Book Review: Kelly's Reef SPOILERS!

On October 30th, 2013, James R. Burke--a fellow writer and colleague of mine--published his first novel Kelly's Reef. Though by no means a sci-fi story, it does have some rather great sci-fi plots and plenty of action to satisfy the reader. Synopsis: On a medical rescue mission to Djibouti, North Africa, Dr. Jake Matthews, TJ, a supply officer, and Charlie, a master chief who “fixes” things for the government, encounter a plot to use Blue Death as a bio-weapon. Kelly, the resident CIA station chief, sends them on a daring mission to save a local terrorist who has the answers. Back home on Guam, Jake discovers women are becoming pregnant at an alarming rate-and all pregnancies are abnormal. Somebody thinks it’s related to blue globes Jake found while scuba diving on a local reef. That somebody is after the globes, and is killing everyone involved. What is it about Blue Death and the blue globes Jake discovered that is damaging pregnancies? What is in the water that is wreaking all the havoc? What does the government knows and isn’t revealing? From Djibouti, to Guam, to Cozumel, Jake searches for answers. Loosely based on adventures aboard the USS Carl Vinson and while stationed on Guam, the author brings to the reader the possibility and plausibility of using the natural human reproductive system as a bio-threat to mankind.

Part 1 Djibouti:
Commander Jake Matthews is a navy physician stationed on the USS Carl Vinson. He and Lieutenant Commander Thelonious Justis (TJ) receive orders for a secret medical mission off the coast of Somalia. In route, they rescue Master Chief Charlie Albright, wounded by a Somali warlord. Charlie is a "fixer" for the government. Aboard the UNNS Swordfish, a navy "research" vessel spying on Somalia, Jake discovers there are two female crewmembers that became pregnant and spontaneously aborted. What is concerning is that one is a lesbian and had no male contact and the other had a tubal ligation years prior. Jake also sees mysterious blue globes loaded into a metal camera case. Jake repairs Charlie's gunshot wound and them meets Kelly. Kelly is the local CIA station chief, who also runs a house of ill repute to gain Intel on the local terrorist cells. It's revealed that Jake's real mission in Djibouti is to treat a local terrorist who has Blue Death, a potential bio-weapon. Kelly's World Famous Bar and Grill blows up and the group has a gun battle in the streets of Djibouti before escaping. Jake transports the case of blue globes and Alzera back to the aircraft carrier, but Alzera dies in route, before revealing his secret.

Part 2 Guam:
Hanna Sanders is a nurse who works with Jake. She is also the twin sister of Emily, Jake's wife. She, Jake, and Charlie are scuba diving at night to visit Auraka, a two-headed green eel known to Jack and Charlie. An earthquake and a tsunami hit. Jake and Charlie rescue Hanna, trapped underwater. During the rescue, Jake discovers more of the blue globes similar to what he saw in Djibouti. Some have ruptured and released a blue substance into the ocean. Over the next several weeks, Jake learns that women are becoming pregnant at an alarming rate and most are abnormal. Jake, Charlie, and TJ have an unexpected reunion aboard the Swordfish where they learn that everyone involved with the Djibouti mission is missing or dead, and that Blue Death causes abnormal human reproduction. The original samples Jake was transporting have disappeared. Hanna is pregnant, but she can't be. She has quadruplets--all abnormal. She undergoes surgery to repair the problem. Charlie, who plans to marry Hanna, receives orders for a mission to Cozumel. Jake has the globes analyzed and finds they contain an extraterrestrial virus, based on a faulty DNA translation table. Someone else knows and threatens his family, but before he can get everyone safe stateside, his wife Emily finds she is pregnant as the result of exposure to the alien virus. Commander Birdina Hawke (Hawknose), an antagonist with a personal grudge, hates Jake. He suspects her of being the letter writer and after Blue Death. Someone kills her, and Jake becomes the prime suspect. Jake and TJ find evidence that she was selling Blue Death to a biotech company. An emergency calls Jake back to labor and delivery late one evening. While gone, someone attacks his wife and mistakenly kidnaps Hanna, the twin sister. Investigators discover her body. Jake suspects Hawknose, but her death occurred a week before the attack. The murder weapon is the same one that killed Hawknose, and belongs to Jake. Jake and Emily escape the solitude of an island resort hotel only to have Kelly reappear. She tells Jake that she and Charlie know who killed Hanna and Hawknose. She also explains that Blue Death is part of a UFO event in 1947 (Roswell). That object broke into four pieces. The government has known about Blue Death since then, but when Alzera found it, they were able to backtrack the other two chunks to Guam and Cozumel. Charlie, currently in Cozumel, has located the final source of Blue Death. Kelly and Jake hatch a plot to trap the killer and destroy Blue Death. The next day, Jake's house is broken into. The military police accuse him of the deaths of Hawknose, Hanna, and a civilian guard. Jake makes a run for it and the military police shoot him.

