The original Chinese young adult from the 60's Cultural revolution is followed from young girls and the beginning of all the trauma throughout the entire series.

My comments:  Absolutely awesome SciFi.  Top notch entertainment.  Comes from a book of the same name, written by a Chinese writer, set in China.  This television version switched the contemporary scenes to London, but kept a diverse set of characters and the 1960s parts still set in China.  Incredible cast, the relationships between the five main characters (spoiler:  only three are left "alive" at the end of season 1) seem real.  LOTS of characters, great sets, super well done.

Storyline from IMBd: Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.

18. The Egg and Other Stories by Andy Weir

listened on Audible
1:17 audio - 9 VERY short stories.....50 pgs.?
2017
Adult SciFi Short Story

Finished 3/2/24
Goodreads rating: 3.96
My rating: 3

My comments: Nine very short stories.  My favorite was the first, "Access."  Am man goes to work early one day and discovers a 23-year-old in his office.  They have an interesting conversation and the last sentence of the story, the twist, is a hoot.  That's what really stood out, the twist at the very end of each of the stories.  Some were better than others, of course.

Goodreads synopsis:  Collected for the first time anywhere, the nine tales in The Egg and Other Stories highlight Andy Weir's trademark wit and unexpected twists. For the few who have yet to experience The Martian, it's a perfect appetizer. For passionate Weir fans, it's a delicious dessert.

Stories included in this audio-exclusive collection are:
"Access"
"Antihypoxiant"
"Annie's Day"
"The Real Deal"
"Bored World"
"The Midtown Butcher"
"Meeting Sarah"
"The Chef"
"The Egg"

10. The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

2022 Newbery Award Winner

listened on Audible (used a credit for it)

2021

336 pgs.
Mid Grade SciFi
Finished 1/30/2022
Goodreads rating: 4.30
My rating: 4ish
Setting: 2060 New Mexico and 2400 Planet in another galaxy

My comments: This book was awarded the Newbery Medal last Monday, which sent me in a tailspin to obtain an audio reading asap.  It was read beautifully.  The cover is gorgeous. And it was an absolutely interesting piece of storytelling.  I'm not a big fan of folk/mythology/storytelling, and there were lots of places in the book where very important stories were told, stories that needed to be listened to in order to understand messages from Petra's grandmother, and then from herself.  I had to force myself to pay attention to these parts.  There seemed to me lots of repetitive places, and sometimes the story seemed to drag a bit. Creepy in places, sad in places, clever and adventurous in others.  Some of the pondering seemed more adult than child-centered. Lots to think about.  Good story, but I wouldn't have chosen it for a Newbery....but I never really like/agree with the Newbery choices, so ....

Goodreads synopsis:  There lived a girl named Petra Peña, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita.

But Petra's world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children – among them Petra and her family – have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race.

Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet – and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard – or purged them altogether.

Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?

83. Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather

read on Kindle

2019

176 pgs.
Adult SciFi
Finished  8/3/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.07
My rating: 3.5
Setting: outer space in the future

My comments: Although shorter than I expected, this was a rather satisfying science-fiction.  The convent space ship with a living, breathing animal  The handful of sisters that the reader got to know were quite individual and interesting.  Good versus evil for sure!  Power.  So interesting that Ms. Rather chose a group of NUNS as the protagonists!  I wish it had been longer, though....

Goodreads synopsis:  The sisters of the Order of Saint Rita captain their living ship into the reaches of space in Lina Rather's debut novella, Sisters of the Vast Black.

Years ago, Old Earth sent forth sisters and brothers into the vast dark of the prodigal colonies armed only with crucifixes and iron faith. Now, the sisters of the Order of Saint Rita are on an interstellar mission of mercy aboard Our Lady of Impossible Constellations, a living, breathing ship which seems determined to develop a will of its own.

When the order receives a distress call from a newly-formed colony, the sisters discover that the bodies and souls in their care—and that of the galactic diaspora—are in danger. And not from void beyond, but from the nascent Central Governance and the Church itself.

79. The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm

Read the book, from SPS library
2021
235 pgs.
Mid Grade SciFi
Finished  7/25/21
Goodreads rating: 4.15 - 1010 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: Mars

First line/s: "The trip to Mars was the hardest thing they'd ever experienced.  That's what the grown-ups said."

