TBR Thursday: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig

25131600As the Empire reels from its critical defeats at the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance—now a fledgling New Republic—presses its advantage by hunting down the enemy’s scattered forces before they can regroup and retaliate. But above the remote planet Akiva, an ominous show of the enemy’s strength is unfolding. Out on a lone reconnaissance mission, pilot Wedge Antilles watches Imperial Star Destroyers gather like birds of prey circling for a kill, but he’s taken captive before he can report back to the New Republic leaders.

Meanwhile, on the planet’s surface, former rebel fighter Norra Wexley has returned to her native world—war weary, ready to reunite with her estranged son, and eager to build a new life in some distant place. But when Norra intercepts Wedge Antilles’s urgent distress call, she realizes her time as a freedom fighter is not yet over. What she doesn’t know is just how close the enemy is—or how decisive and dangerous her new mission will be.

Determined to preserve the Empire’s power, the surviving Imperial elite are converging on Akiva for a top-secret emergency summit—to consolidate their forces and rally for a counterstrike. But they haven’t reckoned on Norra and her newfound allies—her technical-genius son, a Zabrak bounty hunter, and a reprobate Imperial defector—who are prepared to do whatever they must to end the Empire’s oppressive reign once and for all.

TBR Thursday: Dragon Witch (Dark Realms, #1) by Kathy Kulig

36121134.jpgThe dragon is her protector. But who will protect him?

A sexy space pilot on a desperate mission. A headstrong biologist he loves. And a dragon shifter caught in the middle as their worlds collide.

˃˃˃ Jaida Chel wants to forget her dark past…
She mixes science and magic in her life-saving potions for those who live on the harsh planet of Somerled. Her companion and protector is Kai, the last shapeshifting dragon. He’s powerful, willful, and overly possessive of her. So when Jaida’s ex-lover, Fleet pilot, Captain Brayden Stokes, re-enters her life, the trouble, and heated passion, begins.

˃˃˃ Brayden loves Jaida…
She’s the one woman in the galaxy who could convince him to give up the interstellar trade business and stay planetside. But his mission is about to turn her world upside down. He’ll do anything to rescue endangered colonists on a dying planet, but at what cost?

Dragon Witch is the first book in the Dark Realms series, a collection of standalone Sci-Fi and paranormal romance books. If you like dragon shapeshifters, interplanetary space adventures, and hot romance, then you’ll love Kathy Kulig’s sizzling thrill-ride. 

TBR Thursday: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

I’ve been wanting to read Ender’s Game for a while now, and not just because there’s a movie version of it floating around out there. In my mind, it’s a sci-fi classic that I really want to attempt to enjoy, and I saw it like that because I tend not to enjoy the “classic” sci-fi and fantasy reads that “make” the genre. My Man thought it was a bit of ehhh overall, but it’s still on my TBR list!

375802Andrew “Ender” Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games; he is, in fact, engaged in something far more desperate. The result of genetic experimentation, Ender may be the military genius Earth desperately needs in a war against an alien enemy seeking to destroy all human life. The only way to find out is to throw Ender into ever harsher training, to chip away and find the diamond inside, or destroy him utterly. Ender Wiggin is six years old when it begins. He will grow up fast.

But Ender is not the only result of the experiment. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway almost as long. Ender’s two older siblings, Peter and Valentine, are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. While Peter was too uncontrollably violent, Valentine very nearly lacks the capability for violence altogether. Neither was found suitable for the military’s purpose. But they are driven by their jealousy of Ender, and by their inbred drive for power. Peter seeks to control the political process, to become a ruler. Valentine’s abilities turn more toward the subtle control of the beliefs of commoner and elite alike, through powerfully convincing essays. Hiding their youth and identities behind the anonymity of the computer networks, these two begin working together to shape the destiny of Earth–an Earth that has no future at all if their brother Ender fails.

GET IT ON AMAZON

TBR Thursday: Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp

I will literally devour any book that features my main man Palpy as a primary character. Villains have more fun.

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . . .22012290

When the Emperor and his notorious apprentice, Darth Vader, find themselves stranded in the middle of insurgent action on an inhospitable planet, they must rely on each other, the Force, and their own ruthlessness to prevail.

“It appears things are as you suspected, Lord Vader. We are indeed hunted.”

Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight, is just a memory. Darth Vader, newly anointed Sith Lord, is ascendant. The Emperor’s chosen apprentice has swiftly proven his loyalty to the dark side. Still, the history of the Sith Order is one of duplicity, betrayal, and acolytes violently usurping their Masters—and the truest measure of Vader’s allegiance has yet to be taken. Until now.

On Ryloth, a planet crucial to the growing Empire as a source of slave labor and the narcotic known as “spice,” an aggressive resistance movement has arisen, led by Cham Syndulla, an idealistic freedom fighter, and Isval, a vengeful former slave. But Emperor Palpatine means to control the embattled world and its precious resources—by political power or firepower—and he will be neither intimidated nor denied. Accompanied by his merciless disciple, Darth Vader, he sets out on a rare personal mission to ensure his will is done.

For Syndulla and Isval, it’s the opportunity to strike at the very heart of the ruthless dictatorship sweeping the galaxy. And for the Emperor and Darth Vader, Ryloth becomes more than just a matter of putting down an insurrection: When an ambush sends them crashing to the planet’s surface, where inhospitable terrain and an army of resistance fighters await them, they will find their relationship tested as never before. With only their lightsabers, the dark side of the Force, and each other to depend on, the two Sith must decide if the brutal bond they share will make them victorious allies or lethal adversaries.