Part 3 Cozumel:
This section opens with Kelly and an unidentified person describing how Charlie found the last site and plans to dive on it. TJ knows, and plans to join the dive. Last scene is on a dive boat on the reef of Cozumel. Charlie and TJ find the site, which is a fake site made up to look like part of a UFO. Back onboard, Charlie accuses TJ of being Hanna's killer, wanting the fame and glory of proving extraterrestrial life Jake reappears from below decks to accuse TJ of the kidnapping and explains that he faked his own death to trap TJ. They explain that the dive tank TJ used had a carbon monoxide mixture and he is going to die. TJ is sick, vomiting, and thinks he has the bends. TJ pulls a gun as Kelly also comes up from below deck. Jake emptied TJ's gun while they were underwater. Kelly's operative, who is acting as a boat hand, shoots TJ in the leg and they throw him overboard. Kelly congratulates them on successfully uncovering TJ and asks for the last of the globes. Jake turns the table on her. There are no other globes, the site was a fake, TJ took Ipecac to fake having the bends, and that Kelly has been behind this all along. Jake realized she was lying to him because of a poker tell and a mistake she made during the reunion. She confesses and orders her associate to shoot Jake. He shoots her instead, because of loyalty for Jake saving his wife's life in surgery earlier in the book.

Throughout the story, there are subplots: why Hawknose hates Jake, the threats from the letter writer, and the building suspicion that Jake is responsible. The reader also learn about the evolutionary biolgoy of DNA replication and taht a translation table difference cannot occur on this planet. Action scenes include a chase through Somalia, a bombing in Djibouti, a medical emergency on a small airplane in a storm, the undersea rescue following the earthquake, and an emergency cesarean section. A cast of quirky characters and Jake's sense of dark humor enliven the story.

Book Review: The Vorkosigan Saga: A Civil Campaign SPOILERS!

On October 1999, Lois McMaster Bujold once again returned to her saga about Miles Vorkosigan. This time, love is in the air, or is that politics? Or butter bugs? Or a wedding? I don't even think the book knows which. Synopsis: One cunning plan too many . . . ? It's spring in Vorbarr Sultana, and a young person's fancy turns thoughts of love . . . money . . . bio-genetics . . . love . . . lack of money . . . incompatible planetary sexual mores . . . love . . . District succession scandals . . . the Emperor's wedding . . . and, of course, love . . . Lord Miles Vorkosigan, youngest Imperial Auditor to be appointed by the Emperor since the Time of Isolation, has a problem all his new power can't solve: unrequited love for the beautiful Vor widow Ekaterin Vorsoinson. Ekaterin is violently allergic to marriage as a result of her first exposure. But as Miles learned from his late career in galactic covert ops, if a frontal assault won't do, go to subterfuge. He has a cunning plan . . . Lord Mark Vorkosigan has a problem: his love for the sunny Kareen, daughter of Comodore Koudelka, has just become unrequited again. But if all his new money can't solve their dilemma, perhaps a judicious blending of science and entrepreneurial scheming might. He has a cunning plan . . . Lord Ivan Vorpatril has a problem: unrequited love in general. True, with the men on Barrayar out numbering the women five to four, his odds aren't good. But Ivan had never thought the odds applied to him. He too has a cunning plan . . . If no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy, just imagine what all Miles' closest friends and relatives can do to his romantic energy!

