Category: Soft Science Fiction

A #SciFiMonth One Way Ticket Book Review | Space Opera [set in the Rims!] novella series #HeavensEdge by Jennifer Silverwood (stories 1-3!)

Posted Thursday, 28 November, 2024 by jorielov , , , , , 0 Comments

#SciFiMonth Book Review banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Book by: Long before Sci Fi November 2019 – I started planning which authors I wanted to host during @SatBookChat (my Romance & Women’s Fiction chat wherein I discuss multi-genres in/out of those spheres of interest) – whilst I also had a hearty knowledge of which stories I would be reading throughout November during the event. I wasn’t sure if this was available to request for review – and due to a slight misreading of an email I nearly missed my chance to have a copy of it in time for the event itself – all I knew prior to event starting is I wanted to feature Ms Silverwood and I wanted to chat about Heaven’s Edge due to the fact this series is first told through novellas and secondly I have a newfound affinity of interest of Space Opera Rim stories! Being blessed with an omnibus print edition of the first three stories is something which filled my bookish heart with loads of happiness – such a beautiful edition, with lush purple cover art and a series of bookmarks tucked in for added random joy from Ms Silverwood’s other series I already love reading the Borderlands Saga!

Uniquely, it has taken me more years than I deemed possible to continue my journey into this series and to complete my ruminative thoughts about what I was reading therein. I am thankful for the patience of the author and of allowing me to continue this journey into Heaven’s Edge at a timeline which suited me best as a reader. This might have taken a long time to finish reading and reviewing – but the journey of being held inside this series was an experience I shall not soon forget and am grateful for being able to undertake.

I received a complimentary copy of the omnibus edition of “Heaven’s Edge: Novellas No. 1-3” direct from the author Jennifer Silverwood in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

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on why i am itching
to read this novella series:

Ever since I first learnt about Space Opera stories set at the Rims – those tucked off remote areas of space where Spacers and Miners have to come to an accord to live amongst each other whilst they mine & live so far removed from inhabited planets & interstellar civilisation – it begs the question, what kind of people can take that kind of challenge and how would they thrive in that kind of chaotic environment of wit, stamina and fortitude?

My first introduction to this Rim side of Space was within the delightfully addictive audiobook “Rimrider” of which I had this to share about the environment & atmosphere of Rim set stories:

I truly loved the humourous takes on Spacer life through the pen of Ms Kelley,.. I knew from the jump-start this was going to be a fast moving story, as soon as Jane’s voice filled my earphones – the was something happily different about this Space Opera. It was written from the perspective of teens – wherein this would fit well with Young Adult SF, but it’s more layered than your typical teen angst novel set in Space. No, it’s more about the curious way how if you have the fortitude to change your own destiny, you can do incredible things!

The author kept the ‘pirate’ traditions and legacies of their rituals in place throughout Rimrider – including sorting out how to ‘insert’ this culture into a Spacer’s experiences. Basically if your familiar with this culture, the interesting bit is watching how even in outer space, pirates can surprise you! There was one aspect of their lives which took me back to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – especially when we are treated to another ‘parlay’.

As Jane learns more about how free traders can lay claim on both ships and land – she gets a wider picture of how her life can play out. She doesn’t want to make too many plans too far ahead – not that you can blame her truly, she’s lost a lot and is just starting to gain her confidence back in knowing she’s living for the moment. Except even in this new life of hers, she has hard choices to make – including how to help someone whose dying but who has a lost daughter. She surprises herself for the rising strength inside her bones – of being able to table her own anguished emotions and focus on someone else who needs someone to care about them more than worrying about things which cannot be changed. It was here – in those hard moments where Jane was no longer a teenager but a young woman – one step closer to being an adult, Jane emerged as a leader.

From this moment forward – Jane is coming into her own skin. She’s taking on more responsibilities but also finding within her the strength she needs to carve out her own niche amongst the free traders by sorting out how she can help take a stand against the UEC. There is so much going on – I simply found myself fully absorbed into the action of it all! When Jane goes undercover in order to seek out the ‘missing’ – you get caught up in the fuller back-story of how the UEC is truly working against the will of humans and aliens alike – you start to see how what is held back from sight is really right there waiting for someone to take notice and do something to affect change!

I am in love with the fuzzy aliens with paws on Rimrock! Jem and Jane are a dynamic duo of a team – there are elements of telepathy and inter-species communications which I found fascinating as it showed how despite the differences between species, there is a general acceptance for what is ‘right and what is wrong’. The overlays between this culture and ours are clearly present – especially when it comes to scathingly horrid practices of non-environmental friendly industrial mining – this in of itself, is worth watching unfold.

