Aftermath: Expeditionary Force 16 by Craig Alanson (2023)

Fantastic resurrection to this fun series.  Hilarious, mindless entertainment. 5/5 Stars

Discovery by B. V. Larson (2023)

I probably would have enjoyed this book in 1963 but my tastes have changed.  2/5 Stars, not good.

System Collapse by Martha Wells (2023)

Drop what you are doing and read this book.  It is the best murderbot book yet. 5/5 Stars. If the judges have teenaged children Martha Wells will win all of the awards again for this one.

ShipStar by Larry Niven & Gregory Benford (2014)

I am glad I picked up the series again.  The second book is slightly better with the introduction of new space alien species and mysterious tech stuff.  The character arcs are poorly motivated but I liked the story. 4/5 Stars.

Callsign Valkyrie by Jason Anspach, Nick Cole, Walt Robillard (2023)

Self-contained, backstory of factions during the reign of the evil "House of Reason" era of Galaxy's Edge. Not bad. 4/5 Stars.

Always Legion by Jason Anspach, Peter Nealen, & Nick Cole (2023)

I needed something light, fun, humorous to recover from that terrible Peter H Kim book.  This one is a little disappointing; the close combat is good as always. This era and setting in the Galaxy's Edge universe is dark and depressing, though.  3/5 Stars.

Taken to the Stars by J N Chaney * Rick Partlow (2023)

I enjoy the Anspach / Chaney books so I tried this one by Chaney.  It's a juvenile book written for young teenagers and not very good. I shall not read the rest of the series. 2/5 Stars.

Heaven's Bowl by Larry Niven and Gregory Benford

I read this book in 2013 and did not like it; I don't think I read the rest of the trilogy. I pulled the hardback off the shelf and re-read it.  I still don't like the book but I do intend to read the rest of the trilogy this time. 3/5 Stars.

Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2023)

A decent ending that ties up all the loose ends of the trilogy. The unspace magic system and inhabitants is a little bit too contrived in the final reveal at the boss level, though.  Fun story, 4/5 Stars.

The Killing Star by by Charles Pellegrino & George Zebrowski (1995)

Amazing story, great subplots and themes. Odd, distracting theology and mysticism. 5/5 Stars.  Fantastic!

Queen of an Alien Sun (Arc Trilogy #3) Peter F Hamilton & Elisabeth Klett (2023)

Weak, silly, 2/5 Stars.

Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2022)

The story is good but the silly deus est machina contrivances to rescue our heroes from each new cliffhanger are getting lame. I like the slow reveal and mystery of the void universe. I look forward to the conclusion. 4/5 Stars. 

Wayward Galaxy 6 by Jason Anspach & Nick Cole (2023)

Hilarious, silly, fun, light, entertaining, mindless mayhem 4/5 Stars.

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2021)

Odd and interesting world building by the author with some decent awe, wonder, and politics. There is a little too much arbitrary magic for plot contrivances but it's not bad. 3/5 Sars.

The Apocalypse Troll by David Weber (1998)

I enjoyed the Honor Harrington series; so I sometimes dip into David Weber's other books.  This one was fun, 3/5 Stars.

Star Trek Strange New Worlds

Best-ever Star Trek episode, ever. 5/5 Stars. Watch the series.

Behind the Throne by K B Wagers (2016)

I don't remember how this book appeared in my queue.  The setting, politics, and characters are interesting, but I really didn't care about them so I was never drawn in to the politics. 3/5 Stars.

Never Shall I Fail by Jason Anspach & Nick Cole (2022)

I am enjoying the series and look forward to each new volume; I particularly liked the ending of this book, 5/5 Stars.

Freefall (Expeditionary Force Mavericks) #2 by Craig Alanson

Fun story; next time I start a series I shall read the books in publication order. 4/5 Stars.

Death Trap by Craig Alanson (2019)

Taking a break from deep, dense fact books that are popping up in my stack, I took a break with some light reading and went back to read the last two Craig Alanson books in his "Expeditionary Force" universe.  I think one should read them in publication order because the last two books in the main "Expeditionary Force" series have some spoilers and assume you have read these two "Mavericks" books.  But this one was still fun; the characters and dialogue are in many ways funnier than the main series. 4/5 Stars. Entertaining.