Michael R. UnderwoodReseñas

This was fun!
Paradoxically, it has better writing style than the prequel published in 2017. Maybe a different editor? Hm...

This is an interesting romp with much potential. It's kind of poking fun at writing tropes.
And it's a little a lot unsettling if you think about the idea too deeply.
(Because... What if somebody is writing your story? What if somebody out there is meddling with your life without you knowing? You are welcome. Signed, Paranoia)

There's obviously Something Fishy beyond the surface, and I'm really curious to see it through. Sticking with the series for now.

VERDICT : GIVE IT A TRY!

Still fun.
This was more of a Roman story.
With a sprinkling of intergalactic politics thrown in.

So worlds DO get to you.
Still not completely sold on the idea of multi-world interractions, but interested enough to stick with the story.

This was a fun little adventure.
The writing style was a little weird and somewhat ... disjointed?

Well, apparently I'm reading on to find out what's next.

Note: Available for free on Amazon

This is a fun engaging romp.
All Genrenauts are important and none of them are cardboard.

Though I do have complaints about writing. It's somewhat choppy, with halting flow. AND it could use some editing. (Editor is your best friend. Get them involved and watch reader satisfaction rising!)

That said, I am INVESTED.
That Raven witch? Is probably most definitely on the council. I WILL SEE HER HANGED.
Whoever is in charge of these weird happenings IS GOING TO SUFFER.

BRING IT!

More tension. Higher stakes.
...Needs better editing.

This was a WILD ride. The stakes are real now.
And the further into the story we get, the more distrust for the council. These folks are DEFINITELY involved somehow.

( is it me, or does the editing get worse with every story? )

OH MY GOD I HATE THE COUNCIL

Ahem. Well. That's how you can tell season 2 is eagerly awaited.
What an ending...
And what a ride...

Please tell me there is more to come.

This was underwhelming.
It felt too short, too abrupt. It's also very flat and not particularly engaging.

This also brought to light and reaffirmed several things.
1) Apocalyptic wastelands are not my thing. The world is bleak enough without additional fuel by fiction.
2) Genrenauts may be an interesting concept, but it's also full of holes and inspires too much scepticism to allow full immersion.

Not sure if there is a point in continuing with the series.

Conceptually this was an interesting read. The author has stated that he was inspired by The Guardians of the Galaxy and I can definitely the “comic book” influence. The story was relatively straight forward, if rather silly and simple at times; the characters tended to be caricatures and fairly shallow with little to no development over the course of the story. The plot had no real surprises here, and for a fun, casual read, that is all okay. I was actually super impressed that the author was able to portray an ongoing, stable relationship (aka the love birds) when most seem to see relationships as an easy source of conflict/drama. I also found the indirect reference to Atlantis fascinating. There are other interesting ideas that the author introduces along the way; however, I felt he missed as often as he hit my interest. For example … cyborgs are kool … combining letters into unpronounceable sequences to illustrate how alien something is not so much (I hate this with a passion as it drastically slows down my reading speed OR prompts me to increase my scan speed). Likewise, the author throughs in a veritable soup of tech terms that seem to highlight his complete lack of understanding of what those terms actually mean (so not much research on this apparently). For example … he talks about questioning the heterodoxy when by definition, such a statement is an oxymoron. Compile is an action or process … it is not a techie language. Finally … I was not interested in the Vsenk POV at all; but then I can only manage a handful of POV changes before getting irritated, so YMMV. Oh .,. and while I absolutely love happily ever after endings ... this one seemed to ignore the idea that while the big bad was neutralized, there was another less powerful cousin still out there that is basically the same threat to good everywhere ... and this was compeletely ignored at the end. Despite all of that, it was a relatively light and fun read.

I was given this free advanced reader's copy ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. #annihilationaria #NetGalley

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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The first thing Leah noticed was the dust. It whirled and whorled and danced everywhere. Orange and brown and soot-gray, this place had it all. She pulled the scarf up to cover her nose, holding it in place with her goggles.