Honestly – the narrator nailed the characters and the theatrical mannerisms which make this audiobook ‘SING’ to the reader – meaning, you can easily forsake whatever else you intended to do and simply ‘listen’ to this Space Opera! The humour is bang-on brilliant, the setting is intoxicating because you dearly want to know ‘more’ rather than ‘less’ and if this first installment is the gateway into the series at large – your going to want to consume the next books in sequence! I truly loved this audiobook – it was wonderfully produced, but it’s more than that — my sci-fi geeky heart was overjoyed getting caught inside a world which simply gripped me from the first moment I heard ‘Jane’ come through my headphones!

-as quoted from my review of “RimRider”

You can clearly see what motivates me into the Heaven’s Edge series now – as Kelley gave me the curiosity about how young persons reliant on themselves can do extraordinary things on the Rims. I cannot wait to see what Silverwood has done with her series as I entreat inside Heaven’s Edge and sort out what is about to befell her characters in this lovely hidden niche of Space Opera Lit!

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On my connection to Jennifer Silverwood:

When our paths first crossed, Ms Silverwood and I shared a mutual interest and connection; however, our friendship did not form for a while afterwards. It was truly after the interview went live and after I noticed I was reading her blog as much as she was reading mine – where I realised we shared a lot of commonalities in our reading lives as well as our writerly lives! We decided to stay in touch, and it is an honour to find someone who understands the bridge between reader, blogger and writer.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with Ms Silverwood through our respective love & passion of reading inside the twitterverse whilst I hosted her Silver Hollow blog tour and privately as well. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time or continuing to read their releases as they are available. This also applies to hosting a guest feature by the author I share a connection.Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

A #SciFiMonth One Way Ticket Book Review | Space Opera [set in the Rims!] novella series #HeavensEdge by Jennifer Silverwood (stories 1-3!)Heaven's Edge | Novellas No. 1-3 (omnibus edition)
by Jennifer Silverwood
Source: Direct from Author

Series Introduction from the author Jennifer Silverwood:

Welcome to Heaven’s Edge! Grab your scythe blades, strap on your plasma gauntlets and prepare yourselves for one steampunkish adventure to the far corners of space with Qeya and co.

But before we begin, did you know this series about a group of stranded space teens was among the first stories I ever penned? A long time ago, in the year 1998, my folks had just bought our first computer. I wanted to write stories set in a world like Star Wars, but without adults interfering, of course. I spent my first formative writing years exploring Heaven’s Edge with Qeya and the gang. So it seemed only natural to update the story and make it my first publication twelve years later. My struggle to see Qeya published was what directed me to self-publishing and the rest is history.

We meet a crew of former Royals, the Miners who once served them. In Qeya, the crew was attacked by a mysterious alien force, then crash landed on the primitive world below. Trouble is, none of the adults survived and now a small band of children and teenagers must cross the boundaries their parents imposed on them to survive.

Over the years and between releasing my “big” books, I worked with editor and friend, Jessica Augustsson to breathe back life into this mini-series. It’s been one epic steam-clunking ride, reinventing this world from my childhood.

I hope you’re ready to take a tour of the Rim with me. Enjoy the adventure!

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Young Adult Fiction



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1717897091

Also by this author: Author Interview: Jennifer Silverwood (Silver Hollow), Stay, Book Spotlight: Borderlands Saga, Silver Hollow, Book Spotlight: Blackbriar Cove

Published by JayHenge Publishing

on 4th April, 2019

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 326

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The Heaven’s Edge novella series:

Qeya by Jennifer SilverwoodOhre by Jennifer SilverwoodTamn by Jennifer Silverwood

**Omnibus includes first three Heaven’s Edge Novellas**

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Qeya (book one)

Qeya, the future Queen of Datura, can’t do much about her red hair, but she knows how to wield a scythe blade and suck the life out of her enemy, literally. Life seems great, if a little boring on heaven’s edge. Until her ship is attacked and nearly everyone on board is murdered. Now, the miner who saved her is the only thing standing between her and the hungry beasts hunting them.

Ohre (book two)

All Ohre wants is the kind of freedom a life in the sea can give. But he doesn’t want to live it alone anymore. He wants the princess and if Qeya won’t come willingly, he’ll make her.

