#rob boffard

[marril96]

Decided to participate in @trinareadsbooks‘s House Colors Tag. :)

I tag @books-and-cookies @booksforthoughts @faerytalesfromtheabyss @brokenfannibal @1000roughdrafts @fangirlxwritesx67

[abookishidentity]

Books read and finished in January 2026

-Tracer by Rob Boffard started January 1, 2026 and finished January 4, 2026 - 3.5/5 stars. Rob Boffard is quite good at ramping up the tension and the stakes. Things are constantly getting worse and constantly happening so it makes it feel like time is passing very slowly. Overall this is a good book. Decent first book for an author.  The book taking place on a space station that’s not very big is quite interesting. Riley is a tracer which just means delivery person by running. She is quite good at that. Something that bothers me because its so over done is the antagonists who are like “We poisoned the earth and we are going to poison our home now. Humans don't deserve to live!” It’s so boring. There’s a whole group of people like that in this book. It’s kind of annoying. One of the main antagonists isn’t exactly like that? He seems to like killing for the hell of it. His obsession with killing the main character is just that. Obsession. I wonder if he was obsessed with it the entire time he knew her. Another antagonist is this city council woman who believes in the cause of destroying everything and everyone. As soon as she was talking to Riley who was in prison and she was like “You know, I could torture the information out of you. That’s something i can do.” That was when I realized “Oh of course. She is a political figure. Of course she’s evil.” It’s a shame that RIley is no longer a Tracer at the end of the book. Bigger shame that she ends up as a space cop in the next book. 

--How to be Perfect by Michael Schur started January 5, 2026 and finished January 8, 2026- 3/5 stars. I respect Michael Schur even more now. He just seems so aware of so many things and it’s quite refreshing to read. This books talks about morality and it takes it on by talking about different popular philosophers that have lived throughout history. It’s a bit dry but he does insert some humor here and there. I like the examples and situations he gives. It was a fine book but I feel like The Good Place does a better job at showing you how to answer certain morality questions. The Good Place is one of my favorite shows of all time and so reading this was nice. It was interesting to read about Michael Schur’s thought process and how he thought of certain things. 

-Zero-G by Rob Boffard started January 8, 2026 and finished January 10, 2025 - 3/5 stars. Riley is a cop in this book. Riley feels like a sixteen year girl in this book. Pretty sure she is in her early twenties but she makes stupid ass decisions so I see her as sixteen years old. Why Rob, why did you write her as a cop? She could have still been a tracer in this book and it wouldn’t make much a difference. She is assaulted, drugged, and then operated on by some incel doctor who puts bombs in her knees so she could go break out Janice. It’s quite interesting that she immediately goes to the prison where Janice is so she can case it out. She just immediately believes the incel doctor. The incel doctor is named Knox who is mad that she killed Amira in the last book and so wants revenge. He is an incel because they weren’t even together. He saw her once, got obsessed, and looked for ways to see her again. Everything ramps up when a pandemic rips through the space station. There are also people in the space station who want to go back to earth. There are so many things happening in this book. With all that shit happening, tell me why Riley has relationship issues as well? Why couldn’t she just be friends with Carver? Prakesh is put on the back burner which is a shame. Poor guy created the pandemic essentially. Another annoying thing is that we are introduced to another character and she and Riley don’t get along. It’s revealed at the end that this character worships Riley. Got a weird way of showing it! Outer Earth seems like a cool setting and so it’s annoying that its essentially abandoned at the end of the book along with all it’s inhabitants. The next book takes place on earth I guess. Most of the earth is inhabitable so it’s weird that they are going to the place where it seems to be fine? What the hell was the point of us reading about Riley cutting the bomb out of the back of her knee if she doesn’t even use it? To show how dedicated she is? We already know that she did something similar in the first book. Whatever, at least I highly doubt she’s going to be a cop in the third book if she’s crash landing on earth. 

-SNAFU by Ed Helms started January 11, 2026 and finished January 13, 2026 - 4/5 stars. This book details the biggest screw ups in history. A lot of these things take place in the USA so it’s essentially how many screw ups (that we know of) in American history. The US has done a lot of shit. I don’t know how we haven’t destroyed the entire world yet. It seems like we have gotten close many times. This book just reminds you just how awful the US is. None of these things were that surprising to read. It was just disappointing how much shit we do. And how much money it cost to do it. It was an entertaining read and Ed Helms is a decent writer. 