She'd felt like a steampunk raver when she'd first put the outfit on, but now it totally made sense, both aesthetically and practically. It was hard to keep your eyes open when they were constantly filled with dust.

WHAT ARE THE GENRENAUTS?
Many of my readers weren't reading this blog back in 2015-2016 where it likely seemed I talked about the Genrenauts every couple of weeks (14 posts from November 2015-December 2016, and one the following June), so let me give you a quick idea about the series, taken from the author's site:

In Genrenauts, our Earth is just one of many in a multiverse. Each other Earth is the home to a familiar narrative genre: Westerns, Fantasy, Romance, Crime, etc. Each world is constantly playing out stories from its genre – archetypes and tale types smashing up against one another making tragedies and happily ever afters. But like any system, sometimes entropy takes hold, and a story breaks down. When that happens, the Genrenauts step in to fix the story.

Because if they don’t, the dissonance from the broken story ripples over and changes Earth on a fundamental level. (Science Fiction world goes off-track and scientific innovation stagnates, exploration halts; Fantasy world goes off-track and xenophobia rises, cultural rifts widen).

Our series starts when Leah Tang, a struggling stand-up comic, is recruited to join the Genrenauts and discovers that her seemingly useless genre savvy is suddenly an essential skill for survival in the story worlds. She arrives just in time, as story breaches have been ramping up – coming faster and causing more ripples.

Sounds great, doesn't it?

WHAT'S THE WASTELAND WAR ABOUT?
There are two things going on in this brief novella—first, Angstrom King, the AWOL Team Leader, stumbles upon a story breach while he was trying to resupply his stores. He believes that this breach will help him get evidence to support his theory so that he can eventually convince the High Council that he's right about the rogue Genrenauts—or just that he'll be able to find a way to stop the rogues himself.

While he's trying to understand the nature of the breach and find this evidence, his old team arrives—adding a layer of difficulty and danger to everything he's doing.

That breach is the second storyline—two communities in this wasteland—one a safe haven for those who need one, and a battleship with resources the other needs—had recently formed an alliance sealed by a marriage. And now, a few months later each side is convinced the other is betraying that alliance and are starting to retaliate against the other.

HEY, WHERE'S LEAH?
Leah's the point-of-entry character for the reader, we came into this world with her and she's the one we understand things through. She's largely sidelined during this mission, which makes it a little harder for me to connect with it. We've had extended periods where we focus on others in the team before, but Leah still carried the narrative weight of the novel/novella. This novella focuses so much on King and Shirin that there's not that much time for Leah.

It was absolutely the right way to tell this story, King and Shireen ought to have been the focus of this novella, but I don't want that to be the case for too long.

There's another team member who's even more absent from this mission—but it makes sense story-wise (as fun as it would've been to have them around).

THE NEW GUY

Shirin and King exchanged messages...Shirin keeping King updated on the team and how Mendoza was leading—like a man that only has a hammer and therefore sees nothing but nails.

I know we're not supposed to like the Team Leader brought in to replace Angstrom King, but it's like Underwood went out of his way to ensure we wouldn't. He's proof that King had a very special thing going on, and that the Genrenauts as an organization might not be as great as Leah and the readers might have thought. King assembled a team with a variety of skills, interests, and abilities—and a team that relies on and trusts each other to function. Mendoza doesn't value that variety and doesn't care how it functions best, he's only concerned with how he wants it to function.

I hope Underwood shows us enough about Mendoza so that we can appreciate him, and maybe even see that he's trying to do the right thing, even if it's not the way the King would've done it.

On the other hand, I don't mind not liking the guy at all, so if he doesn't do that, I won't complain too loudly.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE WASTELAND WAR?

Entropy had its teeth in every world. But here, they were serrated.

First, it was so, so, so good to be back in this series. The last episode of Season One came out in the Fall of 2016, and I've been missing this series since. I'm glad Underwood has been able to pick this up again.

