Angela VanWell

Author | Reader | Traveler | Tea and Coffee Drinker

science fiction

Inspiring Author of the Week: Douglas Adams

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“The only person for whom the house was in any way special was Arthur Dent, and that was only because it happened to be the one he lived in.”

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

I kinda feel what Arthur was feeling this week. We have jumped between countries once again and are once again in quarantine. I feel like the Canadian-United States border is the location of the new Hyperspace Express Route and our family life has been scheduled for demolition. I am not sure which side to be on. My husband’s job is on one side of the border and our house and my daughter’s school are on the other side. It makes day-to-day family life… interesting.

Luckily for me, if we follow the tenets of the Hitchhiker’s guide, all we have to do is Don’t Panic! And that is why I chose Douglas Adams as the Inspiring Author of the Week. I love his use of wit and comedy in his books. Where someone’s life is a footnote in a galactic plan.

I believe I read the book first, borrowing it from my high school library. The narrator’s sarcasm came through with every line and brought me joy. For anyone who likes sarcasm and deadpan humour, this book is for you. The opening line let me know that humans should not take themselves too seriously, and Douglas Adams sure wouldn’t

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral Arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ap-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker’s guide itself turned out to be full of useful information for the inter-galactically inclined traveler. The bottom line, travelers should always carry a towel.

Arthur was not aware his friend, Ford Prefect, was in fact an alien, and would introduce him to a whole reality outside of earth he did not know existed. Ford also happened to be a researcher for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and his knowledge would take the two of them across the galaxy and through many unique challenges.

Only Ford could talk the man responsible for demolishing Arthur’s house into laying in the mud in front of it while they went to the pub.

Ford had strong opinions based on his years of travel between galaxies. If he said to drink 3 pints fast before the world ends, the best plan was to follow his lead.

I loved the book and the movie. Both are worth your time. The lightheartedness of Ford brings me joy and reminds me to not take myself terribly seriously. Instead to enjoy the adventure. So while I am in my…fourth, fifth, sixth??? quarantine this year, I am going to settle in with a bowl of noodles and watch the movie once again.

Happy Reading/Watching!

Inspiring Author of the Week: Ilona Andrews

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Yes, you who have been with me for a while are correct, I already shared Ilona Andrews as an Inspiring Author. Why have I brought the duo back so soon? Women’s Independence Day! I love the Innkeeper Chronicles and the independent females who take on what scares them most to reach their ultimate goals, find and create a family.

They use Earth as the crossroads of the Galaxy. As the crossroads between wormholes and dimensional gateways, Earth has a lot of unique visitors and needed a place for them to stay during their travels. Enter the Innkeepers. The Inn and the Innkeeper have the extraordinary power to cater to all of their guests’ needs, be it a Vampire castle or a specialized chicken coop, while maintaining their secrets from humanity.

Dina Demille grew up in an Inn and became an Innkeeper herself. As she focuses on bringing the long-abandoned Inn back to life, Dina is desperate for magical guests. Although she had a long-term tenant, who incidentally has a bounty on her head, Dina must keep her tenant safe while dealing with space vampires, werewolf soldiers, and bounty hunters.

Dina spent the last few years searching the Galaxy for her parents and their missing inn. At last, she realized another way she might find them was through the guests at her own inn, Gertrude Hall. Something unworldly is attacking the dogs in her neighbourhood and Dina gets involved.

This was a territorial kill, left for everyone to find — look how bad and clever I am.

Ilona Andrews, Clean Sweep

I am a huge fan of both sci-fi and fantasy stories. Books that can include the best elements of both are my favourite. The new and enticing use of magic in my world, the visitation of aliens, even if they are space vampires. They see Earth as not a particularly interesting place, except for its location. I think Clean Sweep and the rest of the Innkeeper Chronicles fit my criteria well. Dina is a magic-filled human. She has the same challenges as many new business owners; she needs to find her clientele to maintain her business. Who can’t relate to that? The quirky fun is that her inn, Gertrude Hall, is somewhat sentient, and her guests are unique and more violent. She is also a good neighbour and doesn’t like that some alien entity with claws is killing the neighbourhood dogs. I wouldn’t either.