My comments: I was so sad when this book came to an end.  It was exceptional.  Five kids and six adults live in the American compound inside a lava tunnel on Mars.  There are four other similar colonies close by:  France, Finland, Russia, and China, but for years they have been alienated.  Then all the American adults get deathly ill.  The kids don't, and after some bravery on the part of the protagonis, Bell, things begin to change.  A really wonderful story.

Goodreads synopsis:  A kid raised on Mars learns that he can't be held back by the fears of the grown-ups around him.
          Bell has spent his whole life - all eleven years of it - on Mars. But he's still just a regular kid - he loves cats, any kind of cake, and is curious about the secrets the adults in the US colony are keeping. Like, why don't have contact with anyone on the other Mars colonies? Why are they so isolated? When a virus breaks out and the grown-ups all fall ill, Bell and the other children are the only ones who can help. It's up to Bell - a regular kid in a very different world - to uncover the truth and save his family ... and possibly unite an entire planet.

71. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

listened on Audible

narrated by Brittany Pressley

Unabridged audio (4:30)
2019
153 pgs. - Novella
Adult SciFi
Finished  6/30/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.21 - 21,750 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: different planets way, way, WAY out...

First line/s: "I never knew an Earth that was unaware of life elsewhere."

My comments: Set on a spaceship that has traveled 14 light years through the galaxy to four planets somewhat similar to Earth to research possible lifeforms.  To travel, each of the four astronaut/scientists are put into states of torpor, where their body ages very slowly and they can pass through time only aging about 1/10th of what they normally would.  That in itself is fascinating, but the science and the philosophy and the relationships between the four people on this mission astounded me.  I really loved it.

Goodreads synopsis:   In her new novella, Sunday Times best-selling author Becky Chambers imagines a future in which, instead of terraforming planets to sustain human life, explorers of the solar system instead transform themselves.
            Ariadne is one such explorer. As an astronaut on an extrasolar research vessel, she and her fellow crewmates sleep between worlds and wake up each time with different features. Her experience is one of fluid body and stable mind and of a unique perspective on the passage of time. Back on Earth, society changes dramatically from decade to decade, as it always does.
            Ariadne may awaken to find that support for space exploration back home has waned, or that her country of birth no longer exists, or that a cult has arisen around their cosmic findings, only to dissolve once more by the next waking. But the moods of Earth have little bearing on their mission: to explore, to study, and to send their learnings home.

            Carrying all the trademarks of her other beloved works, including brilliant writing, fantastic world-building and exceptional, diverse characters, Becky's first audiobook outside of the Wayfarers series is sure to capture the imagination of listeners all over the world.

108. We're Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey

listened on Libby

narrated by Dani Martineck

Unabridged audio (6:56)
2019
256 pgs.
Middle Grade SciFi
Finished 7/23/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.05 - 1362 ratings
My rating: 3
Setting: planet Choom, relocated from Earth

First line/s: "The first time I heard anything about Planet Choom, we'd been on Mars for almost a year."

My comments: Told from the point-of-view of a middle schooler, one of about 1,000 that are in another galaxy trying to be accepted on the planet of Choom after Earth was destroyed.  The planet is currently inhabited by three species, huge mosquito-like beings, enormous marshmallow-like beings, and smaller, also bug-like beings.  Emotions are heralded by smells.  A swarm mentality seems to be easily transferred from being to being.  The humans have to figure out a way to get past the fake news and anger that it manifests to a place where they are accepted and trusted.  Half of the book is angry fighting, which I really didn't enjoy.  The premise of the story was thoughtful, and I always enjoy a good scifi.

Goodreads synopsis:  Imagine being forced to move to a new planet where YOU are the alien! From the creator of the Tapper Twins, New York Times bestselling author Geoff Rodkey delivers a topical, sci-fi middle-grade novel that proves friendship and laughter can transcend even a galaxy of differences.

          The first time I heard about Planet Choom, we'd been on Mars for almost a year. But life on the Mars station was grim, and since Earth was no longer an option (we may have blown it up), it was time to find a new home.
          That's how we ended up on Choom with the Zhuri. They're very smart. They also look like giant mosquitos. But that's not why it's so hard to live here. There's a lot that the Zhuri don't like: singing (just ask my sister, Ila), comedy (one joke got me sent to the principal's office), or any kind of emotion. The biggest problem, though? The Zhuri don't like us. And if humankind is going to survive, it's up to my family to change their minds. No pressure