Outside of the short story, There Will Always Be a Max, this is the shortest Genrenauts episode, and while that's frustrating because of my greed, it's a great length for this particular story (but I hope it's not the beginning of a trend). It's also a great way to get back into this world—we get just enough to remember who the players are, remember the ongoing arc, and are treated to another adventure in the Wasteland.

Post-apocalyptic wastelands in the Mad Max mold are probably never going to be my thing, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy something like this. I actually would've liked a little bit more of the Wasteland War story to balance out the larger arc. It felt like it was given short shrift—not quite as much as the Western World story was in The Shootout Solution, but it was close—although that had to establish the series, introduce the characters, and teach us the concept of a Genrenaut.

My gripes aside, this was a good story with plenty of action and a great atmosphere, and it sets up the rest of Season Two. I'm eager to see where things go from here.½

I received this book via Netgalley.

There's something awesome about seeing a book grow up. I first read Annihilation Aria as an early draft several years ago. It was a great read even at that early stage and now it's all shiny and published.

This is pure popcorn scifi--a rollicking good time, with a fast-paced plot and relatable characters, including a bad guy who isn't so bad after all. You have a black man from Earth married to a fierce warrior woman from a decimated planet, their grumpy spaceship pilot, plus archaeology adventures in some loaded-with-traps alien ruins and an evil empire with a super weapon and, and... there's a lot going on here, and it's just so much fun. This is the perfect read to escape from the modern world and everything awful going on.

Underwood, Michael R. The Shootout Solution. Genrenauts No. 1. Tor, 2015.
There are lots of ways to get western genre themes into science fiction—high-tech theme park (West World), time travel, exoplanet society, or, you can do what Robert Heinlein did 40 years ago in The Number of the Beast—have a fictional world spawn its own dimension or universe. Michael Underwood takes the Heinlein route in The Shootout Solution. Fictional genres spin their own worlds, but they aren’t stable, and you need someone like a dimensional cop to keep them in line and spawn productive story lines. So, who do you call? How about a not-so-successful standup comedienne? You give her some high-tech cloaking that makes her look in period and send her and a team into the genre situation. This is a cute twist on the theme, but truthfully, the characterization and plotting are just so-so.

Underwood, Michael R. The Younger Gods. The Younger Gods No. 1. Pocket Star, 2014.
I had hopes for this urban fantasy in its early pages, but a few chapters in, I ceased to care. The problem is one of basic world building. The story seems too rushed to establish its world and its characters. I was initially drawn to our hero, a farm boy from a witchy family trying to lead a normal life as a New York City college student. But too quickly, we are thrown into a plot for which we have not been adequately prepared. Three stars, and that is stretching it.

This is SF. Well, actually, it's Western, but since I don't want to bother making a shelf for that and it really is SF without being Westworld, I'll leave it as SF.

Except. It's also a writing manual, giving us all the insides of How To Write A Story as the means to live while being inside one. Or three. Or eighteen stories. Or however many Tau-Heinleinesque [b:The Number of the Beast|50877|The Number of the Beast (The World As Myth)|Robert A. Heinlein|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1201734223s/50877.jpg|1077659] alternate universes there are when genres spin into umbrella universes that split even further into sub-genres that split into yet more subgenres...

And the whole point is that the GENRES ARE MIXING AND BREAKING DOWN... oh my god... the universe is breeching!

Damn cool concept, and I think I'm gonna like this even more than [b:Geekomancy|13609386|Geekomancy (Ree Reyes, #1)|Michael R. Underwood|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334886014s/13609386.jpg|19206590], because it's not only tapping into nostalgia, but it's also going to tap into archetypes in a BIG way in order to Get Things Done. Hell, it's written in such a way that even the ultra-conscious way that the story is written gets sublimated into the characters who consider the fine points of storytelling just so they can manipulate a whole worldview inside the genre. And then, underneath that, or above it, I can't really decide where that layer belongs, we've got Leah transforming from Reluctant Hero, to Kid, to Sidekick, back to Reluctant Hero in her own tale that is, in itself, a metafiction of all these alternate realities.

