Martha Wells
SecUnit is on the surface of a planet, doing his SecUnit thing protecting his humans. On this planet, his humans are trying to negotiate with colonists to help them with planet ownership, trying to remove infected alien technology and not kill humans from the corporation trying to kidnap colonists and press them into slavery. All of this while trying to hold off a mental breakdown in his "squishy bits". This continues to be one of my favorite series of all time.
4 stars (out of 4)
Evan Winter
Book 1 of The Burning Series
Fantasy novel where an entire people (The Omehi) have traveled across the sea to escape what I can only guess is some sort of magic induced plague. In their new land, they are not welcome and are immediately thrust into a 200 year war, where we pick up. The Omehi are a highly caste structured society, and our protagonist is Tau, a Lesser. Tau has noble friends, but has no real tolerance for caste castigation, which of course gets him into trouble. He joins the military and becomes a phenomenal fighter, taking advantage of the "magic source" in ways that others can't or won't. In the end, Tau learns that he is not the only one who has concerns about caste, not the only one who questions the magic source, and not the only one fully gutted by the cost of war and violence.
I'll definetly keep up with the series, but since Books 3 and 4 are not yet published, no hurry...
3 stars (out of 4)