TV Show - Dark

First ever German language series on Netflix
Dubbed in English
Premiered: 2/1/17
Seasons:  3
Number of Episodes: 24
Length of Episode: about 50 minutes
IMBd: 8.8
RT Critic's Consensus Season 1:   Dark's central mystery unfolds slowly, both tense and terrifying, culminating in a creepy, cinematic triumph of sci-fi noir.
RT Critic's Consensus Season 2:  Dark's sumptuous second season descends deeper into the show's meticulously-crafted mythos and cements the series as one of streaming's strongest and strangest science fiction stories.
RT Critic's Consensus Season 3: Dark's final chapter is as thrilling as it is bewildering, bringing viewers full circle without sacrificing any of the show's narrative complexities.
: RT Audience Score:  94/95
cag: 4
Produced by: Netflix

Characters:  So, so many!  Four families:  Kahnwald, Nielsen, Tiedemann, Doppler (three generations of each).... Check out Wikipedia

My comments:  Loved Season 1, got terribly confused with seasons 2 and 3, even with making a family tree list.  By the time I got to the end of Season 3 I had pretty much figured everyone out.  Adding two worlds to the original world was hard on me, lol!  Satisfying ending. Loved the actors.  Loved that it took place in Germany.

Storyline from IMBd: A family saga with a supernatural twist, set in a German town, where the disappearance of two young children exposes the relationships among four families.

 

 

 

91. Veronica's Dragon by Ruby Dixon

#2 Icehome
listened to audio on AudEsc
narrated by Sean Crisden & Felicity Monroe
Unabridged audio (8:01)
2018
280 pgs.
Adult steamy sci-fi
Finished 6/6/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.22 - 3569 ratings
My rating: blah!

First line/s: "When I awaken a variety of smells assaults my senses."

My comments: Okay, it's seriously time to stop reading these.  They're becoming repetitious...incredibly repetitious ... slow and way too much of the steamy stuff!  I love the basic outline of the si-fi story, but not much else.

Goodreads synopsis:  Resonance.
          It’s a given on the ice planet, forced upon you by the parasitic symbiont called the ‘khui’. With resonance, a guy and a girl are paired up because they’ll make great babies. It’s a survival mechanism necessary for this sparsely-populated world we’re stranded on… and romantic, in a weird, alien way.
          Everyone expects resonance to happen when twenty newcomers are dropped onto the frosty world. I doubt anyone expects the gorgeous, golden god named Ashtar to resonate to someone like me, though. He’s fierce. Flirty. Powerful. Disgustingly handsome.
          I’m… not any of those things. I’m bland. Boring. Clumsy.
          But resonance seems to think we’d be great together. And Ashtar does, too…___
          The Icehome series features all of the adventure, humor and community you’ve come to expect in the Ice Planet Barbarians series, but it stands on its own. You do not need to read the other series (or be caught up) in order to read VERONICA’S DRAGON. I do recommend reading LAUREN’S BARBARIAN to get the full experience. Enjoy!

80. Sovereign by Jeff Hirsch

listened to on Audible, a freebie
narrated by Jesse Einstein (Didn't care for his narration at all)
Unabridged audio (6:03)
2019 Audio Studios
Not in hard copy form, so am estimating 175 pgs.
Mid Grade SciFi
Finished 5/18/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.19 - 2485 ratings
My rating: 1
Setting: A planet far, far away, now

My comments: I did not like this book.  Everything Just seemed ridiculous, every twist and turn, of which there were too many.  And the ending -- Geez!  Plus, I did not care for the reader at all.  This young man drew out each word clearly and succinctly and slowly, enunciating every single consonant, in a somewhat effeminate manner.  I know this shouldn't have bothered me, but it did.  It took me months to get from beginning to end,  I kept deciding to give it up, but went back to it just to see what was going to happen.  Blech.

Goodreads synopsis:  Micah Cole has been in deep space for four years now. While his parents chase their obsession with finding intelligent life deeper and deeper into the universe, Micah can’t help but dream of the friends he’s left behind and counts the days until the family returns to Earth. When a devastating meteor shower nearly destroys the Coles’s ship, Micah is separated from his family and stranded alone on Sovereign—a vast planet of raging rivers and towering forests. If Micah ever wants to see his family or his home again, he’ll have to learn how to survive on this hostile alien world. Armed with only his wits and determination, he’ll have to battle the elements, his own deepest fears, and a strange presence that might just hold the key to his parents’ obsession—and be his ticket back home.