The novel starts off with Miles making plans to woo Ekaterin; to do this, he hires Ekaterin to design a garden on one side of the Vorkosigan House in Vorbarra Sultana. Ivan, of course, interrupts with wedding details that Lady Alys has planned for the upcoming wedding of Gregor and Laisa. Meanwhile, Kareen misses Mark; Martya and Olivia rag on her, but Kareen informs them that Mark will be along later after a stop-over on Escobar. Miles suddenly becomes swamped with wedding plans and yet still tries to woo Ekaterin, much to her ignorance. Rene is waiting for confirmation that he's the Count Vorbretten, but Count Vormoncrief and Sigur Vorbretten are cock-blocking him in the Council of Counts. Mark finally arrives with a scientist named Enrique in tow. Alexi Vormoncrief treats Ivan and Byerly Vorrutyer to a meal and informs them of Lady Donna's attempt to claim the Vorrutyer title in the Council of Counts and also slips that he sent a Baba to Ekaterin, intending to woo her; Ivan believes this is a great mistake, but doesn't say so. Kareen and Mark propose to let Cordelia act as a Baba to Kareen's parents. Ivan and Byerly welcome Donna home, but she's now a he and is called Dono; she got a sexchange on Beta. Ekaterin learns from a family relative that Alexi has sent a Baba to formalize their engagement, but Ekaterin protests vehemently and states that she thought they were talking about Miles, to which her relative scoffs. Miles, rather stupidly, tells everyone but Ekaterin that he intends to woo her. He intends to throw a party where he'll ask her and invites Ivan, Kareen, Dono, Mark, Martya, Olivia, Alys, Simon, Ekaterin, and several others. At the party, things unravel faster than a romantic-comedy; Simon lets it slip what Miles intends, and Ekaterin sensibly runs away, but not without bumping into Cordelia and Aral, who are just arriving from Sergyar. Miles sinks into depression; Drou and Kou have forbidden Kareen from seeing Mark' and things seem to go wrong for all. Cordelia says that she might help Mark and Kareen, and informs Miles that his best strategy is to apologize via a recorded message, which Miles does in the form of a written letter. Kareen talks to Ekaterin about their womanly problems, with Martya worried for Enrique; Pym drop sit off and Martya takes the opportunity to learn all. Byerly informs Ivan of Alexi's and Richar's plans, and that they plan to reveal that Miles killed Tien, even though that's not true, but they believe it anyway. Mark and Enrique meet Kareen and Martya at the Vorthys house and Martya agrees to take Kareen's place in the R and D department to keep Enrique calm. Richars threatens Miles witih blackmail, but Miles won't have it; Miles informs Allegre who says to hold off telling Ekaterin until ImpSec can pin a handle on it.

Miles calls Dono and invites him over to meet with Rene and that the three of them will hatch a plan to take down Richars and Alexi in the Council of Counts. Simon pays Ekaterin a visit and tells her about Miles and how it is to be with him and that he's a fast learner; Alexi interrogates Nikki about Miles' state after Tien's death, but Ekaterin berates him, but Alexi seems hellbent on persecuting Miles and says that Miles killed Tien. Simon interrupts and Alexi flees in terror; he drops an angry Ekaterin off at Vorkosigan House with Nikki; she tells him to make sure Alexi is hanged. Miles gets Gregor to agree to reveal what happened--at least a slimmed down version--to Nikki. Cordelia agrees to act as Baba for Mark and Kareen and that she'll be using the Library for the meeting. Meanwhile, Miles meets with Dono, Rene, Byerly and Ivan and form a plan of political dealings. Miles takes Nikki and Ekaterin to visit Gregor; the Emperor tells Nikki that Miles is innocent and that Tien was a fiend who redeemed himself in death to right his wrongs; Gregor gives Nikki a personal vid card to call him in case of emergencies such as kidnapping. Hugo Vorthys and Vassily Vorsoisson arrive at the Vorthys house and demand that she and Nikki return to the family proper, but she refuses and they leave. Cordelia directs the Baba meeting and both Mark and Kareen reveal what they want, a year to explore themselves and each other; everyone agrees, even Kou. After a party, Ivan, Dono, and Olivia are ambushed by Richar's men on Count Vorfolse's residence and Ivan hatches a plan. At the Council of Counts, Ivan storms in with Counts Vorfolse, Falco Vorpatril, Vorhalas, and Vorkalloner and they, after Rene allows Dono his time and vice-versa, vote in favor of giving the Vorrutyer title to Dono and keep Rene as Count Vorbretten; Richars is arrested. Meanwhile, Vassily and Hugo threaten to remove Nikki from Ekaterin, but Nikki calls Gregor and the Emperor sends ImpSec to take them all to the Council of Counts where they witness the defeat of both Alexi and Richars, during which Ekaterin proposes to Miles in front of the entire Council of Counts; he accepts. Subsequently, armed Escobaran men arrive to take Enrique from Vorkosigan house, but Martya, Kareen, Mark, and a couple of Vorkosigan armsmen halt them with improvised weapons and butter bugs, but the men don't do down easily. Miles, Ekaterin, Nikki, Vassily, Hugo, Cordelia, and Aral return to the Vorkosigan house and find this ruckus happening; Miles demands an explanation to which the Escobaran men alert him to the tale, but Miles refuses to accept their warrant and has them removed from Barrayar. The wedding happens and all is seemingly fine . . . until the next tale. Oh, and Byerly is an ImpSec agent with a rating of IS-8.