International Women’s Day

is a great day for me to celebrate examples of independent female characters in fiction. Why does it make me think of Dina? She is young, alone, and made hard choices in her life. At first, she thought she wanted to be an average human to fit in. Then, when she lost her parents and no one could explain how or why, Dina and her brother searched the Galaxy for answers. When she still did not find them, she focused on an Inn to draw the answers to her instead of searching for them. Not once did she give up. She focused completely on her desire to find her parents and made her choices independently.

No matter if there was a sexy vampire or a stubborn werewolf interested in her, she moved forward with what she knew was best for her and meeting her goals. She also learned her own blind spots through the series and learned to compromise where it made sense and to hold to her standards the rest of the time.

Maud, her sister and the protagonist in the second trilogy of the Innkeeper Series, is no slouch either. A skilled warrior, poet, and survivor of the most savage vampire-held planet, she trusts no one outside of her family. After she, and her daughter, are rescued by her sister, she learns there are others she can trust, if she can open her heart.

Vampire worldview, condensed into three sentences: If it’s not food or a pet, kill it, it might be poisonous.

Ilona Andrews, Sweep of the Blade

I love both sisters and their survival instincts. I cannot wait for the next book in Maud’s journey. If you are interested in learning more about the Demille sisters, you can find their information here.

Happy Reading!

Valentine’s Day in Sci-Fi: Firefly No. 2 from BOOM! Studios

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Valentine’s Day arrives this weekend, along with it the expectations of romance. However, romance in our house differs from most. I prefer sarcasm, action, and a bit of romance. Episode 2 in the Firefly comic series has a few scenes that exemplify the love and romance between Zoe and Wash. The firefly series is full of little quips and scenes shared by the love birds.

Zoe is a strong veteran while Wash is a snarky pilot looking for adventure. Zoe needs some peace in her life and Wash appreciates a powerful woman who stands up for what she believes in. They are an outstanding example of opposites attract. To me, their relationship sparks and they quibble like any healthy couple does. It is through their mutual respect and love they can live and work together.

In the Firefly TV Series, there is jealousy, differing opinions on decisions made by their Captain, and conflict over whether to start a family. What there isn’t is dark secrets, affairs, divorce, and love triangles. It is a breath of fresh air. The couple is solid, no matter what is thrown against them and how much they disagree.

Zoe: I know something ain’t right.

Wash: Sweetie, we’re crooks. If everything were right, we’d be in jail.

Firefly, Serenity

Kaylee: Look at the pretties!

Wash: What am I looking at? The girls or the clothes?

Jayne: The girls.

Zoe: The clothes, please.

Kaylee: Say. look at the fluffy one!

Too much foofaraw. If I’m gonna wear a dress, I want something with some slink.

Wash: You want a slinky dress? I can buy you a slinky dress. Captain, can I have money for a slinky dress?

Firefly, Shindig

They published the comics after the television series, so their relationship shows through even deeper than in the show. Not said is the depth of their love and how they show it. No. 2, takes place on the desert moon of Bethlehem. Serenity requires repairs after being shot at by an Alliance warship, Zoe is on the ground with Mal, escorting the Pilgrims of Moriah to their holy land on the other side of the valley.

Wash worried about Zoe when he knows they are being chased as war criminals by the Unificators, Federal Deputies

Even though they each have their strengths, they still support each other in their separate rolls when needed. As Zoe is the warrior and Wash the pilot, it seems pretty clear cut. The inversion of the traditional gender roles adds to the flavour of their relationship. They are both equally important to the crew and each other. Both the best at what they do and they respect each other for it.

Even when their decisions are a bit in conflict with what is best for the crew, they do it with love! So if you are looking for some romance, but you want nothing too mushy, maybe Wash and Zoe have what you are looking for. There are loads of options available, but this is the one I have been enjoying this week.

Do not despair though, we do have a romantic Romeo and Julietesque story planned for this weekend. We are streaming Warm Bodies, a zombie Romeo and Juliet. A lot of sarcasm and snark I enjoy along with some action. One of the love birds will be shot at as well! Love, is so much fun:) So grab your chocolate stash, mine just arrived in the mail, and your movies and spend time with those you love. Even if you are not in the same house, we can stream the movies we love together. Snark translates well by text.

Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Reading!

Inspiring Author of the Week: Kathleen McClure

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The challenge I have with ebooks is I have a harder time remembering when I first found the author. When I hold a physical book, it becomes a tactile memory connected to my other senses. I remember where, when, why I picked up the title. Sadly, my ebooks do not get the same memory trail. Did I hear about it from a friend? From a SciFi site? From Goodreads? Bookbub? I reread the series last week and still I have no memory of when I bought it and what was the draw. This leads me to believe it was the book itself, Soldier of Fortune, book 1 in The Fortune Chronicles.