Tamn (book three)

Tamn has always lived by a code. He doesn’t question his duty. Until his crew is stranded on a hostile alien world and he’s forced to watch the girl he loves burn in the sky. Stripped of his reason for living, the voices from his past haunt and guide him in a path of endless retribution. Only the strongest will survive the trials ahead and Tamn is determined to keep the family he has left alive.

As revealled in #SatBookChat,
there are a potential 2x novella sequences & a full-length novel!

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Formats Available: Trade Paperback (omnibus) or Ebook (individual or combined)

Genre(s): Space Opera | Stories set on the Rims | Young Adult Speculative Fiction

Converse via: #HeavensEdge, #SpaceOpera, #YALit,
#FuellYourSciFi and #SciFiMonth

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11th Annual Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards badge created by Jorie in Canva. Coffee and Tea Clip Art Set purchased on Etsy; made by rachelwhitetoo.

This story took the award for BEST Space Opera Series.
(Young Adult Science Fiction
)

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About Jennifer Silverwood

Jennifer Silverwood

Jennifer Silverwood was raised deep in the heart of Texas and has been spinning yarns a mile high since childhood. In her spare time she reads and writes and tries to sustain her wanderlust, whether it’s the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania, the highlands of Ecuador or a road trip to the next town. Always on the lookout for her next adventure, in print or reality, she dreams of one day proving to the masses that everything really is better in Texas. She is the author of two series—Heaven's Edge and Wylder Tales—and the stand-alone titles Stay and Silver Hollow.

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

  • Sci Fi November 2024
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Posted Thursday, 28 November, 2024 by jorielov in Anthology Collection of Stories, Blogosphere Events & Happenings, Book Review (non-blog tour), Bookmark slipped inside a Review Book, Brothers and Sisters, Children's Literature, Coming-Of Age, Novellas or Short Stories, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, Siblings, Soft Science Fiction, Space Opera, Speculative Fiction, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, Young Adult Fiction

A #SciFiSundays #SciFiMonth Author Guest Post | Let’s travel into the Silly Hat Verse with E. Chris Garrison!

Posted Sunday, 19 November, 2023 by jorielov , , , , , , 1 Comment

SciFIMonth Guest Post banner created by Jorie in Canva.

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Why I’ve chosen to showcase the Silly Hat Verse this SciFiMonth, 2023:

As far as years go, [2022] had been a brutally difficult year for myself and my family. No season was without it’s own share of adverse circumstances to transition through but last November, six years after my father’s stroke and surgery, he was hospitalised twice. The first time we were a bit more fortunate as it was scary as heck to go through but had a simple solution to rectify. On a Tuesday, everything changed in that regard and we almost lost him overnight. By Wednesday, we had a bit of Hope we could find a workable solution and worked towards sorting out aftercare post-hospitalisation — only to have that dissolve into a wreck of emotions by day’s end. I partially blame the doctors & nurses for not having better supportive care and response for families at the hospital — something they’ve lacked this year vs six years ago. But, I digress.

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That’s where my heart/mind was focused last November as I had this small hope of a goal of bringing my LOVE and JOY of reading E. Chris Garrison stories into the life of the party for #SciFiMonth last year as a way of helping to further introduce her stories to other readers who are seeking the same kind of Sci-Fi I am. Most of you will already recognise the name as I have fond memories and showcases featuring her Urban Fantasy stories – of which populated throughout my blog over the years, including during #WyrdAndWonder.

As another year has passed through my hours, I have been reflective of late of how many hours I’ve lost betwixt and between trying to sort my way through the continuing changes in our lives. For those of you who are new to Jorie Loves A Story, kindly read through my collection of #TheSundayPost to become up to speed on the goings on of events in respect to my father and our continuing advocacy on his behalf now that he is in long-term care. Meanwhile, the struggle to find and capture a better work/life balance is something I hope to have mastered or at least, maintained in better frequency over the next twelvemonths as I have completely failed to do so over the last year.

The JOY I had reading this lovely guest feature last November as the hours were elapsing off the clock for SciFi Month is hard to put into words. It felt like a wonderful capture of the series itself – as it isn’t necessarily a series per se, but as you will soon find out for yourself – it is a succession of stories which are interconnected and tethered together through a rather ingenious thread of thought by Ms Chris herself. I love how this guest feature also celebrates Science Fiction and the many different avenues an author can take to thread their own needle through a genre which is constantly expanding and redefining itself through each new person who takes on the adventure of writing a story within its realms of exploration.

