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As an embezzler, Jack Selkirk had been a failure. That had gotten him murdered, mind ripped, and resurrected as the assassin Cypher. That didn't go so well either, leaving him as little more than a scrap of digital rubbish drifting through the datasphere. Now he's been given another chance to prove his worth and save the only people who ever gave a damn about him.
Can Jack manage to not screw this one up too?
4 out of 5 (very good)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
This is book 2.5 in the Dragon’s Bidding series, and it could probably be read as a stand-alone, but I would recommend you read books one and two before this one.
Jack has been banished into cyberspace for his crimes against Wolf in book 2. He is filtering bits and pieces of information, passing on the bits that are helping his mum build a nest egg that he wasn’t able to. While doing that, he comes across some information that threatens his existence, even in cyberspace. He just needs Wolf and Fitz to believe him.
I enjoyed this so much MORE than book 2, I really did!
Yes, it’s very technical again, but while Cypher is about the augmentations and things, THIS book is about Jack, and his place in cyberspace. And that place is so beautifully described, it really is. The data streams are different colours. There are guard dogs in those streams, and you gotta be careful of them. Jack dips in and out of places so fast, they don’t get a chance to catch him, though.
Finding the assassination plot means Jack has to think fast, and he HAS to get Wolf to believe him. While Jack can fix things, he needs Wolf’s codes. And that means Wolf has to play nice with Jack. Fitz ain’t best pleased about that, though! Because that means Wolf has to enter cyberspace, and the risks are much greater to Wolf than they are to Jack, since Wolf doesn’t know how to get by.
The bugs from books one and two rear their ugly heads, again, much to Wolf’s dread.
The line of the book is this though: Jack visits me and plays his rotten roll! Oh that made me chuckle. I’ll let you read to get the full story though!
Jack gets a second chance here, and I wonder what will become of him in future books. Great reading, much MUCH better than book 2.
4 stars
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
They want to save the world—starting with each other.
Commander Kimber FitzWarren is running on borrowed time. The cybernetic augmentations that give her superhuman strength and speed have also shortened her life. The success of her next mission is imperative, not only to save her Empire, but because this operation could be her last.
She and a cabal of other idealistic officers are plotting to topple the corrupt Imperial government. The key to placing missing military legend Arianne Ransahov on the throne lies with the one man who can find her, mercenary Wolf Youngblood.
Having just survived an Imperial assassination attempt, Wolf is understandably on edge when Fitz shows up in his bedroom at 0-dark-30. Except she isn’t there to kill him, but to plead for his help. Help he’s reluctant to give—until another assassin pushes the issue.
Pursued by Imperial forces, left with no one to depend on but each other, a bond begins to form that even their secrets can’t destroy. But before they can explore what’s left of their future, they have to survive the mission.
Warning: Space is no place to go it alone. We recommend taking along a telepathic cat, an immortal mercenary, and a cybernetically augmented Imperial SpecOps agent. You never know what kind of trouble you’ll run into…
4 out of 5 (very good)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Kimber FitzWarren is an augie: a human with cybernetic enhancements. She is sent to talk to Wolf Youngblood to gain the whereabouts of the only person with the right to be the next emperor, Arianne Ransahov, who happens to be Wolf's ex. There are forces at work keeping these people apart, and a secret that might well kill them all.
I have a thing about dragons, and 99 times out of a hundred, I won't even read the blurb if the word Dragon appears in the title, I'll just say yes please. So I need to say this: there are NO DRAGONS IN THIS BOOK !!!
That said . . . I really enjoyed this!!
Sci-fi isn't usually my thing so I was stepping out of my comfort zone here, but I was fully engrossed in this book.
There is quite a lot of technical talk and some went over my head, especially the secret that Wolf was keeping. It sorta springs on you, and it meant I had to slow my reading down and concentrate, but that's not a bad thing, not at all. It just meant I took longer than usual to read the 300 odd pages this is.
It's very well written, from both Wolf and Fitz' point of view. It's not overly explicit but it does get a bit . . . . .messy . . . .in places, what with fighting the bugs and other unsavoury characters. Have to say, I particularly enjoyed reading the fighting scenes, even if I almost felt every punch thrown, and every shot fired!! Like I said, outside my comfort zone!! But really REALLY good!!
Oh. Must mention Jumper, the telepathic cat who names Wolf as his person! Loved him. Great character amid a huge cast.
There is a second book, I believe, with these people and I would love to read it. I'd like to know that what Wolf, Fitz and Ari are fighting for comes to fore. Plus I like the way Westcott spins a tale.
An excellent step outside the comfort zone, and one I highly recommend.
4 solid stars
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Colonel Kimber FitzWarren is settling into her challenging new position as head of Imperial Security. With an alien symbiont living inside her, giving her incredible healing powers, even immortality, she looks forward to spending eternity with her lover, ex-mercenary Wolf Youngblood. Their lives and the fortunes of the Empire are purring along like a well fed Kaphier cat, so they decide now would be a good time for Wolf to go into the operating tank to have his old augmentations updated.
And that’s when the gods of luck decide to bite them on the butt.
The man who awakes from surgery resembles Wolf, but behind those blue eyes, Fitz discovers the mind of a stranger. Their old enemy, Janos Tritico, has corrupted Cyber-Ops, slipping a rogue download into the internal computer that controls Wolf’s augmentations and turning him into a super assassin programmed to terminate the emperor and bring down the government. Only Fitz stands between her liege and the killer wearing her beloved’s face. She'll do her job, even if it breaks the heart in her armored chest.
Sometimes there is no happily ever after.
3 out of 5 (good)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
This is book 2 in The Dragon’s Bidding series, and it cannot be read as a stand-alone. You NEED to read A Hero For an Empire before this one and I would recommend you read them back to back. It’s been 4 years since I read the first one, and I think that’s why I feel as I do about this one. I did not have time to reread book one before reading this one!
I found this a much more difficult read, to follow. It’s heavy on the technical stuff and at times I struggled to keep up.
It moves fast, and even though I had to slow down my reading (which is usually a good thing!) I still struggled a bit.
Fitz and Wolf’s relationship is intense in book one, and that flows over into this one. That fact, and the fact we meet Cypher here, are what made me able to finish this book.
Cypher takes over Wolf’s body, his muscles and his bones but not his mind. He can see what Cypher is doing and is helpless to stop it. He has to trust his love for Fitz, Ari and the others in his life will tide him through and THEY will get to the bottom of it all.
It is HEAVY on the fighting/violence scale. While I enjoyed that in book one, it was a not so much here.
Things are still not where Wolf, Fitz and Ari want them to be, and I expect it may take more than one more book to make it so.
I have Jack's book to read next, and given what happens here, I’m looking forward to that.
3 stars
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
As long as she can remember, Christina Westcott has had imaginary people living in her head. Cyborgs, mercenaries, wizards, dragons and cats. Lots of cats--shape shifting cats, talking cat and telepathic cats. After continual nagging from this bizarre cast of characters inside her, Chris decided to turn them loose on the world in her science fiction and fantasy stories. She's been a collector of not only books and cats, but of experiences, riding in rodeos, driving racecars and flying airplanes. All good experience for becoming a writer. She lives in sunny Southwest Florida where she delights in telling all her friends "up north" the local temperature in the middle of January and she proudly wears the moniker "Crazy Cat Lady".
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