And is it easy to follow, unlike my review's narrative? Hell yes. It's all story, tongue-in-cheek pure adventure.

It's good all by itself.

The only thing that could make it better is an ongoing series of novellas doing the same thing and enlarging the concept...

But Oh, Wait! It is!

I'm tickled pink. :) And thanks to Tor, I recently got Episode 2 as an ARC. Guess what I'm going to do in 2 minutes?

While I very much enjoyed the angst and twist of the previous novel, I think I enjoyed this one a little bit more. Jane was a treat, even though I'm not so much smitten by celebrities. Well rounded and developed characters are nothing to sneeze at. All of the great nostalgia was present, in all of its snarky hues, and I ripped through this one with a enjoyment bonus modifier of 10. This is some great urban fantasy, and the balance is pretty spot on.
I can't wait for a more!

These books are going in a growing collection of novels devoted to geeky nostalgia. Remembering Among Others and Ready Player One, I kinda knew what to expect here, and I was eagerly awaiting a chance to sink my teeth into these two novels by Mr. Underwood. The premise it just too sweet to miss, and it parallels so many of my own private obsessions (that so many people also share, lol) that it elevates the book to instant must-read status.

So I read both of the novels, and enjoyed so many wonderful nostalgic moments and I wasn't even missing any references at all.

As a side note, the story isn't bad, but a heroine who bakes so much and eats so many bad things and drinks so much cannot ever remain so stick-thin. I call bullshit!

Otherwise, I tore through the novels and giggled and pined for such wonderful superpowers. Easy reads, strictly urban fantasy, but more importantly, fun fun fun.


There's only so much nostalgia you can pack into any one novel, of course, and the balance was kept, but I'm used to heavy nostalgia, so I probably could have taken an even heavier dose than this. On that note, I'm just going to say that I'll have to kick someone if I don't get at least 13 books in this series. :)

Thanks to Netgalley, I'm able to wolf down my fix of one of the most interesting Urban Fantasies to come along in a while, and do it with a smile and well before the actual publish date. Am I squeeing? Yes, yes I am. I feel like I just got a powerup on nostalgia, just like Ree, and my geek is ON.

There's nothing quite like this series. The rules are well defined, the characters are interesting, and the utter truckload of geeky nostalgia plows through me like the power of the dark side. Or is that Hexomancy? Hmm.

For those who have read the first two novels and the novella that sets the stage for this one, kudos. You've got all the props and the asshattery of a certain Eastwood under wraps. If you're just missing the novella, then you're asking yourself why the Strega (luck magic witches) are cursing him out and destroying Grognack's cool geek bar in the process, demanding that he die for crimes that haven't been committed yet. Can anyone not see this foreshadowing? No? Okay. No problem.

Now we enter in to this novel, resplendent in magic right out of WoD Mage: Ascension mage class designed to find and exploit weak spots in people, buildings, tools and generally being practically unstoppable. Pit these greek fates against the great wall of geek, and we've got a delightful action tale with excellent pacing, character development, and a truckload of geeky references. We even get the hint of a better question as to the previous novella's foreshadowing. It's very solid.

My only complaint is that the geeky nostalgia is headed too much into the huge franchise land. It's fine to use the MCU/DC, Star Wars, Star Trek, Magic: The Gathering, and wonderful Buffy, but what I really want is a bit of the deeper geek. You know, more Doctor Who than just the psychic paper. A real exploration of the badassery of the Leverage characters, or, especially, an all out geekfest of cyberpunk. Mr. Underwood has definitely played upon all of these already, to be sure, but here's my problem:

I WANT MORE. Like ravenous beast with a maw like a caldera, I want to consume an endless supply of these novels.

That being said, I loved the character developments, the new potentials for great mischief, and Drake. He's like a door to another universe just walking around and being extra polite to everyone. Fun stuff.