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I had intended to read this Silly Hat Verse series throughout November (in 2022 and in 2023) and have the capstone become this lovely guest feature wherein I knew my own curiosities about the multiverse she’s created might tip interest in others to learn about themselves. I still intend to share a review from the Silly Hat Verse before the close of November (this year) and will be continuing my reviews of the stories therein during my SciFi Sundays features, too. Let this be the beginning of a wonderful shared journey into an expanse of stories which have wickedly captured my curiosity!

What I have to share is a wicked brilliant guest post wherein she dives us into the heart of the multiverse she’s created, explains the origins of how it was created and also, the future of where the next stories will generate forward from here as well.

Join me as we dive straight into a multiverse world –
which will implore you to read each story in turn and savour the discovery therein.
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On my connection to Ms Chris (aka E. Chris Garrison):

My path first crossed with Ms Chris through a podcast sponsored by an Indie Speculative Fiction publisher which led me to hosting blog tours which celebrated her stories. Since our first encounter with each other, we’ve developed a friendship I am blessed to have and I appreciate getting to know a bit more about an author whose not only developing a unique style in the world of Fantasy but is receptive to the thoughts readers have as they gain impression by reading the stories themselves.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with Ms Chris through our respective blogs, the twitterverse, the podcast world, and privately. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time. For more information, I disclosed a bit more on my first 10 Bookish, Not Bookish Thoughts (read No.7!).

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Posted Sunday, 19 November, 2023 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Bookish Discussions, Futuristic Fantasy, Hard Science Fiction, Indie Author, Science Fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Space Opera, Speculative Fiction

#SciFiMonth Space Opera Anthology Review | “Far Orbit: Apogee” (Speculative Space Adventures) edited by Bascomb James (by World Weaver Press)

Posted Thursday, 26 November, 2020 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

#SciFiMonth Book Review banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Book by: Did you ever grow curious about a new publisher who produces science fiction, fantasy, and horror genre selections in both novel length and short stories? Did you ever decide to enquire with the publisher you’ve found to see if they were open to book blogger requests to read and review their selections!? This is the situation I found myself in as I was quite mystified by the offerings of World Weaver Press! Such a delightful discovery on my behalf [in 2015] with a website full of inspiring reads across SFF!

Since I started reviewing with World Weaver Press [in August, 2015] there has been a changing of the guard behind-the-scenes where there is a new owner & publicity team. I am wicked happy to see the legacy and tradition of WWP has been carried forward by this lovely new team! I am honoured to work with them continuing to showcase World Weaver Press through reviewing their titles and hosting future guest features by their authors! Except to say when my personal health afflictions and adversities overtook my ability to concentrate on the stories with successive delays in posting my reviews suddenly became the norm, I withdrew making new requests from the publisher as much as it pained me to admit I was falling further behind. I enjoyed the time I had as a reviewer for this publisher and I will continue to seek out the stories by the authors I’ve discovered along the way. I especially want to continue to gather the anthologies by Rhonda Parrish to round out my collection!

I received a complimentary copy of “Far Orbit: Apogee” direct from the publisher World Weaver Press in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

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Why I’ve been dearly keen on reading this lovely Anthology:

It is fair to say, one of my favourite sections of Science Fiction are the realms within Space Opera & the infinite array of how we can not only explore Spacer lifestyles but delve into the myriad dimensions of how evolving life in Space can become for intrepid explorers, traders & colonists who dare to live offworld. It’s a place where due to the variety of entrances you can make as a writer – the reader, can become treated to different perspectives of life in Space inasmuch as the complex complications which go along with interstellar travels.

I originally wanted to read this during #RRSciFiMonth 2017 – as that is when I last updated the draft for this review. However, it was the year my father recovered from his stroke and the following year [2018] I had over 10+ months of health afflictions and a higher frequency of my chronic migraines. Last year [2019] was the first year I started to find relief from the migraines but also, the first year I could re-address my backlogue reviews whilst self-motivating myself through a few challenges which help re-inspire our self-directed goals such as #BeatTheBackList.

I made some positive enroads towards that personal goal of mine of erasing my backlogue of reviews, however, to be fair, I had less migraines this 2020 but more adversities to overcome as well. Such as the medical emergencies of my parents which included two ER visits in March (non-covid related) wherein I was alerted to be prepared if my Mum might have had a TBI and that would have left me as the carer of both my parents for the foreseeable future. She had sustained a series of bad injuries in an accident and thankfully after a few months recovered and healed from them all. It was an unexpected blessing and one we cherished receiving – yet, from January to May I was migraine-free only to have them return May-October.

