Tag: Joel Horn

Hatching the Phoenix Egg (Mare Tranquillitatis: Book 2) by Joel Horn

~ Jolie ~ 1 Comment
Hatching the Phoenix Egg (Mare Tranquillitatis Series Book 2) by [Horn, Joel]

4 Stars

Publisher:

Date of publication: September 24th, 2016

Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Science Fiction

Series: Mare Tranquillitatis

Lost Coast Rocket – Book 1 (review here)

Hatching The Phoenix Egg – Book 2

Where to find: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Would You Travel a Half-Billion Miles to Escape Your Past?

That’s exactly what Ken O’Brien does in this sequel to Lost Coast Rocket.

Driven by a broken heart and a mysterious compulsion he can’t understand, Ken launches himself into space. During this one-way trip, he has just ten years to answer as many cosmic questions as he can before his body succumbs to the hostile space environment.

But he’s given an unexpected gift and his life is extended. How he spends this gift, however, makes him the most hated man in history. Will the world absolve Ken of his extreme sin? More importantly, will the green-eyed girl who broke his heart forgive him for what he was driven to do?

˃˃˃ Hatching the Phoenix Egg is Book 2 in the epic Mare Tranquillitatis Series

The adventure began in Lost Coast Rocket, the first book of the series.

My review:

This book starts after the launching of the Tranquility and Ken narrowly avoiding being arrested by the FBI. He goes off into orbit around the earth and the moon and starts his journey to Jupiter.

While he is on his way to Jupiter, his friends are left behind to pick up the pieces. Akira breaks the news to Carol and Mary that he will not be coming back and that he was the boy who Dawn was looking for. The FBI investigates them and finds nothing but does take all of Ken’s rockets that were at the clubhouse. Which was no big deal because they didn’t get anything important.

I found Ken’s travel to Jupiter fascinating and very intriguing. It definitely made me wonder when we’ll finally send manned expeditions to Jupiter and its moons. I also thought that him choosing a school to share his journey with was fantastic.

The comet, Ken wanting to save the world from it and how people reacted is totally what I would think people today would act if something like that ever happened. The riots, the food shortages, everything was written about how I expected people to act in an apocalyptic situation.

I did find Ken a bit self-absorbed in this book. But, he was dealing with his own issues and facing his own death. So I understand why he acted that way.

The end of the book was great. So many things were wrapped up and so many storylines, carried over from the first book, were resolved in a satisfactory way. I am wondering if there will be a 3rd book. From the way this one ended, I can see a 3rd one being written.

I will warn everyone, this is not a YA book. The first one, yes. This one, not so much. It is so much darker than the first one. I will also mention that I didn’t get the title until the end of the book.

I would give Hatching the Phoenix Egg an Adult rating. There are sexual situations. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Hatching the Phoenix Egg. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Lost Coast Rocket (Mare Tranquillitatis: Book 1) by Joel Horn

~ Jolie ~ 2 Comments
Lost Coast Rocket (Mare Tranquillitatis Series Book 1) by [Horn, Joel]

4 Stars

Publisher:

Date of publication: July 5th, 2016

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: Mare Tranquillitatis

Lost Coast Rocket – Book 1

Hatching the Phoenix Egg – Book 2

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Plausible Science Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Love, angst…

Ken’s young mind, brilliant in math and science, is troubled and as he grows into a young adult, his intense drive inspires a group of his peers to follow him into an audacious, technically thrilling endeavor that places his team in physical and legal danger. In the jumbled chaos of his interpersonal relationships is an intense young love that pushes him to do what no man in history has ever done to thwart the legal arm of the law.

My review:

This book was not what I expected. I thought it was going to be an action-packed thriller/suspense by reading the blurb (note to self, stop assuming things about books based on that!!!). It was a wonderfully written, coming of age with a hint of romance and some science fiction. It was a pleasant surprise!!!

Even the talk on rockets (and launching them) were fascinating. I will be the first person to admit that I find rockets very dull. Anything to do with science, I find it very dull. I don’t know how I made it to Physics (which is probably the only science I am even remotely interested in) class in HS, many moons ago….lol. But the way that the author described building the rockets from scratch and the different things that go into them, really caught my attention and interest.

I did have a little bit of an issue with the author jumping back in time. Don’t get me wrong; it added to the story (Grandpa Arnold was my favorite), and the author did a great job separating the past from the present. I just got a little turned around at the beginning of the book.

I loved Ken, Akira, Carol, Kate, Jose, Ed, and later Dawn. They were a motley crew, but they had each other’s backs. I loved that it showed girls taking an interest in building rockets (Carol welded parts of the rocket on). It was refreshing to read a book like this that girls (and women) were interested in careers (astrophysics, pilot) that are typically male based.

I did want to kind of smack Ken upside the head a couple of times. He was so stubborn about revealing things (and feelings) to Dawn. I can understand him not wanting Dawn to know who he was (not going into it), but I can’t understand him not coming clean to her about his feelings sooner. Sigh…men.

The end of the book did end on a little bit of a cliffhanger, but it set up for the 2nd book perfectly.

Why: A great, wonderfully written book. Like I said above, I just got a little turned around by going back to the past and then to the future in the same chapter (even though it was clearly separated).

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Teen

Why: No sex, no violence (well if you count a rocket almost taking the group out at violent). One graphic scene of Dawn’s mother dying and another scene where Dawn’s father takes down a sexual predator.

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**

I would give Amy’s Square an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Amy’s Square. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**