End of Month Double Feature. [Monster On The Moors by J.M. Kelly; The Jumpgate by Robert Stadnik]

In a previous post I detailed my plan to try and read two books in a little more than a day, the time left until the month ended. In an attempt to augment the number of books I'd read in November I set out to read two eBooks from NetGalley. The two books I read were Monster On The Moors by J.M. Kelly and The Jumpgate by Robert Stadnik. Both books were new installments in established universes. My attempt was successful. Mostly.

Monster On The Moors (MotM) is the second in the Bobby Holmes series, a young adult supernatural mystery thriller series in the style of, or possibly viewed as a take on Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Not having read the first in the series, The Lost Treasure, MotM was a satisfying read as an individual novel. The story follows Bobby Holmes as he regroups with his cousin, Brenda Watson, and two other friends, Stevie and Michael, as they vacation in the English countryside. Recaps of the events of the prior novel were easily incorporated into the story and I felt I had a grip on each character and their interpersonal dynamics. My reading continued under the impression (I feel it was outright stated at some point though I can't seem to find where) that the young protagonists were about 11 years old, but the voicing of the main character, Bobby Holmes, was much older. Bobby is gifted with a sixth sense that gives him an edge in sensing danger. The biggest negative in MotM is that Bobby's voice was no believable for his perceived age. And that perceived age would make sense as per the About the Author, J.M. Kelly has been an elementary and middle-school administrator and educator. Overall I found the entry into the series unhampered by my lack of familiarity with the first book. The story was entertaining, albeit a bit rushed towards the end. The main character for who the series is named was just not believable. I liked everyone but him. Would I recommend this? Sure. Yes. It was written nicely, it's a short and sweet length, and the series looks promising for episodic, age-appropriate entertainment. So this is getting a 4-stars from me. I enjoyed the story enough and can see others enjoying it.

The second book I read was The Jumpgate by Robert Stadnik. When I heard "jumpgate," in my mind I pictured some type of Stargate-esque adventure. And while I wasn't too far off, this was more like an episode of Star Trek. For some reason, from the beginning of my read, I've been comparing it to Star Trek: Voyager the most. That's not a fair or accurate comparison. Similarities to The Next Generation and Enterprise are also valid. A future in which humanity finds itself in the nascent stages of space-exploration, sets out for deep-space exploration and has to deal with intergalactic threats. What follows is a tenuous political and social balance between peace and aggression, fear and courage. This was just like watching an episode of Star Trek. We had the thinly-veiled tensions between military officers, the consequences of Earth-based politics, the overt xenophobia, all wrapped up in a loose covering of sci-fi jargon and fantastical alien names.

Perhaps even more so that MotM, TJ was an easy introduction to an established universe, the Exodus Universe. And the Exodus Universe seems to be, at the very least, related to another one of the author's series, The Exodus Series. Another episodic novel that read well as a one-off, TJ also recapped prior events from (presumably) prior entries without an excess of rehash. Still, the description doesn't accurately describe the story:

 "After being trapped within the solar system for nearly a century, humanity is finally free to explore the galaxy. But questions still remain about the aliens that oppressed them. Where did they come from? Why did they come to the Milky Way galaxy? The opportunity to uncover those answers finally presents itself. But is anyone brave enough to go through...the jumpgate."

That's not really what happened but it very much is at the same time.

Star Trek: Voyager, having rewatched Enterprise as an adult, is definitely my least favorite of the Treks, but it has the most catty drama of any of them. There wasn't a super ton of sci-fi imagining going on in story, but like Voyager a lot of the story was driven as the result of political schemes and failings. The names felt a bit generic in their sci-fi blandness and predictability and there were too-quick resolutions to interpersonal dramas. I can't say much without spoiling but this mostly reminds me of the very first episodes of Voyager, where catastrophe and suspicions laid out the foundations for the rest of the series. I liked The Jumpgate (TJ) more than the MotM but this is also a 4-star read. And I would read another book in this universe.

Finally, in an honest recap of my efforts to read the two books, I did go about 15 minutes past midnight reading TJ. So technically I finished one book extra, MoTM, in November but I'm counting two because I read the bulk of TJ, about 90% in November without significant break between the remaining tenth. Plus, it's not even December on the West Coast yet. So yeah, I read my two books and I'm proud of me.