I realise now my backlogue goals were set a bit too high to reach and thereby I’ve reset my goals to simply be “pick up a book on the backlogue, read it, sort out my thoughts for the review and let time be the chooser of when it is erased”. It speaks to how sometimes our goals are more long-term than short-term and how sometimes if you have health afflictions, you can maintain your optimism but sometimes you have to be more realistic with how quickly you can accomplish the goals you dearly want to achieve. Thereby, it is a pleasure of JOY being able to share this review during #SciFiMonth 2020! *whew!* What a long, long route I took to diving into FAR ORBIT: Apogee!

It goes without question, I will one day purchase copies of FAR ORBIT (the original collection) and FAR ORBIT: Outpost (if I can find where it was published and when).

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

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Posted Thursday, 26 November, 2020 by jorielov in Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Bookish Discussions, Futuristic Fantasy, Hard Science Fiction, Indie Author, Science Fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Space Opera, Speculative Fiction, World Weaver Press

#WyrdAndWonder Middle Grade Graphic Novel Book Review | “Ultra Squad: Adventures under the Strangebow” (Book Two of the Ultra Squad series) by Julia Devillers, illustrated by Rafael Rosado

Posted Tuesday, 19 May, 2020 by jorielov , , , , 2 Comments

#WyrdAndWonder Book Review badge created by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Book By: I had to take a leave of absence hosting for this touring company in [2015] whilst I worked towards finding better balance in my blogging and personal life. I returnt to hosting for Lola’s Book Tours in [2018] before having to take a small hiatus from requesting future blog tours for a second time. By [2020] as my health afflictions from 2018/19 started to recede I realised I could start to host for her authors with better confidence in being able to participate on the tours themselves. Thereby it was with the Dream Horse Adventures series I decided to mark my return and was quite thankful this was a series she was celebrating through her touring company.

I received a complimentary copy of “Ultra Squad: Adventures under the Strangebow (Graphic Novel)” direct from the author Julia Devillers in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

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Why I felt this would be a good series to showcase during #WyrdAndWonder:

I participated on my first Graphic Novel blog tour during #IndieApril – wherein I was first introduced to the Ultra Squad series. I felt the series had some positives going for it and a few choices within the context of the story which I felt were either irrelevant or missed the mark a bit for me. For instance – it has the marketing of being a diverse universe and thereby a diverse cast leads us into the stories themselves but there isn’t a lot of development within the characters (at least in book one) to where you can see those individualistic qualities and distinctions; each of the girls’ nearly collide into each other visually because their own voice wasn’t as strong as I had hoped they would become.

Also – there was a maze for the reader to solve in the middle of the story – which to me felt out of context with the overall vibe of the story itself. I hadn’t remembered those being inclusive of the previous graphic novels I’ve read in the past and how it was inserted just struck me as being rather odd. However, it did have a few strong points too – about friendship, finding leadership and living outside your comfort zones.

Part of hosting the original blog tour – I was given the option to read the sequel – which is why  I elected to run it during my #WyrdAndWonder showcases. The key reason is because this is a bit of a genre bender – it is part Science Fiction and part Fantasy; wherein I would deem this #SciFantasy as it has a few bits from both genres to give readers something to contemplate as their reading the series. It is also a perfect blend of ‘wyrd and wonder’ if you think about the origins of our event and why we started hosting it. It isn’t quite like what you’re expecting to find and it is in of itself a wholly new way of seeing a story come to life.

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What my takeaways were about the first Ultra Squad story:

There is definite cheeky humour – although also a few words I think had a few liberties taken with their usage – as studenting might have raised a few brows for me as a middle grade reader. The humour itself thought was how Devillers was referencing the danger imagery and how she was anchouring the foreshadowing into the action of the present within the series itself.

Ooh my dear ghouls – when the secretary requests the presence of the four girls’ in her office – this is when Ultra Squad meets Galaxy Quest! In such a stroke of genius really – as similar to what you love about the film transitioning seemingly regular and quite ordinary humans into outer space to counter-act against a reptilian terrorist – you now find yourself at the mercy of ULTRA and what this entails for the girls’ being recruited to aide in their missions!

The segue into meeting the girls’ families was lovely because you had the chance to see their different backgrounds – including how one of the girls’ has a military family. It also showed a bit of back-history of the Ultra Squad as it was implied this was a legacy appointment and not just a random bit of good news in the middle of an ordinary school day where your not expecting much except homework, class-time and a disappointing lunch!