-Impact by Rob Boffard started January 14, 2026 and finished January 17, 2026- 3/5 stars - I got to respect that each book is quite different. Do the Earthers even know how to swim? The earth is majority water. In this book is the earth made up of mostly water? Or was it destroyed so much that the earth is less water? None of them even survive at the end of the book. Also tell me why Riley that you are questioning which boy you want when you are literally fighting for your life in a fucking forest? So fucking stupid. There are other things you should be focusing on. Anyway, Riley and the gang end up crash landing on earth because the Earthers heard a message that ended up coming from essentially a cult. It’s never a good sign when a character is named “Prophet” and he and his followers say “Praise be the Engine!” Carver is done so dirty in this book. It sucks. The people on Outer Earth are done so dirty as well. The rest of the 1,000 of them who are still alive are chosen by lottery to go to earth. I don’t care enough about Anna to get her perspective on things. Kind of funny that when Riley and Okwembo see each other again, Riley immediately wants to attack and kill her. I like to imagine the other people’s perspectives when this happens.  I am amazed Riley is alive by the end of the book. She goes through so much. ITs interesting that at the end of the day Janice Okwembo gets to survive. She will be exiled essentially but alive. I guess that's fair. This book was a bit of a bummer to read so I think I should read something fun and fluffy next. Or at least something completely different when it comes down to genre. 

-The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong started January 18, 2026 and finished January 20, 2026 - 4.5/5 stars. This book was incredibly cute and cozy. I think I liked it better than the author’s previous book. Now don’t get me wrong that book was incredibly cute and cozy too but this book was gay and cute. I love that the main character in this book had the ability to talk to objects. I thought that was neat and I don’t usually see that. She is sent on a mission to transfer magical objects to this random ass village with another mage who is frosty, has a chip on her shoulder, and comes from wealth. The two women slowly change the village for the better and fall in love in the process. It’s nice to read. There is some drama at the end of the book because some guy who works for the village (and also hates mages) does some shit that implicates the two leads for starting a fire. Was there any doubt that it was him? No. As soon as shit happened I was like “Oh it’s probably that asshole.” Things worked out for them at the end and the asshole was punished. It was a cute ending. It was a nice read. 

-Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear started January 21, 2026 and finished January 23, 2026- 3/5 stars. I honestly thought the main character would be totally alone when he wakes up but I guess not. This book was stranger than I thought it was going to be. The main character is on a generational ship and he has a purpose on said ship. He is also a clone. Like everyone else he meets on the ship. The ship is quite weird but I guess that’s because the ship is damaged. All the characters were fascinating to read about. The book was fine. I can’t help but think of the Children of Time books whenever I read about generational ships. Those are some good ass books. 

