This is a fun read, which is to be expected from Zen DiPietro. I’ve yet to read a story from her that I haven’t liked. Billed as a technothriller, I think that Hello Protocol for Dead Girlswill also appeal to fans of LitRPGs. With a Ghost in the Machinevibe, we see technology through the view of a disembodied programmer. Reminiscent of Tron, Jennika interacts with other programs, and tries to not only let people know that she’s trapped in the server, but to solve her own murder. That particular nugget came out of nowhere, and I didn’t know who done it until the reveal. The story also explores themes like identity, and what it is that makes us human. Zen is no stranger to thinking outside of the box, and Hello Protocol for Dead Girlsis a short, easy read. It’s a welcome edition to Zen’s backlist, and worth the read. Four and a half stars!

I really liked Plains of Exodus, by Robert J. Burnett. It’s not without a quibble or two, but I just had to keep reading it all the way to the end. (It still took me three days to read – it’s long!) I guess I’ll start with what I didn’t like about the book. The author introduced a major female character by her physical attributes. Curves, boobs, hair – standard sci-fi stuff for twenty years ago. It was really only the introduction, and the character is pretty bad-ass, but the description was a turn off for me. The other quibble was that the book formatting was hella odd. The chapters seemed to have scene breaks that had their own numbers? Hopefully it was because I was reading a pre-release version from NetGalley.

Now, on to the good stuff. Plains of Exodusis a straight up popcorn sci-fi. No deep political machinations, no heavy-handed social or religious subtext. Just a group of humans versus an overpopulated universe after tragedy destroyed the Earth. The entire book is an exciting read, and this would make an excellent miniseries. (They did it with Altered Carbon, and The Expanse, so this totally could be one too.) I can’t wait for a sequel. You hear me, Robert? I want a sequel. Five stars, and a must read.

It really wasn’t until book three that I’m starting to like Vince. It’s not that I disliked him or anything in the first two books, but he was the reluctant hero before – almost a curmudgeon before his time. In What Gods Incite, he starts to become the hero we all knew that he’d be. More shenanigans ensue when Vince’s old friend, Rian, appears at just the right time to bail our hero out, and lend his skills to the fight against perennial villain Abarta. But as usual when fae magic is involved, not everyone is who they claim to be, so Vince, Rian, Odette and Saoirse need to watch each other’s back as they split into teams to confront multiple threats. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, and What Gods Inciteis another five star read.