73. Alien Fae Mate by Misty Kayn/Milana Jacks

listened on Audible Escape
narrated by Hollie Jackson
Unabridged audio (2:12) Novella
2016 Inked Refuge
80 pgs.
Adult SciFi Alien Romance
Finished 5-3-20
Goodreads rating: 3.34- 95 ratings
My rating: 2

My comments:  I wish I could find (free) short stories that have to do with science fiction/fantasy/aliens that aren't full of sex/smut.  They probably exist, but I can't find any in the free world of Audible Escape.  I've looked.  This story was full of sketchy outlining, the beginnings of creating a race that has invaded earth, but skims over what could really be interesting and super creative because either the author thinks that readers want lots of smut and steaminess or that's all they know how to write  What I want is out there, I'm sure, but apparently it's not free, lol...Steam is 3 out of 4, but I totally skimmed over these parts.  They're all the same in every book!

Goodreads synopsis:  He won’t risk losing her. She’ll risk everything to have him.
          Rain maintains the science projects that allow the Fae to walk on the iron-cored earth, but she can’t figure out what her Fae boss wants. She’s tried blonde, brunette, C-cup and D, slutty heels and flats. Nothing works. But with the Fae mating season coming up, she’s pulling out all the stops.
          Titan has explored the galaxy—and found the one woman he can never have. Rain is perfection, but he won’t risk losing her in a mating ritual that could kill her. Except her stepped-up steaminess is making his palms sweat, and his grip on his control is slipping...
          ***mating trope topped with HEA. A Standalone Erotic Romance Novella.

61. Water World Warrior by Lisa Lace

#1 TerraMates
Listened on Audible Escape (I think)
narrated by Addison Spear and Terrance Bayes
Unabridged audio (5:28)
2015 Toppings Publishing
267 pgs.
Adult Sci Fi Romance/Alien Mail Order Bride
Finished 4/8/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.53 - 854 ratings
My rating: 3.5 (not quite a 4)

First line/s:  "The wind whipped the sails of our ship, and we barely held our course."

My comments:  Well, for a sci-fi mail order bride romance, this wasn't bad at all.  It takes place on a water planet where only a few of the physical characteristics of the aliens are different - they have film that goes over their eyes so they can swim underwater with their eyes open for great distances, and they have underwater breathing "gills" so they can swim for indefinite amounts of time.  It was pretty decent world*building and this one had characters that had a bit of depth.  Oh yes, the usual misunderstandings and incorrect second-guessing, but not the  steamy XXX-rated crapola that so many of these mail order bride romances contain.  Just a little, and in the right places, and not until at least 2/3 of the book is behind you.  Quite entertaining, actually.  Not a four, but a good, solid three and a half.

Goodreads synopsis:  Why would I want to be married to an alien?
          I should not have applied to TerraMates. The idea was crazy. I'm a young woman, in the prime of my life.
          But I was desperate.
          When I landed on another world, his appearance intrigued me. He dripped sexuality and moved like an animal. We have three days together before he sets sail without me. Am I going to escape or submit to my desires?

40. Ark by Veronica Roth

listened on Audible - borrowed from Amazon Prime Reading
narrated by Evan Rachel Wood
Unabridged audio (1:22)
20019 Amazon Original
39 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 3/1/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.52 - 6138 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting:  Earth, just before an asteroid destroys it

First line/s: "Samantha's hands were still red from the cold, the skin over her knuckles taut and dry."

My comments: A short story has to follow certain criteria - in a small amount of time and space and words you have to give enough information so that your reader can follow your thinking.  I listened to this one twice.  In many ways I've got to say that it's a forgettable story.  It just needs a little more...or a little less....

Goodreads synopsis:  On the eve of Earth’s destruction, a young scientist discovers something too precious to lose, in a story of cataclysm and hope by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy.
          It’s only two weeks before an asteroid turns home to dust. Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond.
          Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection.
          As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower.
          Veronica Roth’s Ark is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting. 

38. Collision by Victor Dixen

#3 Phobos
read the book - translated into English from the original French
originally published in 2016 in France
published in English in 2019 by Hot Key Books
725 pgs.
YA SciFi
Finished  2/28/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.02 - 1112 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting:  Mars, in the future

First line/s:  "I'm alone, even if the people who've lived with me through the most important moments of my life are all around me:  them, the Genesis pioneers - the space heroes - the condemned of Mars."

