Phoenix Legacy

Phoenix Legacy  
by Corrina Lawson is part of her 'Phoenix Institute' series and is another wonderful science fiction romance title.  It continues with characters who were introduced in the first book, Phoenix Rising and makes a very brief allusion to characters from the novella Luminous.  This book can technically be read by itself but the experience is enhanced if one reads the first title in the series.  I enjoyed the superhero powers that are described even though some of the trauma that has made the characters who they are is a little disturbing, especially the repercussions of their experiences which causes the relationship between Del Sefton and Philip Drake to get off to a VERY rocky start.  The answers to Philip's proclivities for kink was enlightening and glimpses of the characters from the other works was enjoyable.  A very fun read.  My Night Owl review for Phoenix Legacy is at this link. 

Ms Lawson visited the SOS Aloha blog at this link.  My post about Phoenix Rising is at this link and my Amazon review is at this link.  A 'yes, this was helpful vote is always gratefully received.

 



Copies of these titles were received in exchange for an honest review.  I had the great pleasure of meeting the author at RWA in Anaheim this year and was entertained by her business card which states that she is a Writer, Mom, Geek and Superhero.  Her website is at this link.

Phoenix Rising

Phoenix Rising 
by Corrina Lawson is the beginning of her exciting 'Phoenix Institute' series that introduces beings with extraordinary powers.  Somewhat reminiscent of a comic book series, the heroes and the villains are larger than life and megalomaniacs seem determined to rule the world.  Thus far, I have read Phoenix Rising and Luminous (see previous post at this link) by this author and have found each work to be a very fun read.  There are some stereotypical elements and most of the secondary characters lack depth but much is implied and tantalizing clues are provided to encourage one to follow the series and learn more about them.  This was a breathless roller coaster ride that had its poignant moments while being jam-packed with action and adventure and as long as one is prepared to suspend disbelief while being entertained, one is in for a very enjoyable read about some very talented beings.   My Goodreads review is at this link and the title itself should be available soon on Amazon with the sequel (Phoenix Legacy) to follow about a month after that.


Copies of these titles were provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

Luminous

Luminous  

by Corrina Lawson is a an intriguing science-fiction novella that is part of the Phoenix Institute series.  I particularly liked the fact that the superhero is actually a superheroine!  Now, I don't know if the current convention is similar to using the term actor to be genderless and whether I should just call Noir (who dresses all in black) a superhero but she has pretty neat powers.  The flavor of this book was similar to reading a comic book in novel form but it was a very fun read.  This is apparently a quick read to whet one's appetite for the longer novels (similar to Thea Harrison's novellas) but there is a nice combination of action, romance and geeky science ideas with the requisite evil villain(ess).  I am looking forward to reading the rest of the novels in the series.

Updated 9/13/12

My Amazon review for Luminous is at this link under ELF2060.  As always, a 'yes, this was helpful' vote is appreciated.  My Amazon review of Phoenix Rising is at this link.  The sequel, Phoenix Legacy will be available in November of this year and I will read and review in a few days.



Please see the SOS Aloha blog at this link for an interview with Corrina Lawson.



I remind those of you who are e-book readers that there are many sites that have weekly chats and there are frequently e-book giveaways on the blogs (I have won 3 books, Godiva chocolate--thank you Lisa Renee Jones! and 2 giftcards--thanks to Prism books and Coffee Time Romance, in the past week!) and don't forget there are plenty of contests out there...please see my post at this link.  I update it or make new posts as I come across new contests during my wanderings.  I don't have enough time to do all of the blog hops and scavenger hunts but there are definitely plenty of them out there!

Squid color change and music

Ok, I admit it, I can get easily distracted when I am writing a review and at a temporary loss for words.  That is happening a lot lately since I have written reviews for Night Owl Reviews for the past three years according to a particular template and last month the specifications changed abruptly.  It's amazing how one gets into a rut and makes a commonplace task difficult but it has been really difficult for me to switch to the new format and I fear that my writing is even more stilted than ever before.  Anyway, that means I get stuck frequently and start wandering around and doing other things like looking at e-mails and visiting blogs and getting my 10 second news inputs at various homepages.  I was really intrigued by the article stating that some scientists hooked up a squid to an iPod nano and recorded video of the color changes (squids have something called chromatophores in their skin that allows them to release color...brown, red or yellow).  The video shows their response to Cypress Hill's Insane in the Brain.  It's fascinating to watch (and yes, I turned up the volume since I usually have my computer on mute).  The link to the article is here and directly to the video is here.  And no, I don't get hungry when looking at squid since I don't like calimari but I do admit that visiting another blog which gave a picture and a recipe for lobster roll (yum) did make me hungry!

Back to the reviews.  Don't get me wrong, most of the reviews on tap are for excellent reads, I have been fortunate to have been reading some great review books (although there were a couple of titles I am still struggling about what to say since I had trouble finishing them) and will be posting over the next few days about Lori Foster's Run the Risk, Jeri Smith-Ready's Shade, Shift and Shine trilogy (yes, there is a story about this since I have already posted about Shine) and Corrina Lawson's Luminous.  I also was fortunate enough to receive Laura Griffin's upcoming novel, Scorched so that is toward the top of my TBR pile!  Back to being productive...