Review: Interview for the End of the World: A Children of Titan Universe Short Story by Rhett C. Bruno 4 of 5 stars

Interview for the End of the World: A Children of Titan Universe Short Story by Rhett C. Bruno
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Billionaire-scientist Darien Trass faces a situation when an asteroid is hurtling towards Earth of selecting who will join him on the voyage on his spaceships to escape the impending apocalypse and start a new human civilisation on another world. Is he up to the task and is he himself worth saving?

I loved this prequel to the Titan Universe series written by the author. This book looked at the challenges involved in selecting people to save as well as the repercussions of not selecting people. It was nice to see him struggle with the responsibility and the humanity involved in some of the decisions he makes at the end. A great introduction to the series as well as a good story to help fill a hole in knowledge from reading the series in isolation from this book. Well written and very enjoyable.

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Review: Titan's Son:(Children of Titan Book 2) by Rhett C. Bruno 5 of 5 stars

Titan's Son: (Children of Titan Book 2) by Rhett C. Bruno
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kale Drayton is a Ringer who works as a maintenance worker on a gas harvesting ship as part of his race's general servitude to the Earthers who took over his home planet. Then his mother is quarantined as part of being ill and he needs to earn a lot more money than he is doing that job so he decides to leave in order to be able to afford her medicine and care. Then he gets a surprise offer of care for his mother - all he has to do is go back on the ship and load a piece of code onto it. It all seems very simple and easy but then spirals into something much more important and dangerous, and his life go into a free-fall - will he find the courage to take control back?

I loved this story. It had lots of drama, action and twists and turns in the story. I definitely felt empathy for the characters at some points and was routing for him to get everything under control and get back some happiness in his life. Definitely recommend as a read.

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Review: The Complete Circuit Trilogy by Rhett C. Bruno 5 of 5 stars

The Complete Circuit Trilogy by Rhett C. Bruno
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Circuit is a string of colonies across the solar system where humans live mining resources. They are overseen by something called the New Earth Tribunal who are a religious sect who believe in something called the Spirit which they believe will one day welcome home to Earth humanity. However some random attacks are believed to come from the Ceresian sect in an attempt to challenge the Tribunal. Can a band of unlikely heroes challenge and save them all? Can the Tribunal's best spy, a Ceresian mercenary, an android and disgraced general save them from a conspiracy to bring down the Tribunal and change the Circuit forever? The trilogy contains:
Executor Rising
Progeny of Vale
Earthfall

Buckle up for this dramatic saga where you might think you know who the good and bad guys are, but then a change happens and you will start to doubt yourself and your judgement of character as everything changes as you read. There are twists and turns aplenty. It's told in such a clever way that it feels like you are reading a film script (and I think it should be turned into one). I loved the way the characters were developed and the “journey” they went through in their own self knowledge and personality as well as any journey they went through as part of the story. I've tried to think about who I find as my favourite character and I can't – I might have one in book 1, but by book 2 it has changed to someone else, so I guess I love them all although I have to admit to a soft spot for android ADIM who could help me so much with the practicalities in my own life. The finale of this trilogy was an explosive ending that had me so hooked that I stayed reading it even though I really should have been asleep. This as a story that has parallels with real life – there are politics, religion, technology, progress, artificial intelligence to name just a few.

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Review: This Long Vigil by Rhett C. Bruno 5 of 5 stars

This Long Vigil by Rhett C. Bruno
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Orion is on an Interstellar Ark called Hermes and for the last 25 years has been the lone human monitor with only an AI called Dan for company. As Orion approaches the end of this 25 year tenure he is due to be put back into hibernation in the chamber and will eventually die and be replaced before the ship reaches it's final destination. So Orion decides he will not do that as he needs to escape Hermes and see space again no matter what he has to do.

Great short story that is very detailed in it's description of the scene, the characters, the thoughts and the emotions involved in the story. I was hooked in the story and was dying to know how it was going to turn out. I think if I was reading it on a traditional paperback I would have been tempted to skip to the end to know how it was going to end, but as it was I just started to read it faster and I have to admit ignoring things I shouldn't have (just don't tell anyone).

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Review: The Collector by Rhett C. Bruno 4 of 5 stars

The Collector by Rhett C. Bruno
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Malcolm Graves is a bounty hunter who works for Pervenio Corp. He is on what should be a routine job to pickup a runaway offworld heir when he discovers the heir is in the hands of a mad scientist who is developing androids.

This was a lovely novella with lots of drama and intrigue. The story appeared to be going one way then did a 90 degree and went in another direction. The story was well written and you could feel the emotions being felt by the players in the story. I could both imagine something like this happening but also dread it. You do not have to read any of the Titanborn Universe novels to read this.

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