My comments:  Wow, what a trip.  Ups and downs and all sorts of craziness, bt I couldn't wait to get back to the story every time I had to leave it.  The first volume was the best, the most fun, but the intricacy of this last volume, number three, was also really interesting.  Victor Dixen has quite an imagination.  I don't   think it would hurt to look into some of his other writing, if I can find any.  The series was written in French and I'm so tickled that it was translated into English, even though it was difficult to get hold of copies and hasn't been published in Kindle or audio as far as I can tell.

Goodreads synopsis:  The third book in a heartstopping, high-octane new space series.
          The Genesis Programme reality TV show has brought twelve young astronauts to Mars, to face unprecedented hostility. An even greater danger is now threatening Earth, but the viewers are too glued to their screens and the rescue mission to see what is really happening. 
          Leonor is ready to risk everything to bring out the truth and warn the world. She can never admit defeat - but can she fight her last fight alone?

34. Heartwood Box by Ann Aguire

read the book, borrowed from Bosler Library
2019, Tor Teen
336 pgs.
YA Fantasy/SciFi
Finished 2/20/20
Goodreads rating:
My rating: 3.5/almost 4
Setting: Contemporary small town on Long Island, New York

First line/s:  "This is where hope goes to die."

My comments:  I really love the first half of the book, but then it started getting a little too weird.  Well, the first half was pretty weird, but interesting and believable in a fantastic way.  The second part weirdness was in that a group of highschoolers would do, act, and be believed in the way they were.  Oh well, I enjoyed it and it was great to pick up a real actual page and ink book for the first time in months.  I must try some more books by this author.  Very enjoyable (it was sort of "Stranger Things" in print....)

Goodreads synopsis:  A dark, romantic YA suspense novel with an SF edge and plenty of drama, layering the secrets we keep and how appearances can deceive, from the New York Times bestselling author.
          In this tiny, terrifying town, the lost are never found. When Araceli Flores Harper is sent to live with her great-aunt Ottilie in her ramshackle Victorian home, the plan is simple. She'll buckle down and get ready for college. Life won't be exciting, but she'll cope, right?
          Wrong. From the start, things are very, very wrong. Her great-aunt still leaves food for the husband who went missing twenty years ago, and local businesses are plastered with MISSING posters. There are unexplained lights in the woods and a mysterious lab just beyond the city limits that the locals don't talk about. Ever. When she starts receiving mysterious letters that seem to be coming from the past, she suspects someone of pranking her or trying to drive her out of her mind. To solve these riddles and bring the lost home again, Araceli must delve into a truly diabolical conspiracy, but some secrets fight to stay buried... 

106. Summer Frost by Blake Crouch

listened on Audible
narrated  by Rosa Salazar
Unabridged audio (2:19)
2019, Amazon Original Stories
75 pgs.
Adult SciFi
Finished 10/27/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.10 - 4795 ratings
My rating:  1
Setting: Dystopian San Francisco

First line/s:  "I watched her steal the Maserati twenty minutes ago in broad daylight from the Fairmont Hotel."

My comments:   This was a short story from a collection of six, and I didn't really like it.  Maybe because it was so short it didn't flesh out the plot enough, so I didn't follow some of it.  Oh well, this is an author I really enjoy and this won't put me off for another.  Maybe I'll try listening again when I'm in a different mood?

Goodreads synopsis:  A video game developer becomes obsessed with a willful character in her new project, in a mind-bending exploration of what it means to be human by the New York Times bestselling author of Recursion.
          Maxine was made to do one thing: die. Except the minor non-player character in the world Riley is building makes her own impossible decision—veering wildly off course and exploring the boundaries of the map. When the curious Riley extracts her code for closer examination, an emotional relationship develops between them. Soon Riley has all new plans for her spontaneous AI, including bringing Max into the real world. But what if Max has real-world plans of her own?
          Blake Crouch’s Summer Frost is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.

95. The Alien's Mail-Order Bride by Ruby Dixon

read on my iPhone (have on Kindle)
2017
84 pgs.
X-rated SciFi Short Story
Finished 10/4/2019
Goodreads rating:  3.90 - 2570 ratings
My rating:  2

First line/s:  Emvor/  "If there was one person I didn't want to meet at the spaceport, it was Sanjurel."

My comments:  A short story.  One-sentence summary, lol:  Blue-skinned, horned alien falls for tiny (compared to him) wife and throws off all his preconceived prejudices before consummating his marriage with steamy sex at the end of the book.