-Dawn by Octavia E. Butler started January 24, 2026 and finished January 25, 2026- 3.5/5 stars. Now this was an interesting book that gave me a lot of mixed feelings. First of all, this book has some cool concepts in it. I just wish it wasn’t so 80s. This book came out in the 80s and like a lot of stuff from the 80s it feels quite date rapey. I wonder what the book would be like if it was written nowadays. I thought the same for The Rowan series by Anne McCaffrey. Such a cool series but it had some things in it that I did not like. The book takes place in the future but it still has the 80s mindset when it comes down to the view of men and women. It’s fascinating and yet so annoying. So Dawn is about how humanity is “saved” by aliens when we essentially have destroyed the world. It’s an interesting dynamic. Humans are saved by the aliens and yet the aliens are also their imprisoners. One would think that when the Oankali would spend all that time watching humans they would learn about them better. Humans do not like to be isolated and or kept. Humans don’t like being told what to do. We need to be able to consent to things. I am quite sure humans wouldn’t want to cross breed with the aliens. I don’t think the Oankail know consent. Lilith is constantly going “No! I don’t like that!” and the Oankail are like “Well, it’s done.” Lilith has essentially no choice but to give in to their rules and such. It feels so icky and wrong. It’s really quite annoying that the first time she sees and interacts with another human, he attacks her. She is essentially forced to get used to her alien “rescuers” and then forced to reawaken other humans so they can learn how to survive on Earth again now that it’s been restored a bit. Its frustrating that these other humans are aggressive, and mean and want to cause trouble. At least Lilith’s DNA is altered and she can defend herself if need be. But the Oankali essentially gave her no choice in that matter. When they all are awakened  more Oankail come out to bond with the humans and it’s clear that the humans don’t want that. They don’t get much choice in the matter. The bonding feels good like almost getting high. It’s clear that the men don’t like it. They feel emasculated. No one wants this. There are some lines in this book that I did not like. “You see. Your body has made a different choice” Lilith had bonded with Joseph. There is a chapter in which the alien, Nikanj, essentially has a three way with Joseph and Lilith. It’s all in the mind but yeah. Other scenes that bothered me where was when the Oankaili drugged the humans in order to imprint with them, after the humans attacked and mortally wounded Nikanj Lilith has to essentially strip and lay next to it while it penetrates her body to heal itself, and when its revealed at the end of the book that Lilith is pregnant with Joseph and Nikanj’s half hybrid alien baby. What’s really interesting is that despite all this weirdness and ickiness I want to read on with the series. Because it’s different and probably revolutionary for the time and it’s Octavia Butler. Also, I am pretty sure if I wrote a book like this, I honestly would do the same thing?

Sidenote: Lilith is a black woman. Why is the cover of a white woman waking another white woman? 

-Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight by Aliette De Bodard started January 26, 2026 and finished January 30, 2026 -4/5 stars. This was a collection of short stories by this author. They were quite fascinating. A lot of pregnant women in these stories. A lot of war and grief in them too. The author writes what she knows. Also a lot of the stories mention the mindships and I thought this concept is pretty cool. It reminds me of The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey. Anyway, I made a separate post about all the stories and their rankings so I’m not going to talk much about them here. It’s quite obvious to me that I need to read more books written by asian authors, especially science fiction. 

[abookishidentity]

Books I recently been gifted

The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi- It's funny, I originally bought this book for a family member but then I realized he bought the book for me as well. So we essentially gifted the book to each other. However, he gave me another book on Christmas but then he gave me this book later because he wouldn't get to it right away like I would. I am less than 80 pages away from finishing it. I am entertained by it. John Scalzi writes such good books. I read the Old Man's War series over a decade ago and so things are mentioned I'm like "Oh yeah"

Outer Earthy trilogy by Rob Boffard- I was given this book yesterday. I am interested to read it. Rob Boffard's other books he has written as Jackson Ford are so good. This book is over 900 pages so it might take me a bit to read it.

SNAFU: The Definitive Guide to History's Greatest Screwups by Ed Helms- This is the book the family member gave me on Christmas. IT was unexpected but I do remember him telling me about Ed Helm's podcast with the same name. I wonder if I will even like the book.

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur- The Good Place is definitely one of my favorite shows so it would be interesting where this book would even go.

[scififr]

Tracer, par Rob Boffard (Orbit, juillet 2015)

L’espèce humaine s’est enfin autodétruite sur Terre et les seuls survivants sont les habitants de OuterEarth, une immense station spatiale en orbite. Des décennies plus tard, Rley Hale, une jeune femme « badass », va tenter de se poser aux projets funestes d’une secte ayant décidé que même le peu restait de l’Humanité ne méritait pas de vivre.

Lisible, mais sans grand intérêt. Ce premier roman de l’auteur n’est qu’une succession de scènes violentes (et très explicites), un peu comme les niveaux d’un jeu vidéo. Pour les amateurs, il y a deux autres tomes dans cette série : Zero-G et  Impact.

Du même on préfèrera sa série « The Frost files » sous le pseudonyme de Jackson Ford.

[still-searching-for-something]

I read The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind by Jackson Ford recently.

I wasn't totally sure what to expect of it, but going off the comparison on the book that it was a cross between X-Men and Alias, I was imagining a larger crew of people with other powers, but alas, Teagan Frost, the MC, spends 99% of the novel as the only character with powers. No team of mutants kicking ass, unfortunately.

