Alien Echo by Mira Grant is a young adult book set in the Alien franchise and is cannon to the rest of the series. It follows the story of twin sisters, Olivia and Viola, on a new world where their parents work as xenobiolgists but when an Alien threat that no one has ever seen rips their world apart they must adapt to survive.
The book stars out slow like most movies in the alien franchise. For the first 90 pages or so its more of a teen drama set on an alien world than a science fiction or horror story but when the Xenomorphs arrive it become a true Alien story with all the problems that entails. The thing about Mira Grant books is there is always a twist that changes everything that makes me love the book more or makes me fall in love with a book that doesn’t have the greatest beginning. The characters are interesting and well written for the world, though there is some romantic drama that is over done near the beginning and if you know the Alien franchise you know whats coming. So there doesn’t see to be a point to it and the slang is little over used.
Considering the characters are teenagers shove into a situation that no one can predict with Aliens that are evolving to be better killers most of the reactions make sense. The action of the characters worked and were as though out as the situation allowed for and the book overall fits within the rest of the Alien Franchise. I gave the book a 3/5 stars because of the slow start and some minor problems that make it seem a little disconnected to the Alien series at the beginning.
So I finally sat down and watched The Cloverfield Paradox which I liked the most out of the Cloverfield movies so far. The movie starts out with some info dumping about how Earth is running out of power sources and so the world has sent a team to a space station to work with a massive particle accelerator to attempt to find a new power source. When the experiment works all hell breaks loose on the space station has they ended up breaking the fabric of reality. Though it is a science fiction movie I would classify it more as a body horror such as Alien or the Thing than just straight sci-fi. 
Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant is a novella about a research vessel going to the Mariana Trench to find Mermaids. Commissioned by the Imagine Network (which feels to me like if you combined the Discovery Channel fake documentaries with Asylum the creators of Sharknado), the scientist think that the company sponsoring the trip is just going to film a mockumentary but they end up finding real mermaids who are not kind or beautiful. This book is technically a prequel to Into the Drowning Deep but it works as a stand alone. However, if you want to have no information about what the mermaids are like and the twist at the end of In to the Drowning Deep read the full length novel first. I didn’t know about the novella when I first read the novel so they work in either order. I didn’t connect to the characters as much due to how short the book is but what is there is great. It made me want more from this world and story.
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant is a science fiction horror novel about a research ship going out to the Mariana Trench to find mermaids and what happened to the ship, the Atargatis, that went out seven years previously. This is a reread for me and I loved it just as much as the first time I read it. The characters are amazing and complex from the woman who convinced Image that mermaids existed, the sister of one of the missing from the previous expedition, two big game hunters and many others. The wonderful thing about McGuire’s stories is she adds diverse characters in a way that is natural, they are diverse because our world is, this includes deaf sisters and a journalist who is both a lesbian and autistic.
So in May I decided to try a new book subscription box which was Illumicrate. Illumicrate is a monthly book subscription box that focuses mainly on young adult titles. When I heard that the May book was going to be Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff I knew I had to try and order the box. May’s theme is The Final Frontier.
Caught in the Revolution: Witnesses to the Fall of Imperial Russia by Helen Rappaport is a historical nonfiction book that uses accounts of foreigners in Russia at the time of the Revolution to show the reality of what happen in Petrograd. In general, its a quick read because Rappaport writes the account more like a novel than a historical account just giving facts. Though the beginning of the book is more entertaining because no one knows exactly whats going on and eye witness accounts are more interesting to read. As the book goes on its more about politics which can be boring. There is almost no mention of the Romanov family in the book so this historical account is best suited for a reader that has some back ground in this period of Russian history but wants either more information or a different perspective of the events. Overall, the accounts are woven together well to give the reader the most well rounded timeline of events but it slows down at times when it focuses more on the day to day events and lives of these people as important things are not going on. 3/5 starts.