Goodreads synopsis:  Though still carrying the scars of his past as an intergalactic soldier, Emvor doesn’t mind the quiet of his chosen life as a farmer. He doesn’t even mind that most nights are lonely on remote Cassa, but he does need help around his farm. A mail-order bride from his homeworld seems like the perfect solution. She’ll be a tall, sturdy female to help with the chores and bear his children.
          Unfortunately, the person that arrives is Nicola. She’s small, delicate…and human. She also knows nothing about farming, and she's lied and deceived her way across the galaxy to get to Cassa so she can hide from those that would capture her. She's a problem, and also the most enticing thing he's ever seen.
          Now Emvor has to decide…can he keep the woman who’s nothing like what he asked for but is everything he needs?

Ice Planet Barbarians and Icehome Series by Ruby Dixon

#1 in a huge series called "A Sci Fi Alien Romance" :)
94th read in 2019
Listened to Audio via Chirp
read by Hollie Jackson & Mason Lloyd
Unabridged audio (5:51)
2015 self published?
188 pgs.
Adult Erotica SciFi
Finished 10/3/2019
Goodreads rating:  3.90 - 11,575 ratings
My rating: 4  Steam 4/4
Setting:  An ice planet far, far away....

First line/s: "Up until yesterday, I, Georgie Carruthers, never believed in aliens."

My comments:  How can you NOT read a book with a title like this?  And OMG, I'm totally embarrassed to say how much I loved it.  Science fiction, outer space, aliens, and a whole lot of really steamy x-rated "romance."  I couldn't put it down.  Incredibly superficial, but who cares?  I'm rating it a 4 because it's so embarrassing to rate a book like this a 5!
Goodreads synopsis:  
You'd think being abducted by aliens would be the worst thing that could happen to me. And you'd be wrong. Because now, the aliens are having ship trouble, and they've left their cargo of human women - including me - on an ice planet.
          And the only native inhabitant I've met? He's big, horned, blue, and really, really has a thing for me...

#2:  Barbarian Alien
:Liz and Raahosh
111th read in 2019
Unabridged audio (6:27) by the same readers as before
211 pgs.
Published in 2015
Goodreads:  3.96 - 7831 ratings

My comments:  I can't really say that I like the protagonist, Liz - she has a really raunchy sense of humor and it's a type of raunchy that I don't really like.  Very steamy for most of the book, and I do enjoy this very weird series.  This is the first one I've read in the Amazon Romance $6.95 a month deal - which I can't believe I'm trying out!  Me, romance!  This is a 3-4-5...3 for characters and 5 for steaminess, lol!
Goodreads Synopsis:
          Twelve humans are left stranded on a wintry alien planet. I’m one of them. Yay, me.
          In order to survive, we have to take on a symbiont that wants to rewire our bodies to live in this brutal place. I like to call it a cootie. And my cootie’s a jerk, because it also thinks I’m the mate to the biggest, surliest alien of the group.
          BARBARIAN ALIEN is a sequel to ICE PLANET BARBARIANS. You do not have to read both in order to understand the plot, but the story will be richer if you do!

#3 Barbarian Lover
Kira and Aehako
116th read in 2019
Unabridged audio (5:47 with the same two original narrators)
191 pgs.
2015
Goodread ratings:  4.02 - 6469 ratings

My comments:  My favorite in the series so far, I like both Kira and Aehako a whole lot, and their adventure together is pretty cool.  Same amount of smut as the first two I've read, but enough interesting substance as well.  I'm really surprised at how much the author is keeping these characters interesting, and that I'm still enjoying them, this setting, this world, and all the descriptive language surround aroused body parts~
Goodreads synopsis:  As one of the few humans stranded on the ice planet, I should be happy that I have a new home. Human women are treasured here, and one alien in particular has made it clear that he wants me. It's hard to push away the sexy, flirtatious Aehako, when all I want to do is grab him by his horns and insist he take me to his furs.
          But I've got a terrible secret - the aliens who abducted me are back, and thanks to the translator in my ear, they can find me. My presence here endangers everyone... but can I give up my new life and the man I want more than anything?