I totally recommend this, dude, but please, do me a favor and be sure you've read the others. It will stand up on its own, but only technically. The joys are really in the backstory and development.

Thanks goes to Tor and the author for the ARC!

A few weeks in to her new life, Leah gets thrown into two, yes, two, major infodumps! Poor girl. I never guessed that managerial duties in a big corporation could sound like so much technobabble and serve all the same functions... but wait!

This Is SF. Of course we have technobabble! Especially when we're getting ready for SPACE OPERA! Woo Woo!

My Genre-loving friends, get ready... we're out of the saddle and back in the Saddle, but this time we've got alien politics, burgeoning alliances, mystery, and enough fast-paced Pew-Pew action to make me think I was in a golden age rocket ship, and indeed, that's the point.

Gotta save the universe by saving the universe. Always the multiple layers. :)

I won't give it away, but there's a special crossover and some special character development. It makes me wonder if the ongoing genre-bending events on both sides of the tracks are going to get us into a lot of epic troubles.

It's not quite a cliffhanger, but it serves as a great continuing story hook that is still self-referential in all the story ways it needs to be if it's going to be a self-respecting meta-Genrenaut.

Be forewarned! Setting is just as important in Space Opera SF as story, so don't blink! :)

If you like geeked-out fight scenes, this side-trip will give you a big dose from beginning to end. Actual story is rather skimpy and the resolution will be deferred to some later time. Likely, it'll be the next actual novel.

For anyone who hasn't checked out the Geekomancy novels, check them out. Anyone with a love for pop reference culture and a heavy nostalgia will be delighted by the magic system in these urban fantasies. It's all about geeking out to power-up. I love the idea and keep wanting to throw my own ideas into the mix and become one of the most bad-ass magicians this world has ever seen. That's it's charm.

I don't recommend reading this novellete out of context, though. It's all hack and slash with no character development or huge consequence except for the barkeep. That being said, it was jolly fun.

My difficulty with this novel really stems from the first book. The point was made several times that they are not supposed to be the primary characters in the 'story' that is unfolding. It is their job to find the critical pieces and set them back on the road. Yet,...

No sooner than they get some basic information about the current problem than Roman and King grab a spaceship and head off. They fight off a series of opponents and...wait. Shouldn't there be someone else to act as the hero?

Everything else is amusing. I am a bit miffed that these are such short books, yet the price hardly reflects the size.

My difficulty with this novel really stems from the first book. The point was made several times that they are not supposed to be the primary characters in the 'story' that is unfolding. It is their job to find the critical pieces and set them back on the road. Yet,...

No sooner than they get some basic information about the current problem than Roman and King grab a spaceship and head off. They fight off a series of opponents and...wait. Shouldn't there be someone else to act as the hero?

Everything else is amusing. I am a bit miffed that these are such short books, yet the price hardly reflects the size.

Slow start but definitely got better! I thought I was quote a geek but a lot of the references went over my head.

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

Arrivals is the first instalment in a new series from Serial Box and since I had just finished this season of False Idols, I was looking for my next serial. It was quite a switch from False Idols, as Arrivals provide what feels like an old-fashioned but well thought of and enjoyable high fantasy.

There is a lot of introduction of new characters which made it a little bit chaotic and I didn't feel a connection yet with the characters, but some of the things show promise to become very interesting. I particularly liked the floating lands.

For now I will continue.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

The moment is finally there. The fight that will prove whether all that Kris did was in vain or not. Although I never really doubted the outcome of the challenge, I found it an interesting and thrilling episode nonetheless. So far, I really like the intricate world that is being created. I hope we will be getting a bit more of the council soon.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Until reading this book, I thought I was pretty up on my geek trivia. After reading, I realize I have some catching up to do. This book has plenty of references to movies, tv shows, books, comics and games. Part of the fun is in catching all the references. The plot was solid and I liked the hint of romance between Ree and Drake. I enjoyed reading this book. If this is the first in a series, I look forward to reading the next one.