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff is a historical nonfiction book that attempts to separate the fact from fiction of Cleopatra’s life and tells her story from childhood to her death. The major focus of the book is Cleopatra’s rise to power, how she kept that power, and her relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony. Her story is deeply intertwined with the actions and events of Rome and the Roman empire. At times the book seems to focus more on Rome than Cleopatra which makes reading some chapters very slow. Given the lack of historical sources from Egypt and Cleopatra more information must be taken from Roman sources which often were written by her detractors though Schiff does a great job at attempting to separate what really happened and the embellishments of those who had no love for her. Cleopatra is much more than the myth and stories that pop culture loves to give us and this book is a good resource for those wanting more of the truth. 3.5/5 stars
Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a tragedy where Macbeth kills his king after three witches tell him that it is his destiny to be king. He and his wife are slowly driven mad by their actions and Macbeth is eventually killed. Macbeth is my favorite Shakespeare because its never stated whether Macbeth acts because of predetermined fate or is it his ambitions that lead to his raise and fall. I don’t read many classics on my own because I often feel like I’m missing something but Macbeth is still good. However, given that this is meant to be a play and viewed instead of read I do feel like there is something lost by not seeing it preformed. 3.5/5 stars
Memento by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is an Illuminae Files novella that was a pre-order bonus when you pre-ordered Aurora Rising. The novella is set primarily before the events of Illuminae and focuses on the AIDAN the learning AI that is on the Alexander battleship and his interactions with the crew members, specifically Olivia Klein. Since the novella is set mostly before AIDAN is damaged in battle it shows how he learns and what information allowed him to become rouge in the rest of the series. Its a fun story that adds more to the world of the Illuminae Files but is not needed to understand the rest of the series. However, many fans, myself included, love AIDAN and consider him one of the best characters of the series so more of him is always good. 5/5 stars.
Since E3 was in June I’m excited for all the new games coming out but especially the Final Fantasy 7 remake. Final Fantasy 7 is one of my favorite games and since we now have a release date for the remake I have gone back and starting playing the original again. When I was younger I got about half way through the game but never finished it so I’m going back to play it in its entirety before the remake so I can see what is changed. I’m playing it on my PS4 which means some of the PC game cheats are available. Though I don’t think its the best way to play the game with cheats activated they are fun to play around with.
So in March I decided to try a new book subscription box which was Fae Create’s anniversary box. Fae Crate is a young adult book subscription box that focuses on fantasy and science fiction. Unlike some book boxes Fae Crate has three options to choose from: a shirt only box (Solitary Crate), a book and goodies box (Unseelie Crate), and a box that includes the shirt, book, and all the bookish goodies (Seelie Crate). For my first box I choose the Unseelie Crate without the shirt as I do have trouble ordering clothes online sometimes due to my height and body shape.
Alien Echo by Mira Grant is a young adult book set in the Alien franchise and is cannon to the rest of the series. It follows the story of twin sisters, Olivia and Viola, on a new world where their parents work as xenobiolgists but when an Alien threat that no one has ever seen rips their world apart they must adapt to survive. The book stars out slow like most movies in the alien franchise. For the first 90 pages or so its more of a teen drama set on a alien world than a science fiction or horror story but when the Xenomorphs arrive it become a true Alien story with all the problems that entails. The thing about Mira Grant books is there is always a twist that changes everything that makes me love the book more or makes me fall in love with a book that doesn’t have the greatest beginning. The characters are interesting and well written for the world though there is some romantic drama that is over done near the beginning and if you know the Alien franchise you know whats coming. So there doesn’t see to be a point to it and the slang is little over used. Considering the characters are teenagers shove into a situation that no one can predict with Aliens that are evolving to be better killers most of the reactions make sense. The action of the characters worked and were as though out as the situation allowed for and the book overall fits within the rest of the Alien Franchise.
The Second Evil by R L Stine is the second book in the Fear Street Cheerleaders saga. We follow Corky Corcoran after the events of book one where she is still dealing with the death of her sister and the evil spirit that attempted to kill both of them. Corky is trying to put Bobbi’s death behind her and live as normal of a life as possible with the Shadyside cheer leading squad. However, it becomes apparent that the evil spirit is not done with her yet and people start dying again. This is a reread for me but since I read these books back in junior high I don’t remember much of what happen though I do remember not liking this one much even back then. Though it continues the story from the first book there are tons of plot thread added to this one that don’t really go anywhere- from Jennifer’s bother blaming her death on Corky to a girl related to Sarah Fear the book is constantly trying to convince you that multiple people could be the evil spirit. By the time book ends and tells you what really going on its not the most interesting take. The evil seems to be defeated once again but we all know that its really not and will continue to terrorize everyone in the next book. 
Final Fantasy VII: On the Way to a Smile by Kazushige Nojima is a prequel novella to the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie and is set in the years following the end of the game. This novella expects you to either have played the game or know enough that it doesn’t need to take the time to introduce characters, places, or past events. This is a book written and designed for fans of the game and will make no sense to anyone who is not a fan. Though not the best written work it does give the reader insight into the emotions and actions of all of our favorite characters following the end of the game. The novella is broken up into six main sections each following a different character or group in the after math of the lifesteam destroying meteor and the defeat of Sephiroth. These sections are broken up by sections in the lifestream which seem to be Sephiroth’s and Arith’s thoughts and how they are trying to harm and help our heroes. The main thing this story focuses on is the guilt that these survivors have even though they are heroes that saved the world and what do they do after that. If you are a fan I would recommend reading it once, either before or after watching the movie. I love this series and now I want the remake of the game even more. 
Night Owl Reviews 