All in all, a decent novel that takes a lackadaisical plotline and twists it into something worth reading. And now we come to November: the month of many game releases. I'll start it off with a couple of game tie-ins from either Star Wars or Mass Effect.

Book Review: Centaur Aisle: A Xanth novel SPOILERS!

In 1981, Piers Anthony returned to the land of Xanth to tell a new tale in which Dor must take up the mantle of King, if only for a small time, but as usual, things go wrong in Centaur Aisle. Synopsis: Dor was having troubles growing up to be the next Magician-King of the magic Land of Xanth. He wanted no part of running the Kingdom. But now Good King Trent was leaving on a trade mission to non-magical Mundania, home of such weird beasts as horses and bears, so Dor had to take over as King for a week. A week passes. No Trent. Then three weeks. King Trent still hadn't returned. Surely, something terrible had happened; he was apparently held captive in some foul dungeon, unable to escape. Dor was left with the burden of ruling--and with Irene, who was entirely too willing to be his Queen! His only hope was to enter Mundania and free King Trent. But how could it be done without the powers of magic? Nevertheless, he started forth bravely--together with Irene, a golem, a centaur, and a young ogre--heading for the far south of Xanth. The entrance to Mundania, of course, lay to the north.

The novel opens with Dor writing an essay about Xanth, and he's quite terrible at it and can't seem to get it done until Irene suggest he use a Spelling Bee to help him word his essay. The problem is that Dor forgets to tell the Bee how to spell the words, and his essay is a disaster. Irene, in a close off section of the moat around Castle Roogna, teases Dor; they both rip each others clothes off in amusement, then are about to kiss when Cherie Centuar interrupts them and tells Dor that King Trent wants to speak to him. Trent informs Dor that he's leaving for Mundania on a trade mission and tells him to remember that "honesty" is the key. Weeks go by, with no word from Trent or Queen Iris. Dor wants answers, but the Elder Council is most unhelpful, so Dor goes to Good Magician Humphrey. Humphrey informs Dor that there's a centaur Magician on Centaur Isle; it turns out that the Gorgon and Humphrey are getting married and the Gorgon wants to do so now. Dor performs the ceremony and asks Jonathan and Millie to oversee Xanth until his return; they agree because the ghosts and zombies miss them. Both the Gorgon and Millie tells Dor that one day Irene will marry him despite his protests. Days later, Dor, Irene, Smash, Grundy, and Chet set off for Centaur Isle. It's a hazardous trip that leaves Chet wounded; but they manage to find the centaur Magician. He's named Arnolde and hadn't realized his talent was to create a magical aisle that extends a few feet in front of him and a bit behind him. Realizing that he's going to be exiled from his herd, Arnolde agrees to accompany them to rescue King Trent and Queen Iris; during the trip up north, both Irene and Dor say they hate each other, but mean it jokingly and several times they kiss. Dor writes "honesty" as "Onesti" in dirt, but Irene points out that Dor can't spell well.

Upon reaching the edge of Xanth, they cross over into a Mundane area known as America and, after Arnolde and the librarian archivist Ichabod talk, they learn that "Onesti" is a place circa AD 650; they go to pay Ichabod a gold Spanish dubloon and Dor wants a dime from him; despite his protests that the dime is much less in value, they trade. Arnolde wants to come back and talk with Ichabod after the mission is done to learn more about Mundania while Ichabod wants to cross over to Xanth and learn about it. After several attempts, the group finally arrives at Onesti and, after learning from a table that King Oary imprisoned both Trent and Iris, are drugged and dragged down to the dungeon, but Grundy manages to escape and causes mischief while helping Irene and Dor plan an escape. It's during this that the two finally profess their love for each other and they get engaged and find out that Trent went to trade with King Omen, but Oary imprisoned them so he could rule. Grundy, with Irene's magical plants, helps free Arnolde from the stables and he positions himself on a cliff to help Smash destroy the wall; they all escape and, during the night, Dor uses his talent for making inanimate objects talk to get the information about King Omen's whereabouts. They head there and manage to free Queen Iris, King Trent, and King Omen. Faced with possible death, Oary tries to spin things his way, but Dor proposes that Omen make him an ambassador to the Nordic Magyars. Trent and Iris attempt to form a trade treaty by giving Omen Irene, but Dor suggests that Omen take a midnight sun stone that he got from Jewel instead. Irene yells at Dor for treating her like a slave, but Dor throws the dime in front of her; Irene stops on the dime and spins around, angry until Dor kisses her and finds out that they were beyond the centaur aisle; she tells him that, like the Gorgon marrying Humphrey, she also won't give up on Dor.

