Hand of God by Jason Krumbine

Hand of God by Jason Krumbine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A morse code signal is detected out in the vast depths of space in a region where no Earth vessel should belong and so the Defiance investigates and finds a mystery, a ship centuries old but very familiar. As the investigation continues the Defiance plays host to an unusual guest (call him Steve) who has incredible powers and a bit of a god complex, his intent, to warn them away from the ship for it brings catastrophe.
Hand of God continues the huge nod to Star Trek that was established in the first novel, the general situations and crew personas will be familiar to fans of the Trek franchise but are skewed enough to bring us a story that can stand by itself. The addition of Steve left me with a big smile on my face but ultimately it's the story that keeps me reading and the threat of the Unity across not only this universe but the almost infinite number is compelling and the mild humour certainly doesn't hurt to offset the big picture consequences Captain Mitchell and the crew of the USS Defiance have to deal with.

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Act of God by Jason Krumbine

Act of God by Jason Krumbine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Defiance is badly damaged, its Captain is missing (So is Steve) but in the chaos another visitor from the unimaginable realm appears (call me Sharon) but she seems a little more receptive to the needs of the crew. While the crew have to deal with the imminent failure of the ship, a sickbay full of critically wounded and an acting Captain who would want to be anywhere but here the Unity represented by Ensign Erin Calloway and Lt. Commander Keane continues to threaten life in this universe. Meanwhile Captain Mitchell has been taken on a journey of discovery and insight by Steve, to what end that has yet to be revealed but Steve certainly has an agenda and that even with Unity abound may still not be a help to life in this and other universes.
Act of God continues the story of the USS Defiance and her crew knee deep in the threat of Unity and the revelations from beings who are far in advance of life as they know it. The decision by Jason to offer up these "god" like beings who are in intellectual conflict opens up the narrative and provides a reasonable solution to a problem that was not going to be solved in any sensible way. Naturally this isn't the end of the threat just a new beginning in the grand tradition of science fiction.



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Hal Spacejock Omnibus Two by Simon Haynes

Hal Spacejock Omnibus Two: Hal Spacejock books 4-6, plus Framed by Simon Haynes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the second omnibus featuring the adventures of Hal Spacejock, Clunk and the Navcom. The three stories are all funny and entertaining as the trio somehow always manage to survive despite getting themselves (well Hal tends to get them into the mess in the first place) into ever desperate situations.

Hal Spacejock 4: No Free Lunch
Hal journeys beyond his usual stomping grounds in the search for new contracts and arrives at the planet Dismolle which is a kinda retirement world, he delivers some bottled water to the client Harriet Walsh who then offers a proposition, a plus one to a local social function, what could go wrong?

Hal Spacejock 5: Baker's Dough
A huge inheritance awaits the owner of the robot that was once the companion of a rich guy, with no definitive records we see robots and owners from across the sector converge on the law officers. Hal and Clunk are somehow tasked into taking Hans Cuff and his very old robot to the meeting in return for a cut of the inheritance, sounds fishy and well when has Hal ever made a good decision when money is to be made!

Hal Spacejock 6: Safe Art
A contract to transport some modern art pieces (aka junk in Hal's opinion) sees the Volante and her crew lumbered with a member of the Peace Force who is going to be inspecting the pieces and looking for clues to a huge smuggling operation. Naturally everything that could go wrong does go wrong and while Hal may be unaware of some of the hiccups in the endeavour Clunk not so much.

The collection also includes a short bonus story "Framed".

An excellent three novels in this omnibus, no question that the adventures of Hal and Clunk are funny and full of adventure, conflict and drama. Simon manages to provide a central character in Hal who has enough rough edges making some of his more questionable acts understandable while giving him a streak of integrity (small streak if I am honest) which allows Clunk to partner with this wayward human. The Navcom on the other hand really has no say in the matter but stick around, for a complex piece of code there are adventures on the way. Pure scifi fun and if that is what you are looking for then you will not go wrong, excellent value for money as well.


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