#4 Barbarian Mine
Harlow & Rukh
#117th read in 2019
Unabridged audio (5:36)
182 pgs.
2015
Goodreads:  4.10 - 6223 ratings

My comments:  Harlow and Rukh live by themselves many miles away from the rest of the tribe, by the sea.  Rukh has never lived with the rest of the tribe and thinks of them as "the bad people."  This is the book where the babies start being born, and it is Harlow's baby that is born first, tiny and sickly.  she is  constantly concerned that Rukh will want to return to their solitary lifestyle.  Good story, the series is so incredibly addicting.  And I'm not even sure why!
Goodreads Synopsis:  The ice planet has given me a second lease on life, so I'm thrilled to be here. Sure, there's no cheeseburgers, but I'm healthy and ready to be a productive member of the small tribe.
          What I didn't anticipate? That there'd be a savage stranger waiting nearby, watching me. And when he takes me captive, the unthinkable happens... I resonate to him.
          Resonance means mating, and children... but I don't know if this guy's ever been around anyone before. He's truly a barbarian in all ways, right down to clubbing me over the head and claiming me as his own.
          So why is it that I crave his touch and hunger for more?

#5 Barbarian's Prize
Tiffany & Salukh
#126 in 2019
Unabridged audio (6:05)
238 pgs.
2016
GR:  4.02 - 4998 ratings
Finished 12/14/2019
My Comments:  Not as good as the rest, perhaps I'm getting tired of them?  Or is it that I'm not crazy about the female protagonist?  The book does end with the final female finally resonating - that should be the next one, and I bet it will be a good one, because they hate each other at the onset....
Goodreads Synopsis: It’s hard being the most popular girl on the ice planet. The alien men are falling all over themselves to impress me in the hopes that I’ll take them to my furs. But they don’t know my secrets – none of them do. And they don’t realize that behind my smile, I just wish they’d go away.
          I don’t want any of them. I want someone else – someone with a gorgeous blue body, big horns, and the most intense gaze ever. He’s the only one that knows the truth. Maybe with him, I can work through my fears of the past…. but I’m pretty sure he wants more than just friendship.
          He wants forever, and I’m not sure I can give it

#6 Barbarian's Mate
Josie & Haeden
#87 in 2020
Unabridged audio
207 pgs.
2016
GR:  4.06 - 5848 ratings
Finished 5/31/2020
My Comments:  It was nice to return to the land of the ice planet.  Josie, the female protagonist in this one, was so irritating for the first half of the book...  As soon as she finally resonated, she couldn't wait to find her mate, then went hunting high and low to each and every male resident no matter their age or appearance.  However, the one she resonated with she absolutely hated.  Not sure why.  And with all the words and rehashing it was still difficult to understand why.  So frustrating.  Oh well.  Ruby Dixon seems to be an incredibly prolific writer.
Goodreads Synopsis: 'Resonance' is supposed to be a dream - that's when your soulmate is chosen for you. And everyone on the ice planet has hooked up with a big, hunky soulmate of their own... except me. So do I want a mate? Heck yeah. More than anything, all I've ever wanted is to be loved by someone.
          Except that the soulmate chosen for me? My least favorite person on the darn ice planet. Haeden's the most cranky, disapproving, unpleasant, overbearing male alien... so why is it that my body sings when he gets close? Why is he working so hard to prove to me that he's not as awful as I think he is?
          I hate him... don't I?

READING ORDER:  

Note:  There seem to be different orders.  I'm changing this to align with Goodreads.  Those read are in italics.

1. Ice Planet Barbarians (Georgie/Vektal)
2. Barbarian Alien (Liz/Raahosh)
3. Barbarian Lover (Kira/Aehako)
4. Barbarian Mine (Harlow/Rukh)
5. Barbarian's Prize (Tiffany/Salukh)
6. Barbarian's Mate (Josie/Haeden)
7. Barbarian's Touch (Lila/Rokan)
8. Barbarian's Taming (Maddie/Hassen)
9. Barbarian's Heart (Stacy/Pashov)
10. Barbarian's Hope (Asha/Hemalo)
11. Barbarian's Choice (Farli/Mardok)
12. Barbarian's Redemption (Elly/Bek)
13. Barbarian's Lady (Kate/Harrec)
14. Barbarian's Rescue (Summer/Warrek)
15. Barbarian's Tease (Brooke/Taushen)
16. Barbarian's Beloved (Ariana/Zolaya)
17. Barbarian's Seduction (Marlene/Zennek)
18. Barbarian's Treasure

Icehome Series by Ruby Dixon

1.  Lauren's Barbarian, 2017

2.  Veronica's Dragon, 2018

3.  Willa's Beast

4.  Gail's Family

5.  Angie's Gladiator

6.  Hannah's Hero

7.  Devi's Distraction

8.  Nadine's Champion

9.  Callie's Catastrophe

10.  Penny's Protector

Twas the Night Before No-Poison Day   

11.  Mari's Mistake

12.  Raven's Return

13.  Bridget's Bane

93. Machine City by Scott J. Holliday

#2 Det. John Barnes, Detroit Police Detective
Listened on Audible - my purchase
read by J. D. Jackson
Unabridged audio (9:21)
2018 Thomas & Mercer
300pgs.
Adult Dystopian Mystery
Finished 10/1/2019
Goodreads rating:  4.08 - 317 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting: Contemporary Detroit

First line/s: "Former Detroit homicide detective John Barnes sat on the wooden steps that led up to his porch, his leather tool belt unbuckled and set at his side."

