Warfare

Operation Bounce House By Matt Dinniman, Narrated By Travis Baldree & Jeff Hays

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Operation Bounce House shows readers that Matt Dinniman is far from a one-trick pony. His brilliant combination of humor, fast-paced storytelling, and characterization is just as well-suited to standard narrative as it is to the LitRPG genre where he built not only a name for himself, but a devoted and passionate fanbase.

To best describe this story to fans of existing pop culture science fiction, it’s as if John Scalzi spent a few weeks hanging out with Ernest Cline, before tackling his own variation of Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. And, just as one might expect from Scalzi, Dinniman focuses on telling the story from the perspective of the underdogs.

The colonists of New Sonora have overcome a lot in just a few generations after settling the new planet and building small communities across the surface of one of humanity’s new homes. After a devastating setback wipes out the first generation of children born on planet, the population came together to find a solution, and they’re only finally on the verge of growing beyond the verge of failure into a thriving civilization.

Still years away from the opportunity to begin reintegrating with Earth, the sudden appearance of war machines on the planet’s surface comes as a big surprise. But that’s nothing compared to what’s on the near horizon, as the relationship between New Sonora and the homeworld takes on a whole new dynamic. Operation Bounce House is just getting started, and without a miracle, Oliver Lewis, his sister, and their friends have no chance of surviving another week.

This is a book that’s full of heart with a bit of heartbreak, intense and interesting action, and as much humor and social commentary as one should expect if they’ve already spent some time crawling through the dungeons that Dinniman lovingly mapped out.

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Hounds of War

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On February 27th of 2023 I released Hounds of War on Godless. This short story serves as both a stand-alone tale and the introduction to a larger work in progress that combines elements of police procedural and crime noir with cosmic and body horror.

In 1917, a small group of American soldiers venture into the forests of France, searching for a patrol of Germans seeking to get behind the American lines. Scared and cut off from allies, they discover something far more dangerous than enemy soldiers–something that doesn’t pick sides.

As days pass in the mist-shrouded ruins of an ancient castle, it becomes clear that none of them are likely to survive.

For Sergeant Adrien Demos, the war will take something more valuable than his life, it will take his identity–and if he isn’t careful, it threatens to take his humanity.

Hounds of War by Nikolas P. Robinson

The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan, Narrated by Kate Reading & Michael Kramer

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The Fires of Heaven picks up where The Shadow Rising left off, largely leaving behind the events in the Two Rivers where Perrin has become the de facto ruler of a small kingdom. There are references to what’s going on there, but that’s not the focus of this book.
Rand’s expansion into the world beyond the Aiel Wastes is the primary focus of this novel, as he walks a delicate balance between the diverse and often dissenting factions he’s ruling over as both The Dragon Reborn and Car’a’carn. Wanting nothing to do with the trappings of fate, Mat attempts to escape on multiple occasions, only to find himself more firmly entrenched in the wheel’s design and–much like Rand–dizzied by memories not his own.
At the same time, Nynaeve and Elayne are on a collision course with the remnants of the White Tower in hiding, where Siuan, Leane, and Min are also heading. Little do Nynaeve, Elayne, Thom, and Juilin realize that they’ll soon be sharing their journey with an unexpected face from the past.
Robert Jordan spends a large portion of this book familiarizing readers with the politics of the various kingdoms, as well as the machinations between individual Forsaken. We also learn more about the world of dreams and the dangers associated with that realm, and we discover some of the previously unknown danger of magic when Rand uses Balefire.
This installment in the series provides readers with a lot of action and warfare, both close-up and distant, which keeps the story flowing. Additionally, it showcases the stakes, and reveals that even those we consider pivotal to the narrative are not shielded by plot armor, at least not permanently.
As with the previous four volumes in the series, the narration provided by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer is fantastic, fully bringing the narrative to life and fleshing out the characters in the way the best audiobooks do.