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Broken Kingdoms Novellas and The Inclusion

 


4.25 ★ 2🌶

    I've been slacking, oops.  In my last post I mentioned I was reading the novella These Wicked Lies which is Halvar and Kari's story.  It was enjoyable.  I liked seeing more angles/scenes from other character's perspectives.



4.5 ★ 2🌶

    Then I immediately read These Vicious Games which is Nik and Junie's story.  I enjoyed this one a bit more.  In the series when we see Nik and Junie, they have been married for a long time and are still very much in love with each-other.  This story goes back to just before they met.  We also see Kase as a child and the start of the Kryv guild.  This story was emotional and gripping and I loved it.  We also got to see some of the events from the Northern Kingdom from Junie's perspective as well.  Since I read those books back in '23 it was a nice refresh to see Stieg and Callista back at the beginning.  I'd love to get more back story on Stieg too.  He's been one of my favorite characters since the beginning.  

The third novella in this series is These Cruel Vows which is Sol and Tor's back story.  All three of these stories can be found together in the book Bonds of Fate.  I'm fairly certain I've read these backward, but oh well.  I don't believe they've been edited professionally like her actual books.  I've found several grammatical errors in both the novellas I have read.  But it ultimately didn't detract from my enjoyment of these stories. 


5★
    The next Tales From Transfusion installment came out November 4th.  The Inclusion by Marlene Tower a fellow Medical Laboratory Scientist follows her first work The Outbreak set in the huge Trauma 1 medical center, Drivers, in Texas.  Both stories really follow Ryker an MLS who works in the Blood Bank at Drivers on second shift.  I loved the first book and had been waiting for this one to come out.  I finished reading it last night.  I loved this one as well.  Instead of "zombie apocalypse" this one was a murder mystery.  I really enjoy all the real life science mixed with supernatural science fiction.  Since I'm an MLS I follow all the very heavy med tech portions in this book.  I can see though that this would not be everyone's cup of tea.  I can also see where Ryker's attitude to her co-workers could be misconstrued as vindictive and bullying to the uninitiated.  The reality is that the results we put out are responsible for 70% or more of patient diagnosis and a screw up in blood bank can literally cost someone their life.  It's no joke, so we can be very harsh on other people when appropriate protocol isn't followed.  I've personally seen too many near misses in my career.  Okay off my soap box.  It was a fun book, not as action packed as the first book.  This was much more thought provoking.  I did figure out the who dunnit before said person revealed themselves.  There was another small twist that I didn't figure out though.  I enjoyed this very much.  Just as in the last one I recognized former co-workers in some of the characters and could identify with Ryker and a lot of the situations.  There was one character in particular that reminded me of someone and it made my eye twitch.  


Alright, thats it for me.  I'll probably be going back to the last Broken Kingdoms novella then on to the Ever Seas trilogy.... we'll see.  Happy reading.

-Q  

      

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