My comments:  I was totally boggled by this book, really didn't have much of a clue about what was going on for most of the first 7/8 of the book.  If I hadn't read the first in the series I would really have been stumped.  Then the enlightening chapter and everything (more or less) came together I would not recommend this book to anyone who has not read the first one, and not to anyone who's only going to peripherally listen or read with just half a mind to it!  Difficult to rate....

Goodreads synopsis:  In this unputdownable thriller set in the new future, a detective enters the mind of a killer to find a missing child.          
          To ex-detective John Barnes, the machine is a dangerous and abhorrent addiction. The criminal thoughts it embedded in his brain helped him stop a serial killer, but they left him dazed—with pounding, murderous impulses. Having turned in his badge to salvage what’s left of his psyche, Barnes must return to the darkness at the request of his former partner. A little girl has gone missing. So has Adrian Flaherty, the detective in the kidnapper’s shadow.         
          And only Barnes can hear the clues.
          But the trail is more dizzying and more personal than he feared. The voices are revealing a secret only Flaherty could have known. They’re also telling Barnes that he doesn’t have long to live. To find the girl, he must listen closely. Because the clock is ticking…and Barnes’s mind is going fast.

73. The Others by Jeremy Robinson

read on my Audible
read by R. C. Bray
Unabridged audio (10:15)
2018 Breakneck Media
314 pgs.
Adult SciFi
Finished  August 6, 2018
Goodreads rating:  3.92 - 801 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting:  Contemporary AZ & NM

First line/s:  " 'You know I don't like coming here, Harry.' Sheriff Godin dusted off his hat, despite its being clean.  'Especially for something like this.  Even more so at this time of night.'"

My comments:  About 40% of this book, maybe more, was horrible gunfighting, hi tech gun fighting.  Yuck.  But the other half was full of building relationships and thought-provoking interpretation of aliens and nano bits that burrow into people's heads (making them capable of all sorts of high technology).  Set in Arizona and New Mexico, driving through the desert in all sorts of crazy vehicles, we accompany a ragtag group of people that are trying to discover the secrets of "the others" who have inhabited the earth secretly for a couple of millennium. I liked that part a lot.  And, believe it or not, this book was full of one man's love for family and kids.

Goodreads synopsis:  UFOs and alien abductions remain one of the most hotly debated and mysterious subjects of the twenty-first century. In the decades since 1960, with reports of strange encounters on the rise, thirteen million people have gone missing worldwide and never been found. The Others takes a fast-paced, unique, and moving look at the phenomenon that has fueled Jeremy Robinson's imagination since several sightings, strange happenings, and visits with renowned UFO investigator, and family friend, Raymond Fowler.

TO SAVE A MISSING GIRL...
          Dan Delgado is a private investigator. When it comes to finding cheating spouses, corporate thieves, or runaway teenagers, he's unenthusiastic, and unmatched. As a former San Francisco detective, he misses more meaningful work, but he hasn't had the heart for it since his wife's death five years prior. That is, until a phone call from a distraught mother. An illegal immigrant who can't go to the police puts him on the hunt for a missing little girl.
          By the time he reaches the mother's small home, she's missing, too. The circumstances are strange, but when a team of heavily armed mercenaries arrive, Delgado is convinced there is more going on than a simple kidnapping.
          Joined by his elderly assistant, a gun-toting pastor, and a UFO enthusiast Uber driver, Delgado follows the clues west, to Colorado City, a town cleaved in two by the 37th parallel, also known as the UFO Highway. In a town infamous for fundamentalist Mormon cult activity, they uncover evidence of a massive child-trafficking ring, whose ringleaders might not be human.
          Delgado and crew are plunged into a dangerous world of corporate competition, UFO lore, and government cover-ups. While they hunt for answers, they're pursued across the Southwest by high-tech mercs, brainwashed cults, and beings whose true identity has been concealed since 1947.

...HE MUST RISK THE WORLD