Last Year I Was Reading

Happy Thursday! The coveted weekend is almost here!

Today’s post will be my 4th in a row and that’s about never happened in the short history of Cozy with Books!

Last Year I was Reading is a weekly bookish meme hosted by ReadingMaria, starting as an Instagram tag:

Here’s How it Goes!

Take your current read and compare it to what you reading this exact time last year. Which one do you like better? What is different about the books? Any special facts/things you want to make note of or bring attention to? 

Last Year’s Read:
Drone Strike by Nicholas Irving & Anthony J. Tata

On a classified mission to help the Israeli Defense Forces stop a Syrian and Hezbollah invasion to seize the Golan Heights, Ranger sniper Vick Harwood and his spotter go deep undercover. Operating with limited support from the American and Israeli governments, Vick is out on the edge.

Alessandra Cavezza, Director of Operations in Syria for the Italian UN Commission for Refugees, is moving families out of an embattled neighborhood. The nearly vacant suburb has been a haven for anti-Assad forces, ISIS militants, and Russian private military contractors. As she crawls into the basement of a home to help find a young girl’s doll, she finds a secret room that has detailed descriptions of unthinkable attacks on the United States, and falls into the hands of a madman: Jasar Tankian, Lebanese mastermind behind the plots.

As Syrian tanks attempt to push through Israeli defenses at the border, Team Reaper picks off Syrian tank commanders as they battle Israeli tanks, jets, and infantrymen. Combat intensifies as Vick goes black on ammunition. Commandeering a cargo drone to deliver Team Reaper to a landing zone near the coordinates, Vick becomes Alessandra’s–and America’s–only hope for survival. 

Goodreads

Amazon

My Review

Currently Reading:
Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The war is over. Its heroes forgotten. Until one chance discovery . . .

Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade him in the war. And one of humanity’s heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers.

After earth was destroyed, mankind created a fighting elite to save their species, enhanced humans such as Idris. In the silence of space they could communicate, mind-to-mind, with the enemy. Then their alien aggressors, the Architects, simply disappeared – and Idris and his kind became obsolete.

Now, fifty years later, Idris and his crew have discovered something strange abandoned in space. It’s clearly the work of the Architects – but are they returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy hunting for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, that many would kill to obtain.

Goodreads

Thoughts, Similarities, and Differences

My first thought is that “Oh my god, I’ve come full circle!” Shards of Earth is a space operate themed around humanity on the edge of extinction. I’m not sure if I could label it as “military fiction”, but there’s war and soldiers involved. As for Drone Strike, it is listed under military fiction with the protagonist being a Ranger sniper who goes undercover for a mission. It was my very first taste of military fiction.

I’m not far enough in Shards of Earth to make a full comparison of the two but so far, I’m enjoying the read. I will say that I found Drone Strike a little easier to read because I have already caught myself, a handful of times, rereading certain paragraphs. The difference is that, Drone Strike primarily takes place in the modern human world. Shards of Earth is sci-fi that has different worlds, species, and other new terminology flying around in my head.

Sci-fi has slowly started to become one of my new favorite genres, but just as I loved fantasy, I always feel a little apprehensive going into new fantasy/sci-fi series because of the fear that I might not be able to picture something or the that there’s too many new terms to keep up with.

Just as I was hesitant on my way into Drone Strike, I was hesitant on my way into Shards of Earth. BUT! Just as I started to quickly fall in and enjoy Drone Strike, I’m starting to love Shards too. Things are picking up and I’m getting quite excited.

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