Expeditionary Force book 2: SpecOps by Craig Alanson

The silliness and comedic bro banter continues in book 2.  The arbitrary magic system is a little annoying but otherwise it's very enjoyable and recommended! 4/5 Stars.

If you think you know what a proton is

 

Think again and read this interesting summary of recent research.  In particular, try to explain how what we currently perceive as a "proton" can sometimes be detected as a quark soup consisting of two charm quarks that weigh 1.3 times as much as the entire proton.  Forget conservation of mass.  Einstein might label it "spukhafte Gewichtsveränderung."

Earthbound (Marsbound 3) by Joe Haldeman

Depressing and confusing ending to a great series.  Good closure for the characters. 4/5 Stars.

Ihr Letzter Wunch von Blake Pierce

Meine örtliche Bibliothek hat nur sehr wenige Bücher auf Deutsch. Unter den deutschen Büchern, die ich gelesen habe, ist dies eines davon. Nicht schrecklich, aber nicht gut. 2/5 Sterne.

Columbus Day by Craig Alanson

This book has a fantastic space opera world built-up with a little awe-and-wonder mystery, wonderful politics, and great close-combat military action.  The hilarious sarcastic super-AI is wonderful and the "patron race" hierarchy concepts from David Brin's (far better!) Uplift books are good. However, Alanson goes too far to explain too much, instead of enabling events to uncover the strict rules of the magic system and leaving lots of frustrating mystery to uncover.  "Show the reader, don't tell the reader!" The gritty military experiences of "hurry up and wait," SNAFUs and ClusterFcks, are also wonderful and draw in the reader.  I can't wait to continue reading the books. 4/5 Stars.  Highly enjoyable!

This is my funniest 2 ed by Mike Resnick

I found about a quarter of the stories to be funny or worthwhile, but the gems were worth the slog through the weaker stories. 3/5 Stars.  In particular, the self-proclaimed "hay seed" farmer's diatribe describing a character

You look like somebody beat out a fire on your face with an ugly stick. You look like five miles 'a bad road. You look like the reason first cousins hadn't ought t'get married. Your liddle, squinchy eyes are all pupil; your nose is like a burnt pancake, and your jaws like a bear-trap.

. . . had me  laughing out loud.