All in all, a great read. Fast-paced and filled to the brim with puns and magic and romance, Piers Anthony has once again created a compelling story that captivates the imagination. Highly recommended for fans of the series.

Book Review: The Vorkosigan Saga: Komarr SPOILERS!

In June 1998, acclaimed speculative fiction writer Lois McMaster Bujold returned once again to the Vorkosigan saga. This time, an incident has occurred on Komarr, but was it an accident or was it treachery? Synopsis: Accident or treachery? Komarr could be a garden--with a thousand more years work. Or an uninhabitable wasteland, if the terraforming fails. Now the solar mirror vital to the terraforming of the conquered planet has been shattered by a ship hurtling off course. The Emperor of Barrayar sends his newest Imperial Auditor, Lord Miles Vorkosigan, to find out why. The choice is not a popular one on Komarr, where a betrayal a generation before drenched the name of Vorkosigan in blood. In the political and physical claustrophobia of the domed cities, are the Komarrans surrounding Miles loyal subjects, potential hostages, innocent victims, or rebels bidding for revenge? Lies within lies, treachery within treachery--Miles is caught in a race against time to stop a plot that could exile him from Barrayar forever. His burning hope lies in an unexpected ally, one with wounds as deep and honor as beleaguered as his own.

The novel opens with Ekaterin learning about her Uncle, Imperial Auditor Vorthys, landing with Miles Vorkosigan. Gregor wants them to check out the accident, but Vorthys is mainly there to visit. Ekaterin's husband, Etienne Voroisson--plagued with Vorzohn's Dystrophy--mocks Miles throughout his stay. While Vorthys visits the place where Etienne works, Miles stays at the Voroisson's house and catches up on the daily dispatches. Later, Vorthys tells Ekaterin a bit about Miles' history. Not a lot, but enough to somewhat sate her curiosity. Etienne takes Miles and Vorthys on another tour of the solarra project. Ekaterin admits to herself that she hates her husband for making him hate herself. While shopping for a wedding gift for Gregor and Laisa, Ekaterin learns more about Miles from Miles. Vorthys tells Miles that another body turned up, male and unknown. Miles isn't happy about that. Miles and Nikki--Ekaterin and Etienne's son--look at a display of jumpship models; they seem to bond, but Etienne interrupts them. Miles tells Etienne that he wants to do a surprise inspection of Etienne's office; Etienne calls Soudha and informs him of it--Ekaterin overhears this. Ekaterin tells Etienne that she's leaving him because of his embezzlement and lies, but he threatens her skellytum plant and throws it out the building, but Ekaterin isn't cowed anymore. He promises to change things and goes to get Miles and reveal all to him, but when they arrive at the station, both Miles and Etienne are ambushed. After being chained to a railing and trying to get free, Miles watches Etienne die because his breath mask wasn't fully charged. Ekaterin gets a call from Lena Foscol about the location of Etienne and Miles; when she arrives there, she frees Miles and finds Etienne dead. They call the local ImpSec Captain Tuomonen and tell him to arrive with a forensics team; Tuomonen is pissed the Miles left him out of the loop about this sojourn. Miles knows about Soudha now and wants blood. Miles notes that his Imperial Auditor seal and data case were stolen. Ekaterin undergoes fast-penta talk with Tuomonen; Miles observes and notes that he's in love with her. Days later, Miles and Vorthys are busy with the investigation, and Ekaterin picks up Aunt Professora Helen Vorthys, but a Komarran terrorist, Arozzi, captures them. Arozzi is with Soudha and Foscol; Ekaterin tells that that Etienne's dead, but Foscol doesn't want to believe it. They argue over the past, specifically the Cetagandan Invasion of Barrayar and Barrayar's Invasion, but Soudha insists that the Cetaganden's were right and the Barrayaran's must be forced off Komarr by any means necessary. Miles and Vorthys track the terrorists down and stop the sabotage. In the end, it all works out. Ekaterin and Nikki move back to Barrayar where she's going to learn.

All in all, Komarr is an amusing tale that has some good times, some mediocre parts, but is nevertheless an enjoyable read. I recommend this books to the old and new fans of the series. Crazy book, but a good kind of crazy.