Zenith Dream
Title: Zenith Dream
Author: F.T. Lukens
Review: 5/10
Synopsis: in the Broken Moon series finale, Ren, a technopathic star host in search of his lost brother, wakes from life-threatening injuries to discover his love, Asher, has returned to his position with the Phoenix Corps. Aboard the private trading ship, the Star Stream, the crew informs Ren the draconian Corps leaders believe hes dead. No longer hunted for his powers, he has an opportunity to disappear, but Ren is determined to fix his mistakes. He convinces the crew to join him for one last dangerous mission: Find Asher, free his brother Liam, and escape the Corps reach forever. But a war is brewing between two formidable armies, and Ren is drawn into the conflict. With friends by his side, Ren must make a choice, and it will affect the future of his found family--and the whole star cluster--forever.
Ready Player One
Title: Ready Player One
Author: Ernest Cline
Review: 7/10
Synopsis: t’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.
Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of 10,000 planets.
And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune - and remarkable power - to whoever can unlock them.
The Final Six
Title: The Final Six
Author: Alexandra Monir
Review: 3/10
Synopsis: When Leo and Naomi are drafted, along with twenty-two of the world’s brightest teenagers, into the International Space Training Camp, their lives are forever changed. Overnight, they become global celebrities in contention for one of the six slots to travel to Europa—Jupiter’s moon—and establish a new colony, leaving their planet forever. With Earth irreparably damaged, the future of the human race rests on their shoulders.
For Leo, an Italian championship swimmer, this kind of purpose is a reason to go on after losing his family. But Naomi, an Iranian-American science genius, is suspicious of the ISTC and the fact that a similar mission failed under mysterious circumstances, killing the astronauts onboard. She fears something equally sinister awaiting the Final Six beneath Europa’s surface.
In this cutthroat atmosphere, surrounded by strangers from around the world, Naomi finds an unexpected friend in Leo. As the training tests their limits, Naomi and Leo’s relationship deepens with each life-altering experience they encounter.
But it’s only when the finalists become fewer and their destinies grow nearer that the two can fathom the full weight of everything at stake: the world, the stars, and their lives.
The Star Host
Title: The Star Host
Author: F.T. Lukens
Review: 7/10
Synopsis: Ren grew up listening to his mother spin magical stories about the Star Hosts, a mythical people possessed by the power of the stars. When Ren is forced into slavery by the despotic ruler of his home planet fief, he is stunned to discover firsthand that his mothers folklore surrounding the Star Hosts is true; he is one of them. Armed with this knowledge and the aid of a fellow prisoner--an inscrutable member of the revered Phoenix Corps regiment named Asher--Ren learns to control his newly emerging technopathic abilities. While navigating the growing attraction between them, together they must plan their escape in time to alert the Phoenix Corps of the Barons intent to conquer the peaceful Drift Alliance before its too late.