When I hear the phrase, soldier of fortune, I assume mercenary. A band of unlikely hero’s who turn around who do something great and save the day. Upon reading the book blurb, it turns out Quinn is not a mercenary but a soldier wrongly accused of treason and sent to work the mines. The story takes place on the planet of Fortune, a planet, one of many terraformed to replace Earth.

Quinn is given early parole and a chance to clear his name, or to get revenge. Quinn, and his Draco Elvis, are dropped off in the city of Nike where the man he holds responsible resides. Quinn, more of a paladin than a soldier, collects a band of people, mostly in distress, who come together to support each other in the gritty city. So, I had the mercenary character wrong but the merry bunch of misfits right.

There is a tongue and cheek piece to the universe Kathleen McClure developed. Instead of naming the newly colonized places after the old places, such as New York, New Zealand, they are named after the leaders of capitalist society, such as Nike and Ford. Memorabilia from Earth are collectors items, many items whose purpose is no longer remembered. The technology that brought humanity to Fortune destroyed its technology upon arrival hoping the world would not be destroyed the same way as earth. It is an interesting idea in that there must have been the people who believed in the fresh start and those who miss what they left behind. I would have appreciated more development of the backstory to balance the amount of corporate names used in the series. I loved the mixture of fantasy, dystopia, and military science fiction in the book. I think it is what drew me to it. It didn’t really fit in any specific genre to me so I was able to enjoy it as it was.

Book two in The Fortune Chronicles, Outrageous Fortune an Errant Enterprise, was written by both Kathleen McClure and Kelly McKinnon, and was a great followup to book 1. Side characters in Soldier of Fortune took the lead in this book. Although I loved Quinn and Mia in book one, the dynamics on the airship Errant are much more engaging. The story takes place a little bit earlier than Book 1 and at one point the two stories share scenes together. I enjoyed how well it was carried it out and seeing the same scene from a different perceptive.

Book three, is back to Gideon Quinn’s adventures. Characters from both previous books take part in this adventure. People are going missing in Nike and Quinn and Mia are asked to investigate. There is more development of the political issues on the planet of Fortune and the fallout of war. I liked how each of their personal stories impacted how they handled the missing persons case. This book had humour but not as much as the first two books it was a darker story.

All in all and enjoyable series. Something to read if you enjoy the mixing of genres with a lot of action. I look forward to reading more of her individual works and collaborations.

Happy Reading!

Inspiring Author of the Week: Jessie Mihalik

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I love reading most genres of books, it all depends on my mood. But when I want something that is a fun exciting read, I choose pirates in space. Or what is called Space Opera. Jessie Mihalik does not let me down with her wound ridden protagonists who are strong women tested by life.

Polaris Rising is Book One in the series and the perfect way to get drawn into House von Hasenberg. A dynasty headed by Albrecht, a cold-hearted, powerful man who uses his children as pieces on a chess board. All of his power and scheming brought his children closer as they protect each other from him and from the outside world. The first story follows Ada, the second youngest princess, as she runs from an arranged marriage to a man she neither loves or respects. She stayed out of her fathers grasp for two years before she was finally caught. It is then she is introduced to Loch, the Devil of Fornax Zero, her cell mate.

It is bad enough Ada is locked in with a killer, when Richard Rockhurst, her supposed fiancé, of House Rockhurst, attempts to capture her. A circumstance she would do almost anything, including making the deal with the Devil, to get away from.

Ada is strong, charismatic, and fully aware of the risks she takes. I like her wit, her heart, and the lengths she will go to protect her family. Loch is enigmatic and has his own code of honour. I loved reading as the two of them dance around each other as they try to work together to escape those hunting them both. In classic romance style there is a lot of longing and sparks, followed by some steamy bits. The perfect read to escape, adventure, and feel a little love.

The three books in The Consortium Rebellion Series follow each of the daughters as they are pushed to the limits to save their families while in the company of charismatic and power men with their own secrets.

Each book contains it own adventure with romance tangled in. The fast-paced adventures are filled with wit, honour, action, and love.

To learn more about Jessie Mihalik and other books she had written, check out her website: Jessie Mihalik