There is a lot of verbiage in the storyline which is slightly more urban slang than contemporary cool – mostly as the context has to be understood before you proceed with reading it. I was never the kind of kid who was clued into contemporary slang or acronyms as they were difficult for me to process as a dyslexic reader and learner. Therefore as an adult dyslexic reader entering into this series – I’d have to say, if I were to give this to a middle grade reader I’d ask them a few questions about shortcuts in contemporary language patterns and if they knew shorthand for certain phrases as the wordplay is altered and is attempting to come across as ‘clued in’ to the language of younger children although for me, I felt it fell a bit short on that end of it. I almost thought the author was trying a bit too hard to pull that off and should have just kept the girls’ speaking in a language pattern which was more reflective of their own personalities than what would be considered the ‘best’ en-vogue collection of terms and phrases.

Where the story grows in empathy is showing how each of the girls’ have their own strengths and weaknesses – which proved to be a learning curve for their ‘sidekicks’ which were really quite the awkward collection of aliens! Their superhero strengths played off their own individual talents on Earth and thereby gave them superhuman qualities in space! I liked how the girls’ acted their actual age and showed how they still needed a bit of guidance to understand new situations and new experiences where they might have felt a bit overwhelmed by the circumstances.

The ending reminded me a heap of what happens in Back to the Future Part II – in fact, that was one of the films I loved watching at the age I would have naturally picked up this to read. There were some moments where I wish we could have understood more about the girls’ themselves – what made them unique and different from one another – I know the story focused on their individual talents and weaknesses, but I wanted a bit more back-story about the girls’ themselves. I would have preferred a lot less slang and shorthand as well – as again, even as an adult dyslexic reader I find half of that distracts from the story as I am constantly trying to sort out what the abbreviations are referencing and referring to whilst if the story just said what it had meant I would have been able to follow the story a bit easier.

Overall, the biggest surprise was really the unmasking of the villain which reminded me why we always looked forward to that reveal during an episode of Scooby Doo. I felt Ultra Squad borrowed a lot from other pop cultural stories and superheroes – wherein, it was struggling to have its own identity from the crowd. There are some good moments between the sidekicks and the girls’ but there was a bit of a downside in having them stay in-scene and not sound ridiculous too. I think this would be good for readers who might be even a bit younger than projected for the story itself as it is definitely geared towards newer readers who are not actively reading every week or month but might occasionally pick up a story.

-quoted from my review of Ultra Squad (Book One)

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#WyrdAndWonder Middle Grade Graphic Novel Book Review | “Ultra Squad: Adventures under the Strangebow” (Book Two of the Ultra Squad series) by Julia Devillers, illustrated by Rafael RosadoUltra Squad
Subtitle: Adventures under the Strangebow
by Julia Devillers
Source: Author via Lola's Blog Tours

An evil, strange rainbow! A former nemesis! And four girls who look exactly like the UltraSquad! It’s an epic battle on an alternate universe for the UltraSquad, a secret superhero team, with a mission to save the universe through teamwork, positivity, and justice. Can the girls and their sidekicks, the Pallies, once again save the world and make it a better place through teamwork, positivity, and unstoppable fierce girl power?

Genres: Action & Adventure Fiction, Children's Literature, Graphic Novel, Illustrated Stories, Juvenile Fiction, Middle Grade, Superhero Fiction



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1732703025

Also by this author: Ultra Squad

Also in this series: Ultra Squad


Published by Justice Studios

on 12th November, 2019

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 96

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The Ultra Squad series:

Ultra Squad (Book One) by Julia DevillersUltra Squad Under the Strangebow by Julia Devillers

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Ultra Squad (book one) – (see also Review)

Ultra Squad: Adventures Under the Strangebow(book two)

Ultra Squad: Galaxy Dance Off (book three)
← *forthcoming 1st March, 2021

Ultra Squad: Time After Slime (book four)

Available formats: Trade Paperback

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Converse via: #UltraSquad, #GraphicNovel & #SuperheroFiction
as well as #MiddleGrade, #MGLit and #diverselit or #WeNeedDiverseBooks

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Posted Tuesday, 19 May, 2020 by jorielov in #WyrdAndWonder, Book Review (non-blog tour), Children's Literature, Coming-Of Age, Indie Author, Juvenile Fiction, Lola's Blog Tours, Middle Grade Novel, Science Fiction, Soft Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Twitterland & Twitterverse Event