The whole thing is a whodunit/action thriller where Teagan works for the government as a spy using her telekinetic powers (referred in the novel as psychokinetic, presumably to sound cooler because I have no idea what the difference is). They're trying to figure out who killed someone using powers that only she as a telekinetic is supposed to have. Ultimately, spoiler alert, it turns out one of her friends had groomed and manipulated an unstable guy with the same powers into being his personal assassin to get revenge on some... water company or something? It wasn't super well explained, I think it was that the friend had lost a loved one to shit being put in the water and a worker's strike against it had been brutally suppressed.

I think a good term for this book is 'popcorn read'. It's a little like reading a book version of the Latest Summer Action Blockbuster starring Hot Actor You Recognize and Hot Actress You Recognize, with a movie poster IN ALL CAPS TO EMPHASIZE HOW BADASS IT IS. The plot was tight and fast paced, though obviously could have outlined the villain's motives a little better, and it's the kind of book you read in a day or two.

Teagan Frost is very similar to the main character of Artemis, Jasmine Bashara. They're both very rebellious, foul mouthed characters with big goals (get a nice place and cushy job in Artemis for Jasmine, open a restaurant in LA and escape the government spooks who force her into her black ops side hustle for Teagan). They're both very attached to where they live, and both feel reasonably three dimensional.

The same, alas, cannot be said for most of the cast in The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind. They all mostly fit reasonably well into various archetypes--Annie's the tough criminal with a chip on her shoulder, Africa is the eccentric homeless guy with some info, and Tanner's the mysterious government lady who only appears on the other end of a telephone call. A few paragraphs after meeting each character, you understand them well and they don't really surprise you or anything.

The final, MCU-style twist at the very end was kind of stupid tho, I'll be honest. Like, 'OMG they're NOT dead?!?!?' It felt like contrived sequel bait. And yes, sequels there are--this is the first in a series called the Frost Files. But frankly, it stands up better on its own if you cut the final twist, and I don't plan on reading the rest of the series.

This was legitimately pretty solid though, and like I said, it's like watching an action movie. You don't expect deep meditations on the human condition or anything, but as far as entertaining stories go, this certainly does its job. I would recommend this book to you, it's a page-turner that keeps you interested well enough.

[lifblogs]

Book I'm Reading: *blows up a station, killing 10,000 people, a tour guide ship is the only survivor, the survivors just argue a lot and not a lot happens*

Me: This is boring.

Book: What if I had an old woman blow up the enemy ship, take a prisoner that some of the passengers want to torture, one of them accidentally kills the pilot and now one of the kids on board is severely injured and could bleed out?

[thecriticalnoncritic]

Book 6 for the year!

Adrift-- Rob Boffard 

8/10

This took me a bit longer to get into than usual (because if a book doesnt grab me I dont read it rofl) BUT Im glad I stuck it out. No spoilers but its been a while since I read a book where the ending was pretty much exactly what I wanted.

Let me say one thing: something that has been bothering me for a while, as I read more and more Sci-Fi I see a huge missed opportunity in the lack of lingo. Think about this: 100 years ago the popular speaking style was a lot different than it is now. Now go back 200 years! 300! Languages evolve and change all the time and this is the first time I have seen an author use than angle (Its not distracting or overdone but its fun!)

[scififr]

Adrift, par Rob Boffard (Orbit, juin 2018)

Un groupe hétéroclite de touristes, leur guide inexpérimentée et leur pilote assiste à la destruction par un formidable et mystérieux vaisseau de leur lieu de villégiature, un astéroïde minier, depuis un vieil astronef tout juste bon à faire des promenades aux alentours. Ils vont devoir survivre à la dérive…

Sympathique et captivant. L’intrigue n’est pas toujours totalement cohérente, mais il faut bien arriver au dénouement d’une manière ou d’une autre. Les personnages sont parfois caricaturaux mais les nombreuses révélations qui surviennent au cours du récit amènent un peu de complexité. En tout cas l’idée est originale, le traitement efficace, le plaisir de lecture permanent. A quand le film ?...